Thursday, April 4, 2013

የሌንጮ ለታ አዲሱ ትግል – እንዴት?

“ከእንግዲህ የቀድሞው መንገድ አይሰራም”

odfላለፉት አርባ ዓመታት ለኦሮሞ ህዝብ ነጻነት ሲታገል የቆየው ኦነግ አመራሮቹ ሲጣሉና ሲታረቁ መስማት የተለመደ ነው። የግለሰብ ጸብ የሚመስለው የድርጅት በሽታ ሲንጠው የቆየው ኦነግ በውል ባይታወቅም ተሰነጣጥቆ ለሰሚው ግራ የሚያጋባ ድርጅት ከሆነም ዓመታት ተቆጥረዋል። ስህተትን ገምግሞ የትግል አቅጣጫና ፕሮግራም ከመቀየር ይልቅ ጊዜው ባለፈበት አስተሳሰብ ባለበት ሲረግጥ እድሜውን የፈጀ ድርጅት እንደሆነ ተደርጎም ይወሰዳል።
ስለ ኦነግ ሲነሳ አብዛኞች በመገረም የሚናገሩትና ሚዛን የሚደፋው አስተያየት የሚሰነዘረው በድርጅቱ መከፋፈልና መበጣጠስ ሳይሆን ተለያይተውም አስመራን የሙጥኝ ያሉበት ምክንያት ነው። ኢህአዴግ ህጻን እያለ ሻዕቢያ እንዳሻው ይነዳው እንደነበር የሚያስታውሱ አስተያየት ሰጪዎች ከሽግግር መንግስት ምስረታ በኋላ ኦነግ አገር ለቆ እንዲወጣ መንገዱን የጠረገው ሻዕቢያ መሆኑንን በቁጭት ይናገራሉ።
ኢህአዴግ ለስልጣን አዲስ በሆነበት የጨቅላነት ዘመኑ፣ ኦነግ በታሪኩ ያልነበረውን ሰራዊት በመገንባት አስጨንቆት እንደነበር በመጠቆም በወቅቱ አስተያየት የሰጡ ኢህአዴግ በተለይም መለስ በሻዕቢያ በኩል ኦነግን ለመታረቅ አቅርበውት የነበረውን የሽምግልና ጥያቄ ኦነግ እንዳይቀበል ሰሚ ባያገኙም በአጽዕኖት ምክራቸውን ሰጥተው ነበር።
በኦነግ ታጣቂ ሃይሎችና በኢህአዴግ ሰራዊት መካከል እኩል ሊባል በሚችል ደረጃ የጡንቻ መፈታተን ነበር። ደርግ ሲበታተን ኦነግን የተቀላቀሉ የቀድሞው የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት አካላት ወያኔን የማዳፋት አቅሙ ነበራቸው። በወቅቱ የንስር ያህል ጉልበትና ሃይል ቢኖራቸውም ራሳቸውን ጫጩት አድርገው ተመለከቱ። አዲስ አበባ ሲገቡ የነበራቸውን የህዝብ ድጋፍ አራግፈው ጣሉት። በስሜት እየተነዱ ከሚወዷቸው ሁሉ ተቀያየሙ። ህወሃት አጋጣሚውን ለቅስቀሳና ለስም ማቆሸሻ ሰራበት። በስተመጨረሻ ኦነግ ሃይሉንና አቅሙን ዘንግቶ በአመራር ችግርና በአቋም ሸውራራነት ሃይሉን በሙሉ ወደ ካምፕ በማስገባት የኢህአዴግን የእርቅ ጥያቄ ተቀበለ። ሰራዊቱን እየነዳ በፈቃደኛት አሳሰራቸው።
በሻዕቢያ አደራዳሪነት ሁርሶ፣ ደዴሳና መስኖ የገባው ሰራዊት “በደባ” ተከቦ ትጥቁን እንዲፈታ ተደረገ። አብጦ የነበረው የኦነግ ጡንቻ በቅጽበት ከሰመ፤ ሰለለ። ኦነግ ሲቆጣጠራቸው የነበሩትን ቦታዎች ለማስተዳደርና በኦህዴድ ለመተካት ኢህአዴግ እንደ እባብ ተሹለክልኮ ዓላማውን አሳካ። ሻዕቢያም በዚሁ ውለታው ኢትዮጵያንና ኢኮኖሚዋን ብሎም የኢትዮጵያን ስነልቦና እንዳሻው እንዲጋልብ ተፈቀደለት። ብዙ አሻጥር ተፈጠረ፤ ተፈጸመም። ደንዳና ቆዳ ያላት ኢትዮጵያና ህዝቧ ተቦጠቦጡ። ተዘረፉ። አንድ እግር የቡና ተክል የሌላት ኤርትራ ቡና ላኪ ከሚባሉት ቀዳሚ አገራት ዝርዝር ውስጥ ተሰለፈች። አፈርን።
“አገሬን ከወራሪ አጸዳሁ” በማለት ከበሮ እየመታ ጦርነት አልቋል ብለው እጅ የሰጡ የወገን ወታደሮችን የረሸነው ሻዕቢያ ኢትዮጵያንም ያስተዳድር ጀመር። ዛሬ የሚማልባቸውና “ውርሳቸውን ሳናዛባ እናስጠብቃለን” የሚባልላቸው አቶ መለስ እንደ ባዕድ መሪ የኢትዮጵያን ክብርና ጥቅም ለሻዕቢያ አሳልፈው ሰጡ። የሻዕቢያ ታጣቂዎችና ኢትዮጵያ አብልታ ያሳደገቻቸው ጎረቤቶቻችን ሳይቀሩ ናጠጡብን። በየደጃቸው መሳሪያ ወደላይ እየተኮሱ በደስታ ውለታ ባስቀመጠችላቸው አገር ላይ ተሳለቁ። ምስኪኖችን ቤት እያስለቀቁ ወረሱ። የሌላቸውን ሃብትና ንብረት ሰበሰቡ። በኤርትራ ምድር በግፍ ለተረሸኑ የኢትዮጵያ ልጆች ተከራካሪ ጠፋና የሞት ሞት ሞቱ። አገራችን የግፈኞች መፈንጫ እንድትሆን መለስ በበረገዱት በር የገባው ሻዕቢያ ከርሱ ሲጎድል፣ “ልክህን እወቅ” የሚሉ ሲነሱ፣ ስርዓት ያዝ ሲባል ደሙ ተንተከተከና የሃይደር ህጻናትን በጠራራ ጸሃይ በላቸው። ትግራይን ወረረ። ሲሰርቁ ኅብረት የነበራቸው ሲከፋፈሉ ተጣሉና አገር ውርደት ገባው።
ይህንኑ ተከትሎ አገር አልበቃ ብሏቸው የነበሩና ወያኔን ሲያገለግሉ የነበሩ ቅጥረኞች የሰበሰቡትን ሳይበሉ ወደ “ከባርነት ናፅነት” ብለው ድምጻቸውን ወደሰጡላት “እናት አገራቸው ኤርትራ” ተጋዙ። ንብረታቸውን በትነው አገር ለቀው ወጡ። ከነጻነት በኋላ “ታይላንድ ትሆናለች፣ ሲንጋፖር ትሆናለች፤ ሆንግኮንግ ትሆናለች” በተባለላት አገራቸው ለመኖር ተገደዱ። ዳቦ ተሰልፈው ለመግዛት ታደሉ። ኬክ በለመደው፣ ቁርጥ በቆርጠው፣ “ሹካ ባስለመደው” እጃቸው ይድሁበት ገቡ። ወታደር ሆኑ። የሰገዱለትና ቅጥረኛ ሆነው ያገለገሉት ህወሃት መልሶ በረሃ በተናቸው። የሚያሳዝነው ግን ኤርትራዊያን ከየመንደሩ ተለቅመው ወደ አገራቸው ሲሄዱ የአዲስ አበባ ነዋሪዎች አውቶቡስ ከብበው ደረት እየመቱ ያለቅሱላቸው ነበር። ደብቀው ያስቀሩዋቸውም አሉ። ጨርቃቸውን ጥለው አውቶቡስ እንዳይነሳ በፍቅር አምላክ የተንፈራፈሩ ነበሩ። ሁኔታውን የሚያስታውሱ ድርጊቱን “የሞኝ” ተግባር አድርገው ሲወሰዱት ሌሎች ደግሞ “ክፉ ላደረገብህ ክፉ አትመልስ” የሚለው ግብረገብነት የገባቸው የፈጸሙት የጀግንነት ተግባር ነው በማለት የአዲስአበባ ነዋሪዎችን የመንፈስ ልዕልና ያደንቃሉ፡፡
ይህ ከመሆኑ በፊት ጀምሮ ኦነግ ሻዕቢያን ሲለማመነውና እግሩን ሲልሰው የኖረ ድርጅት ዛሬ ድረስ ተበጣጥሶም እዛው አስመራ አምልኮ ደጅ ይገኛል። ከአመት ዓመት ያለ ለውጥ እዛው ይንፏቀቃል። እንደሚሰማው ከሆነ ወታደሮቹ የሻዕቢያ አግልጋዮች ሆነዋል። አመራሮቹም ቢሆኑ አስመራን ለቀው የመውጣትና እንዳሻቸው የመንቀሳቀስ መብት የላቸውም። በዚህም ይሁን በሌላ መነሻ ኤርትራ በከተሙት የተለያዩ የኦነግ ሃይሎች ላይ ከያቅጣጫው ስሞታ መቅረብ ከጀመረ ሰንብቷል። ኤርትራን ለቀው መውጣት አለባቸው የሚለው የኦሮሞ ልጆች ድምጽም በርክቷል። ጥያቄው አያሌ ፖለቲካዊ ማብራሪያ የሚጠይቅና አማራጭ መፍትሄ የሚያሻው ቢሆንም ኤርትራ ውስጥ አሉ በሚባሉ ታጣቂ ተቃዋሚዎች ያልተማረሩና ያልተሰላቹ ቢኖሩ አፍቃሪ ሻዕቢያዎች ወይም ራሳቸው የሻዕቢያ ሰዎች ወይም በማወቅም ሆነ ባለማወቅ የሻዕቢያን ዓላማ የሚያስፈጽሙ ብቻ ናቸው።

Ethiopia’s Quest for Deeper Water

by Giordano Cossu
The Epoch Times

The dry season is at its peak in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, and due to scarcer rains, a new food and water emergency looms. With the 2011 famine in memory, the Ethiopian government, the people, and aid organizations search for water anywhere they can find it. Will these efforts be enough to fight increasing insecurity due to climate change?
A woman fetches water in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. (Giordano Cossu)
A woman fetches water in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. (Giordano Cossu)
GOGTI, Ethiopia—A man stands on the slope of a 13-foot-wide crater in the middle of a dry, sandy riverbed. He throws a 1.3-gallon cask of muddy water up to his friend at the surface with a gesture resembling that of a basketball player.
This is not a game, however, but part of the life-saving daily search for water in the Horn of Africa (a peninsula that juts out into the Arabian Sea).
Smaller and larger watering holes like this one are a common sight in the Somali Region of eastern Ethiopia. The region
Men extract water from a pit in Gogti, Somali Region, Ethiopia.
Men extract water from a pit in Gogti, Somali Region, Ethiopia. (Giordano Cossu)
was classified once again as being in a “food shortage crisis” last January, and in the latest reports the area at risk has expanded further.
The vast region, half the size of France, is squeezed between Somaliland and Djibouti to the north, Somalia to the east, and Kenya to the south. It is home to more than 4 million people, 84 percent of whom live a rural life based on subsistence farming.
If the April “small rains” fail again, a new emergency may be declared.
Barely two years ago, famine and the subsequent search for food caused massive displacements. Tied to the instability and insecurity of neighboring Somalia, this gave rise to several IDP (Internally Displaced People) and refugee camps in Ethiopia, many of which still exist. Out of the 51 districts, which declared an emergency in 2011, 44 were in the Somali Region.
The man waiting at the surface of the crater catches the precious container without spilling a drop. He empties it into a larger basin, and thirsty goats cram in for their share of the murky liquid. Men and women wait patiently to the side—only when the animals are finished will they collect water for their own daily usage.
A third man is digging at the bottom of the hole about 25 feet below the riverbed surface, his feet in an inch of water.
The three men repeat the water extraction cycle a number of times, until the hole is dry, then wait for water to slowly permeate through the sand before filling up again.
In few other regions of Africa does one see the dramatic effects of climate change displayed as strikingly as in the Somali Region’s daily water-fetching activities.
A family needs at least 10.5 gallons a day for its basic needs, and everyone is saying, “It’s worse than before,” or “The sun has become cruel.” In the last 30 years, eight famines have been reported in Ethiopia due to insufficient rains, four of which occurred in the last decade.
This semi-arid land bears the traces of many seasonal wadis (dry riverbeds that only fill in the rainy season) slicing through it during the summer rains, but water is rapidly lost underground.
In the small village of Darwanaji, in the district of Awbarre near the border with Somaliland, the local shallow well provides water for only four hours a day. A local water committee controls access and distribution.
The local chief, Abib Abdi Moumim, tall and charismatic, is worried: “Rains have been poorer in the past three years. We need a new and deeper well, because this one will be dry before the new rains next summer.”
Several feet away, a veiled woman from the village sits in front of her house. Next to her are the three containers she uses to fetching water. These 5.3-gallon (20-liter) yellow containers are seen everywhere in the Somali Region—symbols of the quest for a much-need resource.
But the quest gets tougher year after year.
“Climate change means increasing temperatures and more irregular rains,” confirms Alebachew Adem, an Ethiopian researcher in the field of geography at the University of Addis Ababa who recently joined CARE International as a climate change adviser.
“As mostly natural grazing is employed for animal farming, the population is totally subject to nature’s changes,” Adem says. His research shows that the number of animals per household is now 25 percent of what it was in the 1980s, due to the effect of changing environment.
It is not how much rain falls that matters, but for how long and how predictably, he says.
“The June big rains tend to start later than before, and whereas they used to last until September, they now stop before the end of August, causing crops to fail,” Adem says. The small rains in April have nearly disappeared in recent years.
According to the Ethiopian National Meteorological Agency, and confirmed by a 2008 United Nations Development Program study, temperatures are projected to rise by 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) by 2050, further stressing water reserves, vegetation, and animals. Rains are expected to be shorter and heavier, causing additional soil erosion.
Troubled Collaboration
Nongovernmental organizations are tightly controlled in Ethiopia, and many of them have been forced to leave the country in recent years when they don’t comply with government stipulations. The government has, however, come up with some initiatives, both independently and in collaboration with the organizations.
In the quest for water, the government, aid organizations, and communities often disagree on the best approach to sustainable water management.
Some organizations prefer deep wells, delving 500–600 feet to reach phreatic aquifers.
Lorenzo Vecchi, local coordinator in the Somali Region for the Italian VIS organization, says deep is better than shallow: “With climate change, shallow wells are useless in the long term; they are 15 times cheaper, but they dry out and we need to start again. A deep well, when drilled in the right place, may last even 40 or 50 years.”
The cost of a deep well project can reach $230,000.
Oxfam opts for water catchment systems and the rehabilitation of shallow wells that have not been well maintained or have collapsed.
Filippo Ortolani, emergency coordinator for Central and East Africa at Oxfam Spain, says deep-well water can have too much fluorine or salt in it.
“The risk to spend $110,000 for a [deep] well and not find good water is too high,” Ortolani says. “It

Ethiopia: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry Rebuffs Statements Made Against the Renaissance Dam

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Bilateral Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Jandan has dismissed statements made criticizing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). In a discussion with Ethiopian diplomats in Riyadh, Dr. Khalid said statements made against the GERD were not the policy of his government.
Citing the historic relations of the two countries, going back to the First Hijira when Ethiopia gave refuge to the family of the Prophet and his followers, Dr. Khalid denied recent media reports suggesting statements made against Ethiopia and the GERD might affect relations between the two countries. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 1st issued a statement on its website which strongly affirmed Saudi Arabia's close relationship with Ethiopia.
The statement emphasized relations with Ethiopia are based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs and work to promote common interests in the service of both governments and their peoples. The Ministry said any statements suggesting the contrary do not reflect the official stance of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In his discussions,
Dr. Khalid also emphasized that the ministerial statement reflected the high regard Saudi Arabia accorded to its bilateral relations with Ethiopia. These, he noted, are based on the principles of mutual cooperation for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.
The statement of Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Jandan was carried by the Saudi Arabian News Agency and in the Al Medina newspaper. It is to be recalled that Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defense Minister, Prince Bin Khalid, made a comment in a Water Ministers' summit in Cairo that GERD might be detrimental to downstream countries, suggesting Ethiopia's legitimate development efforts were a political machination intended to harm Sudan and Egypt. The Ethiopian government strongly rejected the comment and asked for an official explanation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Scholar accuses Ethiopian authorities of "ethnic cleansing"

By Ethiomedia
April 3, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC (Ethiomedia) - Ethiopian authorities could be charged with the crimes of "ethnic cleansing" at anytime in their life, a leading law professor said on Tuesday.
Yacob Hailemariam, a prominent opposition leader who previously was a senior UN Prosecutor at the Rwanda Genocide Trials, told the Ethiopian Satellite TV (ESAT) the recent forceful eviction of members of the Amhara from Benishangul-Gumuz area was an obvious case of ethnic cleansing which is a serious crime for which Rwandan officials were sentenced to life in prison.Last week about 59 Ethiopians targetted as 'Amhara' were killed when their truck overturned as they were being forcefully removed from the Benishangul-Gumuz region.The crime is not 'genocide' but it is a crime of'ethnic cleansing' for which the current authorities could be prosecuted according to both Ethiopian and international laws, the business law professor warned.If Ethiopians at home and abroad collect evidences for the UN Security Council, the officials could be brought before the court of an international law, Yacob warned.Scholars generally agree and define ethnic cleansing as the "the systematic and violent removal of undesired ethnic groups from a given territory."Yacob said ethnic cleansing is an international crime and the perpetrators of the crime could be prosecuted at an international criminal court."The forceful deportation of people because they speak a certain language could destabilize a region, and if reported with tangible evidences, the UN Security Council could order the International Criminal Court to begin to examine the crimes," Yacob said."At the Rwanda Tribunal, individuals who were charged with ethnic cleansing were sentenced to life in prison," Professor Yacob said of the event for which he was a Senior UN prosecutor.Benishangul officials as well as the late dictator Meles Zenawi at one time had said those being removed were for destroying forests and not for being Amhara.Commenting on this remark, Yacob said people accused of cutting down trees may face legal action but to condemn them to ethnic cleansing is to commit a very serious crime that the perpetrators could face justice irrespective of the passage of time - even 30 or 40 years later.Ethiopian authorities should be duly reminded that their actions of removing citizens from any part of their country is a criminal offense prosecutable as per Ethiopian and international humanitarian laws, Professor Yacob Hailemariam warned.Ethiopia is signatory to several conventions, including Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Africa Human and Peoples Rights Charter, which, among others, state in clear terms that any citizen of a certain country has the right to work and live in any part of his or her country. Therefore, Yacob warned, there cannot be any excuse like a resettlement program etc. to violate such laws and commit the serious crimes of 'ethnic cleansing.'