allAfrica.com: Eritrea: Terrible Famine That Exposed TPLF's Empty Boasting (Page 1 of 1)

When in 1974 Emperor Haile Selassie was hosting the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), thousands of Ethiopians had died as a result of the famine in the Wollo region.

At the time, the Emperor had sought to cover up this sad loss of life by making extravagant expenditures to entertain foreigners participating in the commemoration in a bid to promote Ethiopia's image. However, it proved impossible to cover up a famine that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people. When a journalist recorded the whole situation on camera, numerous attempts were made to prevent the footage from being broadcasted in the world media. However, the misery of the starved Ethiopians did not remain hidden and the world was horrified by the famine. Following this incident, Emperor Haile Selassie's reign soon came to an end as a result of his inhumane actions.

Similarly in 1984, when the Derg regime was celebrating its 10th anniversary since coming into power, it is to be recalled that severe drought and famine had swept through the country and caused the death of more than one million Ethiopians. Having no regard for the welfare of the people, the Derg regime expended a huge amount of money on the ceremony while covering up the famine from the world.

The TPLF regime not only followed in the tradition of its predecessors but even surpassed them in its inhumane actions. At the time when it was preparing to celebrate the Millennium ceremony, the regime rounded up the countless homeless people and beggars swarming the streets of Addis Ababa and threw them out of the city. The regime also built a number of extravagant halls in which to celebrate the Millennium and expended an incalculable amount of money in preparations for the event while more than 30 million Ethiopians were starving. In blatant denial of the reality on the ground, leaders of the clique repeatedly appear before television and make absurd claims such as the following: "According to a certain organization, Ethiopia had scored this percent of economic progress. Ethiopia will soon achieve food security and we will no longer be listed with the poorest nations but with those which have scored average development." However, such false claims will not provide food for the starving bellies of the Ethiopian people.

It did not take much time for the boastful remarks that were made during the Millennium celebrations turn into mournful wails. Long before the Millennium celebrations came to an end, news of "more than 4.5 million Ethiopians are at a critical stage due to starvation and around 30 million more face the threat of famine" began to appear in the world media along with photographs of starved women and children. The United Nations is calling on aid agencies working in Ethiopia to concentrate their efforts on saving Ethiopian lives before "a terrible famine unfolds."

Endowed with fertile lands and other rich natural resources, Ethiopia is at the number one level from the countries that receive food aid. As world records indicate, over the past 25 years Ethiopia has received development aid worth USD 25 billion and accumulated a debt of more than USD 10 billion. According to reports in recent years, Ethiopia survives on a yearly 700,000 tons of food aid. Yet, all this food and development aid could not push Ethiopia one step forward towards development. On the contrary, the number of people facing starvation is multiplying and the general livelihood of the Ethiopian people keeps worsening day by day.

The reason is quite obvious as to why Ethiopia is further deteriorating to exacerbated poverty, starvation and backwardness. The basic reason is the country's leaders who have no desire to strive for development but only have time for theft, corruption and futile dreams of securing domination. Although the continuous flow of aid to Ethiopia has made no visible contribution to its development, the negative consequences of aid have been apparent in other areas. Being one of the poorest and most backward nations in the world, and having acquired the image of starvation and famine, the number of tanks, guns, mortars, warplanes and other ammunitions that Ethiopia bough in the past 25 years is incomparable to any other country in black Africa. The aid provided by the masters of Ethiopian leaders to subsidize wars is one of the primary factors for instability in the Horn of Africa.

The Ethiopian people would have been better off without the aid that comes in their name but of which they don't even get a cent; for it is the primary source on which warmongering Ethiopian leaders built up muscle force. In the absence of such a source, the Ethiopian people would at least be able to experience peace and stability and have the opportunity to properly exploit their country's natural endowments. Aid has so far been a curse disguised as a blessing for the Ethiopian people, and one of its worst consequences is in spawning rampant corruption, war and dismal governance.

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