Poor Ethiopians payment for survival

Tedla Asfaw


Addis dimts Radio on its September 7 broadcast disclosed the 2001 Ethiopian Calender EPRDF/TPLF's expected income from Ethiopian poor farmers and government employees which totals to  16,500,000  Ethiopian Birr. The farmers will pay about 7,000,000 Birr and  the government employees about 9,5000,000 Birr. Urban dwellers, students and the proletariat will shed half million Birr and EPRDF/TPLF's "officially "disclosed budget for the coming year will total to 17,000,000 Birr.

This is the money squeezed from our poor urban and rural people on top of what TPLF collects from its so called private companies by controlling all the economic sectors in the country. Most of the profit is invested also out of country and generates  millions of dollars for Meles and his cohorts. This is  TPLF's style of  "Development" and that is the reason why TPLF will not allow any freedom inside our country because such blatant corruption and exploitation of our people will not survive the public protest in a democracy.

TPLF will not leave power nor share with any "opponents" because it will lose its financial domination and most of its business empires which are acquired illegally will no doubt will be put back under the public control.

This official budget disclosure  for the year 2001 EC is also to show "transparency" for its financial donors that all is on the book but the fact of the matter is what is disclosed is just a tiny fraction of the TPLF's book. TPLF's book is not even disclosed for the so called its own ordinary members let alone for the Ethiopian people or foreign donors. Billions of dollars are stashed in foreign banks looted from Ethiopians while our country  is known around the world as a beggar nation.

TPLF's inner circles are now millionaires and within few years we will have billionaires par with the nearby oil reach countries. Whereas more than fourteen million people are currently starving among whom are millions of children. TPLF which started its business empire early in the 1980s by confiscating and selling donated food for famine is currently will make millions of dollar profit from current famine..

A business empire of TPLF which started from donated food for famine is now  similarly  profiting from selling donated food for urban and rural starved Ethiopians in open market. These poor Ethiopians are  forced also to shade 17,000,000 Birr to get favour on their daily life from their master, TPLF. This is payment from millions of  Ethiopian "slaves" for survival to "master" TPLF in the twenty first century.