This was originally posted in Facebook by an Ethiopian visitor to Asmara. It is consistent with another report by an Ethiopian journalist and presents an unblemished report of Asmara, far different from the paid come-and-see propaganda pieces organized by the Government of Eritrea over the last three years. The Government’s invitation to “come and see” has been accepted, and this is what reality looks like:
To tell the truth, Asmara and Eritrean towns are not what I expected. Asmara doesn’t live up to its reputation. Eritrean brothers, please don’t be upset: but the difference between Asmara and Mekele is that of the ground and the sky. Admittedly, Mekele is lacking in the cuteness and endearment Asmara enjoys. And their (Asmarans) level of consciousness surpasses ours.
What is amazing is that in Eritrea all you hear is “it’s not allowed.” There is one thing that is allowed, which I will tell you at the conclusion of this write-up.
* building homes is not allowed;
* selling homes is not allowed;
* except for few who are licensed, nobody is allowed to import materials, for example, cars;
* owning (having at hand) more than 5,000 Nakfa is not allowed;
* There is no such thing as internet via mobile phones. There are a couple wifi hot spots; you pay 20 nakfa for it, and you are allowed a maximum of one hour;
* Mobile phone access cards are not sold in the market; they are sold only at EriTel, after waiting in line;
* SIM cards are not available to everyone; only those who have graduated from Sawa training camp [National Service] can purchase it for 350 Nakfa;
* Setting up [traditional] wedding and consolation tents on the streets of Asmara is not allowed;
* With some exceptions, shop owners must close their shops after 7:00 pm. If you break this ordinance, the municipality will abuse you;
* After 10 pm, only those with moving permits are allowed to walk around the city;
* No Eritrean is allowed to discuss what I am writing here;
* Anyone who wants internet access must go to an internet cafe: no mobile data;
* There are no ATM machines….and this for 5,000 Nakfa?
Etc, etc. Brothers, please, I am not writing this to anger or antagonize Eritrean brothers; it is just their administration puzzles me. In relation to this, Tigrayan Ethiopians: what level of development do you think are we at? On my side, I now believe the “Ethiopia is annually registering double-digit growth” claims.
Let me add one more thing: I heard that there are times when there is no electric light for 3 months and no electric ovens.
The one I told you is permitted–something that we Ethiopians are not allowed to do: any Eritrean is allowed to smoke anywhere.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The original as it appeared in Tigrinya:
ብAlazar Nollawi ዝተፅሓፈ
ትዕዝብትታት ኣብ ኣስመራ
ሓቂ ዘረባ ኣስመራ ይኹን ከተማታት ኤርትራ ከምዝተፀበኹን ኣይፀንሓንን ኣሥመራ እውን ከምዝውረየላ ኣይኮነትን፡፡ ኤርትራውያን ኣሕዋትና ቅር ኣይበልኩም እምበር መቀለን ኣስመራን ሰማይን መሬትን እዩ ፍልልየን፡፡ ብሓቂ መቀለ ሽኮርን ፃዕዳን ይውሕዳ፡፡ እንተ ንቅሓቶም ግን ዓፂፎምና እዮም
ዝገረመኒ ኣብ ኤርትራ ኩሉ ኣይፍቀድን ክብሉ ኢኻ ትሰምዕ ሓንቲ ነገር ኣላ ጣራሕ ትፍቀድ ኣብ መወዳእታ እዛ ፅሑፍ ኣላትኩም
ከምይ ጌሮም ከ ክምዕብሉ
# ገዛ ምስራሕ ኣይፍቀድን
#ገዛ ምሻጥ ኣይፍቀድን
# ብዜካ ውሱናት ፍቃድ ዝተወሃቦም ዝኾነ ሓዱሽ ንብረት ካብ ደገ ምእታው ኣይፍቀድን ንኣብነት መኪና
# ካብ 5000 ናቅፋ ንላዕሊ ምውናን ኣይፍቀድን
# ሞባይል ኢንተርኔት ዝበሃል ኣይፍለጥን: ሓደ ክልተ Wifi ኣለዋ 20 ናቅፋ ከፊልካ ትጥቀም 1ሰዓት ጥራሕ እያ ትፍቀድ
# ሞባይል ካርዲ ኣብ ዝኾነ ድኳን ክሽየጥ ኣይፍቀድን ኣብ eritel ጥራሕ መስርዕ ሒዝካ
# ዝኾነ ሰብ sim card ክሕዝ ኣይፍቀደሉን፡፡ ሳዋ ሰልጢኑ ታሴራ ምስተዋሃቦ ጥራሕ ዋጋ ሲም min ዋጋ 350 ናቅፋ
# ኣብ ጎደናታት ኣስመራ ናይ መርዓ ይኹን ሓዘን ዳስ ምስራሕ ኣይፍቀድን
#ብዜካ ውሱናት ዝተፈቀደሎም ካብ 1:00 ናይ ምሸት ንደሓር ሹቅ ክዕፆ ኣለዎ፡፡ እንተተረኺብካ መፃወቲ ሙንቹቤ…..
#ካብ 4:00 ሰዓት ናይ ምሸት ንደሓር ዝኾነ ሰብ ኣብ ከተማ ክንቀሳቀስ ኣይፍቀደሉን መንቀሳቀሲ ወረቀት ዘለዎም ጥራሕ
# እዚ ዝፅሕፎ ዘለኹ ፅሑፍ ዋላ ሓደ ኤርትራዊ ንዝኾነ ሰብ ክዛረብ ኣይፍቀደሉን፡፡
# ኢንተርኔት ክጥቀም ዝደለየ ኣብ እንዳ ኢንተርኔት ብኮምፒተር ጥራሕ No mobile data
# ATM ዝበሃል ኣይፍለጥን…. ን5000?
ወዘተ ወዘተ…..ኣሕዋት ሓደራ እዚ ዝተዓዘብኩዎ እቲ ምሕደራ ስለዘገመለይ ደኣምበር ንኤርትራውያን ኣሕዋት ከነኣእስ ወይ ከነፃፅር ኢለ ኣይኮንኩን፡፡በዝኾነ ብኸምዚ ተጋሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ኣበይ ደረጃ ምዕባለ ኣለና ትብሉ? በወገነይ እቲ ኢትዮጵያ በቢዓመቱ ክልተ ዲጂት ምዕባለ ተምዝግብ ኣላ ዝበሃል ኣሚነሉ፡፡
ሓንቲ ክውስኸልኩም
# መብራህቲ ክሳብ 3 ወርሒ ሙሉእ ዝጠፍአሉ እዋናት ኣሎ ኢሎምና፡፡ ኤሌክትሪክ ምድጃ ኣይፍቀድን፡፡
እታ ትፍቀድ ዝበልኩኹም ከኣ ኣባና ኣይትፍቀድን ንዝኾነ ኤረትራዊ ግን ይፍቀዶ ንሳ ከኣ ኣብ ዝኾነ ቦታ ሽጋራ ምትካኽ ፍቁድ እዩ፡፡
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2 Comments
🙂 and u believe this? ካብ በሃሊኡ ደጋሚኡ ዶ በሉ Lol!
#ካብ 4:00 ሰዓት ናይ ምሸት ንደሓር ዝኾነ ሰብ ኣብ ከተማ ክንቀሳቀስ ኣይፍቀደሉን መንቀሳቀሲ ወረቀት ዘለዎም ጥራሕ
[Yes, Ethiopian time telling. When an Ethiopian says 4:00 he means 10:00. Always + or – 6 hours]
The author has one good point worth pondering — ubiquitous smoking. However, he also should mention or know one good start— tobacco is now contraband and no longer manufactured locally. Everything else he said is mute, especially to a privileged non-Eritrean like him.
Check out below a comedian from Tigray describing Mekele with sarcasm. He focuses on the different types of beggars, robbers, shoe-shiners and last but not least, the 10 different types of prostitutes. This is in addition to the qat/hashish and shisha lounges that has engulfed not just Mekele but entire Tigray region like a wild fire. This sad reality remains a PIPE-DREAM in Asmara and hope it stays that way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjik3lnEGYo