Ethiopia in Serious Economic Depression
MOI
April 2008

While teetering on the verge of collapse, the TPLF regime has dragged down Ethiopia into a grave economic crisis. As can be recalled, the TPLF has been trying to deceive people and cover up the reality on the ground by making false claims of 10% economic growth. However, lies can never provide a way out in the long run and hence the Prime Ministry of the clique has been compelled to admit before parliament the serious economic problems facing the country. A 30% inflation rate notwithstanding, the TPLF has been forced to cut down electricity and water supply in the capital Addis Ababa to a bare minimum. Moreover, the regime has issued a regulation that all food items be sold in the Hibret Su’k only. It has also warned of an extensive search and possible arrest of local businessmen. The regime is now rushing about to take measures that should have been taken long before the economy receded to such a drastic state. Moreover, as economic experts indicate, it will take more than the TPLF regime’s futile and last minute attempts to revive the economic depression in Ethiopia.

Endowed with extensive fertile lands and various big rivers, Ethiopia is a nation that possesses abundant natural resources. However, as a result of the famine that claimed the lives of thousands during the Haile Selassie regime and the anarchy in the days of the Derg’s rule, which ensued in the death of more than one million civilians, Ethiopia is always cited as the prime example whenever issues of famine and drought are raised. Ethiopia’s economic slack further deteriorated after the TPLF regime came to power and has now become the very image of poverty and backwardness. Being one of the four nations in the world that receive the highest amount of food aid annually, Ethiopia under the TPLF regime has not only degraded its own dignity but that of the entire African continent as well. But even after receiving such extensive aid, nothing has changed for the Ethiopian people. More than half of the country’s population still lives in poverty. The only thing that has changed is the TPLF regime’s status of becoming the number one servant agent in the Horn region. Furthermore, according to media outlets, more than nine million Ethiopians are suffering from famine.

As is generally known, Ethiopia received more than 25 billion dollars in grants for development and another 10 billion dollars in loan during the TPLF rule; it is not difficult to guess to what purpose this massive amount of money has been employed—obviously war and corruption. The kind of muddled administration and rampant corruption that has developed throughout Ethiopia under the rule of the deplorable and discredited TPLF leaders is beyond comparison. Consequently, Ethiopia, long since an image of poverty and backwardness, is one of the 49 poorest countries in the world and ranks last in human development. If there is a country in the world that cannot survive even for a single day without food aid, it is Ethiopia. Taking a loan amounting to one billion dollars every year and 70% of its annual budget being covered through aid, Ethiopia is surviving on a day-to-day basis. As a general rule, people living under an income of less than 90 dollars a year are considered to be living below the poverty line. Considering the fact that a normal Ethiopian national earns less than 80 dollars a year, it is not difficult to imagine the extent of the prevailing poverty in that country. Despite receiving massive amounts of aid, 75% of the Ethiopian people have no access to drinking water and more than 80% are illiterate. Moreover, 70% of the entire Ethiopian people have never received proper health care services and more than 200 out of 1000 infants die during birth. Ethiopia under the TPLF regime is a country in which citizens in remote areas die daily of simple ailments due to the lack of health centers and ranks as the third country in the world as regards to the number of HIV positive persons. In today’s world of the 21st century, Ethiopia is the only country where one could find people with no clothes to cover their backs, no shelter over their heads and no food for their starving bellies. Moreover, Addis Ababa must be the only capital city in the world whose streets are swarmed with beggars and homeless people. In short, Ethiopia under the TPLF regime is a manifestation of hell on Earth.

Seizing power as a result of the Tigrayan people’s struggle and subsequently exacerbating Ethiopia’s poverty, the TPLF regime did not even look out for the interest of the Tigrayan people. On the contrary, the people of Tigray fared worse in the hands of the minority clique and have shown no progress in the past 17 years. Had the people of Tigray enjoyed peace and stability, their hardworking nature would have enabled them to improve their living standard by themselves without waiting for assistance from the TPLF regime. Yet, the Tigrayan people have been the first to suffer as a result of conflicts the regime has instigated in various parts of Ethiopia as well as the wars of aggression it launched against Eritrea and Somalia. Furthermore, as a result of the few corporations that are draining Ethiopian resources and are owned and managed by few close relatives of the TPLF leaders, the Tigrayan people are facing the hostility of other Ethiopian nationalities. The people of Tigray did not wage a bitter struggle and sacrifice their lives for only a handful of individuals to benefit. It is indeed a sad conclusion to the just cause and struggle of the people.