Mereja Forum

[YAY]

Dear Naga Tuma: Let me explain further why it is not so simple

Take the sample on number # 9, above, ህብረ-ብሄር is used in terms of God's Kingdom and could include membership from various countries.

Samples numbers 8 and 7 discuss about organizations. I think any organization could determine if its members should be exclusively from one ethnic group or from multiple ethnic groups in Etiyopiya. The laws may allow/discourage any one of these alternatives.

In #8, the term is spoken of in comparing the need of ህብረብሄር ድርጅቶች and አንዱን ብሄር ብቻ [ድርጅት] for effective advocacy for a particular ethnic cause.

In #7, however. the term ኅብረ-ብሔር is used to describe a party and coalition of ethnic parties, and differentiates between two types of membership of the organizations: an individual, despite ethnic background, is directly recruited to a party; while an individual, because of ethnicity, must first be a member of an ethnic organization, and through it indirectly becomes a member of the coalition, such as that of EPRDF:

(1) ኢትዮጵያ-አቀፍ (የልዩ ልዩ ብሔሮች አባላት ያሉበት) ድርጅት ---individuals from varied ethnicity forming a political party, and
(2) ልዩ ልዩ የብሔር ድርጅቶች ለኢትዮጵያ ድህንነትና ትንሳኤ ብለው ሃገራዊ ቅንጅት ከፈጠሩ----i.e. ethnic organizations forming a coalition at country/nation-wide level (without changing their singular ethnic organizations)

Take the sample on number 6. It says,
ብሔረሰቦችን ኣቀራርበውና ኣስተሣሥረው የ ኣንድ ሀገር ዜጎች መሆናቸው እየጎላና ኅብረብሔር የሆነ ሀገር፣ መንግሥት፣ መስተዳድር፣ ሕዝብ እየሆኑ፣ እየቀረጹ መምጣታቸው ነው።

It seems to indicate a theoretical explanation that ethnic/national communities passing through certain development processes could develop into becoming citizens of one multi-ethnic/national country/nation. As important as the term is, ኅብረ could mean color or colored or mixed colors, or combined things/entities or, may be, getting together; and

ብሔር (singular) carries many differing meanings:
(1) earth, extended space, location, field, rural, country, province, land, place.
(2) humans, race, tribe, people, nation, natives, etc. living in certain area of land.)

It is not clear what the combination word ኅብረብሔር ፣ in the phrase ኅብረብሔር የሆነ ሀገር፣ or in ስለሀገር ሕዝብ ያውም ኅብረብሔር በጥቅልሉ ማሰብ stands for here. Does it mean that the country's (Etiyopiya's) people is made of many (85-100) ethnic groups/nations, which may have different languages, cultures, etc., and

(1) they are organized by ethnicity and they run their common affairs together within "ethnic/national" territories known as kellils, and the kellils send their representatives to the federal government, and individuals cannot freely live and do business outside their kellils unless authorized, or

(2) they run their common affairs together within their respective kellils as well as the country (Etiyopiya) as a whole, and that individuals can freely live and do business outside their kellils unauthorized/authorized, but cannot have political rights in a kellil outside their own, or

(3) they run their common Etiyopiyan citizens' affairs together within each kellil, or within the country as a whole, as individuals/groups from one or various ethnic/national groups who may be genetically, socially, and culturally different, but by choosing what they want and becoming integrated/united with each other, and because individuals can freely live and do business outside their kellils, and could have political rights for unlimited participation wherever they reside (and by so doing are changing their ethnic identities) into ethnic-hybrids, and at the same time transforming themselves more into citizens of one country/nation (Etiyopiya)?

I believe ኅብረተብሔሮች or ኅብረተብሔራት may be a clearer and better term than the vague and opaque ኅብረብሔር to describe ethnic/national groups in unison as Etiyopiyan sub-national groups that are trying to build one united Etiyopiyan nation. In other words, the core guiding purpose of Etiyopiyan nation-building is a process of uniting (not dividing and scattering) the efforts of the current "ethnic groups" and/or "nations" (based on equal rights, mutual respect, social harmony, cooperation, and the choices of each citizen) into essentially one Etiyopiyan nation.

It was excellent that "you" asked, but ህብረ ብሔር or ህብረ ብሄር is not that simple. I hope it helps "you" formulate "your" ideas?

YAY,

I really don't think that it is that complicated. We all need to be reminded of the source of the compound word ህብረብሄር or ኅብረ ብሄር. Those who intentionally used it and advanced its use envisioned separated smaller countries. They envisioned ብሄር in those separated smaller countries, not ህብረብሄር or ኅብረ ብሄር. Even as they advocated Ethiopia as a ህብረብሄር or ኅብረ ብሐር in order to undo it as a country, they strongly advocated those left in each of those separated smaller entities as a strong ብሄር. Now, do you understand the source of the confusion about having it both ways?

If there is a consensus for having a country instead of separated smaller countries, then we have a ብሄር in that country. People who advocate for a country are probably equating ህብረ ቋንቋ to ህብረ ብሄር. Perhaps, the more accurate term may be ህብረ ቋንቋ ብሄር, or multi-language nation.

[YAY]

Dear Naga Tuma: What do you believe is ኅብረብሔር or ህብረ ብሄር in relation to Article 39 of the 1995 Constitution?

First of all, do the English translations of Article 39 communicate the same meanings of the AmHarinya version? It does not feel that they do. Any way, Article 39 does not address the question of ኅብረብሔር towns, cities, regions, or kellils. Pick any city---for example, Addis Ababa, which has a population that originates from multiple ethnic groups, or "nations". Does Addis Ababa have "an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to [autonomy up to] secession"? from Oromiyya or Etiyopiya? or is this right exclusively reserved for and could be claimed and exercised by ethno-nationalists of only one singular ethnic group within a specific geographic territory? Even the populations of the current ethno-linguistic kellils themselves are not made up of "purely" one ethnic group each. Addis Ababans are definitely not members of one ethnic group, but could they not be considered as a "People"? How about, for example, the Oromos in the Somali, or AmHara, or Tigraiy, etc. kellils? What are their constitutional rights as citizens of Etiyopiya or as ethnic minorities in places where they reside or do business?

Article 39
አንቀጽ ፴፱
Rights of Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples
የብሔሮች ብሔረሰቦች ህዝቦች መብት[ኦች]

1. Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to
secession.
፩. ማንኛውም የኢትዮጵያ ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ሕዝብ የራሱን ዕድል በራሱ የመወሰን እስከመገንጠል ያለው መብቱ በማናቸውም መልኩ ያለ ገደብ የትጠበቀ ነው።

2. Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language; to express, to develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its history.
፪. ማንኛውም የኢትዮጵያ ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ሕዝብ በቋንቋው የመናገር የመጻፍ ቋንቋውን የማሳደግ እና ብሕሉን የመግለጽ የማዳበርና የማስፋፋት እንዲሁም ታሪኩን የመንከባከብ መብት አለው።

3. Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has the right to a full measure of self-government which includes the right to establish institutions of government in the territory that it inhabits and to equitable representation in state and Federal governments.
፫. ማንኛውም የኢትዮጵያ ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ሕዝብ ራሱን የማስተዳደር ሙሉ መብት አለው። ይህ መብት ብሔሩ ብሔረሰቡ ሕዝቡ በሰፈረበት መልክዐ ምድር ራሱን የሚያስተዳድርበት መንግሥታዊ ተቋማት የማቋቋም እንዲሁም በክልልና በፌደራል አስተዳደሮች ውስጥ ሚዛናዊ ውክልና የማግኘት መብትን ያጠቃልላል።

4. The right to self-determination, including secession, of every Nation, Nationality and People shall come into effect:
፬. የብሔር ብሔረሰቦች ሕዝቦች የራስን ዕድል በራሱ የመወሰን እስከ መገንጠል መብት ከሥራ ላይ የሚውለው
(a) When a demand for secession has been approved by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Legislative Council of the Nation, Nationality or People concerned;
ሀ) የመገንጠል ጥያቄ ብብሔር በብሔረሰቡ ወይም በሕዝቡ የሕግ አውጪ ምክር ቤት በሁለት ሦስተኛ የድምፅ ድጋፍ ተቀባይነት ማግኘቱ ሲረጋገጥ፤

(b) When the Federal Government has organized a referendum which must take place within three years from the time it received the concerned council's decision for secession;
ለ) የፌደራሉ መንግሥት የብሔር የብሔረሰቡ ወይም የሕዝቡ ምክር ቤት ውሳኔ በደረሰው በሦስት ዓመት ግዜ ውስጥ ለጠያቂው ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ወይም ሕዝብ ሕዝበ ውሳኔ ሲያደራጅ፤

(c) When the demand for secession is supported by a majority vote in the referendum;
ሐ) የመገንጠሉ ጥያቄ በሕዝበ ውሳኔው በአብላጫው ድምፅ ሲደገፍ፤

(d) When the Federal Government will have transferred its powers to the Council of the Nation, Nationality or People who has voted to secede; and
መ) የፌደራሉ መንግሥት መገንጠሉን ለመረጠው ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ወይም ሕዝብ ምክር ቤት ሥልጣኑን ሲያስረክብ፤ [እና]

(e) When the division of assets is effected in a manner prescribed by law.
ሠ) በሕግ በሚወሰነው መሰረት የንብረት ክፍፍል ሲደረግ ነው።

5. A "Nation, Nationality or People" for the purpose of this Constitution, is a group of people who have or share a large
measure of a common culture or similar customs, mutual intelligibility of language, belief in a common or related identities, a common psychological make-up, and who inhabit an identifiable, predominantly contiguous territory.

፭. በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት ውስጥ ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ሕዝብ ማለት ከዚህ ቀጥሎ የተገለጸውን ባህርይ የሚያሳይ ማኅበረሰብ ነው። ሰፋ ያለ የጋራ ጠባይ የሚያንጸባርቅ ባሕል ወይም ተመሳሳይ ልምዶች ያላቸው፡ ሊግባቡበት የሚችሉበት የጋራ ቋንቋ ያላቸው፡ የጋራ ወይም የተዛመደ ሕልውና አለን ብለው የሚያምኑ፡ የሥነ ልቦና አንድነት ያላቸውና በአብዛኛው በተያያዘ መልክዐ ምድር የሚኖሩ ናቸው።

[Naga Tuma]

YAY,

It is really very simple when you give very clear answers to very simple and basic questions.

I am not trying to be critical about other opinions here and there as much as I am trying to express my view for whatever it is worth.

To start with some very basic idea, there were times when people did not know how to build houses. Once they learned how to build houses, they started to live as families (ቤተሰብ፣ ማቲ) in the houses that they built. Houses became homes.

Advance that through historical times and then people learned how to have countries as sovereign states. Just as ቤተሰብ came into a collective that lives in a home, nation or ብሄር came to be a collective that lives in a sovereign state.

One fundamental question that I read above is to ask whether every citizen needs a country or not. At this age in human history, every person needs a country in which to live as a citizen. I don't think there is any no man's land left in the world today.

I presume that you agree that ብሄር means nation. If you don't agree with that definition, that means we are talking about different things and we shouldn't be spending time talking about different things as if they mean the same.

Assuming that you agree that ብሄር means nation, think of the U.S. as a nation. It stretches from California in the Pacific coast to Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean or Washington State in the Pacific coast to Maine in the Atlantic coast, as well as Hawaii and Alaska. The expression of sea to shining sea is not without a reason.

The United Nations is a collective of nearly 200 nations. That means each nation in it belongs to a sovereign state. Note that it is not called United Multi-nation Nations (UMN) or United Multi-nation and nation Nations. Compare this with the various phrases you highlighted above and try to see how unusual it sounds for things that have been described simply for a long time now.

Given these basic examples, the simple question that you should ask yourself is if Ethiopia is a sovereign state or not. Not only do I think that it is a sovereign state but also think that it needs to be defended as a sovereign state. I have this much of a view even if I am not as visionary as Abraham Lincoln.

I also think that this is the simple question that every Ethiopian citizen should ask himself or herself.

Now, read the portion of the Ethiopian constitution that you posted above and ask yourself the following very simple question: Is it an adversarial document to the State or constructive of the State? In my view, it is an adversarial document to the State. I would challenge any learned scholar to make a judgment about it otherwise.

If it is judged to be adversarial to the State, calling it a constitution of the State would be fallacious. Here is one definition of the term constitution: the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed. You don't write a document that is fundamentally adversarial to the state and call it the constitution of the state. I really don't know how many times people have to be told to wake up.

If you go through the document and conclude that it is indeed an adversarial document to the State, you may ask about the source of the adversarial nature of the document. It is possible that it was highly influenced by the students of liberation instead of the students of nation building.

Nation building may be as challenging as liberation struggle. A struggle that mixes nation building with liberation movement is even more challenging. I think you are reading from that mix and understanding things as more complicated than they are or have been in Ethiopia.

A very simple idea that is geared towards nation building is the following statement that I read above. "የአዲስ አበባ፣ ጎንደር ፣ መቀሌ ፣ ጂማ ፣ ጂግጂጋ ፣ ሻሸመኔ፣ ሶዶ፣ ብሸፍቱ፣ አርባ ምንጭ፣ ሶዶ፣ ሆሳዕና፣ ሀረር፣ ዲላ፣ ነቀምት፣ ደብረ ብርሃን፣ ደብረ ማርቆስ፣ አሰላ፣ ወዘተ የመሳሰሉ ከተሞች፣ የኢትዮጵያዊያን ዜጎች በምርጫ ራሳቸውን በእራሳቸው የማስተዳደር መብት አላቸው እንላለን፡:"

I have gone farther in the past to opine that many of these and other cities in Ethiopia may serve as centers of federal states for more effective and proficient governance of the nation and the state. If the rights of all citizens, all languages, every stripe of culture, and so on in each of such federal states are governed locally by these federal states, I fail to see how governing the nation and state won't be more effective and proficient.

The use of the term ብሄር and ብሄራዊ are not new. Here are a few examples: ብሄራዊ ፈተና፣ ብሄራዊ ሰንደቅ ኣላማ፣ ብሄራዊ መዝሙር፣ ብሄራዊ መረጃ፣ ብሄራዊ ሳተላይት ...

I am sure that you have heard the terms NASA and NOAA as other examples. They stand for National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, respectively. Note the term national in each of these acronyms.

Before I heard about the recent satellite launch, I heard a learned Indian Professor teach at Arbaminch Water Technology Institute about jet propulsion in his physics class in 1988. Not only did he teach about the theory in his physics class, he also brought for his class and showed a video of how it was being done or tried in India. The only offensive thing that I heard him say was when he called one of his students to his office and asked if he had gotten a test before hand because his score stood out significantly.

The students in that physics class as other classes came from various parts of Ethiopia and many appeared to appreciate that education about jet propulsion, a national one if you will, and many people now appear to be so happy about the satellite launch when many more breakthroughs ought to be within reach for the nation.

In the final analysis, when you give simple and straightforward answers to basic and fundamental questions, such as whether all citizens want to have a ሃገር or not and when all those who want to have a ሃገር say let us get out of the mix of nation building and liberation movement and focus only on nation building the best way we can, I think you will have solved half of the complexity that you appear to see. In my view, it is long overdue to use tactical fights for rights and focus on strategic struggles for nation building.