Seattle, WA. August 14, 2005- Tigrians living in Seattle and its environs held a meeting and discussed the political, economical, and social challenges facing Ethiopia with the President of Tigrai state, Aite Tsegai Berhe, and Aite Isayas Woldegirogis, a federal official. The meeting, packed with an audience of over 300 participants, was able to air their views, concerns and criticism against TPLF leadership openly. The participants expressed a strong commitment in support of the democratization process and the election as free and transparent. And noted that it was endorsed by independent organizations such as EU and the Carter Center.

Aite Tsegai opened his speech in four sections illustrating the daunting challenges

Education and Health

Agriculture sector

Industry and Investment

Democratization and the civil servant

After a brief introduction, he spoke of the 30-year struggle to bring justice and peace to the Tigrian people who have paid priceless sacrifices to create the present environment for the benefit of all Ethiopia. Although the struggle to bring equality through peaceful means to carry the desired social change was remote, the call for armed struggle to change the backward social order and to alleviate Ethiopians from ignorance and poverty was an historical precedent. As a result of the hard earning gains the last fourteen years EPRDF leadership, with all the challenges it faces, made a remarkable progress, recognizing some failures that must be tackled and overcome in some economic sectors like taxation and investment. The tax system is subjective; the rate of taxation is not confirmed law. Not knowing the obligation of the public is a serious problem. As the speaker noted, 81% live in rural areas where as 19% of the Tigrai population lives in towns.

The agricultural sector is a backbone of the economy. The livelihood of our people must enhance production with better techniques and business oriented cash crops. With antiquated methods it is impossible to achieve the desired outcome. Environmental degradation and natural disaster continues to be problematic but needs to be combated by rehabilitating the soil and by implementing structural change in the agriculture sector. Radical change is needed so that the peasants can adopt change in cultivating commercial crops and the use of irrigation systems where it is applicable. Tigrai state must tackle the problem, believing firmly that any investment in education is an asset for development and an allocated high budget. Compared with the past administration with an illiteracy rate of 13%, the current rate stands at 75% nationwide, whereas Tigrai state achieved a higher level of 80.8%. In Tigrai state there are 1250 elementary schools, 54 high schools, 8 colleges and 3 teacher training centers that produce over 3500 teachers per year. The present educational system is arranged so that after the completion of 10th grade all students must enroll in Vocational Training. Currently there are 70,000 high school students in the region, over 800,000 students in all categories. For those who are not able to go the nearest school, there is satellite teaching with trained teachers at a radius of 3 to 4 km distances. As a culture, almost every one sends his/her children to school with a uniform, however material and well-qualified teachers and a curriculum that serves well is a daunting task.

Civil Service as a weak link must be challenged at every level of the public and state sectors. Corruption and bureaucracy is still problematic. We are doing what we can to expedite investment and court related issues. We have made some progress removing some corrupted officials from the bench and giving warning for minor offensives. Now everyone is in the public radar.

The Ethio-Eritrean conflict border question was not the initial cause for the EPLF invasion, but to use Tigrai as an intimidation stage to exploit Ethiopian resources. The unjust verdict of the Hague decision will not bring lasting peace. It only can be resolved through honest dialog and negotiation.

Aite Tsegai also noted the health problem in great length, however, due to the flight of professional doctors and nurses, it is an additional problem. According to a recent study, 80% of the common diseases are preventable with proper sanitation and basic hygiene education. The state has implemented affordable clinic stations for drug distribution.

On the eve of our first ever-democratic election, some enemies with their collaborators inside and outside the country try to portray the election as fraudulent and taint the election. The attempts of those individuals who have a vested interest in wanting to grab power by any means were fruitless. Thanks to the dedicated vision of the leadership and our people who worked so hard day and night to expose the leadership of the opposition. Ayte Tsegai noted that TPLF as an organization has survived due to an open and transparent political framework. All major Ethiopian organizations could not reach a successful end. Although the TPLF organization is strong, that doesn’t mean they don’t have any weaknesses. We have to excel in our strength and rectify our weak links. There is a problem of corruption, nepotism and undemocratic practices, but after the split of TPLF we are making some progress. We have a check and balance mechanism intact to prevent such conduct.

After crying foul by the opposition, the election board and observers have endorsed the process as a free and fair election. We have to move forward. Our genuine effort will bring lasting peace. The ill advised campaign under the guise of opposition is part of an orchestrated campaign, as well as being misguided and misplaced, but also is counter to the democratization process. To cheat and run highly sophisticated political scams will not advance their cause. Those nefarious demagogues tried hard to disunite us and create division among the Ethiopian people but to no avail. A few manipulative, self-serving, dishonest opportunists and untrustworthy advisors spearhead the opposition elites.

Both guests answered the question and answer session from the audience accordingly. However, some of the unsubstantiated rumors regarding censorship, democracy, and lack of justice in Tigrai have been underscored as untrue. That doesn’t have a merit. He also noted as example the Temben leadership and forged document fiascos as out of touch, in that no one has been arrested. What the people expressed is not unique to Temben but every region demands the same question. As the election is concerned in September the EPRDF as a winner will formulate a government and winners and losers will play their role according to the rule of law.

The Tekeze Project

All past Ethiopian leaders were not able to use the waters of the Nile due to Egypt’s diplomatic maneuvers and the lack of a grant to build dams and a Hydro-Project. But EPRDF opened negotiations and was able to start the Tekeze project with its own resources. That will alleviate the need for energy for the industrial infrastructure.