Mereja Forum

[EPRDF]

August 26, 2020by Mohamed Olad

The threat to national integrity comes from those who fantasize about the past, not from those who promote the rights of groups that overcame repression.

On 29 June, activist musician Hachalu Hundessa was murdered, triggering protests and unrest that killed at least 239 people, and a heavy crackdown by security forces that has since seen more than 9,000 people detained and internet services shutdown for almost three weeks.
Hachalu’s place within the collective Oromo consciousness was as a cultural icon and once-in-a-generation performer. He was cherished by millions of Oromo as an artist that captured the melancholy surrounding their struggle for freedom and equality. That very struggle helped bring Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power in 2018.

Unsurprisingly, Hachalu’s killing evoked strong sentiments of anger similar to how graphic police brutality recently elicited similar reactions in the U.S. and elsewhere. One tragic result was Oromo mobs targeting ethnic minorities and businesses in the Oromia region. Despite criticisms against the government for its slow response at preventing looming human and economic devastation, a heavy crackdown ensued.

Opportunism
Rather than looking at these unfortunate events as an opportunity to unify a deeply polarized society and instill trust and legitimacy in disregarded law enforcement and judicial institutions, the government chose to exploit the tragedy for political gain.

Hachalu could have been given a dignified memorial worthy of a freedom fighter here in Addis Ababa similar to General Seare Mekonnen, or legendary singer Tilahun Gessese, while still respecting the family’s wish of Ambo as his final resting place. It too could have put its security apparatus on alert to prevent the gruesome violence we have seen in Oromia.

But it instead chose to use the opportunity to settle political scores and aggravate an already tragic situation. It engaged in finger pointing, insinuations, and media campaign to ‘poison the well’ before formal investigations or public debate could even begin.

These same law-enforcement agencies which claim to have uncovered a deep external-internal web of conspiracies against the state have yet to resolve any of the high-profile killings from the last two years. That being the case, any further lack of transparency and due process is set to erode whatever trust remains in the government and state institutions critical for democracy.

Backsliding signs
We are at a crossroads facing a multitude of fundamental problems that need meaningful answers. Yet all that the Abiy government can offer is empty slogans and pseudo-profound rhetoric that will set back the quest for a multinational, federal democratic state.

Two years into a high-stakes and high-expectations transition, the jailing of high-profile opposition figures, cracking down on protesters and journalists, mass arrests, mistreatment of prisoners, dubious judicial processes, and a lack of broad national dialogue still persists. For a transition to succeed, you need a government and a democratic process of which elections are not only a minimum requirement, and which are rooted in legitimacy and transparency. None of that is enjoyed by the incumbent.

The misgivings clouding a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a progressive, democratic dispensation are numerous; the government’s heavy-handed response to the unrest in the wake of Hachalu’s death, the documented killings and abuses in Oromia and Amhara, crackdowns on opposition, a looming constitutional and security crisis due to PP-TPLF standoff, the indefinite postponement of elections, and the Abiy government’s unwillingness for dialogue or compromise.

If these events are anything to go by, it is eerily similar to the toxic political climate following the 2005 election. I remember the suffocating political heat of those days like yesterday.

Road to nowhere
The odds for a triumphant transition to democracy were already bleak, since the subject of reform is the ruins of an archaic imperial state with its own social, cultural, and historical burdens.

An ethnic plutocracy in the form of the TPLF, hell-bent on political, economic and ideological domination, was the main obstacle to reforms in the last three decades. However, it is an intolerant, and often impetuous, hodgepodge elite that includes the ruling party, opposition parties, activists, civil society organizations, diaspora groups, online and broadcast media outlets flexing to dismantle the current multinational federalism that are the biggest spoilers to a smooth democratic transition.

Their preferred label is as ‘Ethiopianists’, however, their detractors dismiss them as ‘Neo-neftegnas’ —an assortment of people nostalgic for the regressive imperial era, who despise the current multinational federalism, and attribute the recognition and autonomy granted to the nations and nationalities to be the source of all our social and political ills. Multiple studies have found that they are predominantly urbanites, ethnically Amhara, and disproportionately dominate levers of power: government bureaucracy, media, and finance. They pursue this as a zero-sum game, and to the detriment of historically marginalized communities.

Regardless, this current fight is one for the soul of this nation; what it should embody and envision for this generation and the ones that follow. And it is only beginning.

These faux unitarians and their counterproductive ways are baffling. They call themselves ‘Ethiopianists’, and claim to stand for unity. But it is hard to see anything especially Ethiopian or unifying about them, their approach, their historical narratives, or the society they envision.

They claim ultimate guardianship over the Ethiopian state, and are determined to delegitimize and criminalize the legitimate ‘question of the nations and nationalities’ and their struggle for justice and equality. Nonetheless, the more their historical suffering is ignored, the louder the echoes of imperial drums grow. And, the more their aspirations deferred, the less likely we are to realize a nation that is at peace with itself.

What I like to call ‘Ethiopia’s original sin’—the violence, the subjugation, the oppression, and the subsequent marginalization of the Nations Nationalities and Peoples upon which it was founded—are still too raw and intense to simply wish away.

For example, the story of Menelik II and his violent Zemechas, or conquests, has a different meaning for me and my ancestors than those who still hold him in high esteem as a godlike figure. There was no love lost between Menelik II and my great-grandfather’s generation. Being the Somali tribes along the Jigjiga Valley, they were the first to try to stave off Menelik’s incursions, but unfortunately fell prey to them and his better armed crusaders in the likes of Ras Mekonnen, Dejazmach Benugise, and Kenyazmach Basha-Basha.

As Major H.G.C.S Wayne documented in his book; Seventeen Trips to Somaliland and a Visit to Abyssinia, when he trekked northern Somali territories and eastern Ethiopia in late 1890s, Menelik II’s mistreatment of the Somalis was equal to their unforgiving mistrust towards him. So much so they were willing to live under British rule, as documented by Major Wayne, with some semblance of order, rather than the humiliation and degradation of a true despot.

Baseless
It is Abiy’s alignment with these neo-imperialists and Derg remnants that is the biggest hurdle for the transition. They sit at the crux of political, cultural, economic, military, security and media vessels that were left rudderless by the abrupt retreat of TPLF, and are determined to crush everything and everyone they see as a threat.

This does not bode well for a smooth transition.

Moreover, there are a range of controversial figures that bear the banner of the ‘Ethiopianist’ camp. This includes exposed xenophobes, to former Derg generals like Fisseha Desta, Mengistu’s second-in-command, and Kassaye Chemeda who even called for violence on national television. These figures are either in the Prime Minister’s inner-circle, have influence on policy, or are praising him on state television.

The biggest threat to our societal cohesion and the continuity of the state does not lie with those pushing for greater autonomy and recognition for nations and nationalities. Rather, it lies with those fantasizing about the past, with their preferred cut off for the ‘good old days’ being prior to the EPRDF-era.

Continued bullying of anyone refusing to buy their outdated, out of touch dogma into silence by hurling demeaning and crude reductionist insults such as ‘treasonous mercenaries’, ‘savage extremists’, ‘tribal nativists’, ‘terrorists’ will not bring peace and unity.

Exit strategy
In his inaugural speech, Abiy called for national reconciliation, forgiveness, and the closure of our dark past, promising ‘‘to forge ahead to bright future through national consensus’’.

For someone who came to office on a platform of unity and dialogue, it is worth emphasizing the only way forward is by backing out of the current quagmire. It is equally worth noting that any genuine attempt at national dialogue and reconciliation starts with the immediate release of all political prisoners as part of aiming for a comprehensive settlement.

If our Nobel laureate Prime Minister can embrace the last true despot in the Horn of Africa, President Isaias Afwerki, as a force for peace and development, finding common ground with his detractors here at home shouldn’t be too hard.

However, it is hard to guess if Abiy has come to terms with the reality that no one can rule Ethiopia in peace, and longevity, while making a career out of angering the only tent that can provide a viable governing coalition. Abandoning his natural constituency, the Oromo, neglecting Somalis and the issues they care about, feuding with the Sidama, clashing with the Wolayta and suffocating Tigray is not a good place to start if the goal is to reach peace and unity, and underwrite state continuity.

[Abere]

@EPRDF

I did not know the name EPRDF still exists. Update your name - ምን ያለው አሞራ ግንዱን ታቅፎታል - ከሚወደው ጋራ ማን ሲኖር አይቶታል አይሁን ለማለት ነው። You said " If our Nobel laureate Prime Minister can embrace the last true despot in the Horn of Africa, President Isaias Afwerki ....." But, like your forgot changing your name you also forgot Abiy's Noble peace prize is due to Isaias Afewroki. I think the major problem with Abiy is his OLF baggage. You can't climb two branches at the same time simply because you have two legs. Abiy has to cut his OLF branches. Arrest Merara Gudina, Dawud Ibsa, et al.

[EPRDF]

@EPRDF

I did not know the name EPRDF still exists. Update your name - ምን ያለው አሞራ ግንዱን ታቅፎታል - ከሚወደው ጋራ ማን ሲኖር አይቶታል አይሁን ለማለት ነው። You said " If our Nobel laureate Prime Minister can embrace the last true despot in the Horn of Africa, President Isaias Afwerki ....." But, like your forgot changing your name you also forgot Abiy's Noble peace prize is due to Isaias Afewroki. I think the major problem with Abiy is his OLF baggage. You can't climb two branches at the same time simply because you have two legs. Abiy has to cut his OLF branches. Arrest Merara Gudina, Dawud Ibsa, et al.

I did not say that. The article was written by Mohammed Olad. Thank you.

[TGAA]

Mohamed Olad has conveniently created an alternative world out of thin air. For all mayhem that has taken place in Ethiopia Mr Mohamed Olad ‘s has found a scapegoat “those who fantasize about the past” Nothing can be further from the truth Ethiopia had passed through one “revolution” in which a man with 70 cattles was considered an exploiter or a feudal and killed in spot. Then the weyane ethnic stratified the country and made Amharas the cause of all Ethiopians miseries, though by any measure Amharas were no better in some cases worst than the others. Now the kind of Mr Mohamed who are itching to build their nest on weyane ethicized treer, to plunder and kill as they want to screaming the sky is falling just because that system is scrutinized for its failing . At this time whether elected legibly or illegibly every so called kellls are being administrated by their won. The weyane designed constitution that Mr, Olad is painting as panacea makes other Ethiopian living out of their kelele as a second class citizens in their own country. Abiy has changed nothing , absolutely nothing. So how is that “those who fantasize about the past” has become a whipping boys for Mr Mohamed? Because the kinds of Mr. Mohamed who are supporting openly or tacitly communal strife among Ethiopians of different culture and religion has to find some entity to blame while they are at work to undone Ethiopia. That is just a fact. Look at this sentence and how Mr Mohamed Olad justifies a genocide that was committed against Ethiopinas specifically because of their religion and because of who they were, namely Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and Amharas ( renamed as Neftenas) just a remindere to Mr Mohamed Olad The chant that went on while theses ethnic and religion fanatics killed and destroyed property was “Allah weakber”. Here is how Mr Mohamed is trifling the tragedy that befallen Ethiopians, who singled out , with the list of names and address ready by these fanatics, that were slaughtered in their house , some burned with their children alive.
“Unsurprisingly, Hachalu’s killing evoked strong sentiments of anger similar to how graphic police brutality recently elicited similar reactions in the U.S. and elsewhere. One tragic result was Oromo mobs targeting ethnic minorities and businesses in the Oromia region.” Just reminder to Mr Mohamed in US no single race or religion was targeted because of who they were.
Is it one incident that took place out of the blue? No,The same actors who were agitated by same Jawarian media (OMN) have been committing targeted ethnic cleansing.
September 14-16 2018 in the city of burayu 65 innocent Ethiopians were killed by radical so called “keeros” chanting leave our land. Gurages, Dorzes, and Amharas were the victims.
On October 24,2019 Jawar called his mob on Facebook calming that his government provided securities were told to leave without his knowledge . More than 100 Orthodox Chrisians, and Amharas were killed in the most gruesome way imaginable, churches were burned to the ground.
Now July 30, the same anti-Ethiopian agitators, led by Jawar, orchestrated Hachallus killing, and using that they wanted to take power by force. Within hours of Hachallus killing in Oromia cities, these well-organized Ethnic cleansers came to the city with name , address, killing and burning discriminately by nationality and religion . The same cleaning happened in Sdama – there too both the agitators and the victims are the same. So for Mr Mohamed Olad this truths are not covenant truths he wants to delve into. And the phantom entities the so called “those who fantasize about the past” are simply a smokescreen to cover the anti-Ethiopian campaign lead by Jawar and CO. Patriotic Ethiopians will defended their country from the enemies within and without; there are not going to shrink from their responsibility wheter one calls them “ fantasizers of the past or whatever. They would not allow Ethiopia to become another Somalia.

[Sam Ebalalehu]

I am not fantasizing about the past ; I am in fact dreaming about the future. Mohamed Olad used a tired slogan : everyone who opposes the ethnic politics extremists is outright a dreamer of the past. That self serving generalization of Mohamed and his likes create animosity between Ethiopians, not bring them together. To lay the ground for a genuine discussion let Mohamed and those who speak the same theory as he accept one hard fact : those who denounce ethnic politics could not try to take the country back to where she was three decades ago. What they are saying is the future of Ethiopia should not and will not be written by ethnic politics extremists. By the way the word extremists is becoming a useless vocabulary in Ethiopia. Using it implies there are moderates. Not anymore.

[EthioRedSea]

Domination of one tribe should not be allowed. Tigray-Amhara domination of Ethiopia should be stopped. Democratizing Ethiopia is not the same as Ethnic Federalism. The Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia is narrow nationalism based on an ethnic group. No ethnic group has a territory. They are shared by mixed ethnic groups. There are no nations in Ethiopia

TPLF-EPRDF did not have the right solution to discrimination and alienation of non-amhara Ethiopians. Some of the ethnic groups like Oromos are recent addition to Ethiopia and have no territory in Ethiopia.Ethiopia needs to be yet divided into equal administrative units. In all administrative there should mixed tribes.

[Lakeshore]

Mohamed said
the threat to national integrity comes from those who fantasize about the past, not from those who promote the rights of groups that overcame repression.

Response:
That is a false statement because most of the violence is committed by the Oromo organization Kerro and Oneg shene actually those who fantasize the past relative peaceful time are the victims who are slaughtered by criminals like Jawar, Bekele and Gal Merro and there will not be any kind of negotiation before they are prosecuted for their crime.

Mohamed said

On 29 June, activist musician Hachalu Hundessa was murdered, triggering protests and unrest that killed at least 239 people, and a heavy crackdown by security forces that has since seen more than 9,000 people detained and internet services shut down for almost three weeks.
Hachalu’s place within the collective Oromo consciousness was as a cultural icon and once-in-a-generation performer. He was cherished by millions of Oromo as an artist that captured the melancholy surrounding their struggle for freedom and equality. That very struggle helped bring Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power in 2018.

Unsurprisingly, Hachalu’s killing evoked strong sentiments of anger similar to how graphic police brutality recently elicited similar reactions in the U.S. and elsewhere. One tragic result was Oromo mobs targeting ethnic minorities and businesses in the Oromia region. Despite criticisms against the government for its slow response at preventing looming human and economic devastation, a heavy crackdown ensued.

Response:
Hachalu’s death is a tragedy for his fans and we are sad for his death as a human being. However, he was a controversial figure, with limited understanding of the jawarian hidden interest. His naivety costs him his life. The jawar group hijacked the Oromo struggle to create Islamic Oromia by force and killed Hachalu. It is true his death created strong sentiment and anger from true Oromos but the Islamist jawarian group they want to use his body to get close to power. However, it is different from the black lives matter movement simply as one of the writer on this forum puts it the protest is not directed at a certain group racially or religiously. The jawar Keroo destruction was aimed at Christians and no Oromo Ethiopians. How on earth this imbecile groups can promote equality? You said one tragic result. It is not one it is many and yes, we criticize the government for not protecting it citizens by making harsher and swifter crackdown on the perpetrators. One of the fundamental pillars of democracy is an individual right. Every individual has the right to live wherever he wants to live, create wealth, and move freely. Besides this, it is not democracy.

Mohamed said:

Opportunism
Rather than looking at these unfortunate events as an opportunity to unify a deeply polarized society and instill trust and legitimacy in disregarded law enforcement and judicial institutions, the government chose to exploit the tragedy for political gain.

Hachalu could have been given a dignified memorial worthy of a freedom fighter here in Addis Ababa similar to General Seare Mekonnen, or legendary singer Tilahun Gessese, while still respecting the family’s wish of Ambo as his final resting place. It too could have put its security apparatus on alert to prevent the gruesome violence we have seen in Oromia.

But it instead chose to use the opportunity to settle political scores and aggravate an already tragic situation. It engaged in finger-pointing, insinuations, and media campaigns to ‘poison the well’ before formal investigations or public debate could even begin.

These same law-enforcement agencies which claim to have uncovered a deep external-internal web of conspiracies against the state have yet to resolve any of the high-profile killings from the last two years. That being the case, any further lack of transparency and due process is set to erode whatever trust remains in the government and state institutions critical for democracy.

Response:
The Hachalu family wants their sone to go to Ambo and for burial and for viewing before burial. But the Islamist Jawar kidnap the dead body to politicize and execute the planned marching to the palace and hijack the prime minister. That plan failed because of true Oromo Ethiopian and law enforcement agencies. I don’t think anyone has a beef if someone wants to install a monument for Hachalu but it is not government duty to erect a statue every time a citizen dies. Just to add Hachalu is an artist for the Oromo people because they understand what he is saying for other Ethiopians he is just a fellow Ethiopian. But Tilahun is in a different league than Hachalu he transcends ethics division.



tobe continued