Abiy Ahmed’s party declares 615.7 million tree planting done across Ethiopia
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Toronto – The tree planting campaign which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government packaged as “Green Legacy” has always been something to hype about, for Prosperity Party.
This year, his government announced a plan to plant 600 million seedlings in one day across the country. At the end of the day on Friday, Abiy Ahmed took to social media page to narrate the campaign.
He wrote on his X page : “Refusing to let the sun set without achieving our goal, we surpassed it, planting an astounding 615.7 million saplings by the end of the day.” Numbers by ruling party officials tend to trigger skepticism among majority of Ethiopians. They are also satirical contents for Ethiopian activists on social media.
While there is no hostility at all that the afforestation program is necessary to the country, his government has been widely criticized for the economic and security crisis which is making Ethiopia no longer livable.
Ransom Kidnapping of civilians have become prevalent in the many parts of the country particularly in the Oromia region ; in the latest string of kidnapping over 100 university students were kidnapped near Gerbe Guracha area of Oromia as they returned to their parents. Abiy Ahmed’s government lied that the students were released when they were still in the hands of kidnappers who demanded 700,000 ransom per person.
War is another tragedy that has become the hallmarks of Abiy Ahmed’s government. Barely less than a year after ending the devastating war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which claimed over one million lives, his government launched another war in the Amhara region of Ethiopia where there has been egregious rights abuses of civilians including extrajudicial killings and rape. There is an ongoing war in the Oromia region against OLA rebels.
The economy is in shambles, and there is speculation from some experts that it might collapse. Abiy Ahmed is perhaps the only head of government the world over who openly declared that the World Bank is like a “mother’s purse.” As part of the meeting the IMF and World Bank conditions for loan arrangement, although his government did not admit it yet, Abiy Ahmed decided to devalue the Ethiopian birr by more than 50 percent. Before officially announcing the devaluation in early July, Ethiopian Birr was exchanging at a rate of 57 and 58 to the U.S. dollar, now it is exchanging at over 115 birr in most Ethiopian Banks. The negative impact of the devaluation on Ethiopians was immediate with prices skyrocketing leaving the majority of Ethiopians vulnerable to unprecedented economic hardship. This week, there were reports that the IMF is reconsidering if it has to release the fund after it contributed to the introduction of the devaluation of Ethiopian birr.
Seen from the perspective of those challenges, it remains a question whether the Prime Minister’s Bravado on X page makes even a little sense to most Ethiopians.
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The level of ignorance and disillusionment of this government is truly mind-blowing!! How is it possible that he didn’t know that when you borrow money you become a slave of the lender. How can he not know that in all the countries where the IMF and the World bank has given loans their sovereignty is compromised and that after a short term of relief there are devastating long term consequences.
I am Greek and know first hand the horrors and poverty we suffered for many years because of the policies forced on us by our lenders. But at least my government didn’t invite them, we were forced to accept the loan or go bankrupt. The money they lend never reach the people, only the elites benefit… In Ethiopia’s case the reason for the loan is to give a last breath of oxygen before drowning and by some more drones and war toys to keep himself in power and squash the opposition.
Be ready for drastic changes for the worst in the next 5 years because these loans are designed in a way that it makes them almost impossible to pay back.