July 15, 2026
I am not gonna lie. I am one of your quintessential 90s kids. Generation X that is-remember that epic Pepsi Commercial featuring the Spice Girls? Okay that was Generation Next. Never mind all that, ETV used to flash the cheeky advert on weekends ad infinitum and we used to hang on every word uttered. Any way that is us, sandwiched between two extremes.
All our attempts to sneak into Generation Y have been foiled. We have swallowed hard and accepted our fate. We have made peace with the prefix ‘Gashe’, (incidentally this class of rootless wandering homeless Gashes rather cut pathetic figures, don’t they?). We are equally disgusted with social media as much as we are bitter against the commies who are not so gentle into the twilight.
One of the films that defined the era was this movie panned by critics but loved by the movie goers titled ‘Dude, Where is my car’? About two wasted buddies unable to trace where their car was parked after excessive drinking binge the night before.
Anyway, the other day that was what I felt like inquiring after Adanech Abebe talked like the Condos are almost missing. I mean almost. For one they are no longer subsidized Housing Projects. Second, some have actually gone missing-literally gone missing. Third…I think in its desperation the City Government is after those who had long won the lottery, it is saying ‘for decency’s sake you cannot have a condo this cheap in Addis and rent it out at ransom price!’
All in all for a change I liked the way the Mayor had addressed the City Council. She was kinda cute, sincere and looked much younger. Obviously, a trace of Prosperity has left its indelible mark. No sin in that, after all we cannot all look so damn wretched and miserable. Besides, you could see she is mad in good earnest at the merciless rent seeking home owners who have become vamps preying on the wage earning Les Miserable.
Where is Our Peace Dividend?
Say what you gotta say but I have always believed and I still do. Monopoly of Violence cannot be shared. That I cannot deny. Having conceded the point we are demanding, where is the promised peace dividend? The thing is a government cannot afford to shift blames on the warring factions or the mistrusting public. It cannot say እኔ ምን ላድርግ እነርሱ ናቸዉ. You know why? Because the counter argument is quite simple, either you have given them cause to rebel or you are unable to rein them in or you couldn’t win their trust and respect.
Bottom-line: the government has failed the principal test of ensuring peace and security to the public that necessitated a government in the very first place. We can protest, you know, no taxation without peace and security! I know we cannot emulate the Bostonians who had run wild demanding no taxation without representation back when America was a British Colony. Representation is a foregone conclusion. There is nothing we could do about it. The voter turnout was undeniable. The ferenjis must have been confounded out of their wits. Forget the ferenjis we were caught quite unawares. We had expected voter apathy of the grandest scale. Nothing of the sort happened.
I miss the days we used to travel to the four corners of the country without the slightest fear of being taken hostage or being waylaid by highway robbers. The only incident I remember is this one time when we were driving past Jigjiga en route to Degahabur and Qebridehar. The officials at Jigjiga offered to assign us armed militia for protection. They had said ‘nothing to worry about but just in case’. We flatly turned down the security detail, after all we are representatives of a trading company. Why would anybody want to hurt us, matter of fact nobody did. But these days Bahrdar with all its beachside resort town vibe is as unreachable as Miami. As a direct consequence I know a Company which has relocated its Regional branch Office from B.Dar to Debrebrehan losing significant revenue in the process yet it is being taxed like none before.
Absolute Power Corrupts
The other day a colleague of mine requested a leave of absence to visit his family in Arsi Robe. I was like ‘but you have long moved your family to Adama or Bishoftu or so I had assumed.’ You see, his wife is suffering from chronic non-infectious disease and a medical board has recommended relocation to the vicinity where treatment is available. ‘They demanded 80k…no one would advance me the sum.’ What made my heart miss a beat was he is so much used to paying kickoffs that he was angrier at folks who wouldn’t advance him a loan of 80,000.00 birr and not at the brutes who are demanding bribe to reassign a sick woman.
The Premier keeps saying there is no institutional corruption in the country. I understand he is alluding to state capture. I wish he weren’t to speak in any degree of denial when it comes to corruption. The thing is at the end of the day there are only corrupt individuals and not corrupt institutions. Individuals who have the audacity to block roads to celebrate the graduation of a five years old kid from Daycare to Kindergarten in flying colours with money siphoned off from a poor wage earning Les Miserable who is paying close to 50% of his income back into government coffers.
Alright I give two thumbs up to the government for the good work the AG is doing, though as per the Constitution the AG isn’t accountable to the government per se. Just for starter the AG report filed regarding the Ministry of Irrigation and Arid Area Development is a microcosm of the State of Corruption in the Country. I mean here we are talking about 250% price adjustment for Contractors (the law allows only up to 20%).We are talking about State of the Art latest edition Luxury SUVs purchased, guess what? For purposes of field site inspection! According to a certain Betelehem Taffess (a PP insider, I guess), designer clothes, Jewelry, perfumes etc we used to see advertised on the backs of trendy glossy magazines are necessary wardrobe items for the officials…
I mean what is the big idea, what is the point of flaunting excessive glamor in a country bleeding from all pores? Are they trying to MOCK US? Are they trying to get on our nerves on purpose? Think of what Fasika Sidelil has written about Mengistu Hailemariam. The latter’s family meal was worse than the average civil servant of the day that Fasika couldn’t help reprimanding the cook.
It would be unfair to blame all organs of government indiscriminately. I have reason to believe the AG sometimes takes a cut-off date and might report a finding that reads goods in transition as missing but it would be madness for the government to underestimate the audit findings. I also agree that the Performance Audit should laud the gains of Ministries like that of Education and should investigate the Premier’s persisting claim that Ethiopia is suffering from shortage of WILLING man power resources. The latter claim should and could be validated.
The Aya Belet Brief (የአያ በለጠ ነገር እንዳይሆን)
Wrongly as it is I have assumed all social media particularly Tick-talk is a cesspool that smears indecency on the youth across the board until accidentally as it is I chanced on Aya Belete. He is a village elder who has gone deaf and refuses to admit it and keeps interacting with the villagers as if he is as sharp as a tack.
The problem is when his neighbor inquires after his health saying “how are you doing this afternoon Aya Belet” he would reply very much offended “I wouldn’t sell that sheep for five thousand birr, are you out of your mind! Five thousand birr indeed!” The conversation goes on and on like this till dusk.
I only hope the National Dialogue Commission Convention launched today wouldn’t descend into something like Aya Belet’s brief. It has been four years and we are expecting breakthroughs. I keep my fingers crossed.
God Bless.
The writer can be reached at : estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
Editor’s Note: Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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