A Letter From Obang Metho to Ethiopian Religious Leaders: An Urgent Call for Prayer for our Nation

April 26, 2015

Dear Ethiopian religious leaders and members of the Ethiopian faith community,

Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE

I am coming to you as a human being and also as a believer in Jesus Christ. My appeal is not only for fellow Christians, even though it is a call for Christians to pray, but I also want it to apply to others for when we truly seek God, he will reward us.

Some religious leaders and people of faith will come as Christian believers, others as Muslims, still others as Jews. We may differ in our beliefs, but we share the truth that there is one God who created all human beings in His image. He gave each of us value and the free will to choose to love him with all our hearts, souls and strength. God told the people of Israel through Moses the following before entering the Promised Land. It gave the people a choice and we are faced with a similar

Ethiopia: Cry Once Again, Our Beloved Country!

April 26, 2015

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Ethiopian lives matter!

Exactly ten years ago in 2005, almost to the month, the late supreme leader of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (T-TPLF), Meles Zenawi, personally directed a campaign of brutal suppression of unarmed protesters following the general election that year. On May 16, 2005, Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency, outlawed all public gatherings and placed under his direct personal command and control all police, security and military forces, and replaced the capital city police with federal police and special forces.

Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa: Conference

Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa: Conference on issues related to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa Prospects for a stable, Democratic and Prosperous Future.

Bye, Bye Karuturistan, Ethiopia!

February 22, 2015

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

RIP: A post-mortem on Karuturistan, Ethiopia

It was too good to be true. It is too bad it was true for the people of Gambella in western Ethiopia.

Last month, the ignoble demise of Karuturi  Global, Ltd.  (a/k/a “Ethiopian Meadows Plc.”, “Gambella Green Valley Plc (Ethiopia)”,  “Karuturi Agro Products Plc (Ethiopia)) in Ethiopia was announced  quietly and without fanfare.

Karuturi, an Indian agribusiness,  is touted to be “the world’s largest producer and exporter of cut roses with operations spread across Ethiopia, Kenya and India.” In 2008, Karuturi “leased” 300,000 hectares in the western Ethiopia region of Gambella.

SMNE: An Open Letter to President Barack Obama

February 7, 2015

An Open Letter to President Barack Obama, The alarming political conditions in Ethiopia that may threaten the future security and stability of this strategic country in the Horn of Africa

Honorable Barack Obama

The President of the United States of America

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20501

Dear President Obama,

I am writing this to you on behalf of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) to alert you to the

alarming political conditions in Ethiopia that may threaten the future security and stability of this strategic country in the Horn of Africa. Current United States policies that strongly support the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) are being abused by this regime to undermine the democratic aspirations of the Ethiopian people.

ESAT’s Historic Journey to Eritrea

February 9, 2015

by Nahum Zemariam

A Historic Journey

ESAT once again did it in a big way. It proved to sceptics that ESAT has been making huge impacts in the media landscape unparalleled by any other Ethiopian media outlet. Since its formation more than four years ago, ESAT has been the largest alternative media organization to Ethiopians back home, and around the world. Despite a determined and pernicious jamming efforts by the regime in Ethiopia and other sabotages like cyberattacks targeting ESAT journalists, ESAT has accomplished many milestones as it serves the people of Ethiopia.

Sending journalists to Eritrea is ESAT’s latest ground breaking media performance, and a historic accomplishment worth celebrating. This historic journey is indeed a turning point.