Systemic & systematic corruption in Ethiopia

By Wardoffa Banti- A view from the Silent Diaspora

What we hear nowadays are tales of the astounding and uncontrollably yawning economic gap amongst Ethiopians. That is between the too little “haves” and all the rest “have-nots”. As all nations pass through a change of economic and social transformation, there would naturally emerge classes of people who would be identified with levels of economic and wealth prowess. All societies have gone and would go through this economic building and transformation although the government and the political force that wields power (known as the “regulator of the economic field”.)

Can Ethiopian College Students Do Better?

By Alethia

This is a sequel to my last article on Ethiopian academics. This time I decided to reflect on the role of Ethiopian college students in the Ethiopian institutions of higher education. Reflections on the role of the institutions of higher education, colleges & universalities in Ethiopia, cannot be complete without including the role of students as well as teachers in higher education, of course, among other things.

It’s crucial to bear in mind that the thoughts in this article are my personal observations and reflections based on my experience of having been a student in Ethiopian institutions of higher education for a number of years. I’m deeply convinced that Ethiopia as a nation can undergo a tremendous change for better if Ethiopia’s institutions of higher education undergo a long overdue change for better from within.

Nothing short of a revolution in the lives and thoughts and actions of those that constitute the community of higher education in Ethiopia will bring about the much desired and desirable change for better for Ethiopia as a nation. This is the conviction that underwrites the present article as well as all in this series on Ethiopia’s institutions of higher education.

Could Ethiopian Academics Have Done Better?

 By Alethia

There is no doubt that these days many Ethiopians are wondering and thinking long and hard as to what Ethiopians from various walks of life could do to make a difference to their society: a difference that will truly make a difference for better for generations to come. This is my reflection on what the Ethiopian academics could do and could have done to make Ethiopia a much better country.

By academics I refer to college and university teachers. My focus in this article is on the Ethiopian academics in Ethiopia. Since this is a large topic my focus will be limited to some key roles that Ethiopian academics could play in the Ethiopian context that can make a real difference to the way the society functions. 

 This is personal reflections on observations that I’ve made over a long period of time. Personally, I’ve also been through no less than ten years of post-secondary education in Ethiopia. I’ve a great interest in what has been happening and is happening and will be happening in post-secondary education in Ethiopian colleges and universities. I’m an academic myself and look forward to contributing my share of responsibility in the years to come. I’ve not held an academic position in any Ethiopian colleges/universities yet with an exception of teaching at various colleges briefly and in all of these only on a voluntary basis, without any reward in any form at all.

The creeping corruption of Amharic

A veteran journalist, Yakob W/Mariam says that we are murdering our official language.He says aping others does not get us anywhere and he sees  everything wrong in officials in particular interspersing Amharic with so many English words as a sign of “erudition” when they are talking on radio or TV.

Read the whole article here.

Reflections on our Identities

By Alethia

This is a short article on a reflection on the nature and question of identity, ethnic identity and one’s political identity as it is being played out in the contemporary Ethiopian politics. Caveat:  It’s not my intention to share anything more than my own reflections on the issues of identity and ethnicity in light of nationalism and what most or some call “Ethiopia.” Much of what I say is intended to bring out some, hopefully, conceptual distinctions in the ideas being treated here.

First, on what we mean by one’s identity. No intention again to address this complex issue thoroughly:  we all know that our own sense of who we are, upon a reflection, goes someway in answering the question of our identity as human beings no matter where, geographically, we are.  Yes, we all know that we’re human beings and share all the essential attributes that make a being human. The bottom-line here is that there are essential attributes that make a being human and such attributes know no color, no race, no culture, no language, no ethnicity, no country, and no time. All humans share essential attributes that make them what they are [I leave such essential human-making attributes for my readers to figure out].  I know some would dispute this claim but then this is not the right place to address some academic yet misguided debates about some human beings lacking in what truly makes a human being what it is: human, period.

Dr. Berhanu Nega, a power monger?

It is something of strange to see an attack directed on Dr. Berhanu Nega, a man who  has an indelible image of a bold, gifted, charismatic leader seen as representing a new generation of leaders in the CUD and in the country’s political arena. 

He has been and still is considered as an honest, dedicated, liberal and moderate person and he was rated as one of the most popular politicians in various newspaper polls.

Are there two Berhanu’s? Recently, shortly after the release of the CUD leaders, there have been some criticisms coming from some sections, accusing him of being autocrat and manipulative. Looking at the people who have been voicing this criticism, it was easy to dismiss it an ill-motivated one from minority group.