Keenya ስለእኛ
A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country
August 2014
Since recently Ethiopian Airlines has banned its Ethiopian pilots from leaving Ethiopia for any reason unless they are on duty. Not long ago, three pilots were prohibited from leaving the country for a vacation at the airport with their passports confiscated. The airlines justified the incident saying that it needed to run a background check on them and later they were told that they were mistaken for other individuals. In an interview with Fortune newspaper, the CEO of EAL, Ato Tewelde Weldemariam, defended his company’s act saying “there should be no way a poor farmer in Ethiopia subsidizes a rich gulf air in the middle east”. That is an agreeable point as long as treated in the appropriate manner that does not infringe individual rights illegally. Pilots trained by EAL should, of course, serve the agreed amount of time or settle their balances.
What if they don’t? There is a legal procedure in place for such actions. Ethiopian sues the individual and law enforcement bodies will enforce court orders. The company is, in no way, entitled to take the law in its own hands. But Despite all this, Ato Tewelde and his entourage have no restraints in flexing their muscles on its employees regardless of what’s written on the legal papers.
If the reason for their ban is the debt, why can’t our pilots be allowed to leave the country once they pay their debts? Is working for Ethiopian Airlines a national service imposed without the good will of the pilot? Workers at EAL have serious grievances about the working conditions. Pilots are overworked, underpaid as compared to other competitors in the industry, treated like second class citizens. Expatriate pilots working for the company get a much higher pay and benefits than their Ethiopian counter parts. ‘If Ethiopian paid half the amount it pays expatriate pilots, it would have retained its fleeing pilots’, says a pilot who prefers to stay anonymous due to fear of retalition by EAL for speaking out.
“I feel like am being enslaved” are the exact words of a pilot at Ethiopian Airlines. He continues “We are not allowed to leave the country unless we find other means to exit from Ethiopia like on foot via the Kenyan or Djibouti borders…”. Can you imagine a pilot flying all over the world, regarded as being the lucky few by most for being ‘global citizens’, considers fleeing the country on foot, camouflaged? Isn’t mobility the basic right a human being is endowed, to move around freely, to fulfill his needs and in search of better opportunities? Well EAL doesn’t think so. A pilot trained by Ethiopian has signed up to willingly enslave himself/herself to its master that invested two million birr on him/her. Whether or not he/she pays its debt doesn’t really count. According to EAL, a citizens’ service to its country, as it claims the rationale is behind the ban, is solely decided by the goodwill of its employer. As a ‘wife’ bought with a handful of cows, a tenant subdued by a sack of grain, the fate of a pilot is now decided by the goodwill of EAL. A pilot travelling the world serving its company can only go out of Ethiopia if and when he gets the blessing of its employer, even when he is on vacation or has a personal reason.
There is a better way leaving a job. Or is there?
I am certain that EAL and its CEO have read article 13.2 of the UN declaration of human rights that states “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country”.Is the company testing the waters to form the miniature state of its own following the footsteps of its superiors? Well i am afraid Kim Jong Un is facing a fierce competition to top the table of the ultimate coercion of its subordinates. The pilot who took a detour to Geneva may have seen this coming. I wonder what else is there behind those tightly guarded lines at EAL, a company that is beefing up its muscles at the expense of its employees, the Ethiopians. A company bearing the country’s name and flag has become a brand of social injustice and human indignity. The red ‘Ethiopian’ logo has shamed its people scared off its employees and has become a flag of national humility. Is it really ETHIOPIAN?
ያገሬ ሰዉ ፤ ከቀየዉ ቢሻለኝ ቀን ቢያወጣልኝ ብሎ ነፍሱን ሸጦ የፈለሰበትን ምድር ስም ተይብ ቢባል የሚያስፍራቸዉ ፊደላት ናቸዉ፤ Amarika….ብዬ ብጀምር ማጋነን ይሆንብኛል :: ወገኔ በ Amarika ድህነትን ሊያራግፍ ሀብት ሊሸምት ግዞትን አሽቀንጠሮ ነፃነትን ሊሸክፍ ተስፋን ሰንቆ ከተተ በAmarikaም ከተመ፡፡ ከወገን ኖሮ ከመራብ በሀገር ኖሮ ከመሰደብ በመሸበት አድሮ ከባየተዋር ምድር ጥጋብ እና ክብርን ሽቶ ሮጠ፤ ተሰደደ፡፡ ሆነለት፡፡ የቀን ሶስት ሩብ እየለፋ ከምን እንደተሰራ በማይታወቅ እንጀራ ሆዱን እየነፋ እነ እማማን እነ አባባን እነ ኩቺን እነጢሎን ዶላር ያስመረዝራል፤ ቀን ያወጣላቸዋል፤ ከጎረቤት በላይ ያደርጋቸዋል፡፡ እሱ የመኪና ተራ እያስጠበቀ እነ እማማን እነ ጢሎን ባለጋቢና ያደርጋቸዋል፡፡ ሳይማር አሜሪካ የላከዉን ህዝብ ሳይማር ወግ ያስተምረዋል፡፡ ለነ ኩቺም ያሜሪካ ወንድማቸዉ ከእግዜር በታች ከኦባማ ጎን ነግሶ የትንሽ ስራ መራቂያ ያሜሪካ መናፈቂያ የጎረቤት ማስፈራሪያ ሆኖ ይኖራል፡፡ ወገኔም ይህን ያዉቀዋል፤ ጎረቤታቸዉን እነ ቡለቲን አፍ ማስያዙ ያኮራዋል፡፡ ስራዉን ኑሮዉን ደብቆ የስራ ትንሽ እንደሌለ ቤተሰቡን ይመክራል፡፡ ስለወገኔ ኑሮ ዝርዝር ሁኔታ በስልክም ሆነ ባካል ከሱ ጋር መነጋገር አያስፈልግም የሴት ዕድሜ የሱ ስራ አይጠየቅማ፡፡ የቤቱ ትልቅነት የመኪናዉ ዘመናዊነት በአሜሪካዊዉ ወገኔ በዝርዝር ሊወሳ ይችላል፡፡ ይህ ማለት ግን የሱ ቤት የሱ መኪና ነዉ ማለት ላይሆን ይችላል፤ አይጠየቅም፡፡
ነገ ያቺ ሙሉ ቀን ስትመጣ ከስምንት ሻንጣ ጨርቅ እብድ ከሚያክል ስልክ እና የአሜሪካ ሰንደቅ ካለበት ካኒቴራ ጋር ቦሌ ይደርሳል እነኩቺም ካስራ አምስት ዘመድ አዝማድና ዳጎስ ካለ ብድር ጋር ይቀበሉታል…እንኳን ላፈርህ አበቃህ…ከዛማ የአንድ ወር ቆይታው በፌሽታና በአሜሪካ ኑሮ ትረካ የተሞላ ይሆናል፡፡ እንደዛ ሲሰራ ሲለፋ ለኖረው ወገኔ መዝናናት ሲያንስ ነው::
ችግር፤ ተስፋ ማጣት፤ ፖለቲካ፤ ጭቆና…ብዙ ብዙ ምክንያት ከምንወዳት ሀገራችን ያፈናቅሉናል፤፤ አሜሪካ እንዲሁም ሌሎች የሰለጠነዉ አለም የተሻለ አማራጭ ሆነዉ እናገኛቸዋለን፡፡ ለማንኛዉም ምክንያት ይሁን ሀገር ቀይሮ መኖር የግለሰብ ዉሳኔ ነዉ፡፡ ሊከበርም ይገባዋል፡፡ ይህ እንዳለ ሆኖ ግን የምንሄድበትን ቦታ፤ የምናልመዉን ኑሮ በሚገባ መረዳት ቅድሚያ ሊሰጠዉ የሚገባ ጉዳይ ይመስለኛል፡፡ የተሻለ ለዉጥን መፈለግ ድንቅ ነዉ፡፡ ለመለወጥ ግን ማወቅ ይቀድማል፡፡
አሜሪካን በእንግሊዝኛ ተይብ ቢባል አብዛኛዉ በትክክል እንደሚፅፍ ተስፋ አደርጋለሁ፡፡ ነገር ግን ምን ያህሉ ሊኖርባት የመረጣትን ሀገር ቋንቋ ለመግባቢያ እንኳን በሚጠቅም ደረጃ ያዉቃል ብትሉኝ በጣም ጥቂቱ ይሆናል መልሴ፡፡ የተወሰኑ ቃላትን በአሜሪካዊያን ዘይቤ ይጠራ ይሆናል፡፡ ነገር ግን አንድ ሙሉ አረፍተ ነገር በተሟላ መልኩ ቀምኖ አያቀርብም፡፡ በዚህ አይነት ሁኔታ ታዲያ ከታክሲ ሹፌርነት እና ከመኪና ጠባቂነት ያለፈ ህልም እንዴት ይኖረዋል፡፡ ቀን ሲሞላ ተመልሶ ወይንም በስልክ ስለአሜሪካ ሰማይ ጠቀስ ህንፃዎች እና ህዝብ ገድል ከማዉራት ያለፈ ህልም ልንሰንቅ እንችላለን? ሁሌ ከህንፃዉ ዙሪያ ያሉትን ጥቃቅን ስራዎቸን ሰንሰራ መኖርን ከማለም፤ ለወገናችን የተሳሳተ(ያልተሟላ) መረጃን ከመስጠት፤ ራሳችንን አለአግባብ ከመኮፈስ አልፈን ህንፃዉ ዉስጥ ካሉት ሰዎች ራሳችንን እንደአንዱ የማየት፤ ህንፃዉንም ሆነ ዉስጡ ያሉትን ንግዶች (አገልግሎቶች) የራስ የማድረግ ህልም ቢኖረን ይበዛብናል? አይመስለኝም ከአንድ ድሃ የአፍሪካ ሀገር የሄደ ስደተኛ ልጅን መሪዋ አድርጋ ለመሾም የፈቀደች ሀገር እኛ ከተጋን ትምህቱንም ሆነ ሀብቱን አትከለከንም። ለዚህ ደግሞ ማሳያ የሚሆኑ ወገኖቻችን በዙሪያችን ሞልተዉናል።
ነገር ግን መጀመሪያ መማር ማወቅ ለመለወጥ መዘጋጀት ይቀድማል። አሁን ምንሰበስበው ስምንትና ዘጠኝ ዶላር ለነገው ህልማችን ግብዐት እንጂ ራሳችንን ማታለያ የሀገር ቤት ወገናችንን ማደናበሪያ መሳሪያ መሆን የለበትም።
በነገራችን ላይ ይህ ጽሑፍ በትምህቱም ሆነ በንግዱ ለራሳቸው ስኬታማ ለወገን ኩራት የሆኑትን አይመለከትም። እነሱ በተቃራኒው ለነኩቺ ወንድም ወገኔ ምሳሌዎች ናቸው። በል እንግዲህ ወገኔ ወደ Amarika ስትመለስ መዝገበ ቃላት ስንቅህ ይሁን ከዛ ለሚጥለው ደረጃ ስትበቃ እንማከራለን:: ደህና ሰንብቱ።
ሲ ኤን ኤን እያየሁ ነዉ፡፡ ሚዙሪ በተባለች ግዛት ፈርጉሰን በተሰኘች አነስተኛ ከተማ ስለተፈፀመ ግድያ እና የነዋሪዉን ምላሽ እየዘገበ ነዉ፡፡ ለሳምንት ያህል የክስተቱን አካሄድ አየተከታተልኩ የሀገሬ ፖሊሶች እና አስተዳዳሪዎች ምን አይነት አፀፋዊ ምላሽ ይኖራቸዉ ይሆን ስል ከአእምሮዬ ማህደር የተወሰኑ ትዝታዎችን/ትዉስታዎችን ስቤ ላካፍላችሁ ወደድሁ፡፡ የፈርጉሰን ታሪክ የጽሁፌ መነሻ ሀሳብ እና ክስተቶችን በሩቁ ማነፃፀሪያ እንጂ ዋና ታሪኬ እንዳልሆነ ላሳስብ እወዳለሁ፡፡
ከፈርጉሰን
በቅርብ ጊዜ በአሜሪካ ዉስጥ ፈርጉሰን በተባለች አነስተኛ ከተማ ስለተነሳዉ ብጥብጥ መቼም ሳትሰሙ አትቀሩም፡፡ ወሬዉ በተለያየ ምክንያት ላመለጣችሁ ጉዳዩ እንዲህ ነዉ፡፡ አንድ ጥቁር ወጣት በነጭ ፖሊስ ይገደላል፡፡ የፈርጉሰን ነዋሪዎችም (በተለይ ጥቁሮቹ) ለዘመናት እየተፈፀመብን ያለዉ ዘርን መሰረት ያደረገ ጥቃት ዛሬም አላቆመም ሲሉ ተቃዉሞአቸዉን ይገልፃሉ፡፡ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አደረጉ፤ ከፖሊስ ተጋጩ፤ ላንዱ ሲጨልም ለሌላዉ ይነጋል ነዉና አንዳንድ የእጅ አመለኞችም ሱቃችሁ ከምን ብለዉ ነጋዴዎች ጋር ጎራ ብለዉ ነበር፡፡ ይህ ሁሉ ሲሆን እንግዲህ ፖሊሶቹም ሆነ አስተዳዳሪዎቹ አንዱን ቀን ጠንከር ሌላ ቀን ደግሞ ላላ እያሉ ህዝቡ እንዲረጋጋ በተማፅኖም በቁጣም እሰጣገባዉ እንዲረግብ እየሞከሩ ነዉ፡፡ ጋሽ ኦባማም ካንድም ሁለቴ በቴሌቪዥን መስኮት ብቅ ብለዉ መደረግ ያለበትን ለማድረግ ቃል ገብተዉ፤ የሟችንም ቤተሰብ ነፍስ የማር ብለዋል፡፡
አካሄዱን በተመለከተ የተለያዩ የድጋፍም የነቀፋም አስተያየቶች እየተሰጡ ቢሆንም ከሞላ ጎደል ይህ አንድ ለህዝቡ ግድ የሚለዉ መንግስት የሚፈመዉ ተግባር ነዉ ብዬ አምናለሁ፡፡ እስቲ ደግሞ ወደዋናዉ ጉዳዬ ልግባና እኛ ሀገር በተላያዩ ጊዜያት የተፈጠሩ ክስተቶችንና ምላሻቸዉን ባጭሩ ላስቃኛችሁ፡፡
በትምህርት ተቋማት በኩል…
ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ሰልፍ የወጣሁት ኮሌጅ ሳለሁ ምግብና መኝታ አልተስማማንም በሚል ነበር፡፡ እኛ ተቃዉሞአችንን ሰልፍ በመዉጣት፤ ክፍል ባለመግባት የቅሬታ ደብዳቤ ለኮሌጁ ሀላፊ በማቅረብ ገለፅን፡፡ የተወሰኑ መስታወቶችንም ሰብረናል፡፡ ታዲያ የኮሌጁ አስተዳዳሪዎችና የፖሊስ አፀፋ ምን ሆነ መሰላቸሁ; በወታደር መኪና የታጨቁ ፈጥኖዎች (ወታደሮች) ጊቢዉን ወረሩ፡፡ እጅግ ብዙ ተማሪ እስር ቤት ተወረወረ፡፡ በቀን አንድ ዳቦ እየተወረወረልን ለቀናት መኝት ክፍላች ዉስጥ ለቁም እስር ተዳረግን፡፡ እኔም ‹የምሴን› ‹እንደ እባብ ተራምድ› መሬት ላይ ተብዬ ተንፏቀቅሁ፡፡ ማን ከክፍሌ ዉጣ አለኝ፡፡ ይህ ሳያንስ ምንም ያላደረጉ፤ ተቃዉሞዉ ላይ ያልተሳተፉ ተማሪዎችን ጨምሮ በርካታ የገበሬ ልጆች ወዳጆቼ ከኮሌጁ ተባረሩ፡፡በሬያቸዉን ሸጠዉ የላኩዋቸዉ ወላጆቻቸዉ ጋር ዲግሪ ሳይሆን ቢክ ብዕርና የኮሌጅ ትዝታ ይዘዉ ተመለሱ፡፡ ሰሞኑንም ምንግስት ለ‹ስልጠና› ያስገባቸዉን የከፍተኛ ተቋም ተማሪዎች በተመሳሳይ መልኩ እየተንካበከባቸዉ እንደሆነ ያልተረጋገጠ ወሬ እየሰማን ነዉ፡፡
ወደ አምቦ
አዲስ አበባ አለአግባብ ተነቦራቀቀች፤ መሬታችንን ቀማችን ሲሉ(በሌላም መክንያት ሊሆን ይችላል) ተቃዉሞአቸዉን አሰሙ፡፡ የመልስ ምት…ብዙ ወጣትና አዋቂዎች ተገደሉ (መንግስት 17 አምኗል) ሌሎች ታሰሩ፡፡ አንድ የአይን እማኝ አነዲት ሱቅ ዉስጥ ቸርቻሪ እናትን ‹ምን ተፈጠረ› ቢላቸዉ Hara’aa….sirrii miti (ዛሬ ልክ አይደለም) አሉት፡፡
ያደለዉ አንድ ሰዉ ሲሞትበት ድምፁን አሰምቶ ፍረዱኝ ይላል፡፡ መሪዉ ጆሮ ይሰጠዋል፡፡ እኛ ደግሞ አንድ ሞተ ብለን ወጥተን መቶ ሬሳ ተሸክመን ወደቤታችን እንመለሳለን፡፡ ሌላ መቶ እንዳይሞት ሰግተን ጉዳችን የእናቶች የቡና ጊዜ እና የወጣቶች የድራፍት ወሬ ማድመቂያ ሆኖ ይቋጫል፡፡
ይሄን አሰብኩና ለኛም ቆርጦልን እምቢ የምንልበትን፤ መሪዎቻችን እና ፖሊሱም የሚያስብ አእምሮና የሚራራ ልብ እንዲሰጣቸዉ ፀለይሁ፡፡ እስቲ ከነዚህ አሳዛኝ ወቅቶች በአንዱ ተነሳስቼ ለጠባቂዎቻችን; ለወታደሮቻችን፤ ለመሪዎቻችን የፃፍኳትን ግጥም ልጋብዛችሁ፡፡
የአንገት ቆብ
ማሳዉን ለማረም ደቦ ወጥቶ ወገን
እርሻዉን ለማፅዳት ላይ ታች ሲማስን
ከትጉሃን ጎራ አሻግሬ ስቃኝ
በየጥጋጥጉ መስመር የጠበቁ ብዙ ቆቦች ታዩኝ
ከተኩላዉ ትንኮሳ ሊታደሙን ፈቅደዉ
ዘብ ወጥተዉ ለቆሙት
ከጅቦቹ መንጋ ሊጠብቁን ብለዉ
ከኛዉ ለታደሙት
ትጉህ ወገኖቼ
ምስጋናዬን ልቸር ወዳንዱ ተጠጋሁ
ማንነቱን ልለይ ቆቡን ካረፈበት በድንገት ባነሳዉ
አንገቱን አገኘሁ
Hara’aa….sirrii miti
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Tade
November 14, 2014 at 3:59 pm
King Dorthy, what proof do you have that the article’s statements/assertions are false or inaccurate? I know for a fact that EVERYTHING mentioned in the article is true. How? I’ve worked there. I’ve experienced it. In fact, it leaves out a few other things the company does to force pilots into staying. I won’t get into that here. Why don’t you ask around? You know any pilots? Easy, ask them if the expats earn more. Ask them if the 3 pilots actually had their passports taken at the airport. Ask them if Ethiopian refuses to accept resignations and payments for contractual obligations in order to force pilots to stay. Until you do you’re the one make baseless, unverified statements.
Anonymous
August 20, 2014 at 5:40 pm
I agree with Sisay.
Anonymous
August 20, 2014 at 5:39 pm
I agree with you.
Anonymous
August 19, 2014 at 3:53 pm
In my opinion any one should serve as per his agreement or return the cost sharing money and shall be free.
Gedle
August 19, 2014 at 2:33 pm
This is a very delicate issue. Ethiopian piilots primarily and Ethiopian medical doctor secondarily have been the prey of foreign employers. For a poor country like Ethiopia, this is a very complicated issue. Where does draw the line. Should there be a threshold or should the market determine. A pilot has to have a right for that matter any Ethiopian should have the right. We can talk about all the human right declaration we want but when it comes to national security, any and every country in the world would violate declarations directly and indirectly. How ever most developed countries have no wage problems to retain their pilots. Ethiopian airlines is walking on a sleepery slope. It is lucky upto now because, a pilot in the Ethiopian airlines in better paid than than his/her counterpart in other fields. That is not going to be true in the near future; therefore, Ethiopian airlines has to work hard on alleviating this problem. Expanding a bussiness has many short comings. If a foreign pilot is paid paid way over an Ethiopian pilot and if those two pilots are treated almost equal by other companies, Ethiopian airlines is shooting it’s foot by under paying Ethiopian pilots. This is not. Rebel movement where the foot soldier are fighting for free. This is where Mr. Tewolde, the board of directors and the government should show their leadership.
I am not a pilot. I am not related to anyone who works for the airlines. I am just a concerned citizen who believes in free maket but in some modified regulated form that is carved out for a third world country like Ethiopia. Too much regulation, domination and dictation will riun the company.
webteam
August 19, 2014 at 2:33 pm
This is an Opinion piece, not news.
King Dorthy
August 19, 2014 at 2:01 pm
As to my knowledge, Ethiopian Airlines has its own rules and regulations in managing its own employees. Ethiopian is the icon of Africa and the leading airline in the continent. The pan African airline comes to this level by respecting the right of its own employees. What you are reporting is not even logical……… the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, or art…. Journalism alone is focused first on getting what happened down right…Therefore, please communicate the right information to the public.
Sisay
August 19, 2014 at 1:48 pm
as far as i know pilots are highly paid employees at Ethiopian Airlines. why you guys accuse this company with baseless rumors? i have pilot friends there and none of them complain about their job. in fact they are very busy because of the Airline’s growth and opening up of new routes. but i never heard the fact that they are not allowed to leave the country. this is totally insane. please stop such stupid accusations. let our national pride shine in the skies.