By Keffyalew Gebremedhin

The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)
In the Great Donkey Rush, the Daily Maverick

opened its major story of September 9, 2016

with the following theme:

“Forget gold, diamonds or rhino horn. The hottest

commodity in Africa right now – the most prized

ass-et, if you will – is the humble donkey, thanks

to a critical donkey shortage in China.”

Dwelling on a different angle of the same theme, two

days earlier Quartz Africa highlighted an interesting

development – crime popping up across Africa becuse

of donkey meat market, as follows:

“No wonder Chinese businesses have shown a

growing interest in donkeys from Namibia to

Nigeria over the past few years. Earlier this year,

Botswana arrested four people involved in a

donkey hide smuggling syndicate with operations

in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and China. Donkey

slaughterhouses have also been opened in Kenya

to meet Chinese demand. Last year South Africa

was considering beginning a training program

for farmers in anticipation of exporting donkeys

to China’s Henan province.”

The problem

The largest donkey populations in the world are found

in China and India. Unfortunately, China’s love for donkey

meat and skin has caused the animal’s diminution. Add to

this Vietnam’s 95.2 million population, no mean importers

of donkey meats.

Of late, China has been hit hard, The Guardian reports, by

shortage of donkey skin gelatin. They say this is a translucent,

colorless, brittle (when dry), flavorless food. Gelatin is derived

from collagen obtained from various animal/donkey body parts.

For the Chinese, gelatin is both traditional medicine; it is

also commonly used, according to some sources, as a gelling

agent in food, pharmaceutical drugs, vitamin capsules,

photography and cosmetic manufacturing.

I never knew until fairly recently, we too have become the

unmasked indirect consumers of donkey parts, i.e., through

the medicines China produces.

In recent times, this donkey shortage in China has exerted

pressure on Beijing and local governments, market agents

persistently demanding government actions to support local

donkey breeders and importers from the rest of the world.

Especially targeted for this are poor African nations, whose

eyes could easily get stuck on the foreign exchange and ignore

all other things.

Our tragedy is that, African leaders being unwilling to think

on their own or receive advice, this new donkey meat

business is likely to affect Africa over the medium

-and-long-terms, via consequences of such trade. One

problem now is its encouragement of transfrontier donkey

smuggling in vast parts of Africa for sale to China, as

mentioned above.

Consequently, in response to this deepening donkey meat

and skin trade between a number of African and some

Asian states, the African donkey population in the last few

years has been terribly decimated.

When Ethiopia is added to the list of donkey meat and skin

traders, this is likely to have huge adverse implications on

African farmers. The region would increasingly lose its

beast of burden that for generations has been serving as

means of transport for agricultural goods.

In Where have all the donkeys gone? Burkina Faso’s

export dilemma, Phys.org clearly highlights the dilemma

of poor nations without sufficient resources, or fallback,

such as the benefits of science and technology.
Ethiopia’s curious relations with its donkeys

Out of ignorance, Ethiopia’s utilitarian society has done

little to improve its donkey breed. Nor has it ever credited

its utility. In fact, this little cared for and little respected

animal – አህያ – its name has been used to demeaningly

insult/describe a fool and the lazy in Ethiopia.

And yet, this has not stopped Ethiopia from being the silent

beneficiary of a donkey’s contributions to family productivity.

Also, one needs to keep in mind a donkey is source of family

security, as a lower category rural asset. As the most

uncomplaining ally in stressed health circumstances,

however, the donkey has also been useful in transporting

pregnant women to health centers to deliver their babies

in a number of countries, including northern Ethiopia.

The best and rarest praise for the donkey’s unitility in

Ethiopia I have come accross is from a Haramaya University

research paper (Zewdie and et.al). They have done donkeys

the honor of inserting the praise in the academic records.

What that record does is transmit the real sentiments of one

Ethiopian rural farmer, who aptly says: “Without a donkey,

my wife and I become the donkeys”.

In this article, I am trying to understand the disconcerting

news to Ethiopian citizens across the board both at home and

abroad of the implications of Ethiopia’s lurch into the donkey

meat market with the Asian nations of China and Vietnam.

From what I read here and there, Ethiopians appear preoccupied

by a revolting sense of the what next of sorts questions for

the ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)

despotic leaders.

All over the world, the mafia and other inebriates, like

those of ours in political power, are seen getting most of what

they need – if they are lucky – by their use of bruteness of force.

That does not mean this has made them win the people’s trust,

respect and loyalty. It is one of the key elements in governance,

which has eluded the TPLF in Ethiopia.

Even at this time as the corrupt and dictatorial Abay Tsehaye

makes a fool of himself about past TPLF arrogance and

tyranny that, according to him, has hit the height of heights,

the TPLF is promising itself ‘fist full of dollars’ from the

donkey meat business by the forex strapped nation!

The donkey in Ethiopia primarily is a component part

of the ‘factors’ contributing to 50-60 percent of nation’s

gross domestic product (GDP). There is a creeping concern,

informed by living together with the TPLF for such a long

time, that the business Ethiopia just started could adversely

affect the nation’s agricultural sector – due to the TPLF

member’s insatiable appetite and disregard for Ethiopia.
Why should it be different from land grab?

Lurking in the background are three Ethiopian concerns.

Firstly, there is the well-founded fear of the usual ruling

TPLF greed, deceptiveness and hubris. If the past has

taught Ethiopians any lesson, it is wariness of the TPLF,

a concern ingrained in the future China-Ethiopia donkey

meat and skin business, driven by the TPLF greed.

We know for a fact that invariably almost all TPLF members

suffer from foreign exchange hunger. Amassing vast wealth

by any means, as dictator Meles Zenawi has taught them,

above every non-Tigrean, is likely to become their goal with

a view to enabling them achieve their ethnic overlordship

over the rest of the Ethiopian people.

Did Meles not break state banks, such as the public-owned

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), the Construction Bank

of Ethiopia that finally went down because of TPLF corruption

and finally merged with CBE, and the Development Bank of

Ethiopia (DBE)? Lawless Meles compelled these state

institutions to throw public monies in their vaults on

TPLF members and to the TPLF-owned Endowment

Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) businesses.

They took the monies with no interest payments, or even

not necessarily paying back the loans they took. This is a

common knowledge even with the common man in the

highlands, lowlands and streets of Ethiopia – likely to be

replicated in the dog meat businesses case!

The lesson here for people is that the TPLF have little respect

for the law; they are likely to force themselves onto a peasant’s

humble manger and seize the donkey of the humble farmer to

take it to one of the Chinese donkey slaughterhouses that would

soon dot the land. If the TPLF could seize a land belonging to

an individual or a community, demolish homes on the heads

of residents to seize the urban lands, what law could stop the

TPLF members from seizing an ordinary citizen’s donkey?

Consequently, I fear, in a short while Ethiopians may someday

wake up when they no longer see donkeys, not only in city

streets and towns across Ethiopia, but also across rural

areas in this vast country.
Offending Ethiopian sensibilities

The second concern arising from the new TPLF business

in donkey meat is the offense to the country’s religious

and cultural convictions. The irony is that, this comes at

a time when a number of African nations are closing down

the donkey meat business under popular pressure.

There is the real danger and possibility of donkey meat

from the Chinese-owned Debre Zeit slaughterhouse or

elsewhere later creeping up in ordinary Ethiopian

meat markets.

For now, the TPLF tells the nation that the Ethiopian

Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA) has already set

up an office inside the company’s plant to stop from the

source donkey meat from finding its way into the local

meat market, according to Addis Fortune. This is no

assurance to citizens, especially given the corruptibility

of the TPLF officials and agents.

China is a strong nation. But it could not stop the sale of

contaminated baby milks, produced in the mainland.

The only thing China could do is to allow its citizens to

travel and buy the milk Hong Kong residents feed their

children. Why should Chinese investors care for Ethiopian

beliefs, when they have not cared for their children, or the

corrupt TPLF cadres and the security stop wrong meats

going to the right consumers?

On this matter, one of the latest TPLF deceits relates

to donkey slaughterhouse expansion. We learn from

Addis Fortune that TPLF investment spokesperson

Fitsum Arega saying the slaughterhouses are limited

in number to those registered before 2014. Its rationale

of varying degrees of sinfulness is troubling: “We don’t

approve of applications for such investments anymore

as they are against values and the culture of the society”.

What on Earth has assured the TPLF those that were

registered before 2014 are less of a sin and acceptable to

societal values? This is a problem with a regime fearful

of consulting the people. They could even dare stepping

on the faith of citizens, as if a small donkey meat is

acceptable to our faith and cultural values!

The fact of the matter is that very soon the TPLF’s EFFORT

and individual TPLF members could jump into operations,

banks pumping the nation’s resources only to expand donkey

killing places all over the country and the chains of meat

supplier chains.

The Chinese custom-built Debre Zeit donkey slaughterhouse

is expected to kill 200 donkeys a day, bought from local

farmers. The Asela slaughterhouse, also owned by Chinese

investors, is still under construction. Fitsum Arega does not

disclose how many permits they have so far registered and

when those donkey meat slaughterhouses open.

In some African nations, moral, health considerations

(including the stench from processing, open air drying of

the skins) and the negative economic implications have

aroused youth anger that subsequently forced the closure

of the businesses benefitting corrupt African leaders.
Donkey grab?

The third Ethiopian concern is donkey meat breeding

lawlessness.

The TPLF action has so far turned Ethiopia into society

of unequals, which Ethiopians very much resent. The

robbers using state powers have become richer grabbing

someone else’s land, as the rest have gone down on rungs

of the poverty ladder.

The more enriching economic conditions are in sight,

the more lawless has Ethiopia under the TPLF become –

no pretensions about property rights irrespective of

what the law says!

Gambella, where the TPLF has built one of its garrisons has

left sufficient lessons for all citizens. The Gambella garrison

is not and could not protect citizens nor ensure Ethiopia’s

sovereignty and territorial integrity from Murle marauders,

but ensure the TPLF settler occupation of the region.

Because of TPLF interests, we cannot anticipate what and

where the next garrison after Gambella, because of the

donkey meat business.

For the record, while the data out of date, Ethiopian

regions’ donkey endowment, according to a regional survey

by the Ethiopian Central Statistics Agency (CSA, 2007/8),

shows Oromia to have the largest donkey population (2.2 mil),

followed by Amhara (1.8 mil), Harar (0.8 mil), Tigray (0.5 mil),

Benishangul-Gumuz (0.5 mil), SNNPR (0.4 mil) and Dire Dawa

(0.14 mil).

In a lawless state such as Ethiopia, I would say, these citizens

concerns are all reasonable and legitimate.

This is more jutified by the abundant donkey resources

Ethiopia has been endowed with: an estimated 6.2 million donkeys;

the share of our country’s donkey resource is 32 percent of

Africa’s donkey population and 10 percent of the global estimate.

Another study, appearing on the International Journal

of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (IJIMS),

2015, Vol 2, No.6, 13-22, pushes the Ethiopian donkey

population estimate to 40 percent of the global donkey figure.

The fear now is that the usually-undisciplined and never

law-abiding TPLF, which all of a sudden may have started

salivating to scoop foreign exchange exporting dog meats,

may consider Ethiopian donkeys its inexhaustible

resource – so long as it is the forex collector!