Organized Plunder (Amharic Edition)

Aklog Birara’s new book, Organized Plunder, is about poor, exclusionary and corrupt political and economic governance in Ethiopia, the author’s ancestral home. Ethiopia is home to one of the world’s most ancient civilizations and is the first Christian nation-state. The source of the Nile River, the longest in the world, Ethiopia is also the second most populous country in Africa. Yet, this ancient land is among the world’s’ poorest, “un-freest and hungriest” nations in the world. It should not be. Ethiopia receives ample rainfall and possesses untapped potential for irrigated farming to achieve food security and self-sufficiency. Unfortunately, close to forty billion dollars in aid later since 1991 - it is the largest foreign aid recipient in Africa and one of the largest in the world - and is still one of the poorest countries on the planet. The reason for this dire condition is poor, repressive and corrupt governance. The country has lost billions of dollars in illicit outflow.