Since 2000, Ethiopia has been working to come out of social crises, modernise itself and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Although provided with billions of dollars by the West and their international agents, little has been changed and the crises seem never to abate, especially in the educational system. This study, thus, critically analysed a paradox of Ethiopia's educational problems: the crisis in teachers' EFL proficiency, on the one hand, and the discourses of international aids and transformation of her educational system, on the other. The main participants are 25 randomly selected EFL teachers and teacher educators from all corners of the country. Qualitative data were collected through questionnaire and participant observation. Reflective constant-comparative method of data analysis was employed. The results show that the problem of "poor" English proficiency is the effect of poor living and working conditions arising from dictatorial policy-practices spearheaded by agents of the local state and, partly, of the donor states themselves.