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Back to the crossroads of coffee and politics


I'm back ... after making a swift detour through the treacherous and brutal roads of Ethiopian politics to deliver a message to the government of Ethiopia and our donors.

At a time when the majority of Ethiopians are struggling for sheer survival, a few well-connected rascals are bleeding the country by misusing their powers and engaging in corrupt and fraudulent activities. As the Prime Minister himself told the public during his most recent appearance at the parliament, his government is infested by corrupt individuals ("thieves," to use his own words). Whereas, the general public - the millions who are languishing under the systemic oppression and exploitation - feel in despair that they have been let down by everyone, including the Prime Minister, who touts "economic development" and seriously doubt the sincerity of the Prime Minister's tough talk about fighting corruption.

Corruption is not a new phenomenon in the country. The only difference now is that it has just gotten worse to a point where I could not stand it any longer. That is what forced me to step out of my comfort zone to inform the government that it is widely perceived by the public as the source of the problems and needs to do something about it, now.

The people in power have long been accustomed to listening to their own voices ever since the government machinery forced the budding free press, independent judiciary, and civic organizations into extinction. So, I made use of one of the many ammunitions that ECX provided to send a clear message. Unfortunately, ECX itself ended up being caught in the crossfire again when it responded to my article and I had to deliver another unequivocal message on behalf of millions of Ethiopians.

I intend to follow through and pitch in what I can do, but for now, I am back to learning about coffee and documenting the progression of happenings or mishaps in Ethiopia's coffee sector. Currently, this sector is in a mess and I plan to write about the problems and offer some ideas that I believe will help resolve some of them with minimal efforts by the government and donors.

In the mean time, I invite you to read this interesting essay where ECX's CEO frankly recounts the journey to commoditizing Ethiopia's specialty coffee.

- Wondwossen
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