May 21, 2026
(estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com)
When I heard that the ex-governor of the National Bank had inaugurated his own private mega Church ‘on a spacious tract of land’ owned by his family I was like he might as well build a majestic cathedral but nothing quells a troubled conscience except public confession and recanting.
Besides whenever was the Constitutional provision that declared public ownership of land was revised? If you aren’t a tiller you don’t own rural land and you cannot lease urban land more than necessary to build a residential house on a plot of land not exceeding 200sq.m however remote the township is.
I trust Zegeye Asfaw had passed on without hearing such travesty of the justice he had fought for with Alem’ant with such tenacity. It was their joint Magnum Opus, I guess. You know, beating amorphous and extremely sensational revolutionary slogans into a working piece of legislation that has lasted half a century is nothing less than a legislative drafting masterpiece (contrast this with the Income tax Proclamation which is being revised every fortnight). Rest in Peace Ato Zegeye.
I only hope that the Premier would be true to his word when he intimated that he loves back his groupies but he wouldn’t spare them the rod when they dip their finger where it doesn’t belong. Nah, he wouldn’t touch the true fat vermin. No, he wouldn’t unless they begin going tik-tok celebrities.
Land! You can always trace the wealth of the well to do speculation in land-particularly in Oromia Regional State. Recently at a much publicized event, Dr.Teshome Adugna was literally trembling with emotion when he related the extent of land speculation in Sheger City Administration. He is right. My impression? He wasn’t faking the ‘rage’ but more than any other official he knows what he knows from way back when he was designated as the MARSHAL of ‘the Oromia Economy Revolution’. Recently I had some official business to attend to at Sebeta. The things one sees, hears and is subjected to makes you feel extremely insecure, unsafe and involuntary you begin withdrawing into a make believe protective shell…saying the bad days might soon be behind us. All the same it is no small achievement to collapse the language barrier. When it comes to communication, you pick your choice and the officials are equally conversant both in Oromifa and Amharic. That has truly made me feel good and at home.
Matter of fact, while PP is busy white washing towns across the country, according to a self-designated anti-corruption whistle blower, officials in the relatively non-restive regions of Sidama, the South and the West are having field days ‘founding’ mini-dynasties of corruption. Courtesy is due to the investigative report of a certain Awnta B (of course less the sensationalism to stay in the limelight).
1-Nepo babies made in Ethiopia
Back in the days when TPLFites and their boot licking lackeys were the reigning monarchs of state capture in Ethiopia (I am subscribing to the semi-official designation Ethiopia vis-à-vis Tigray), a new class of Nepo babies were partying hard, spending like mad, and intimidating the rest waving loaded guns across one’s face. They were riding the waves above the law and with total impunity. To this day some own three government-issue houses in Addis alone- one from the Kifle-Ketema, another from the Housing Corporation and the last 500squ.m of prime urban land as the legit reward of a privileged EPRDFite and those who were covering for them. We saw the ‘wedi-tegadaly’ half of the Nepo babies during the infamous northern war. They had fled to Mekelle. But Mekkelites didn’t cosy up to them, in spite of their declared transition from wedi-tegadaly to tegadaly per se and proper, as I remember it, they were being taunted as none other than feather headed limbless Nepo babies ejected from Adi’saba.
Fast forward one decade and another batch of spoiled children who think nothing of spending the weekends at Mobassa are ‘gracing’ events with their royal presence. They are attached to the ‘motherland’ like a leech! God knows they love the land. They have figured out that only land grabbing is the sure way to wealth and by God they are so damn good at it…true children of their parents.
2 – Awash-Kombolcha-Hara Gebeya and Perhaps Adi’saba?
Again I totally agree that the Awash-Komolcha-Hara Gebeya rail project could only be likened to money lost at Casino bars. It is fraught with every irregularity you could imagine. Besides the Contractor Yapi Merkezi lost only half the claim at the London Arbitration Tribune; even that because it had deliberately and cleverly ‘inflated’ its claim to appease the ‘defendant’ and the tribune. See? The government was able to save face and the lawyers were getting all the kudos but YM got what he believed was due it. It shrugged its shoulders and walked away like ‘let them celebrate’. They call that win-win. It isn’t; we lost the suit big time! In all fairness the way the claim of Salini was handled was quite different.
All right. You win, Doc. You are right, the Awash-Kombolcha-Hara project is concocted by ego driven legacy chasing madcaps who didn’t give a fig to the debt legacy posterity is going to deal with. All the social, economic strategic talking points lucidly explained by the Premier to argue against the venture are sharp as a tack and above board.
I have a question for the Premier. How come you wouldn’t use this very wisdom to withhold and decline the 1.3 trillion birr spent on beautification projects only here in Addis? The government at the highest level has no business running a 1.3 trillion birr mega beautification project. There is such a thing as city government and municipal services particularly designated to take on such ‘routine’ jobs. Tell us, exactly when do you intend to recoup the expenses? Please don’t tell us ‘no Chinese commercial loan’ is involved here.
We are sick and tired of PP functionaries lecturing us like they are financing the projects reaching deep into their pockets. And please for Pete’s sake quit talking like we don’t like the tidy parks and that we are ungrateful though we are enjoying the beauty of the expertly manicured gardens. What we are saying is we would rather have three square meals a day because we could no longer afford it though we are said to be included in the ‘high income’ tax bracket.
Haven’t you ever heard about Abraham Maslow? In the event you had missed it 95% of your subjects are languishing at the lowest bottom rung of the pyramid, you know, the physiological need category while you are atop the pyramid. Where are our economists when we need them the most? I mean do you expect us to shut the f…up ‘cos የስጦታ ፈረስ ጥርሱ አታይም? This isn’t a gratuitous contract, Excellency.
3- In Search of the Soup-Kitchen
Did we hear the voice of the late Marie Antoinette echoing back to us from 200 years ago? I hate repeating the cliché but it has come as no surprise to hear bank teller looking guys sporting shiny shoes and clad in skin tight suit saying stuff like ‘no kidding exactly where are those soup-kitchens located’
God Bless.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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