Dictatorship presents 'a far more perilous threat to the survival of Africans than climate change', Alemayehu G. Mariam writes in this week’s Pambazuka News. But with the widespread acknowledgement that global warming ‘could affect Africa disproportionately’, and that the continent is ‘entitled to assistance to overcome the effects of greenhouse emissions caused by the industrialised countries’, Mariam argues that its dictators ‘are using global warming as their new preferred ideology behind which they can hide and ply their trade of corruption'.

Following last week's Great Ethiopian Run, Alemayehu G. Mariam discusses an event that is more an act of mass civil disobedience than a running race. Drawing inspiration from Nelson Mandela's success in embarking on a continuous 'long walk to freedom' in South Africa, Mariam stresses that through undertaking its own marathon, Ethiopia will one day complete a route towards freedom, democracy and human rights.

In the wake of the May 2005 Ethiopian parliamentary elections, paramilitary forces under the command of Meles Zenawi orchestrated the massacre of 193 innocent men, women and children and wounded a further 763 people involved in civil protest, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. Ignoring the efforts of the country's regime to besmirch their memory, Ethiopians must honour these victims of oppression as patriots, Mariam stresses, and recognise their sacrifices as profound inspiration for future generations.

Western governments continue to support Meles Zenawi’s dictatorship because they believe that there is ‘no alternative in the opposition’, Alemayehu G. Mariam writes in this week’s Pambazuka News. But not only could this diplomatic mindset have ‘devastating consequences on Ethiopia’ by providing the moral justification for totalitarianism and a police state, it also makes the West complicit in the sufferings of the Ethiopians under Zenawi’s government, Mariam argues.

While Ethiopia endures a devastating famine, Meles Zenawi's regime has been 'downplaying and double-talking' around the crisis, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. Despite confident assertions of its ability to work towards tackling food shortages through its Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, the regime remains painfully incapable of developing a system to protect its population, the author stresses.

Ethiopia’s aspirations for a fair and free election in 2010 depend on whether the country’s government agrees to and abides by an election code based on respect for the rule of law and human rights, Alemayehu G. Mariam writes in Pambazuka News. An election code of conduct forged through ‘a consensus of all the political parties and administered by an independent and impartial electoral commission could go a long way to ensure a peaceful, fair and free election in 2010,’ writes Mariam, or it could simply ‘end up being the old zero-sum game the regime has played for the past two decades’ in a different guise.

With the ruling OPDO/EPDRF (Oromo People's Democratic Organization/Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front) presiding over an extensive security and media network entirely in its own interests, Ethiopia's 2010 elections appear likely to be far from 'free and fair', writes Alemayehu G. Mariam in this week's Pambazuka News. Commenting on a recent report composed by Dr Negasso Gidada following a visit to Dembi Dollo in the Oromia region, Mariam stresses that while there is no reason why Ethiopia could not hold open elections, political realities on the ground will ensure the exact opposite is true.

Alemayehu G. Mariam calls our attention to the dire state of the healthcare sector in Ethiopia. His account is based on and inspired by an article from Hanna Ingber Win, the world editor of the Huffington Post who has reported on the Ethiopian malaise. This well-informed article also draws on data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and comes to shocking conclusions about the healthcare situation in the country. Mariam calls us to action on this issue and argues that there is hope for ending child malnutrition and poor maternal and child health in Ethiopia, provided we ‘work together in unity – with malice towards none and charity for all’.

Saluting the contribution of Ethiopia's 'patriot-soldiers', Alemayehu G. Mariam commends the courage, patriotism and resilience displayed by the country's defenders in this week's Pambazuka News.

Ethiopia has been ruled for too long by a dictator who mocks all Ethiopians with puppet elections, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam in this week's Pambazuka News. While Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi talks about the 'moral and prudent' need for a 'single negotiating team' for Africa on climate change, the same demands could easily be made around ensuring a genuinely democratic election in 2010. But if democratic progress is to be achieved in Ethiopia, the author concludes, pro-democracy forces need to draw on the successes of the 2005 election, and not simply support Meles's party's pseudo-participation and 'silly little game of "elections"'.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's refusal to accept the findings of a recent International Crisis Group (ICG) study on his country smacks of a basic contempt for the truth, argues Alemayehu G. Mariam in this week's Pambazuka News. Ethiopia's 'ethnic federalism' policy has proven itself to be of dubious value, the author argues, and is ultimately highly divisive in its politicisation of power, representation and resources along ethnic lines. If it wants to achieve genuine representation and a vibrant democracy, Ethiopia's would do well to follow Ghana's example as a strong and functioning federal system, Mariam concludes.

Before Meles Zenawi starts campaigning for reparations from the West for climate change, perhaps he ought to start closer to home by offering compensation to the families affected by industrial pollution in Ethiopia’s Lake Koka, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam in this week’s Pambazuka News.