OLF still maintained not Functioning Ethiopia but killing Ethiopia

Biraanu Gammachu

This piece is mainly devoted to discussions on Functioning Ethiopia from OLF’s (Oromo Liberation Front) perspective, and thereby opinionates what ought to be embraced by stakeholders.
OLF’s presentation of Oromo as non-Ethiopia was completely wrong. Ethiopia is significantly a making of Oromo. De-making Ethiopia amounts to Demaking Oromo. Independent Republic Oromia is therefore not within a substantive Oromo worldview; at best it’s an artistic culture. Functioning Ethiopia which is a warranty for sustainable solidarity and tradable interaction in inter-Oromo and/or intra-Oromo is one missing.
For any realistic [and rational] change Functioning Ethiopia has been a point of gravity unlike for separatist OLF. So subtly it has been advancing its inverse function [Malfunctioning Ethiopia]. Implicitly, it is all about E – T – H – I – O – P – I – A and only interested in the middle letter ‘O’ virtually trashing the rest. This position has been unequivocally reflected in its sundry statements, public speeches and local affiliated electronic tabloids. Imagine given such unhelpful stance how will it enjoy an attention from non-Oromos? How can someone entrust
one who destroys his own making? It is then not only a source of tension but also a liability for Functioning Ethiopia.

Customizing it …

OLF come in to existence four decades ago. Today we have virtually different environment, different imagination, different audience, different need, and different means of conflict resolution so what it chartered then is incompatible to today. The young generation has totally different world view and perspective. We bet OLF is in false association with the young generation or at best it’s futilely imposing itself.
Customizing OLF is thus an important matter over due to refresh its relevance to Ethiopia’s political demand or even to ensure its claimed Oromo-centric flag bearer-ship. However, the cluster is decreasingly knowledge intensive, and hence hardly convinced of an internal predictable change. Interfacing Marxist and Communist world view it profoundly disincentives knowledge-based driven political enterprise alternate to blind and customary revolutionary convictions. It has been alarmingly drifting away from crucial intellectual resources. Actually, its geographic location is also another factor. It is possibly a discouraging environment for it to appreciate venturing different course. For instance, since it was doctored to move to Asmara OLF had delivered at best as an information unit/desk under security apparatus and has been meeting other political interests to the regime in Asmara towards Ethiopia. It has been simply a ‘stool-pigeon’ of the Red Sea State and an object of the No Peace No War game with the regime in Ethiopia. Equally important, its tools of operations, structure and personality loyalist elements are in sum change resistant giving rises to hopelessness, mistrust, in-fight and demobilization within the group with a spillover effect. The paradox is customizing OLF is a far-fetching subject but customary OLF is definitely dead.

Did not create healthy political society but few who hate…

Unlike significant number of Oromo’s imagination, substantial media archives, public discourses and critical assessment about its nature and practice tell us beyond reasonable doubt that OLF is sadly little more than a collection of unrefined and less realistic political narrative, disjoined and pseudo liberators but hatred and vengeance against Amhara. Amhara [Habesha] as a social group is simply the beginning and the end of its narrative. For that reason, it kicked-off a retributive nationalism which is a function of vengeance, ethnic sentiment and hatred. This is the main common denominator which has been shaping an identity of OLF. In an endeavor to expand, continue and consolidate its social base young Oromos at school, college and university has been the main soft target and their interaction with other social back ground almost exclusively from Tigre and Amhara has been deliberately sabotaged. This insidiously has been un-harmonizing togetherness, mutual inter-social interaction, tolerance and humanity among young Ethiopians or the people at large. Further, it has been not only a criminal act of disrupting their future life but also it has been dislocating them from developing critical thinking about their country at large beyond colors.
Down the road OLF did not manage to create viable political society but very few sections of its target populous who sentimentally identify themselves against Amhara and Ethiopia which is simply wrong to any healthy political enterprise. Arguably, OLF is now at a point where neither taming nor changing its infamous agenda can work out minus risking its identity. The stalemate calls for competent and timely leadership to help it move beyond such a threadbare an eye for an eye business.

It must repay change price…

Earlier on there is not reliable and clear secondary documentation, ‘the 1976 OLF revised political program’ accounts too much to Marxist ideology both as a means and end in itself for OLF chartered struggle. The political narrative further on impeached its alleged western made and backed ‘Imperialist Ethiopia’ and thus as an outcome bided for its total disintegration. One of the 2004 was clearly made for taming the preceding narratives but it sat between two stools.
Subtly, in the whole process Amhara as a social group was animated to have bedeviled and unwittingly equated to Ethiopia. Here’s where the group unable to skin-off the political dynamics potentially risking social fundamentalism and abhorrently overlooked substantive culture of Oromo. That unhealthy political view was not meaningfully converged for good to date among the group in charge though significant aborted efforts are made. During the infamous 1991 transition where people of Ethiopia could have entered genuinely new beginning having given their back to wrong past, OLF must have brushed off its disintegration agenda alternate to democratic Ethiopia through ethnic federalism. It did not respect the handout political participation and positions during ‘the charter’ thus it set off for military struggle. In a similar vein, ‘Tigre’ as a social group should have been picked in place of Amhara as they are in charge of the current Ethiopia at least post the charter. However, fixated OLF did not meaningfully move beyond such unhealthy politics, and still darting wrong target.
In 2006 encouraging news surfaced; OLF and its sister front ONLF together with other Ethiopian political groups initiated AFD (Alliance for Freedom and Democracy) against the late ethnocentric Meles Zenawi’s regime (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5005980.stm). It was a timely show-ground for equally desolate political signatories to the alliance. Hopes were refreshed for newly sound target – realization of functioning Ethiopia where coordination and cooperation, compassion and solidarity, common destiny and humanity are collectively a driving force of change. From OLF side it was clearly a negotiated rejection of long held infertile political position – Independent Oromia. It was a significant build-up and expectation from the youth. Unfortunately, mainly due to structural, strategic and leadership crises the alliance did not fruit at all. The price dividend was high from OLF side, as it compromised its habitual position and given its thorny conservative critics.
The leadership neither contained internal shocks following the stagnated alliance, nor delivered promises. Apparently waning in dismay it has not yet recollected itself, and had no power to bargain any alliance – internal or external. Therefore, this round a repayment price is not for dealing in for change but for self-change if there will be one.

Still at defensive…

Unwholesome nationalism has been oozing among OLF cadres and OLF affiliated Oromo public – it is a terrible social and political infectious disease escaped from OLF leadership (mostly awful in Diaspora) thus shuttering any immediate hope for it to reshape the struggle. Its failure of managing its internal affair is at a heavy cost of accommodating external interests.
Implicitly there has been growing uncertainty within OLF attributed to both internal and external circumstances. That is to say the cluster is irresolute and largely incapacitated of exploiting internal problems and external pressures to its own favor on its own term. In addition to unwittingly forgone opportunities it’s left to wait for paternalistic circumstances to raft it to its own end. Equally, the variation of the group from its initial picture is almost insignificant. The leadership deliberately denied the struggle leeway to stand to fit into ever-appealing realities and nurture potential minds to this effect. Thus it can be concluded that the group still resonates within defensive width far from commanding internal and/or external environment at least reasonably.

It is simply off the market…

Exclusive ethnicity (which amounts to social-fanaticism) has never been healthy political enterprise in an endeavor to stability, peace and security and development at a smaller or a larger political geography which are meaningfully achieved through collective action. It is highly engaged in producing and reproducing un-togetherness, hatred and sentiment grossly undermining the benefits gained looking at the picture. Few core, fanatic and pseudo-armed Oromo group leaders have hardly imagined dancing beyond illusive past and personality cult. The local or global political, economic, environmental and social trend dictates the rational need for harmony, peaceful-coexistence, tolerance and mutual interdependence. Therefore, for relatively resultant healthy society and healthy environment to be achieved humanity, love, tolerance, justice, freedom and democracy should be at the forefront of our aspiration towards social change.
The world is moving. There are more futures to become present and there are more presents to become past. There is nothing as such we call history is repeating itself unless otherwise the history makers remained constant.
Beyond reasonable doubt we are convinced that no human history had perfect past in any part of our planet Earth so do people in Ethiopia. No past could twist to be a future nor does a future exclude the past in absolute terms. Our future could tangent the past but it should be with different curve. In order to mutually benefit from the dynamic, we must work together to evolve from less perfect towards more perfect social interaction. Then we would be able to leave behind more predictable social, political and economic interactions.
In conclusion, however bad we could think the previous regimes are, they in fact credibly, at least on one perspective, entrenched unflinching psychological and physical attachment to Ethiopia. Building on such a good aspects and embracing collective actions towards the failures are the missing life-line. Conversely, the group’s sensational hunt for an absolute unassembled Ethiopia so far did not come true. However, the cluster is just continually taken away by an oblivious of article 39 – an impious element of the current regime’s constitution in Ethiopia. At all, at its current nature and practice OLF is simply nowhere neither to contribute well nor to undermine geographic, political, emotional and economic Ethiopia.

My call…

Safe to leave making assertions on how far OLF succeeded without scientific investigation but its failure does not need so and it is as big as a mountain. Well it is still history but History of Failure. Regrettably, things did not work out at all for the Front of No and it has been living as the principal object of EPLF (Mr. Isaias) /TPLF (Mr. Meles) History. The most painful fact of it is that it continued to cajole its claimed subject – Oromo. Dear OLF leaders the failure is no more secrete and it is ours so join the stakeholders with facts and we seek solutions together.
My fellow youth you should be able to imagine an environment beyond the casket – liberators are also wrong doers. You must demand leaders on the real ground; after all it’s about our tomorrow. Cognizant to Ethiopia’s internal and external context insurgence induced power, as usual, did not win dictators and their philosophy once and for all; it rather widens opportunities for the new breeds to be crowned. Ethiopian people are a living witness and we have drawn enough lessons from track-record of regime changes in Post feudal Ethiopia and in a larger postcolonial Africa. Realities of an ethnocentric regime in Ethiopia dictate preference of concerted and inclusive evolutionary approach for social transformation to unpredictable and exclusive revolution.
Furthermore, geo-economic, geo-politics, collective security, and proliferation of science and technology have been perverting violence means to political power making rebellion less cost effective.
Historic Ethiopia in mind, let’s blame no particular social group as a sole liability to an injustice or oppression but our less accommodative and less tolerant institute of governance [social, political, economic and environmental interaction] induced by our collective or individual behavior and attitude. Our past is our collective history; no group is exclusively free of blame because everyone must have something to account for it. Therefore, the war should be not on social/ethnic or class manifestations but importantly on behaviors and attitudes that habitually embeds and institutes our thinking. Reactions against wrong tongues and actions are mainly emotional, unsustainable and quick fixes, then [w]e have to work to together to change our mindset.
We [People of Ethiopia] shall continue as a Whole. Tolerance, Respect, Dialogue, Compassion, Humanity, Forgiveness and Togetherness should be the order of the process.
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The author can be reach at biraanug@gmail.com

የዋሽንግተንና የአዲስ አበባ ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ግንኙነት እየተተቸ ነዉ

“በሙስና በእምነት ማጉደል በማታለልና በአመለካከት የሚለዩን ዝም በማሰኘት ሐይልን የያዛችሁ በተሳሳተ የታሪክ ገጽታ ላይ ነው ያላችሁት! ቡጢያቹን የምትፈቱ ከሆነ እጅ እንዘረጋላችሗለን” ያሉት ኦባማ አንባገነናዊ ቡጢያቸዉን ካልፈቱ…አንባገነናዉያን ጋር  እጃቸዉን ዘርግተዉ ሲጨባበጡ መታየታቸዉ ትዝብት ላይ እየጣላቸዉ ነዉ!
ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ፤ የካቲት 24/2006 (ቢቢኤን) ፦ የዩናይትድ እስቴትስ የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤት በኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ ያለዉን ገደብየለሽ የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰት ለማመላከት ያደረጋቸዉን ጥናቶች ዋቢ በማድረግ በየካቲት 20/2006 ሪፖርቱን ይፋ አድርጓል።መሰረቱን አርሊንግተን ቨርጂኒያ ያደረገዉ ፖለቲኮ የሚባለዉ ጋዜጣ/መጽሔት የኦባማ አስተዳደር የኢትዮጵያ መንግስትን ከመሰሉ ለነጻነት ምቹ ካልሆኑ አገራት ጋር ያለዉ ምጸታዊ የዲፕሎማሲ ቁርኝትንም ይተቻል።
ከቀዝቃዛዉ ጦርነት ጀምሮ የዩናይትድ እስቴትስ መንግስታት ዜጎቻቸዉን ከሚጨቁኑ አገራት ጋር ግንኙነት ለመመስረት እምብዛም እንደማይጥሩ ፖለቲኮ እየገለጸ፤ለሚዛናዊነቱ ተስፋ የተጣለበት የኦባማ ካቢኔ ከሌሎቹ የዩናይትድ እስቴትስ ፕሬዝዳንቶች  በባሰ መልኩ ለዜጎቻቸዉ ደህነነት ምቹ ካልሆኑ 25 አገራት ጋር ግንኙነት አለዉ ሲል የኦባማን የብሐራዊ ደህነነትና ጥበቃ አማካሪ የሆኑትን ሱዛን ራይስ ንግግርን በዋቢነት ያቀርባል። ራይስ “ግልፅ እንሁን አንዳንዴ እኛ አጥብቀን የምንይዛቸዉን ዉድ የሆኑ መብቶችን ከማያከብሩ መንግስታት ጋር የስራ ግንኙነት አለን” በማለት በባለፈዉ የነሐሴ ወር መናገራቸዉን ፖለቲኮ ይገልጻል።
ፖለቲኮ ለነጻነት የማይመቹ ብሎ ከጠራቸዉ 25 አገራት ዉስጥ ኢትዮጵያን በቁጥር 11 ላይ ያስቀመጠ ሲሆን ጠቅላይ ሚኒስቴር ሐይለማሪያም ደሳለኝ ይመሯታል የምትባለዋ ኢትዮጵያ የጸረ-ሽብር ህጓን ፖለቲከኞችን፣አክቲቪስቶችን፣መንግስትን ተጠያቂ የሚያደርጉ አካላትን ለማሰር እንደ ማህተም ትጠቀምበታለች ሲል ተጠያቂ ያደርጋል።ፖለቲኮ አክሎም የመለስ ዜናዊ አስተዳደር በ1999 ሶማሊያን በመዉረር እራሱን ለዩናይትድ እስቴትስ ግልጋሎት ማቅረቡንያስረዳል። ይህንንኑ አጋጣሚ በመጠቀም በአሜሪካ የሰለጠኑ የኢትዮጵያ ወታደሮች ከብሔር ብሔረሰቦች የተነሱ አማጺያንን ለማስቆም የጦርነት ወንጀል መፈጸማቸዉ በሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋቾች ክስ ቢቀርብበትም  ዋሽንግተን አዲስ አበባን በዲፕሎማሲ “እቅፍ-እቅፍቅፍ” እያደረገች መቀጠሏን ገልጿል።
ኢትዮጵያ የሰብዓዊ መብትን ይጥሳሉ ከሚባሉት ጭቋኝ አገራት ጎራ ብትመደብም ፤እንደ አዉሮፒኣይኑ ቀመር በ2008 ብቻ ከዩናይትድ እስቴትስ 969 ሚሊዮን ዶላር በእርዳታ ተቀብላለች!
በኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ ቀጣይ የሆነ የሰብዓዊ መብት ረገጣ፣ግድያ፣እስር፣የሐይማኖትነጻነትን መነፈግ፣የፕሬስ ነጻነት መመንመን፣የመማርና ማስተማር ሒደት ነጻነት በመንግስት መዳፍ ዉስጥ መግባት፣የመደራጀት-የመሰባሰብ-ሐሳብን በነጻ የመግለጽ ሁለንተናዊ መብት፣ የፍርድ ቤት አሰራር መበላሽትና በስልጣን መባለግን በመተንተን የዩናይትድ እስቴትስ የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤት በየካቲት 20/2006 አመታዊ ሪፖርቱን ይፋ አድርጓል። የኦባማ አስተዳደር አካል የሆነዉ የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤት አሳቃቂ የሆነ የመብት ረገጣ ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ መኖሩን እያወጀ የኦባማዉ ቤተ-መንግስት ኢትዮጵያን ከመሰሉ በአንባገነናዉያን ከሚመሩ አገራት ጋር “መለስ-ቀለስ” ማለቱ እያስተቸዉ ነው። የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤቱን የሚመሩት ጃን ኬሪ አገራቸዉ ከስህተት የጠራች አለመሆኗን ያስረዳሉ።
“ዛሬ ስለ ሌሎች አገራት ያለዉ ሪፖርት ይፋ ለማድረግ ብንመጣም፤ እዚሁ አገራችን ላይ እራሳችንን በከፍተኛ መልኩ ተጠያቂ እናደርጋለን! እንከን የለሽ አለመሆናችንን እናዉቃለን” ጃን ኬሪ።
ጃን ኬሪ መስሪያቤታቸዉ ይፋ ያደረገዉ የሰብዓዊ መብት ሪፖርት ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ባሉ የመስሪያ ቤቱ አባላት ጥናት ብቻ የተዘጋጀ  ሳይሆን በእያንዱ አገራት ያሉ ኤምባሲዎችና ቆንስላ ጽ/ቤቶች ተሳታፊ መሆናቸውን ሲያስረዱ “በመላዉ አለም ያሉ ኤምባሲዎችና ቆንስላ ጽ/ቤቶች በጥናት እንደዚሁም እነዚህን ጽሁፎችን በመጻፍ አክቲቪስቶችን በመቅረብ መንግስታትን በማናገር የኤንጂኦና የሚዲያ ሪፖርቶችን በመተንተን አያሌ ሰአታትን አባክነዋል”ሲሉም ገልጸዋል።
ኬሪ ለነጻነትና ለመብት በሚደረግ ጥረት ዉስጥ ግለሰባዊ ሚና የጎላ መሆኑን መሆኑንም ይገልፃሉ።ከተለያዩ አገራት የለዉጥ ተምሳሊት የሚሏቸዉን ግለሰቦችን ስም በማንሳት የኢትዮጲያዉን ጋዜጠኛ እስክንድር ነጋ ሚናን አድንቀዋል  “እስክንድር ነጋ ሐሳብን በነጻ ስለመግለጽ ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ የሚጽፍ ነው” ብለዋል።
በሚያዚያ 4/2004 የፔን አሜሪካን ሽልማትን ያገኘዉ እስክንድር ነጋ አለም አቀፋዊ ትኩረትን ያገኘ ኢትዮጵያዊ ጋዜጠኛ ነዉ። የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በሽብር ፈጠራ ወንጅሎት ከመስከረም 3/2003 ጀምሮ በእስር ላይ ይገኛል።
የዩናይትድ እስቴስ የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤት ነጻነትን ከሚነጥቁ ጥቂቶች ጋር ሳይሆን ነጻነትን ከተነፈጉ ብዙሗን አጋር በመሆን አብሮ እንደሚቆም ኬሪ ቃላቸዉን እያደሱ ይናገራሉ “ዛሬ ቃላችንን በድጋሚ ለማረጋገጥ እንወዳለን! ክብርን ከሚነፍጉ ጥቂቶች ጋር ሳይሆን ክብርን ከሚሹ ብዙሗን ጋር አብረን ለመቆም ዝግጁ መሆናችንንም ለመግለጽ እንወዳለን!”በማለት ቢያስረዱም መንግስታቸዉ ከጨቋኝ አንባገነናዊያን ጋር በሚያደርገዉ ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ቅርርብ ተጠያቂ እየሆነ ነው።
በምርጫ ቅስቀሳ ወቅት ብዙ ቃልኪዳን የገቡት በራክ ኦባማ ቃሊኪዳናቸዉ አለተፈጸመም። በተመሳሳይ መልኩ ያሁኑ የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስራያ ቤት ሐላፊ ጃን ኬሪም ሆኑ የቀድሞዋ ሒላሪ ክሊንተን ከአንባገነናዊያን ጋር ያለዉን ግንኙነት ሲያደረጁ እንጂ ሲያመነምኑ አልተስተዋለም በማለት  በርካታ ምሁራን፣ጋዜጠኞች እና የፖለቲካ ተንታኞች ወቀሳ ያቀርቡባቸዋል።
በጥር 12/2001 ቃለመሃላ የፈጸሙት ፕሬዝዳንት ኦባማ ሰላምና ክብርን ለሚሹ የአለማችን ዜጎች የርሳቸዉ መመረጥ ብስራት እንደሆነ አመላክተዉ ነበር። ከትላላቅ የአለማችን መዲናዎች ጀምሮ ወላጅ አባታቸዉ እስከመጡበት የኬኒያ መንደር የተስፋ ቃል ነበራቸዉ! እንዲም በማለት  ስሜትን በሚነካ መልኩ ተናግረዉ ነበር…
“ከትላልቆቹ መዲናዎች እስከ አባቴ የተወለደባት መንደር ዛሬ ለሚመለከቱን ህዝቦችና መንግስታት፤ አሁን አሜሪካ የእያንዳንዱ አገር የእያንዳንዱ ግለሰብ ወዳጅ ናት! ሰላምና ክብርን ለሚፈልጉ ሴቶችና ህጻናት ዳግም ለመምራት ዝግጁ ነን” ፕሬዝዳንት በራክ ኦባማ።
ኦባማ ምንጫቸዉ ለሆነችዋ አፍሪካ ፕሬዝዳንታዊ ሐይላቸዉን በመጠቅም ያበረከቱት አስተዋፅኦ አናሳ ነዉ።ፕሬዝዳንቱ ቃለመሃላቸዉን ሲፈጽሙ ስልጣንን በማጭበርበር-በሙስናና የሐሳብ ልዩነትን በማፈን በሚቆናጠጡ አንባገነናዉያን ላይ ጣታቸዉን ቢቀስሩም ከነዚህ ምቹ ያልሆኑ አሳፍሪ መንግስታት ጋር እርሳቸዉም ይሁን ካቢኔአቸዉ ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ገደብን አለማበጀቱ አጠያያቂ እየሆነ ነዉ።
በአሜሪካዋ መዲና በዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ጥር 12/ 2001 ቀዝቃዉ አየር በጭብጨባ እየሞቀ ብዙዎች እያለቀሱ ኦባማ ለአንባገነናዊያን መልእክት አስተላልፈዋል።
“በሙስና በእምነት ማጉደል በማታለልና በአመለካከት የሚለዩን ዝም በማሰኘት ሐይልን የያዛችሁ በተሳሳተ የታሪክ ገጽታ ላይ ነው ያላችሁት! ቡጢያቹን የምትፈቱ ከሆነ እጅ እንዘረጋላችሗለን” ያሉት ኦባማ አንባገነናዊ ቡጢያቸዉን ካልፈቱ አንባገነናዉያን ጋር  እጃቸዉን ዘርግተዉ ሲጨባበጡ መታየታቸዉ ትዝብት ላይ እየጣላቸዉ ነዉ።
ብዙ የተገቡ ቃልኪዳስኖች ተግባራዊ ሳይሆኑ በየካቲት 20/2006 ከዩናይትድ እስቴትስ የዉጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤት የአመቱ የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰት ሲታወጅ “ከነጻነት ፈላጊዎች ጋር እንቆማለን!” የሚል ቃልኪዳን ተገብቷል።የዩናይትድ እስቴትስ መንግስት ባወጣዉ የሰብዓዊ መብት ሪፖርት የኢትዮጵያን መንግስት “ጨቋኝ-አፋኝ-አሳሪ-ገዳይ-ኢዲሞክራሲያዊ” መሆኑን ይፋ አድርጓል። ፖለቲኮ ጋዜጣ/መጽሔት ይህ ሪፖርት በወጣበት ማግስት የኦባማ አስተዳደር ኢትዮጵያን ከመሰሉ ለዜጎቻቸዉ ምቹ ካልሆኑ አገራት ጋር ይወዳጃል ሲል ይተቻል።
የዲሞክራሲ ተምሳሊት ነን የሚሉ የምእራቡ አገራት ለአንባገነናዊያን ዲፖሎማሲያዊ ከለላ መስጠታቸው የጥቅም ትስስር ወይስ ምጸታዊ የሆነ የዲፕሎማሲ ጨወታ? የሚለዉ ጥያቄ ቢነሳም …ትችቱእንደቀጠለ ነዉ።
ሳዲቅ አህመድ
 

ከባዶ ጭንቅላት ባዶ እግር ይሻላል! (ግንቦት7)

የባህርዳር እና አካባቢው ሕዝብ ከባዶ ጭንቅላት ባዶ እግር ሺህ ጊዜ እንደሚሻል አካሉን ብቻ ሳይሆን ህሊናውንም ለትግራዩ ነፃ አውጪ ህወሓት ባርነት ላስገዛው “የብሔረ አማራ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ንቅናቄ (ብአዴን)” እያለ እራሱን ለሚጠራው ድርጅት መሪዎች ተናገረ።
ባርነት ክፉ ነው። በባርነት ላይ የጭንቅላት ባዶነት ሲታከልበት ደግሞ አለምነው መኮንንን የመሰሉ የብአዴን መሪዎችን ይፈጥራል። የብአዴን መሪዎች ለጌታቸው ህወሓት ያላቸውን ታማኝነት ለማሳየት ራሳቸውን ማዋረዳቸው ሳያንስ እንወክለዋለን የሚሉትን ሕዝብ በጅምላ መስደባቸው ብአዴን እንደ ድርጅት የሚገኝበት የተዋረደ ደረጃ ያሳያል።
ህሊና ያለው ባርያ ዛሬ ነፃ ባይሆንም ወደፊት ነፃ የመውጣት ህልም አለው። ዛሬ በጉልበተኛ የባርያ አሳዳሪ ነፃነቱን ቢያጣም የህሊና ነፃነቱን ያላስደፈረ ባርያ ለነፃነት መታገሉ የማይቀር ነው። እንደ ብአዴን መሪዎች በታማኝ ባርያነቱ እየፈነጠዘ ያለ ባርያ ግን ነፃ ሰው የመሆን ህልሙንም ጭምር አጥቷል። እንዲህ ዓይነቱ ባርያ በአካልም፤ በመንፈስም ባሪያ ነው። ነፃ ሰው የመሆን እድል የለውም።
የአማራ ሕዝብ ብአዴንን የመሰለ አሳፋሪ ድርጅት በታሪኩ ገጥሞት አያውቅም። በፋሽስት ጣልያን ወረራ ጊዜ ለጠላት ያደሩ ባንዶች እንኳን ከዛሬዎቹ ብአዴኖች የተሻለ ክብር ነበራቸው። እነሱም ከዛሬዎቹም በተሻለ በጌቶቻቸው ጣሊያኖች ይሰሙ ነበር። በገዢዎቹ ለመወደድ የራሱን ሕዝብ የሚዘልፍ፣ የሚሰድብና የሚያዋርድ እንደ ብአዴን ያለ አዋራጅ ድርጅት በአማራ ምድር አልታየም።
ለዚህም ነው የባህርዳር እና አካባቢው ሕዝብ የብአዴንና የወያኔን አፈናዎችን በጣጥሶ የካቲት 16 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም. ቁጣውን በባዶ እግሩ አደባባይ በመውጣት የገለፀው። እግር ባዶ መሆኑ ጭንቅላት ባዶ የመሆኑ ያህል የሚያሳፍር አይደለም። ድህነት ወንጀል አይደለም። ነፃ አዕምሮና የሕዝብ ይሁንታ ያገኘ አስተዳደር ካለ ድህነትን ማሸነፍ ይቻላል።
ግንቦት 7: የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ፣ ፈታኝ ሁኔታዎችን ተቋቁመው የየካቲት 16 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ምን ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ላደራጁና በተቃውሞውም ለተካፈሉ ሁሉ ያለውን አክብሮት ይገልፃል። ሕዝብ ብሶቱን የሚገልጽበት ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ማደራጀትና መምራት መቻል ትልቅ ነገር ነው። ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞዎች ወደ ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት የማደግ እድል አላቸው። ስለሆነም ግንቦት 7 ለባህርዳሩ ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞ አደራጆችና ተሳታፉዎች “እንኳን ደስ ያላችሁ” በማለት የትግል አጋርነቱን መግለጽ ይሻል።
ግንቦት 7፣ ብአዴንን ከአባላቱ ለይቶ ማየት ይሻል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ የብአዴንን ከፍተኛ አመራር ከሌላው ለይቶ ይመለከታል። ብአዴን ነፍሳቸውን ሳይቀር ለወያኔ በሸጡ ሰዎች የሚመራ፤ ነፃ የመውጣት ተስፋ የሌለው ራሱ ባርያ የሆነ ድርጅት ነው። አባላቱ ግን ከዚህ የተለዩ ሊሆኑ እንደሚችሉ ግንቦት 7 ያውቃል።
ግንቦት 7፡ የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ከዚህም በፊትም ደጋግሞ እንደገለጸው፤ በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ራሳቸውን ከወያኔ ባርነት ነፃ ለማውጣት በወሰዱት እርምጃ መስዋእትነት የከፈሉ የብአዴን አባላት መኖራቸውን ያውቃል። ግንቦት 7 ለእነዚህ ቆራጦች ትልቅ አክብሮት አለው። ዛሬም ህሊናቸውን ሙሉ በሙሉ ያልሸጡ የብአዴን አባላት አሉ ብሎ ያምናል። እነዚህ ወገኖቻችን ራሳቸውን ነፃ ለማውጣት የግል፣ የወገንና የአገር ግዴታ አለባቸው ብሎ ያምናል።
ስለሆነም ዛሬም ይህንን አጋጣሚ ተጠቅመን ጥሪዓችንን እናድሳለን።
የብአዴን አባላት ሆይ!!! የገዛ ራሳችሁን፣ የአማራን ሕዝብ እና ኢትዮጵያን እያዋረደ ካለው ብአዴን ተላቀቁ፤ አሊያም እውስጡ ሆናችሁ ድርጅቱን ግደሉት። የብአዴን መኖር ለወያኔ ካልሆነ በስተቀር ለማንም አይበጅም። ነፃነት ካለ ድህነትን በሥራ ማሸነፍ ይቻላል። ሰው ባርያ ሆኖ በሀብት ቢንበሸበሽ ምን ይፈይድለታል?
የብአዴን አባላት ሆይ!!! ወደ ህሊችሁ ተመለሱ። ራሳችሁንም የበደላችሁትን ሕዝብ የመካስ እድል አድል አላችሁ ተጠቀሙበት። ይህንን ባታደርጉ ግን ለገዛ ራሳችሁ ፀፀት፤ ለልጆቻችሁ ሀፍረትን የምታወርሱ መሆኑን አትዘንጉ። ወያኔ መሸነፉ በጭራሽ የማይቀር መሆኑን እያወቃቸው በድህረ ጣልያን ወረራ ባንዶች ያገኙትን ምህረት እናገኛለን ብላችሁ አታስቡ።
ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ!!

The not so cheap talk of Alemnew Mekonnen et al

by Hindessa Abdul
Amid the drama and conspiracy theories surrounding a co-pilot who had hijacked a plane, two local politicians were hitting the headlines in their own ways.
Zenebu Tadesse is Ethiopian Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs. Last week she allegedly tweeted: “There is no place for hate, discrimination in my beloved Africa. It’s not Governments’ business to make dress code or anti-gay laws.” The tweet was a reaction to an anti-gay bill that was signed into law by Ugandan President Yoweri Musevini. Zenebu’s comment quickly drew controversy both at home and abroad. However, the tweet was a short-lived one: deleted. The Minister later denied posting it.
In an interview with the ruling party owned Radio Fana, Zenebu said while she actively uses Tweeter to promote some of the activities of her Ministry, she denied posting the tweet. “I was out of town when I heard about the tweet. I was saddened to hear that. I didn’t even have access to network… I am not an IT expert to comment on how it was posted. We are conducting an investigation.”
Probably the most important issue here is not the content of the tweet. It is to what extent the officials are free to speak their mind. Was the Minister forced to retract her comment? Would she be as blunt to comment on such controversial matter without expecting a backlash? Is the level of IT sophistication that high to easily hack on to her account? Why didn’t the hackers go after more prominent politicians that are known to use Tweeter? Whatever the answer to those questions, officials will be intimidated to say what they think; making their online life as boring as the officialdom they are caged in.
Making Alemnew famous
Alemnew Mekonnen is deputy head of the Amhara Regional State and the second in command of the Party that is imposed on the Region.
Alemnew – according to his own explanation – was “training” the local media staff on issues of good governance and democracy, put simply – he was engaged in political indoctrination.
A leaked audio from the “training” shows what ruling party functionaries are capable of saying behind closed doors. Alemnew scorned the Amhara – Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group considered to be 30 million strong – labeling them “ultra-chauvinists” and “barefoot pedestrians.” He added: “The Amhara walks barefoot but what they say is utterly poisonous.”
Those remarks aired by Ethiopian Satellite Television and later spiraled onto other social networking sites brought about disgust and indignation. While the state media was mute about it, some government affiliated “private” papers talked about the incident without delving into the content.
All sorts of discussion and condemnation ensued. Opposition party members staged mass protest in the regional capital Bahir Dar. Scores of them actually took off their shoes to make a point on the “barefoot” remark.
The deputy chief convened a press conference of handpicked journalists who read questions from a script. The caption that run on the TV screen didn’t even identify him as deputy regional administrator – a move taken by the spin doctors to distance the administration from the comment – only vaguely mentioning his position in the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM).
Alemnew took an hour to basically say two things:

• First, he denied making the remark. “How can I say that?” he threw the question back to the reporters. “I didn’t say any of the comments that have been attributed to me by the opposition. I have respect for the people. Who am I to make such disparaging comment against my own ethnic group? (The whole thing) was doctored by computer techniques. It is the work of the opposition politicians to alienate the ANDM leadership from the people.”
• Second, he blamed the participants of the training for their chauvinistic outlook. He insisted that he was mainly trying to address issues of ethnic politics that the trainees lacked tremendously.

For whom the bell tolls
Remarks by officials that single out specific ethnic groups, particularly the Amhara, are not uncommon. To start with, the pages of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) manifesto handwritten in February 1974 are packed with references to the “oppressing Amhara ethnic group.” That’s where small time ethnic ideologues get their cue from.
Former chief of Southern Region, who has since become Minister of Education, Shiferaw Shigute issued a letter akin to ethnic cleansing when he ordered the eviction of Amhara settlers from the Gura Ferda locality in southern Ethiopia. His counterpart in the Somali Regional State, Abdi Mohammed Oumer, was shown in a video advising his “brethren” which ethnic group they should embrace if they happen to go to the Capital, Addis Ababa.
Such ethnic disparaging languages should not be tolerated where ever they come from. At the end of the day no body chose where they come from. An attack on one is an attack on all. “… never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

In Ethiopia the truth is stranger than fiction

by Abebe Gellaw
The life of the young Ethiopian co-pilot who sought political asylum while flying in the airspace of Switzerland two weeks ago will never be the same again. If the amount of money people make is a measure of success, the 30-year old co-pilot Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn had a relatively “privileged” life in Ethiopia, where per capita income is around $400.
In contrast to the paltry income of the majority of Ethiopians, the average pilot working for the state-controlled Ethiopian Airlines is said to make well over $2000. That is a fortune in Ethiopia, a country where crony capitalism has widened the disparity between the fortunate haves and the unfortunate majority that barely affords to eat a decent meal.

Hilemedhin Abera Ethiopian Airlines Co-pilot

It could indeed be puzzling how the young pilot chose to risk it all with what appears to be a deliberate and dramatic “hijacking” incident that he executed calmly despite the inevitable consequences awaiting him upon landing. But man does not live by bread alone. Man also needs guarantees for dignity, rights and freedom.
Hailemedhin is now a prisoner under the custody of the Swiss police facing air piracy and hijacking charges that carry a penalty of up to 20 years in jail. The incident is actually another testimony to the fact that people living under tyranny tend to resort to extreme measures risking their comfort and lives to call for attention and win their freedom.
According to media reports, Hailemedhin took control of the plane when the pilot left the cockpit to take a toilet break over the airspace of Sudan. He locked out the pilot and commandeered the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-300, Flight ET702, with 202 passengers and crew en route to Rome and diverted it to Geneva, where he sought political asylum in midair, a daring action that attracted global attention.
The measure is definitely extreme as the young man could have quietly slipped out of the country to seek political asylum in the United States or Europe. Tens of thousands of professionals leave the country every year. So many pilots and crew members from the Ethiopian Airlines have fled the country without attracting glaring attention at a global scale.
The reaction of the Ethiopian government, which is dominated by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), was not unexpected. It is a minority government that routinely makes every effort to hide its appalling human rights record from the attention of the international community. The Minister of Government Communication, Redwan Hussein, told reporters in Addis Ababa that the incident “beggars belief”.
While is it an open secret that the Ethiopian constitution is not worth the paper it is written on, Mr. Hussein said the action of the co-pilot was in violation of article 32 of the Ethiopian Constitution, which guaranteed the freedom of citizens to travel out of the country.” He also claimed that basic liberties such as freedom of expression are fully respected in Ethiopia and claimed that citizens have no reason to flee from their own country. But the citizens enjoying such privileges might be TPLF members.
What beggars belief is actually the depressing reality on the ground and the cruel way that ordinary citizens are oppressed and stifled in Ethiopia. Thousands of journalists, human rights activists and dissidents are languishing in harsh jails where torture and other forms of inhuman treatment are rampant. The Draconian anti-terrorism law is routinely invoked to jail anyone who dares to speak out against the gross human rights violations and corruption which characterizes a regime that ironically enjoys cozy relationships with Western powers as well as China.
The United States, which considers the Ethiopian government a credible ally on the “war on terror”, doles out about a billion dollars annually in the form of foreign aid to prop up the brutal TPLF-led regime. It is a crucial support for a government that significantly depends on foreign aid to survive and maintain its tight grip on power. To please its Western funders, the ruling party periodically holds inconsequential elections and regularly pays lip service about “flourishing” democracy.
Press freedom is a far cry in Ethiopia. Three award-winning journalists that have been convicted of terrorism offenses because of their critical writing are serving long-term sentences. Eskinder Nega is winner of the 2012 PEN America’s Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Earlier this year Eskinder was also awarded the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). But the award given to him by the Ethiopian government for his courageous work as a journalist is 18 years behind bars after he was convicted of “terrorism” offenses. His most serious crime was writing a few critical articles that predicted that Ethiopia would face a popular uprising in the style of the Arab Spring. In fact, all tyrants don’t want to believe that reality but the doom is inevitable.
Reeyot Alemu is another courageous journalist who celebrated her 33rd birthday in a harsh jail last month. She is suffering from breast cancer but has been denied proper medical care. While in jail, Alemu has bagged three coveted international awards for her extraordinary commitment to press freedom and courage in journalism. She was awarded the 2012 Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women’s Media Foundation, Human Rights Watch’s press freedom prize, Hellman/Hammett award, and the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Woubishet Taye also received the Hellman/Hammet and CNN Free Press Africa Journalist Awards.
Journalists are by no means the only victims. While journalists are mostly the primary targets due to the nature of their jobs, individuals like Hailemedhin, no matter what their profession and education, sometimes tend to take inexplicable actions such as choosing to live in jails rather than living in fear and silence. The most extreme measure was taken by Yenesew Gebre, a 29 year-old Ethiopian school teacher. Frustrated by the lack of basic freedom, he set himself ablaze in November 2011 and died a horrific death shortly after the incident.
In a New York Times piece, “Letter From Ethiopia’s Gulag”, which journalist Eskinder Nega penned from jail, he noted: “I’ve never conspired to overthrow the government; all I did was report on the Arab Spring and suggest that something similar might happen in Ethiopia if the authoritarian regime didn’t reform.”
Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes live under the illusion that they can sustain repression forever through intimidation and killings. As history shows time and again, those who fail to reform create their own demise by forcing people to rise up in anger to claim their own destiny. The case of a defiant young pilot is not unprecedented. Defiance is a familiar alarm bell in nations like Ethiopia where the truth is stranger than fiction.
Hailemedihin seems to be more interested in calling for global attention to the plight of the people of Ethiopia than just seeking asylum. While he could have sought asylum quietly, he chose to do it in full view of the world over Geneva. For most Ethiopians, he is a hero and a protester against the injustice they are facing under the boots of their cruel rulers that have no regard for the rights, dignity and freedom of their subjects.
As the former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark once said: “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Switzerland and the rest of the world should definitely take note of this reality.