In an exclusive interview, Minister Redwan Husien told Horn Affairs that the government intends to take an active role to strengthen the print press industry. Redwan indicated the issues under consideration include the printing cost, the paper supply, the access to start-up capital and the circulation system.
He claimed that the state media’s coverage of opposition parties is fair even by western 
standards. He further argued that the level of media coverage cannot be cited as a cause for the weakness of opposition parties, as a political grouping’s strength depends on the relevance of its agenda and grass-root work.
Redwan emphatically rejected claims that the leadership is divided after frm. PM Meles Zenawi’s passing, citing the organizational culture of the ruling party and how smoothly the system functioned in the past year.
Asked to comment on EU MP Ana Gomez recent remarks to local media, the Minister snubbed it as a wishful thinking. Adding that:
“This is a lady who was celebrating the passing of Meles Zenawi while Ethiopians were grieving. Considering that it wouldn’t be surprising she claims EPRDF is divided. Her remarks on the local media were befitting for a dangerous vagrant from a Portuguese ghetto rather than for someone from an institution like EU. We don’t think she made any statement worth quoting.”
The Minister dismissed rumors regarding the Ethio-Sudan border as a politically motivated one intended to arouse emotions. He explained the Ethio-Sudan border commission was established during the reign of Emperor Haileselasie and has been in works since then. The government has not given away any parcel of land, nor did it sign any agreement to that effect.
In the interview with Horn Affair’s Daniel Berhane; Redwan responded to a wide-range of questions, such as: On when Ethiopia will cede Badme to Eritrea and if there is a plan to swap it with Assab; On Ana Gomez’s recent remark that there is power struggle; On whether the number of Prime Ministerial advisers indicates a weak Prime Minister and fragmented leadership; On whether the federalism can survive a post-EPRDF era; On criticisms that the government didn’t commemorate Emperor Menilik’s centennial; On the possibility of pardon for those convicted and in trial on terror charges(in light of the government’s refusal to petitions of two prisoners); On what the purpose of his office is and its relevance in a democratic system.
You may watch below the four videos of the interview.
[For readers with slower connection, we will publish small size versions and/or the text excerpts as soon as possible].
Interview with Redwan: Part 1 – On the Prime Minister’s advisors, On leadership unity & Ana Gomez’s remark.
Interview with Redwan: Part 2 – On post-EPRDF Ethiopia, On Ethio-Sudan border, On Badme and Assab
Interview with Redwan: Part 3 – On opposition parties’ access to media; On the state of the private press and the government’s role
Interview with Redwan: Part 4 – On Emperor Menilik; On pardon for journalists and Awollia movement leaders; On opposition parties’ right to demonstration.
Please do publish the text! that would be really good… thanks!
WHAT THE HELL IS Aga’zian? ጤና ይስጥልኝ የኔ ወንድም! LANGUAGE OR RELEGION IS NOT A MATTER SO FAR IT IS NOT USED TO BE AS AN INSTURMENT TO DIVIDE ONE ASSOCIETED PEPLE OR TO ERADICATE AN OLD COUNTRY WITH SPECFIC AND DIVERSE TRADITIONS OR CULTURES FORM THE EARTH FOR THE SAKE OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL POWER . LANGUAGE IS ONLY A SYSTEM OF COMMINICATION እንጂ የአንድ ጎሳ መለያ አይደለም: ሃይማኖትም የግል ነው:: ቢሆንም : ብዙ ኢትዮያውያን ልብዙ ሺ አመታት ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ እያወረሱ ያቆዩት የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶቅስ/ ቤተ ክርስትያን አንዱ የኢትዮጵያዊነት መግለጫ ሆኖ ቢጠቀስ ምን ችግር አለው??
IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE WHO INFECTED WITH TRIBALISM, WHAT CAN I TELL YOU ABOUT ETHIOPIANISM? HERE GO! ACCORDING TO YOUR LANGUAGE I´M TGIRE. I´M OROMO. I´M AMAHRA. WHY? BECAUSE: ኣያቶቼ አባቴ እናቴ በቅደም ተከተል ትግርኛ ኦሮሚኛ አማርኛ ስለሚናገሩ እኔ ደግሞ ትግረኛ እና ኦሮሚኛ ትንሽ ቢገባኝም አማርኛ ስለምችል: እኔ ለራሴ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ ብዬ አምናለው::
አንድ/አንዲት መንገድ ላይ የማውቀው/ቃት ወይም የማላቀው/ቃት አበሻ ሲያጋጥመኝ ቀረብ ብዬ ሲመችም ትንሽ አቀፍ አርጌ ስላም! ታዲያስ? ለማለት ፍላጎት አለኝ: እኔ እንደምረዳው ኢትዮጵያዊነት ስሜት ስለሚሰማኝና ኢትዮጵያዊ ሰው የኢትዮጵያ ልጅ የሃገሬ ልጅ ነው ውይም አለ ብዬ ስለማምን::
በአጋጣም የኢትዮጵያ ዘፈን በኦሮሚኛ በትግርኛ በአማርኛ በጉራግኛ ወላይታ አፋርና ሱማልኛ አኟክ ወይም በምንኛ እንኳን እንደሆን ባልውቅም እንደስማው ወዲያው ቶሎ የሚያስታውሰኝ አርንጓዴ ብጫ ቀይ ባንዲራችንን ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የሚገኙ የተለያዩ ቦታዎችና የኢትዮጵያ የተፈጥሮ ገጽታዎችን እና የተለያዩ የብሄረሰቦች አጨፋፈርና አለባበስን የተለያዩ ያገር ትዝታዎችና ስሜቶች: ማይክል ጃክሰን ስያንጎራጉር ቢውል FOR SURE የሚፈጥረው ስሜት አንድ አይደለም:: ይህ የሚያሳየው ኢትዮጵያ ኢትዮጵያዊነት የሚባል ነገር በእርግጥ እንዳለ ነው::
እንጀራ ዶሮ ወጥ ክትፎ ጨጨብሳ እና የመሳስሉትን ልዩ ምግቦች ማንም በአለም ላይ ያለ ሰው ኪኢትዮጵያ ጋር እንጂ ከሌላ ከማንም አገር ጋር አይደለም የሚያገናኘው::
የግዝ የአማርኛ ፊደሎችን ኢትዮጵያ ብቻ ነች የምትጠቀመው ( ለግዜው የኤርትራን ጉዳይ በጎን እናስቀምጠው አና: ለኔ ኤርትራ የኢትዮጵያ አካል ነች): ስለዚህ ፊደል ለምን የኢትይጵያዊነት መግለጫ ሊሆን እንደማይችል ምንም አይነት ምክንያት አይታየኝም::
ህዝብን አፍኖ ረግጦ በቋንቋና በእምነት በመከፋፈል ለዘላለም ቆራጭና ፈላጭ አምባገነን ሖኜ እየገዛው እኖራለሁ ብሎ የሚያምነው ወያኔ: የቡድንን ነጻነት አስከብራለው እድገት አመጣለው በሚል ሰበብ የኢትዮጵያን ሕልውና አደጋው ውስት በመክተት ለሆዱ ካመቸውም ኢትዮጵያዊነትንና የኢትዮጵያን ታሪክ ጥያቄ ውስጥ በማስገባት የኢትዮጵያን ምድርና ድንበር ለባእድ ለመሸጥ ወደሗላ የማይለውን የተለያዩ ጎሳዎችን እና የተለያዩ እምነት ተከታዮችን የሆነ ምክንያት በመፍጠር እርስ በርስ እንዲጋጩ አይኑን የማያሽ የገዢው አባላትንና ተከታዮቹ ን ኢትዮጵያዊ ናቸው ኢትዮጵያዊነት ስሜት አላቸው ብሎ ለማመንም የምያስቸግርውም ለዚህ ነው::
I guess for “ጦጵያ” Ethiopianism means speaking “only” Amharic, be an orthodox christian and bow down to the Solomonic dynasty. Presumably, he may also have few more criteria that commoners like me won’t understand 🙂
Thanks Danny boy! You did such a great job bringing important issues out to answer (in first hand) some of the questions we have in mind. Great start and I hope to see you become one of the leading media in the arena, in near future. I also liked the way you brought your personal blog to a media that East-Afro issues are discussed. I just have one minor comment. I don’t see any link leading to an email that you can be reached to anyone who may be interested to pass info out to you. It may be there, and just my weak eyes 🙂
It was also great seeing you over the video. I thought you were taller than that 🙂 and I hope you know that you speak too fast 🙂
Kebret Yehabeley, Zehawey!
ዳንኤል ላነሳሃችው ትያቄዎች ላመሰግንህ እውዳለው:: እስቲ ወደፊት ስለኢትዮጵያዊነትና የኢትዮጵያዊነት ስሜት ምን እንደሚምስል በአንተ አስተያየት ለማቅረብ ወይም ሌላውን ወያኔ ለመጠየቅ ሞክር::
የወያኔ ብድን አባላት ኢትዮጵያዊያኖችና የኢትዮጵያዊነት ስሜት አላችው ብዬ ለማመን በምንም አይነት መልኩ ቢሆን አልችለም:: የኢትዮጵያ አምላክ እንዚህን የተርገሙ ሰዎች እንዲያጠፋልን ብቻ ነው የምለምነው::
Great job, Daniel i really enjoyed with it.
very nice. Since we talk about these issues on social media , i don’t need to comment on the comments. But i really enjoyed listening to your questions and Redwans response.
Dear Daniel, you did a good job of interviewing Ato Radwan Hussien.
I enjoyed the interview.
Please keep gathering hot and timely questions from social media, and ask concerned bodies in the governement.
Challenge them. Show us an interview better than ETV.
DEATH TO WOYANE!!!!!!!!!