—የምንተባበርበት ጊዜ ለአንድነት እንጅ፤ ለለቅሶ አይሁን—

አክሎግ ቢራራ (ዶር)

ኢትዮጵያ ሃገራችን በአሁኑ ወቅት፤ ከመቸውም ጊዜ በባሰ ሁኔታና ደረጃ፤ በውስጥ ተደራጅተው፤ በውጭ ኃይል በገንዘብ፤ በቴክኒክ፤ በመረጃ፤ በመሳሪያና በሌሎች ግብአቶች ተደግፈው፤ ጠባብ ብሄርተኞች፤ ጽንፈኞች፤ ሽብርተኞች፤ ቅጥረኞች፤ ከሃዲዎችና በተደጋጋሚ የፈፀሟቸውና አሁንም በንፁሃን እናቶቻችንና እህቶቻችን ላይ በተቀነባበረ ደረጃ የሚያካሂዱቸው የተቀነባበሩሩ የዘውግ ዘውግና ኃይማኖት ተኮር እልቂቶች፤ አገራችን ኢትዮጵያንም ወደ ጥፋት አፋፍ እያሸጋገሯት ነው።

በ 10/23/2016 “የአማራው ሕዝብ ህልውና” በሚል እርእስ” በጻፍኩት ማሳሰቢብያ፤ ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያና ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያዊነት ሴረኛው ህወሓት በማኒፌስቶው በጸነሰው አቅድ መሰረት በመሰብሰብ ሽብርተኞች አደጋውን እንደሚያስፋፉትና ለሕዝቡ ብቻ ሳይሆን ለኣገራችንም ህልውና ጭምር አደጋው እንደሚያሰጋት ጠቁሜ ነበር።

ዛሬ ሰፋ አድርጌ ስመለከተው፤ የትግሉ ጎራ ግልጽ ነው። በአንድ በኩል ቀና ደፋ የሚለው፤ ግን ገና አስተሳሰቡን፤ ኃይሉንና አቅሙን፤ ከኢትዮጵያ ፍላጎት ጋር ያላመጣጠነው ክፍል፤ በሌላ በኩል ባለፉት አርባና አምሳ አመታት ዘውግንና ኃይማኖትን ለይቶ ሲንቀሳቀስ የቆየው፤ ግዙፍ የውጭ ድጋፍ ያለው፤ ጠባብ ብሄርተኛነትን፤ ዘረኛነትን፤ ጽንፈኛነትን፤ “እኛና እናንተ” ባይነትን፤ “ክልላዊነትን” ባጭሩ፤ ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያና ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያዊነትን መለያው ያደረገው የብሄርተኞች ስብስብ ተዘጋጅቶ፤ ታጥቆ የተደራጀና የተቀነባበረ እልቂትና አገራችንን የማፍረስ ስራዎች በማካሄድ ላይ ይገኛል።

የመጀመሪያውን ክፍል ለምንደግፍ አገር ወዳዶች፤ ይህን ፈተና እንደ ወሳኝ እድል አይተን ተበታትኖና ሳይናበቡ ከመጨነቅ አለማችን ወጥተን ወደ ብሄራዊ አንድነት ከመሰብሰብ ውጭ ሌላ አማራጭ እንደሌላን ለማሳሰብ እፈልጋለሁ። ይህን ካደረግን፤ ረዢምና አስደናቂ ታሪክ ያላት፤ ለጥቁር ሕዝቦች ሁሉ የነጻነት ተምሳሌት የሆነችው፤ በፍጥነት ለማደግ የመቻል እድሏ ሰፊ የሆነችው፤ የአፍሪካ መዲና ኢትዮጵያ በምንም አትጠፋም እላለሁ። ይኼ ግን በምኞች ብቻ እንደማይሳካ ካለፉት ዓመታት ታሪካችን ልንማር እንችላለን። ኢትዮጵያን ለመታደግ የምንችለው በኢትዮጵና በኢትዮጵያዊነት የምናምነው ብቻ ነን። ፈረንጆችን ባናምናቸው እመርጣለሁ። በቅርቡ የሚያስተጋቧቸውን ሁኔታዎች ብቻ መመራመሩና መመልከቱ በቂ ነው።

እንደገና ላሰምርበት የምገፈልገው፤ የአማራው ሕዝብ ህልውና ከኢትዮጵያ ህልውና ጋር የተያያዘ መሆኑን ነው።

በሁለተኛው ክፍል ያስቀመጥኳቸው ኃይሎች ከውጭ መንግሥት (መንግሥታት ጋር) ተቀናጅተው፤ ኢትዮጵያንና ኢትዮጵያዊነትን  በማያሻማ ደረጃ በማፈራረስ ላይ ይገኛሉ። ዝግጅታቸውና አቀነባበራቸው ስር-ነቀል ለውጥን ስኬታማ ለማድረግ መሆኑ በግልጽ ይታያል። “አገር ሲፈርስ ጃርት ያበቅላል” እንዲሉ፤ ሌላው ቀርቶ፤ በነጻነቷ ኮርታና ተከብራ በምትታወቀው አገራችን በኢትዮጵያ የግብፅን ባንዲራ ይዘው ሰልፍ የወጡ ግለሰቦች የሚታዩባት አገር ሆናለች። መለያችን ግብፅ ናት የሚሉ ግለሰቦች ጦርነት ቢካሄድ፤ ግብፅን ደግፈው ኢትዮጵያዊያንን ለመግደል ዝግጁ ናቸው ማለት ነው። እነዚህ ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያና ፀረ-ኢትዮጵያዊነት መመሪያቸው የሆኑት ግለሰቦች ኢትዮጵያን ጠልተው ግብፅን የሚያፈቅሩ ከሆነ የምመክራቸው ወደ ካይሮ ይሂዱና የተሻለ ኑሮ ትስጣቸው እላለሁ። ታሪካችንና እሴቶቻችን ሙሉ የክብርንና የነጻነትን እሴቶች የያዙ መሆናቸውን የሚያዩት ይህን ሲያደርጉ ብቻ ነው።

ለነዚህና ተመሳሳይ አመለካከት ላላቸው ሁሉ የምመክረው፤ ቅጥረኛና ሎሌ ሆኖ ከመኖር በድህነትና በነጻነት መኖርን እንመርጣለን ብሎ መስዋእት የሆነውን የኢትዮጵያን ጀግኖች ታሪክ ማወቅ ይበጅ ነበር የሚል ነው። ይህን እሴትና ፈለግ የሚከተለው ትውልድ ብቻ ነው ኢትዮጵያንና ኢትዮጵዊነትን ሊታደግ የሚችለው። ህብረትንና አንድነትን እንምረጥ፤ ለብሄርተኝነት፤ ለዘረኝነት ቦታ አንስጥ የምለው ለዚህ ነው።

ኢትዮጵያን ከድህነትና ከኋላ ቀርነት አሮንቃም ነጻ የሚያወጣት ይህ የማህበረሰብ ክፍል ብቻ ነው። ህብረት ይኑረን የምለው ለዚህ ነው። ግብፅን ተቃውሞ የሕዳሴን ግድብ ስኬታማ ለማድረግ የሚችለው ኃይልም ይኼው ነው። ህብረት ይኑረን የምለው ለዚህ ነው። ተራው ኢትዮጵያዊ ካለችው ገንዘብ እያወጣ ህዳሴን ለመገንባት የቻለው ህብረት ስላለው ነው። ከሃዲዎችና ቅጥረኞች እንኳን ይህን ለማጤንና ለማድረግ ቀርቶ ሰብአዊ ፍጥረት ምን እንደሆነም አያውቁም። የሚተባበሩት ለጥፋት እንጅ የተራውን ሕዝብ ኑሮ ለማሻሻል አይደለም።

ቢሆንማ በሻሸመኔ ሆነ በሌላው ክፍል ታታሪዎች አርባ ዓመት ጥረው ግረው የመሰረቱትን የኢኮኖሚ ተቋም፤ ለብዙ ድሃዎች የስራ እድል የፈጠረውን ብሄር እየለዩ አያወድሙትም ነበር።

የዘውግ ጥላቻ ውድመት ነው።

የህወሓት ቡድን መለያው በማኒፌስቶው ላይ “የአማራውን ሕዝብ የትግራይ ሕዝብ ጠላት ነው” ብሎ በመበየን፤ ይህን ታላቅ ሕዝብ ለአደጋ አጋልጦት ወደ መቀሌ መግባቱ ነው። የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ከቋንቋ ውጭ ለመለየት አይቻልም። አማራውና ትግሬው፤ አማራውና ኦሮሞው፤ ኦሮሞውና ሌላው ወንድማማች ሕዝብ ነው። ሰማንያ በመቶ የሚሆነው ድብልቅ ነው። ከቋንቋው ውጭ ይህን ታላቅ ሕዝብ እንዴት ለመለየት ይቻላል? አይቻልም። የሚለዩት ልሂቃን፤ ጽንፈኞች፤ ጠባብ ብሄርተኞችና የኢትዮጵያን አንድነት የማይፈልጉ ፈረንጆች ናቸው። የሚለዩት ግብጾች ናቸው። ለምን? ለራሳቸው ጅዖፖለቲካዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ጥቅም ብቻ። የግብፅ ዋና ዓላማ አባይን በበላይነት መቆጣጠር ነው። ይህን ለማድረግ የምትችለው የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ በመከፋፈል፤ አገራችን ደክማና ኋላ ቀር ሆና እንድትቆይ በማድረግ ብቻ ነው።

ግብፅ የውክልና ጦርነት እድምታካሂድ በተደደጋጋሚ እኔ ብቻ ሳልሆን የታወቁ ተመራማሪዎችና የታሪክ ምሁራን ዘግበውታል። ወደ አገር ውስጥ የሥልጣን ግብግብና እልቂት ስሄድ፤ ለኢትዮጵያ ደህንነትና ብልጽግና የሚመኝ ኃይል አንዱን ዘውግ ወይንም ኃይማኖት ከሌላው እየለየና ድጋፍ እየሰጠ እርስ በርሳችሁ ተፋጁ አይልም። ይህን ሲያደርግ የሚያገልግለው የኢትዮጵያን ጠላት መንግሥታት፤ በተለይ ግብፅጽን ነው። የውጭ ጠላት፤ ቅጥረኞችን እየመለመለ፤ በገንዘብ እያባበለ፤ የውጭ መገናኛ መሳሪያ እየሰጠ እልቂት እንዲያካሄድ ማድርገጉ ባያስደንቅም፤ የሚያስደንቀው በተከታታይ፤ የውስጥ አርበኞችን ለማደራጀት፤ ለማስታጠቅ፤ ለማስልጠን ተቀባይነት የሚያገኝበት ምቹ ሁኔታ ማግኘቱ ነው። ማን አመቻቸው? ይህን ለሌላ ጊዜና ለሌሎች ልተወው።

የተቀነባበረው አመጽና እልቂት ገጽታ ምን ይመስላል?

የዝነኛው አርቲስት የኃጫሎ ሁንዴሳ አስቃቄና ኢ-ሰብ አዊ ግድያ ታስቦበት፤ ታቅዶበት የተፈጸመ ወይንጀል ነው። ገዳዮቹ ምህረት ሊደረግላቸው አይገባም። ይህ ግድያ ብቻውን ሊታይ አይገባም። በተከታታይ የተካሄዱ የፖለቲካ የግድያ ሙከራዎችና ግድያዎች ሊጠቀሱ ይገባል። እነዚህን በጅምላ “የሰኔ ግድያዎች” ልበላቸው።

1. በጠቅላይ ሚንስትር ዶር ዐብይ አህመድ ላይ የተደረገውን የነፍስ ግድያ ሙከራ ማን አደረገውና ለምን?
2. ከአንድ ዓመት በፊት በሰኔ በነ ዶር አምባቸው መኮነንና ጓዶቹ፤ ብርጋዴር ጀኔራል አሳምነው እና በኢትዮጵያዊው የጦር መኮነን እና ኢታ ማጆር ሹም ሳእረ ላይ የተካሄደውን ጭካኔ የተሞላበት ግድያ ማን ጠነሰሰውና ማና አካሄደው?
3. ለሶስተኛ ጊዜ በሰኔው ወር፤ በኃጫሎ ላይ የተካሄደውን የነፍስ ግድያስ ማን ጠነሰሰው፤ ማን አቀነባበረው፤ ማን ፈጸመውና ለምን?

እነዚህና ሌሎች ተመሳሳይ የፖለቲካ ግድያዎች ለፖለቲካ ሥልጣን ዓላማ የተቀናጁ እንጅ የግል የቂም በቀል ግድያዎች አይደሉም። ቸልተኛነት ያስበላል የምለው ለዚህ ነው። በመጀመሪይው የግድያ ሙከራ ላይ ፈጣንና የማያሻማ እርምጃ ቢወሰድ ኖሮ ተደጋጋሚነት ሙሉ በሙሉ ይጠፋል ለማለት ባልችልም፤ ይቀንሳል። የሕግ የበላይነት ትርጉም ይኖረዋል። ሌሎችም ግድያዎች፤ ለምሳሌ፤ ዘውግን ወይንም ኃይማኖትን ኢላማ ያደረጉ በቀላሉ ከታለፉ፤ የተመለመዱ ይሆኑና  ግድያዎቹ ተከታታይ ይሆናሉ።

ለማንኛውም፤ የኢትዮጵያ መሰረታዊ ጠንቅና ችግር የውስጥ መሆኑ በተከታታይ ይታያል ። ተራው ሕዝብ አይደለም። የኢትዮጵያ እናቶችና ወጣት ሴቶች እንጨት እየተሸከሙ ግብፅን እንደግፋለን፤ ዓባይን መገደብ አያስፈልግም የሚሉ ግለሰቦችና ስብስቦች አሁንም የሚኖሩባት አገር የምታሳየቸው ግድፈቶችና ክፍተቶች አሉ። ብሄርን ከብሄር፤ ኃይማኖትን ከኃይማኖት ጋር የሚጋጩ ግለሰቦች፤ ስብስቦች፤ በየክልሉ ደሞዝ እየተከፈላቸው ለአጥፊዎች ተገንና ሽፋን የሚሰጡ ባለሥልጣናት ያሉባት ክፍተትና እደጋ የተሸመከች  አገር መሆኗን ያሳያል። ጠብ ጫሪዎች፤ ሕዝብን ከሕዝብ ጋር አጣልተው የሚሸሹ ወይንም የሚደበቁ፤ በውጭ ሆነው ያለምንም ስጋት ራሳቸው በነጻ አገር እየኖሩ ለተራው ድሃ ህዝብ ደንታ የሌላቸው ከሳት ላይ ቤንዚን የሚነሰንሱን ግለስቦች በቸልተኛነት ስትመለከት የቆየች አገር ናት ኢትዮጵያ። ዘውግና ኃይማኖት እየለዩ ብቻ እናቶቻችን፤ አክስቶቻችን፤ በአገራቸው የስራ እድል ሲያጡ፤ በርሀና ባህር ተሻግረው አሰቃቄ በሆነ ደረጃ በመካከለኛው ምስራቅ ተሰደው የቀን ሰራተኛ እንደሆኑ እያየዩ በአገራቸው የተሻለ የስራ እድል በመፍጠር ፋንታ ብሄርተኞችና ጽንፈኞች ልዩነቶችን ያበረታታሉ። ግጭቶችን ይፈጥራሉ፤ ንጹሃንን በዘውግ እየለዩ ይገድላሉ። ለግብጽ አገግጋይ እንሁን ይላሉ።

የፖለቲካ ልሂቃንም፤ በአብዝኛው ገንቢ የሆኑ አማራጮችን ሲያቀርቡ አላይም። በኢትዮጵያና በኢትዮጵያዊነት እናምናለን የሚሉትም ቢሆኑ እስካሁን ድረስ በአንድነት ለአንድ አገር ብሄራዊ አላማና ልማት አማራጮችን ለሕዝብ ሲያያቀርቡ አላየሁም። በተጻራሪው ክፍል የተሰብሰበቡት አፍራሽ ስብስቦች፤ ማለትም፤ ጠባብ ብሄርተኞች፤ የብሄር አክራሪዎችና ትምክህተኞች፤ የእነዚህ ኃይሎች የውጭ ደጋፊዎችና አቅም ገንቢዎች፤ ጦር አቀባዮች፤ የማህበረሰብ ሜድያ አርበኞች ወዘተ የችግሩ ዋናው አካል ናቸው። ጥላቻንና እልቂትን የሚያካሂዱት እነዚህ ናቸው።

ድሃው ተራ ሕዝብ ለጎረቤቱ ጠላት ሆኖ አያውቅም። ዛሬም እንዳለፉት የኢህአዴግ አመታት፤ የዘውግ ጥላቻን ጽንሠ ሃሳብ ማን መሰረተው፤ ማን ያራግበዋል፤ ማን እንደ መርዝ አስራጨው፤ ማን ይጠቀምበታል፤ ማንን ይጎዳል? ብለን መጠየቅ ተገቢ ነው። ምክንያቱም ችግሩን በሚገባ ተረድተን መፍትሄ ካልፈለግንለት፤ ጥላቻው ለንጹሃን ሞትና ለግዙፍ ንብረት ውድመት ጠንቅ ከመሆኑ ባሻገር፤ አገርንም ያጠፋል። አሁን ያለንበት ደረጃ ይኼው ነው።

የኢህአዴግ መንግሥት ሲመሰረት፤ ህወሓት መራሹ ቡድን የኢትዮጵያዊያንን ብሄራዊ አንድነት (እኛ ኢትዮጵያዊያን በሚል ስያሜ) መሰረት በማድረግ ፋንታ “የብሄር፤ ብሄርሰብና ሕዝቦችን” መለያ አድርጎ ያዋቀረው ሕገ መንግሥትና የክልል አስተዳደር ልዩነቶች እንዲሰፉና እየተካረሩ እንዲሄዱ  ገደብ የሌለበት ማንነትን እያመረተ ቆይቷል። የዜግነት መብት ተቀዳሚ አለመሆኑ በየክልሉ ለተፈለፈሉ የፖለቲካ ልሂቃን ኑሮ አመች ሁኔታን ከመፍጠሩ በስተቀር ለነዋሪው ሕዝብ ያስገኘው መብትና ጥቅም የተወሰነ ነው። የክልሉ አስተዳደር ያስከተለው አሉታዊ ውጤት ግዙፍ ነው።

በዘውግ የተዋቀረና በዘውግ ርእይቱ የሚያምን ቡድን፤ ይህን  ሕዝብን የሚያጨራርስ፤ አገርን የሚያጠፋ ጠንቅ ፈጥሮ ሊፈታው አልቻለም። ስር ነቀል መፍትሄ በመፈለግ ፋንታ፤ ችግሩን ሲያስታምመው ቆይቷል። በሳቱ ላይ ቤንዚን የሚረጩቱን አጥፊዎች በእንዝህላልነት ቸል ብሏቸው ወይንም ትቷቸው ቆይቷል። አጥፊዎቹ ይጠብቁት የነበረው እድል እስከሚፈጠር ድረስ ነበር። እድሉን ራሳቸው ፈጥረዋል፤ የውጭ ኃይሎችም፤ በተለይ ግብጽ ፈጥራላቸዋለች። ይህን የህዳሴ ግድብና የአባይ ወንዝ መዘዝ ልበለው።

ግብፅ ኢትዮጵያን ለማጥቃት ከጥንት ጀምራ ልዩ ልዩ ዘዴዎችን ተጠቅማለች። ከእነዚህ መካከል የአገር ውስጥ “አርበኞችን” መመልመልና በገንዘብ ደጉሞ ማሰማራት አንዱ ዘዴዋ ነው። በሃይማኖት ስም፤ በፖለቲካ ስም፤ ወዘተ። ዘዴው ብዙ ነው። ስንት ትከፍላለች? አባይ ወንዝ በገንዘብ አይተመንም። ዓባይ የህልውናና የብሄራዊ ደህንነት፤ የኑሯችን መሰረት ጉዳይ ነው። ግብፅ የአባይን ወንዝ በበላይነት ለመቆጣጠር መቶ ሚሊየን ዶላር በአንድ ጊዜ ፈሰስ ብታደርግ አልደነቅም። አስር ሽህዎች ንጹህ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ቢሞቱ ግብፅ ደንታ የላትም። የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ፈርሶ አገራችን መንግሥት አልባ ብትሆን ትመርጣለች። ለዚህ ነው፤ ግብፅ ኢትዮጵያን በቀጥታ በጦርነት ለመዋጋት አቅም ባይኖራትም የውክልናውን ጦርነት በምንም ደረጃ አታቆምም የምለው።

የእንግሊዙ መገናኛ ቴሌግራም ዩኬ July 4, 2020, ባቀረበው ዘገባ፤ አንድ የግብፅ አውሮፕላን ከግብጽ ተነሰቶ በብዙ ሽይዎች የሚገመት ካላሽንኮብ፣ ሮኬትና ሌሎች ልዩ ልዩ መሳሪያዎች ጭኖ ወደ ሞቃዲሾ፤ ሶማልያ በረረ። የሶማልያ መንግሥት ይህን መሳሪያ መልሱት እንጂ ከጎረቤት አገር ከኢትዮጵያ ጋር ለመጋጨት አነፈልግም ብሎ ወደ ካይሮ እንዲመለስ ያደረገው በቂ ምሳሌ ነው።

ግብጽ ኢትዮጵያን በቀጥታ ለመዋጋት ሞክራ በተደጋጋሚ ተሸንፋለች። ያላት ሌላ አማራጭ የውክልና ጦርነት ማካሄድ ነው። ለዚህ ደግሞ እድል አላት፤ ቅጥረኞችን ማባበል፤ ገንዘብ ብቻ ሳይሆን መሳሪያም እያቀበለች ኢትዮጵያን ማዳከም ነው። የርስ በርስ ጦርነት እንዲካሄድ ታመቻቻለች ማለት ነው። በሰሜን ህወሕት መራሹ ቡድን “የእርስ በእርስ ጦነት አዋጅ አውጇል” እየተባለ ይወራል። በምስራቅና በደቡብ፤ በአዲስ አበባና በዙሪያዋ፤ የሽኔ ኦነግ፤ የአል-ሸባብ፤ የቄሮና ሌሎች አክራሪዎችና አመጸኞች ንጹሃንን እየገደሉ “የነፍጠኛውን መንግሥት” ማንበርከክ አላማችን ነው ብለው ቅንብሩን የሚያካሂዱት። ቀደም ብለን ስራ አለመስራታችን አደጋውን አባብሶታል።

ለማጠቃለል፤ ቅጥረኞች ዘውግንና ኃይማኖትን እየለዩ በተከታታይ እልቂት ማካሄድ የተለመደ የሆነው ህወሓት መራሹ ኢህአዴግ ሥልጣን ከያዘበት ወዲህ መሆኑ የታወቀና በመረጃዎች የተደገፈ ነው። ስርዓት ወለድ ነው የምልበት መሰረታዊ ምክንያት ይኼው ነው።

የዘውግ ተኮሩ ሕገ-መንግሥትና የክልሉ አስተዳደር መለያዎች ጭካኔ፤ አንዱን ብሄር ከሌላው እየለዩ ማሳደድ፤ መግደል፤ ኃብትና ንብረቱን፤ እሴቱን፤ ተቋሙን፤ ምልክቱን ማፈራረስና በስነልቦናው ላይ ተከታታይ ዘመቻዎችን ማካሄድ የተለመደ ሆኖ ቆይቷል።

ይህ ተከታታይ የማውደምና የማጥፋት ዘመቻ ትኩረት የተደረገበት የብሄር ማጥቃት ሰቆቃና የጭካኔው መጠን በመረጃዎች ተደግፎ ይፋ እየሆነ ሲሄድ፤ አረመኔነትን፤ ኢ-ሰብ አዊነትን፤ አውሬነትን፤ “ከኔ ዘውግና ከኔ እምነት ውጭ” መኖር የለብህም፤ የለባትም የሚል እብሪተኛነትን የሚንጸባርቅበ እልቂትን የሚያሳይ ገጽታ ይታያል።

ኢትዮጵያ ገና ሩዋንዳ ከደረሰችበት ደረጃ ላይ አልደረሰችም ለማለት አልችልም፤ ከደረሰች ብዙ አመታት አልፈዋል።  የሩዋንዳ አይነት እልቂት ደሩሷል የምንለው ስንት ንጹህ አማራዎች፤ ወላይታዎች፤ ጉራጌዎችና ሌሎች ንጹህ ወገኖቻችን ሲሞቱ ነው? ብዙ ወገኖቻችን ታርደዋል፤ ሞተው ያልተቀብሩም አሉ፡፡ ይህ ጭፍጨፋ ሩዋንዳ፤ ኮሶቮና ሌሎች የዘውግ እልቂቶች የተካሄዱባቸውን አገሮች ታሪክ የሚሳይ ኢ-ሰብ አዊ ተግባር ነው፡፡ ወንጀል ነው፡፡ ጾታ፤ እድሜ፤ የገቢ መጠን፤ እናት፤ ህጻን፤ ሽማግሌ፤ እርጉዝ ሴት፤ ወንድ፤ ቦታ ወዘተ በማይለይ ብሄር ተኮር ግድያ በተደጋጋሚ ተካሂዷል ማለቴ ነው። ኢላማው በተለይ አማራውን እየለየና ስም እየሰጠ፤ “ነፍጠኛ ነህ” እያለ፤ ኢላማ የሆነውን ለይቶና አስቀድሞ ጠቁሞ፤ ግድያዎችና አካሂዶበታል፡፡ በቅርቡ፤ በወላይታው፤ በጉራጌውና በሌሎች ብሄር አባላት ላይም ጭካኔ የሞላበት ጭፍጨፋ ተካሂዷል። ግለሰሰቦችና ቤተሰቦች ጥረው ግረው ከሰላሳ እሰከ አርባ ዓመታት በፈጀ ጊዜ ያካበቱትን መዋእለንዋይ ኢላማ ተደርጎ እንዲወድም ሆኗል። ይህ ለወገኖቻቸው የስራ እድል፤ የገቢ እድል፤ የኑሮ መሻሻል እድል ውድመት፤ የኢኮኖሚ ወንጀል ነው።

ለማጥዕቃለ፤ ምን ለማድረግ እንችላለን?

የትግሉን ጎራ ለይቸ ለማሳየት ችያለሁ የሚል እምነት አለኝ። ባጠቃላይ ስመለከተው፤ በኢትዮጵያና በኢትዮጵያዊነት ላይ እምነትን ያለን ሁሉ ያለን አማራጭ አንድ ብቻ ነው። በአንድነት ተሰብስቦ ኢትዮጵያንና ኢትዮጵያዊነትን መታደግ ወሳኝ ነው። ዘውግና ኃይማኖት ተኮር ግድያዎችን ሁሉ ማውገዝ አለብን።

ችግሩ እየተባባሰ ሂዷል የሚሉ ብዙ ታዛቢዎች አሉ፡፡ ለምሳሌ፤ በሰሜን፤ ህወሓት የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ለክተት አዋጅ የሚቀስቅስ አዋጅ አውጇል። ይህ አዋጅ የትግራይን ሕዝብ ይወክላል የሚል እምነት የለኝም። ሰፊው የትግራይ ሕዝብ ከሌላው ወንድሙ ጋር ወደ እልቂት ለመሄድ አይፈልግም። የህወሃትን አጥፊነትና አገር አፍራሽነት የሚቀበሉ ሁሉ በአንድ ላይ ሆነው ይህን ሽብርተኛና የውጭ ጠላት አጋር ቡድን መታገል አለባቸው፡፡ በተጨማሪ፤

1. አንደኛ፤ ህወሓት የወገነውና የዶሎተው፤ በውጭ ከግብፅ ጋር ነው። በውስጥ ደግሞ አጋሬ ነው ከሚለው ከሽኔ ኦነግና ከቄሮ ጋር ነው። ለምሳሌ ዘውግን ለይቶ እልቂት ከሚያካሂደው ከሽኔ ኦነግና ከቄሮ ጋር ሆኖ ግፍና ጭካኔ በሚያሳይ ወንጀለኛነነት ከሚያንጸባርቀው ጨካኙ ወንጀለኛ ጋር የተቀናጀ ግፍና እልቂት በሻሸመኔ፤ በሃረር፤ በድሪዳዋ፤ በባሌ ይካሄዳል። እነዚኅ ግፎችና እልቂቶች በድምራቸው ስገመግማቸው የጀኖሳይድይ ወች መስራችና መሪ ዶር ግሬገሪ ሃንተን ያወጧቸውን አስርት መስፈርቶች የሚያሟሉ መሆናቸውን የሚያሳይ ሁኔታ ይታያል። SAGE ያቀረበውን ትንተና እጋራለሁ፤ እደግፋለሁ።
2. የህወሓት ረዥም ክንድ በነዚህና በሌሎች እልቂቶች በደም የተቀባ መሆኑን ለማሳየት የሚቻልበትን መረጃ ለመሰብሰብና ለዓለም የወንጀል ተቋማት ለማቀረብ የሚቻልበት ሁኔታና እድል እለ። ይህን ለማድረግ የሚችሉ የህግ ባለሞያዎችን መሰብሰብና በገንዘብ መርዳት ወሳኝ ነው።
3. በተጨማሪ ቅድሚያ ትኩረት ሊሰጠው የሚገባው ብሄራዊና አስኳል ጉዳይ ህወሓት፤ ሽኔ ኦነግና ቄሮ በአሁኑ ወሳኝ ወቅት ከግብፅ ጋር ወግነው፤ የሕዳሴ ግድብ ሙሌት እንዲኮላሽ ለማድረግ የሚያደርጉትን ሴራ፤ በሁሉም ዘርፎች ድምጻችንና አቤቱታችን ማሰማት ብሄራዊ ግዴታችን ነው። ይህን ከሃዲ ተግባር አወግዛለሁ።
4. ይህ ሴራ ስኬታማ እንዳይሆን ከፈለግን፤ ኢትዮጵያ መሪዎችና መንግሥት አልባ እንዳትሆን አግባብ ያለው አቋም መውሰድና በማያወላውል ደረጃ ድጋፋችን የምናሳይበት ወቅት ዛሬ መሆኑን ለማሳሰብ እፈልጋለሁ።
5. እኢትዮጵያና እኢትዮጵያዊነት ኩራታችን፤ ክብራችን፤ መለያችን፤ የአቅም መንስ ኤያችን ናቸው፡፡ ከመሳሪያና ክምችት ይልቅ፤ ለኢትዮጵያ ሃገራችን ዋና መከታችን፤ ክንዳችን፤ ሃይላችን፤ መከታችን፤ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ስርጭትና ብሄርዊ አንድነትና ጀግናነት ነው፡፡
6. በመጨረሻ፤ ግዙፉ የኢትዮጵያ ምሁራንና ልሂቃን ጥቃቅን ልዩነቶችን ወደ ጎን ትቶ ለብሄራዊ አላማ እየተናበበ የሚሰራበት ወቅት አሁን ነው;፡

ኢትዮጵያ ለዘላለም ትኑር!! ብሄር ተኮር እልቂትን ባስቸኳይ እናስቁም!!፤ የኢትዮጵያዊያንን አንድነት እንደግፍ!!

July 10, 2020

Dr. Wuleta Lemma is the CEO and Founder of Lalibela Global-Networks, an Ethiopia-based startup “leading the digital transformation of the health sector in Africa.” (Photo: BIA)

Tadias Magazine

By Tadias Staff

Updated: August 22nd, 2020

New York (TADIAS) — Dr. Wuleta Lemma, an Ethiopian American health care entrepreneur representing Ethiopia, is among the top 20 Africa’s Business Heroes announced this week by the Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative.

The announcement states that Dr Wuleta, who is the CEO and Founder of Lalibela Global-Networks — an Ethiopia-based startup “leading the digital transformation of the health sector in Africa’ – was chosen from a pool of 22,000 candidates across the continent.

“Congrats to the top 20 Africa’s Business Heroes finalists! Selected from 22k+ applications across all 54 African countries, these entrepreneurs are from 14 countries & 11 industries, and more than 50% are women,” said philanthropist, entrepreneur and Founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma on social media. “I can’t wait to meet them!”

The press release notes that the final cut of ten individuals will share a $1.5 million prize.

Image: courtesy of the Jack Ma Foundation

Dr. Wuleta is also an Honorary Associate Professor at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at Wello University in Ethiopia. She was a Clinical Associate Professor and the Director of Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE), School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

According to her bio: “Dr. Wuleta is a Tropical Medicine expert working for the last 25 years mostly on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, MNCH and Communicable Diseases. In the last number of years, Dr. Lemma has been involved in health projects in more than 20 countries in Africa, The Caribbean and Europe. During the past couple years, She had conducted research/evaluations on endemic health problems, Human Resource for Health (HRH), Innovative Medical Education, Behavioral Surveillance on high risk populations in a number of countries; contributed to research on Health outcomes of countries of the Horn of Africa and Health System Strengthen in Ethiopia.”

Business Insider adds: “Dr Wuleta Lemma has always had a deep love for Africa. Born in Ethiopia, she pursued degrees in medicine, epidemiology and international health abroad, but decided to build her career back home. She wanted to work with vaccines, but was disturbed to discover that many of Ethiopia’s healthcare information systems were still paper-based, out of date and inaccurate. In a country with a population of over [100 million], this had a significant impact on the quality of local healthcare. That’s when she started Lalibela Global-Networks to serve Africa by providing innovative Patient Centered Connected Health solutions.”

—

Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

The Ethiopian Embassy to France, in collaboration with the stakeholders, conducted a virtual Ethiopian Coffee Promotion Meeting, yesterday.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs (in charge of the Economic Diplomacy Sector) of Ethiopia, Tsion Teklu highlighted Ethiopia’s historic role as a contributor of the Arabica Coffee to humanity as is true of its place as the cradle of humankind and all of which bestows upon Ethiopia the brand name- the Land of Origins. 

The premium qualities of the Ethiopian coffee, its socioeconomic importance, share of the Ethiopian coffee by destination, the State Minister added.

She also reaffirmed the readiness of the government of Ethiopia and that of the Ethiopian private sector to do their level best to enhance coffee trade between the Ethiopian companies and their counterparts.

Ambassador Henok Teferra for his part underscored the importance of exploring ways by which coffee trade could take place directly between the exporters and the importers, as the bulk of the trade currently takes place through intermediaries.

The need for intensifying the promotion of Ethiopian coffee in the destination markets, Ambassador Henok stated.

Ambassador Henok also assured the participants of the Embassy’s firm commitment to support the business community in their efforts to bolster coffee trade with their counterparts every step of the way.

Over 53 participants who were drawn from the key actors in the coffee sector attended the virtual meeting, according to the Ethiopian Embassy to France.

ከአንተነህ መርዕድ ሃምሌ 2020 ዓ ም

በኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር 1990 ዓ ም ህወሃቶች ጋዜጠኞችን በሙሉ ለቃቅመው ያሰሩበት ወቅት ነበር። ማዕከላዊ ሁላችንም ከክፍላችን እንዳንወጣ ተገድበን እያለ ሶስት አዲስ እስረኞች በበሩ ብቅ አሉ። እንግዳ ደሮ ይመስል ሰገግ ሰገግ እያሉ ግራ በመጋባትና በስጋት አካባቢውን ሲቃኙ እኛም በየክፍላችን ሁነን “እነማን ናቸው?” በሚል ጠያቂ ስሜት በዐይናችን እንፈትሻቸዋለን። ሞትም ቢመጣ ስሜታቸውን ከመግለጽ ወደኋላ የማይሉት የሱማሌ እስረኞች ሶማሌያዊ ገጽታ ያለውን እንግዳ በሩቁ ክፍላቸው ሆነው “ወርያ” እያሉ በጥያቄ ያጣድፉታል። ፖሊሶች ቢያስጠነቅቋቸውም ፍንክች አይሉም። ይሉኝታና ፍርሃት ከሸበበው አብዛኛው እስረኛ ይልቅ የሶማሌዎችን ድፍረት ምንጊዜም አደንቃለሁ። ከሶስቱ እስረኞች አንዱ ምዕራብ አፍሪካዊ ገጽታ አለው። ሶስተኛው ግን ከመርካቶ አካባቢ እቃ ሲያዞር ውይንም በስርቆት የተያዘ ኢትዮጵያዊ ወጣት ነው የሚመስለው።

ሶስቱንም በተለያየ ክፍል ሲደለድሏቸው ወጣቱ ኢትዮጵያዊ እኔ ካለሁበት ክፍል ተመድቦ ሲገባ አንዱንም ኢትዮጵያዊ ቋንቋ አይችልም። እንግሊዘኛ ነው የሚናገረው። ሩዋንዳዊ ነኝ ሲል ማመን ተሳነን። መልኩ ፍጹም ኢትዮጵያዊ ነበር የሚመስለው። ስሙን ስንጠይቀው “ዋልተንጉስ መኮንን” ብሎ ሲግረን ደግሞ የባሰ ግራ ተጋባን።

ታሪኩ ወዲህ ነው። ሶማልያ የኢትዮጵያ ኤምባሲ ውስጥ ይሰሩ የነበሩ አባቱ አቶ መኮንን ሩዋንዳ ሄደው አንዲት ቱትሲ ጋር ትዳር መስርተው ሁለት ሴቶችና አንድ ወንድ ልጅ ወልደው ኪጋሊ ይኖራሉ። ዋልተንጉስ ከኪጋሊ ራቅ ካለችው ከተማ ኮሌጅ ገብቶ ሲማር የሩዋንዳ የዘር ፍጅት ይቀሰቀሳል። በሁለት ቀን ውስጥ ከተጨፈጨፉት ከስምንት መቶ ሺህ በላይ ቱጺዎችና ለዘብተኛ ሁቱዎች የዋልተንጉስ አባት፣ እናትና ሁለቱ እህቶች ሰለባ ሲሆኑ እሱ እግሬ አውጪኝ ብሎ በሩጫ ኬኛ ገብቶ ተረፈ። ማመን የሚያቅተውን ሰው አምሳሉ የሆነ ሰውን በገጀራ ሲጨፈጭፍ ያየውና እድሜ ልኩን የሚያባነነው ዋልተንጉስ በዓለም ውስጥ የቀረው ቤተሰብ የለውም። በአንዲት ቅጽበት ህይወቱ እንዳልሆነ ሆኗል።

ብቸኛ የሆነች ህይወቱ ኬንያ ስደተኞች ካምፕ ሆኖ ሲጨልምበት አባቱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ ብሎ ይነግረው ስለነበር ወደ ተስፋው ምድር ኢትዮጵያ መጥቶ የአባቱን ዘመዶች ፈልጎ በደቂቃ ያጣውን የማንነት ክር ሊቀጥል የአባቱ አገር ኢትዮጵያም እጇን ዘርግታ ልትቀበለው ተስፋ አድርጎ በመምጣት ደብረ ብርሃን አካባቢ የአባቱን ዘመዶች ሲያፈላልግ ባለስልጣናቱ ሃረጉን መፈለጉን ወንጀል አድርገው ሲኦል ወደሆነው ማዕከላዊ እስር ቤት ወረወሩት። ሃሳባችንን በነጻነት በመግለጻችን የታሰርነው ጋዜጠኞች ሆነ ፖለቲከኞች ማንነቱ ያስጠቃውን ዋልተንጉስን በምን አቅም ማጽናናት እንችላለን? የእሱን እስርና እንግልትስ እንዴት አድርገን ከዕኛው እናወዳድራለን?

ዓለም ቁጭ ብሎ ዐይኑ እያየ ወደ አንድ ሚሊዮን የሚደርሱ ቱትሲዎች የተጨፈጨፉበት ሃያ ስድስተኛ ዓመት እየተከበረ፣ የሟቾቹ አጥንት ተሰብስቦ ለጎብኝዎች ክፍት ሆኖ ስለአለፈው ዘግናኝ ዘር ማጥፋት ውግዘት እየተሰማ ባለበት ወቅት ነው ዛሬ ኢትዮጵያውያን ዘራቸው፣ እምነታቸው፣ ጥረታቸው እየተለየ ስም ዝርዝራቸው ተይዞ ዘር ማጥፋት ተካሄዶባቸዋል። የትናንቱን አሿፊ ዓለምን እንተወውና እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ዐይናችንን ጨፍነናል። ጥቅምት ላይ የታረዱትን ኢትዮጵያውያን የዘር ማጥፋት ሰለባ መሆናቸውን ለማስተባበል ሟቾችን በጎሳ ከፋፍሎ ለማሳየት የተሞከረው ዛሬም በኦሮምያ ፖሊስ መግለጫ የሞቱት አብዛኞቹ ኦሮሞዎች ናቸው የሚል ትርጉም እንዲሰጠው የተሄደበት መንገድ አስተዛዛቢ ነው። አዎ “የሸዋ ኦሮሞዎች” ቱጺዎች ጋር እንደታረዱት እንደለዘብተኛ ሁቱዎች የጥቃቱ ሰለባ ሆነዋል። ታድያ ይህ የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀልን ወደ ቅዱስ ጦርነት ይቀይረዋል?

የሩዋንዳውን እልቂት አጀማመርና ፍጻሜ እናነጻጽረውና ፍርዱን ንጹህ ህሊና ላላቸው አንባቢያን እንተወው።

ሩዋንዳ ሁቱዎችና ቱትሲዎች የሚኖሩባት አገር ብቻ ሳትሆን ሁለቱ ጎሳዎች በቋንቋ ሆነ በእምነት የሚለያዩ አይደሉም። ሁቱን ከቱትሲ መለየት በጣም ያስቸግራል። እ ኤ አ 1935 ዓ ም ቅኝ ገዥዋ ቤልጀም ከፋፍላ ለመግዛት እንዲመቻት አብረው ለዘመናት የኖሩትን ቱትሲና ሁቱ በመታወቂያ እንዲለያዩ አደረገች። ህወሃትም ኢትዮጵያውያንን ከፋፍላ ለመግዛት ይህንኑ ነው ያደረገችው። መታወቂያ ላይ ብሄር ብሄረሰብ ማስፈርና ክልልን በዘር መሸንሸን።

የቱትሲና የሁቱ ልሂቃን የፖለቲካና የኤኮኖሚ የበላይነትን ለመያዝ በየዘራቸው ተቧድነው ልዩነቱን ማስፋቱን ተያያዙት። የእኛም በየጎጣቸው መንገስ የፈለጉ ልሂቃን ይህንኑ መንገድ ነው የተያያዙት።

የሁቱ ልሂቃን መገደል አለባቸው ያሏቸውን ቱትሲዎችና እንቅፋት ይሆኑናል ያሉዋቸውን ለዘብተኛ ሁቱዎችን ስም ዝርዝር ለቅመው ያዙ፣ ለወገኖቻቸውም ገጀራ ወይም ሜንጫ ከውጭ አስገብተው አስታጠቋቸው። እኛስ አገር አዲስ አበባንና ሌሎችን ከተሞች የሚያጠቁ፣ የሚያርዱ፣ የሚዘርፉ፣ የሚያቃጥሉ መንጋ ሜንጫ አስታጥቀው በመኪና እየጫኑ ከቦታ ቦታ አላሰማሩም?

ልዩነቱን ለማስፋት የሩዋንዳ ብሄራዊ ሬድዮ ጣብያው ስላልተመቻቸው “ሬዲዮ ቴሊቪዝዮን ሊብሬ ዴ ሚሌ ኮሊንስ” ወይንም (RTLMC) አቋቁመው ሌት ተቀን ጥላቻን ሰበኩ፣ የግደለው ትዕዛዝና ስምሪትም ሰጡ።

ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ደግሞ በተመሳሳይ ሁኔታ ኦ ኤም ኤን፣ ድምጺ ወያኔ፣ የትግራይ ቲቪና ሌሎችም ሚድያዎች ሌት ተቀን ልዩነትን፣ የእልቂት ቅስቀሳንና ስምሪትን ሰበኩ።

የሩዋንዳው ፕሬዝደንት ጃቪናል ሃብያሪማና እንዲሁም የቡሩንዲው ፕሬዝደንት ሳይፕሪን ንትራያሚራ (ሁለቱም የሁቱ ጎሳ አባላት ናቸው) የተሳፈሩበት አውሮፕላን እ ኤ አ አፕሪል 6 ቀን 1994 ዓ ም በሚሳይል ተመትቶ ሁሉም ሞቱ። ይህንኑ አጋጣሚ ይጠባበቁ የነበሩ የሁቱ ልሂቃን በነጋታው የዘር ፍጅቱን ጀመሩትና በጥቂት ቀናት ውስጥ ወደ አንድ ሚሊዮን የሚጠጋ ሩዋንዳዊ ቱትሲና ለዘብተኛ ሁቱ ህጻን፣ ሽማግሌ፣ በሽተኛና ጤንኛ ሳይመርጡ ጨፈጨፏቸው።

በተመሳሳይ ሁኔታ ይህ ድርጊት ሩዋንዳ በተፈጸመ ሃያ ስድስተኛ ዓመት ሰኔ 23 ቀን 2012 ዓ ም ማታ በአዲስ አበባ ታዋቂውንና ተወዳጁን አርቲስት ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳን በመግደል የእርስ በርስ እልቂት እንደተደገሰልን ይህን ያህል ሰው ታርዶ እንኳ ክህደት(ዲናያል) ውስጥ ያለነው ብዙ ነን። ህወሃቶችና የኦሮሞ ጽንፈኞች የሩዋንዳን ማስተር ፕላን (ብሉ ፕሪንት) ያለብዙ ልዩነት እንደተጠቀሙበት እውነቱ ፈጥጦ ይታያል። ከሃያሁለት ዓመት በፊት ጨለማ የዋጠውና የመጨረሻ ተስፋ ያደረጋት ኢትዮጵያ የካደችው ዋልተንጉስ መኮንን ህመም የተሰማኝ አሁን ነው። በሃጫሉ ሞት ተሳቦ ለሊት ከተኙበት በማንነታቸው ምክንያት በሜንጫ አንገታቸው የታረደ፣ ሬሳቸው የተጎተተ፣ ቤታቸውና ንብረታቸው ዶጋ አመድ የሆነ ኢትዮጵያውያን አስከሬናቸው ሳይነሳ፣ ደማቸው ሳይደርቅ የሰው ሳይሆን የእንሣት መብት በሚከበርበት ዓለም ያሉ ድኩማን ዘረኞች “ዳውን ዳውን ኢትዮጵያ” ሲሉ የተመለከተና የሰማ ዓለም ከእንስሣም የወረዱ ደደቦች መሆናቸውን በትዝብት እያስተዋለ ነው።

ሃጫሉ የማንም ዘረኛና ጠባብ ፖለቲከኛ መጠቀምያ ሊሆን አይገባውም። ጸጋዬ አራርሳ፣ ህዝቄል ጋቢሳ፣ ጀዋር ሞሃመድና ሌሎችም የሌላ ብሄር ጽንፈኞች ውጭ እንኳ ሆነው በፍርሃት ሲያረግዱ ወያኔዎች ፊት ሚሊኒየም አዳራሽ ላይ “ቄሮ አላችሁ ወይ? አራት ኪሎ ለእናንተ አይቀርብም ወይ? ፈረሳችሁን ኮልኩሉና ግቡ እንጂ” ብሎ ህወሃቶችን ያስሸና፣ መቀሌ እንዲደበቁ ያስገደደ ጀግና በጽንፈኞችና በሚጸየፋቸው ህወሃቶች ቅንብር የተገደለ ብሄራዊ ጀግና ነው። በእሱ ስም ንጹሃንን መገደል ማለት ትልቅ ውርደት ነው። ከገዳዮቹ ጋር ያበሩ ጽንፈኞች በምንም መልክ የሃጫሉ ተቆርቋሪ አይሆኑም።

የኦሮሞ ጽንፈኞች ምንድን ነው ፍላጎታቸው? በደቂቃዎች ልማቷ የተንኮታኮተ፣ ትምህርት ቤቷ የተቃጠለ፣ ንግድ ተቋሞቿ የነደዱ፣ እንደሶርያ የወደመች ለልጆቿ ስራ የማትፈጥር ኦሮምያን ነው የሚፈልጉት? ጌቶቻቸው ህወሃቶች እንኳን ትግራይ ያለ ተቋም ሊያቃጥሉ ይቅርና መሃል አገር ያለው ዘረፋቸው እንዳይቋረጥ የሞት ሽረት ትግል ሲያደርጉ በጥላቻ የታወሩ የኦሮሞ ጽንፈኞች ኤኮኖሚያቸውን ያወድማሉ። ቤቱን አንድዶ “አሁን ገና በራልኝ” እንዳለው የአእምሮ በሽተኛ በነደዱ የኤኮኖሚ ተቋማትና ዜጎች አመድ ላይ ቆመው ይስቃሉ። ከዚህ የበለጠ ድድብና፣ ከዚህ የወረደ ዝቅጠት የት ይገኛል?

ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እየተካሄደ ያለው እልቂት የዘር እልቂት መሆኑን ማመን የማትፈልጉ መብታችሁ ነው። ሌላውን ለማሳመን የምታደርጉት መፍጨርጨር ግን ከገዳዮች ጎን ይጨምራችኋል።

የሩዋንዳው እልቂት ሲፈጸም አቅም እያለው ምንም ያላደረገው በጊዜው  የተባበሩት መንግስታት ዋና ጸሃፊ የነበረው ኮፊ አናን ጊዜ ካለፈ በኋላ እንዲህ ሲል ተናዟል። “A genocide begins with the killing of one man- not for what he has done, but because of who he is.” (ጥሬ ትርጉሙ የዘር ማጥፋት የሚጀመረው አንድ ሰው በሰራው ሳይሆን በማንነቱ የተገደለ እለት ነው)

ጽንፈኞችንና ዘረኞችን እንተዋቸውና የተማርን ነን የምትሉ ተመጻዳቂ ኢትዮጵያውያን! ኮፊ አናን አንድ ሰው በሰራው ሳይሆን በማንነቱ የተገደለ እለት ዘር ማጥፋት ይጀመራል ብሏችኋል። ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በማንነቱ ስንቱ ሰው ነው የተገደለው? ስንት ቁጥር ላይ ሲደርስ ነው ዘር ማጥፋት ነው የምትሉት?

ኦነግ ሻዕብያ ጋር ተባብሮ አሶሳ ላይ በአዳራሽ አስገብቶ ያረዳቸው አማሮች የተገደሉት በስርቆት ነው?

ህወሃት ጋምቤላ ላይ ከአራት መቶ በላይ ንጹሃን አኝዋኮችን በአንድ ቀን የገደለው በማነነታቸው አይደለም?

አሁንም ኦነግ አርባ ጉጉ ላይ ከነነፍሳቸው ወደገደል የወረወራቸው ህወሃት ከኋላው ሆኖ በፊልም የቀረጻቸው አማሮች ምን አጥፍተው ነው?

ህወሃት ኦጋዴን ላይ በመትረየስና በአውሮፕላን የጨረሳቸው ሶማሌዎች ምን አድርገው ነው?

ደብረ ዘይት ላይ በኢሬቻ በአል በህወሃት ያለቁት በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ ኦሮሞዎች የተገደሉት ምን አድርገው እንደሆነ የሚነግረን አለ?

ከለውጥ በኋላ አዲስ አበባ ጋሞዎች፣ ጥቅምት ላይ ጁዋር ተከበብህ ሲል ኦሮምያ ያለቁት ወገኖቻችን አሁን ደግሞ ሰኔ 23 ሃጫሉ ከተገደለ በኋላ የታረዱና የተዘረፉ ሰዎች ምን ወንጀል ሰርተው ነው?

በእውነቱ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ሰው በማንነቱ ተለይቶ መገደል ከተጀመረ ቆይቷል። ይህ ሁሉ ዝምታ ሆነ ማስተባበል ገዳዮችን ለመሸፋፈን ከመፈለግ ካልሆነ በቀር የዘር ማጥፋቱ ወንጀል ከትናንት ዛሬ የበለጠ እየሰፋ መጥቶ ኢትዮጵያን ጨርሶ ለማጥፋት መድረሱን አውሮፓና አሜሪካ ዳውን ዳውን ኢትዮጵያ የሚለው ድምጽ ካላባነነን ሞተናል ማለት ነው። ትንሽ ከቆየንና ምንም እርጃ ካልወሰድን ሁላችንም እንደ ዋልተንጉስ መኮንን ጨለማ ውስጥ እንገባለን።

ከሉሉ ከበደ

የተሻለ ቀን መጣ ፤ ወይም ሊመጣ ነው ብለን ያለፈ ሁለት አመት በፊት ነፍሳችን በደስታ ነዳ ፤ ሲሞቀን ሰንብተን ፤ ብዙም ሳንቆይ ነበር የመጀመሪያው ዙር ዘር የማጽዳት ፕሮግራም ጌዴዎ ላይ የተጀመረው ። የኦሮሞ ጽንፈኞች በመንግስት ያስተዳደር ስራ ላይ ካሉ የኦሮሞ ተወላጆች ጋር በመተባበር አንድ ሚሊዮን ጌዴዎችን ከሚኖሩበት መሬት ላይ አፈናቀሏቸው ፡፡ የሚያርዱትን አረዱ ፤ የሚቃጠለውን አቃጠሉ ፤ የሚሰቀለውን ሰቀሉ ፤ ህዝቡም ሙልጭ ብሎ ሸሸ ፡፡ መንግስት የሚባለው ሰምቶ እንዳልሰማ ነበር ዝም ያለው ። ጃዋርና ቡድኑ ሊያደርጉ ያቀዱትን ነገር ደብቀውን አያውቁም ። በነጻነት መርዛቸውን የሚረጩበት ቴሌቪዥን ( OMN ) መሀል አዲስ አበባ ውስጥ ከፍተው ፤ ኦሮሞን በሌላው ህዝብ ላይ የማነሳሳቱን ስራ በሚያስደነግጥ የሀሰት ታሪክ ፈጠራ እየታገዙ ፤ እረደው ፤ግደለው፤ አቃጥለው ሲሉ ሊያቆማቸው የፈለገ መንግስት አልነበረም ፡፡ ቀጠለና አዲስ አበባ ዙሪያ ቡራዩ ላይ ዘር ማጽዳቱ ተፋፋመ ፡፡ ቡራዩ ላይ ያሁሉ ሰው በገጀራ ሲጨፈጨፍ ዶክተር አብይ የማያዳግም እርምጃ ወስዶ ለዘላለም ያቆመዋል ብለን ጠበቅን ፡፡ አልሰማም አላየም ፡፡ ቀጠለና በለገጣፎ ተመሳሳይ ድርጊት ተደገመ ፡፡ ማንም ምንም ያደረጋቸው የለም ጨፍጫፊዎቹ የጃቸውን ደም አደራርቀው ለሌላ ዙር ጥሪ እስኪደርሳችው እየተዝናኑ እረፍት አደረጉ ፡፡

መንግስት የሚያዘው ጦር ሰራዊት እያለው ፤ የሚያዘው ፖሊስ እያለው ፤ ፍርድ ቤት ዳኞች እያሉት ፤ ሰዉን በእጃችው ያረዱት ልጆች እዚሁ በሰላም ተቀምጠው ፤ ሰብስቦ በህግ ጥላ ስር አውሎ ፤ ምርመራ አድርጎ ፤ እቅድ አውጪውንም ፤ አስፈጻሚውንም ፈጻሚውንም በቁጥጥር ስር ማዋልና የህዝቡን ሰላም መመለስ ለምን አልቻለም ? ስንል ፤ የመፈለግ ያለመፈለግ ጉዳይ እንጂ የሀይል ችግር አለመሆኑን አረጋገጥን ፡፡ እንዴት አረጋገጥን ? ምክንያት እየተፈጠረ ድርጊቱን በቀላሉ መደጋገም መደበኛ ስራ ሆነ ።

ጃዋር የሚባለው ባለጌ ፤ ታዳጊ ሂትለር “ተከበብኩ ” ብሎ እንደከብት ለሚነዳው መንጋ መልክት በመላኩ ፤ ገጀራና ድንጋይ ፤ አጠና የታጠቁ ወጣቶች እንደልባቸው እየተንቀሳቀሱ ለማሰብ በሚክብድ ችካኔ ከሰማንያ ስድስት ሰው በላይ ጨፈጨፉ ፡፡ ያቆማቸው አልነበረም ፡፡ ስለ ተጨፈጨፉት ድሆች የተጨነቀ ባለስልጣን አልነበረም ፡፡ ዶክተር አብይ ሀረር ሄዶ ኦሮሞዎችን ብቻ ሰብስቦ ” ጃዋርን እንወደዋለን ፤ እንጠብቀዋለን ፤ አንነካውም ፤ አይዟችሁ ፤ አብረን እንሰራለን ” ብሎ ተመለሰ ፡፡

ከዚያ በኋላ ደግሞ አስራ ሰባት የአማራ ልጆች አድገው ያልጨረሱ ልጃገረዶችና አንድ ወንድ ልጅ ፤ ጠዋት ማታ እናት አባት አይን አይናቸውን እያየን አደጉልኝ የምንላቸውን ልጆች ወለጋ ከደንቢዶሎ ዩኒቨርስቲ ” አማራ ስለሆናችሁ ሂዱልን ” ብለዋቸው ፤ ተሰብስበው ወደ ቤታቸው ሲሄዱ ፤ መንገድ ጠብቀው የኦሮሞ ጽንፈኞች አፍነዋቸው ወዴት እንዳደረሷቸው እስካሁን ያወቅነው ነገር የለም ፡፡ መንግስት የሚባለውም ወገን እንኳን ልጆቹን ሊያስመልስ ወላጆቻቸውን ትንፍሽ ትሉና ብሎ ማሰርና ማንገላታት ይዟል ፡፡

ይህን ሁሉ ወንጀል እየሰሩ በሰላምና በድሎት እዚችው ሀገር ውስጥ በመኖር ላይ ያሉ ሰዎች ፤ አሁን ደግሞ እጅግ ከፍ ያለ ታሪክ እንስራ ብለው ፤ ተወዳጁን አርቲስት ሀጫሉን ጭዳ አደረጉት ፡፡ ከሁለት አመት በላይ ያሻቸውን ሲያደርጉ ፤ ያሻችውን ሲናገሩ ፤ ያበረታታቸው እንጂ ያስደነገጣችው ስለሌለ ፤ ተራው የነሱ መሆኑን ራሳቸው መንግስት መሆናቸውን አመኑ ፡፡ እነጃዋር የሚሉት ” የኦሮሞን ወጣት አስተባብረን አሳምጸን ለውጡን ያመጣነው እኛ ነንና ፤ እኛው ሀገሪቱን መግዛት አለብን ” ነው ፡፡ ሀያሰባት አመት መላው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የወያኔን ስር እት በመታገል ያሳለፈው ጊዜ ፤ የገበረው ደምና ንብረት ለነሱ ምንም አይደለም ፡፡ በሀጫሉ የቀብር ስነስራት ላይ እንዲገኝ እናደርጋለን ያሉትን መቶ ሺህ ጽንፈኛ አስታጥቀውና አስተባብረው በአዲስ አበባና በመላው ኢትዮጵያ ሊያንቀሳቅሱት የነበረውን ታላቅ የዘር ጭፍጨፋ ብሎም መንግስቱን የመቆጣጠር እቅድ መክሸፉ እግዚ አብሄር ጣልቃ ቢገባ ነው ፡፡

እዚች ሰአት ላይ መንግስትም ለሰራው ብልህነት የተሞላው ስራ ሊመሰገን ይገባል ፡፡ ይሁንና በበርካታ የሀገሪቱ ክፍሎች የኦሮሚያ ክልል ነው በተባለ ክፍል በቀላል ቁጥር የማይገመት የሰው ህይወት፤ ሀብትና ንብረት በታሪክ ባልታየ የጭካኔ አይነት እየተጨፈጨፈ ነው ፡፡ ስምንት ቤተሰብ እንዳለ ተጨፍጭፎ በእሳት ሲቃጠል ማየት በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክስ ነበረ ?

ግን መንግስት ከንግዲህ በኢትዮጵያ ተመሳሳይ ድርጊት እንዳይደገም ፤ እንዳናይ ያደርጋል ? አስፈላጊውን በጀትና የሰው ሀይል መድቦና አሰማርቶ ፤ እነዚህን ወንጀለኞች እስከመጨረሻው አድኖ ፤ ለሰሯት ስራ ተመጣጣኙን ቅጣት እየሰጠ በማሳየት ፤ ሌሎች እየተዘጋጁ ያሉትን ሊያመክናቸው ይችላል ? ለዚህ ውድቀት የዳረገንን ሀያ ስምንት ፤ ሀያዘጠኝ አመት የተረጨ የዘረኝነት መርዝ ለማጥፋት ስራ ይጀምራል ? መጀመሪያ ህገመንግስቱን ያጸዳል ? ህዝቡን ወደ ጤናማ አስተሳሰብ ለመመለስ የታሪክና የአብሮ ነትን ትምህርት በዘመቻ መልክ መስጠት ይጀምራል ? ህጻናት በትምህርት ቤት መርዝ እየተጋቱ ፤ ጥላቻ እየተጋቱ እንዲያድጉ የተደረገበትን የፈጠራ ታሪክ በመጽሀፍ እየተጠረዘ የሚቀርብበትን ስርአተ ትምህርት ዛሬ ነገ ሳይል ይቀይራል ? በዘር የተከለለውን ህዝብ ነጻ ለማውጣት ክልልሎችን ያፈርሳል ? የዚህ ሁሉ በሽታ ጠንሳሽና ጠማቂ እንደሰው ሳይሆን እስካሁንም ድረስ እንደአውሬ በማሰብ ላይ ያሉትን የትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ሰዎች በቁጥጥር ስር አውሎ ህዝቡን ነጻ ያወጣል ? በአምሳላቸው የፈጠሯቸውን የኦሮሞ ጽንፈኛ ነጻ አውጭ ነን ብለው ሀገር በማመስ ላይ ያሉትን ዘረኞች በቁጥጥር ስር አውሎ ህዝቡን ነጻ ያወጣል ?

” ጦርነት እንከፍታለን ፤ በጉልበታችን የጀመርናትን ሀገር ጨርሰን እናፈርሳታለን ፤ የራሳችንን መንግስት እናቆማለን” ቢሉ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ “ተነስ! ሀገርህን አድን ! ” የምትል የአምስት ደቂቃ ጥሪ ትበቃዋለች ከልቡ ከተነሳ መሪ ጎን ለመቆም ፡፡ ዶክተር አብይ አህመድ እንደዚያ አይነት መሪ ይወጣዋል ?

ይህ መንግስት እነዚህን ጥቂት ነገሮች ቢያደርግ እንድናለን ፡፡ ይህ ካልሆነ እስካሁን የተፈጸመውን የዘር ማጽዳት ስራ በየጊዜው ጠብቁ ፡፡ እግዚአብሄር ኢትዮጵያንና ህዝቧን ይታደግ ፡፡

A senior official of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Addisalem Balema appeared in court on Thursday a few days after being detained amid a month of conflict in the northern Tigray region.

Addisalem Balema, who has served in a number of senior positions in the Tigray region and in the federal government, appeared at the Criminal Bench of the Federal First Instance Arada Court in Addis Ababa.

Addisalem, who was one of the Tigray officials for whom arrest warrants were issued a month ago, has been charged with crimes of “perpetuating a massacre of civilians at Maikadra and onslaught against the Northern Command of the National Defense Force and looting of heavy artilleries of the army”, according to Radio Fana.

Police have also filed a number of charges against Addisalem Balema, alleging that the defendant was “leaking national secrets to alien forces, plotting with an armed group, OLF Shane, and conspiring with Debretsion Gebremichael and his group to dismantle the constitutional order of the country.”

Police told the court that the defendant had approached African Union officials to put pressure on the federal government and met with a Chinese ambassador to try to create a Chinese-TPLF Communist Party.

A judge denied the suspect bail and gave police 14 days further to investigate. The suspect told the court that he had not committed the alleged crimes. “On Monday, I spoke with Debre Tsion Gebremichael to initiate reconciliation with the federal government and I was arrested on Wednesday. I talked to ambassadors and officials about the mediation,” he was quoted as saying.

Top TPLF leadership and rebel military officers remain in hiding while the former speaker of the house of the federation who was also a member of TPLF executive committee Keriya Ibrahim surrendered to federal forces.

In Oromia, mayhem followed the 29 June slaying of beloved singer Hachalu Hundessa. And as Oromo protesters rose up in Batu, security forces stood down.

After seeking out the leader of an allegedly misrun local savings association in Adami Tullu, a small town a few kilometers south of Batu in Oromia, a group of hundreds began heading back towards the main road at around 9am on 30 June.

“On their way back, Geletaw started firing his Kalashnikov into the air,” Meseret Tadesse said about her neighbor, brick-maker Geletaw Awulachew, who lived in an imposing compound about 50 meters from her house across a patch of wasteland, with a large gravel heap piled up almost to the height of the grey walls.

The mob responded by lobbing rocks into the compound. As Geletaw fired, an individual scrambled up the mound. Geletaw shot him near the shoulder. The crowd burst through the gate and, using knives, rocks, and sticks, massacred everyone inside: Geletaw, his wife, two of their kids, and a relative.

Such horrific incidents occurred in parts of Oromia after the nighttime 29 June murder on the fringes of Addis Ababa of Hachalu Hundessa, an Oromo musician revered for his resistance songs. “Hachalu was priceless for Oromo people,” a Batu youth told Ethiopia Insight.

That resulted in protests and violence in mostly central and eastern Oromia, particularly East Arsi, West Arsi, and East Shewa zones, including Batu, a Rift Valley town also still known by its imperial-era Amharic name Ziway, but also Shashamene and Arsi Negelle. The regional government says 167 people were killed, more than two-thirds of them Oromo, and at least 10,000 displaced.

Despite the apparent targeting of Orthodox Christians, particularly in East Arsi, there was no official breakdown of the victims by religion, and it is unclear how many people security forces killed. Officials said the violence resulted from a plot by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) working with Oromo nationalist opposition leaders, many of whom were subsequently arrested. Party officials deny this and no TPLF members have been charged.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), on the other hand, released a report on 1 January, saying 123 people were killed during the crisis that followed Hachalu’s assassination, of which 76 were killed by government security forces, 35 by individuals and groups, and 12 as a result of explosions or similar incidents.

“The findings show that the attacks meet the elements of a crime against humanity with large numbers of people, organized in groups, having selected their victims on the basis of their ethnicity or religion when conducting a widespread and systematic attack in several different areas over the three days,” EHRC, which is accountable to parliament, said.

In addition to the Adami Tullu massacre, arsonists burned 70 residences, 71 businesses, including 12 mostly non-Oromo owned hotels, and more than 20 vehicles in Batu, Gosa Asefa, East Shewa Zone Deputy Chief Administrator said at a public meeting in the town on 20 August. Just south of Adami Tullu, the generators and roadside-facing buildings of Afriflora Sher, which claims to be the world’s largest rose grower, were also destroyed in the afternoon of 30 June.

All 16 residents Ethiopia Insight spoke to in early September said thousands of people from Batu went to the main street around midnight to grieve Hachalu’s killing, with many blaming the government. Crowds chanted that they would avenge his death and wept. Some burned tyres. A youthful Oromo government employee heard protesters saying they should burn the homes of those that kept killing them, presumably a reference to Batu’s sizable Amhara, or non-Oromo, community.

Later, that is exactly what occurred, although, according to an Oromia region civil servant who lives in Batu, it could have been far, far worse: “I can imagine why Hachalu was targeted: we loved him very much. Everybody came out of their house with emotion. It could lead not just to property damage, it could take a life—it could even have been genocide.”

His viewpoint reflects the fact that Oromia is a political cauldron.

Open wounds

Batu, which sits next to Lake Ziway (or, Lake Dambal), lies 120 kilometres south of Addis Ababa on the main road from Modjo to Hawassa in an area that produces fruit and vegetables. It has also seen flower farms set-up in the last 15 years, and hosts Ethiopia’s only vineyard. The town’s modern era began in 1955 under Emperor Haile Selassie I when a revised constitution created municipal councils.  Like many urban centers in Oromia, it has a relatively large non-Oromo, especially Amhara, population. Given Ethiopia’s open historical wounds, and its ethnicized political scene, that makes it contested.

At the root of Oromo nationalism, which has considerable support in Oromia, is an anti-imperialist ideology that positions the Oromo, Ethiopia’s most-populous ethnic group with around 40 million people, as still striving to overcome the legacy of systemic discrimination experienced in the imperial era that ended with a socialist revolution in 1974 that removed Orthdox Christianity as the state religion and abolished feudal practices. After autonomy was stifled by de facto one-party rule in the federal era that began in the early 1990s, the advent of Abiy Ahmed’s premiership in April 2018 was supposed to mark Oromia’s final liberation.

But, in the eyes of many Oromo nationalists, those hopes have been dashed.

Instead of granting Oromo demands for their language to have the same status as Amharic (though a government plan is in place), enhancing Oromia’s autonomy, and giving the region a greater say in the federal and Oromia capital, Addis Ababa, Oromo nationalist critics say Prime Minister Abiy betrayed them and has allied with Amhara-dominated centrists. “Abiy is a neftegna. He is bringing back the iron-fist method, killing people, arresting people,” said an Oromo elder in Batu.

The term “neftegna”, which has become highly controversial, literally means ‘riflemen’ and originally referred to settlers who moved to Oromia and other southern areas during Emperor Menelik II’s expansion in the 1890s and enforced the imperial system locally.

In 2014, protests broke out in Oromia in opposition to a masterplan to integrate Addis Ababa’s development with surrounding areas of Oromia. They grew into a formidable resistance movement that forced the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (ERPDF) ruling coalition into major concessions in late 2017.

Prominent during the uprising was opposition to the TPLF’s control of the security apparatus, including the military, and the ruling coalition it founded, which, in the eyes of critics, denied Oromia the autonomy promised in a 1995 multinational federalist constitution.

Accompanying the Oromo activists’ decolonizing narrative is a strong dose of economic nationalism, reflected in the opposition to Addis Ababa’s horizontal growth, and also in the 30 June attack on Sher, which mirrored innumerous similar incidents during the more than three years of protests that forced the EPRDF to cave to popular demands.

The damage at Sher Ethiopia near Adami Tullu; Ethiopia Insight.

In rural areas, economic injustice claims often relate to agricultural investments that pay little locally for land, labour, and water—while paying their taxes in Addis Ababa. In urban centers like Batu, they are over non-Oromo business networks that became entrenched during the imperial era.

“The Abyssinian-dominated urban centered enclave economy nurtures and exacerbates inequality in economic opportunity between the indigenous population and the urbanites,” said the Oromo Liberation Army, an armed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) splinter group, in a 1 October statement. The OLF has pursued Oromo self-determination since 1973 and spent decades in exile until its 2018 return. Its leaders were among those arrested in July.

If Oromo marginalization narratives were the ideological underpinning to the Oromo uprising, key to the 2018 change was an alliance of Amhara and Oromo EPRDF politicians with each other, and with the street protest movement that was conducted remotely by the likes of then-activist Jawar Mohammed, revered by many Oromo protesters but a hate figure in other quarters.

After Abiy’s ascendance led to the dramatic downgrading of the TPLF’s federal power, those fragile tactical alliances soon collapsed, primarily because of the deep ideological fissures, leading Ethiopia into today’s iteration of an age-old violent elite power struggle.

Polarized perspectives

The intuitive assessment of the violence is that Hachalu’s murder was the spark that set a tinderbox ablaze.

The reasoning is that simmering discontent at Abiy’s rule surged in Oromia after elections were postponed and the government extended its own term and shut the opposition out of decision-making during the interim period. Added to prevailing socio-economic hardship exacerbated by COVID-19, the anti-colonial, anti-neftegna ideological underpinning, the allegations that Abiy was embracing Amhara elites, and the furore surrounding recent comments by Hachalu, elements of the distraught Oromo masses therefore turned on their neighbors when news of the singer’s killing emerged.

In Batu, as in much of Ethiopia, viewpoints on contentious incidents align neatly with political outlooks. While all interviewees agreed that the authorities did little to calm the situation, let alone protect properties, some Oromo residents, however, claim that local officials and security forces were actually complicit in the attacks.

Like others who back the Oromo opposition, the civil servant, who requested anonymity, as did all interviewees, believes the entire affair was a government conspiracy to trigger Oromo youth to go on the rampage. The alleged motivation? To facilitate a crackdown on the Oromo nationalist opposition. “Even my three-year-old daughter thinks” the government killed Hachalu, he told Ethiopia Insight.

Federal prosecutors have charged four individuals allegedly hired by OLF-Shane, which it uses to refer to the OLF and OLA, for killing Hachalu. The rebel group’s commander blames the government.

Amid and after the violence, the government arrested opposition leaders and members in Oromia, accusing them of orchestrating or enacting the violence. That included much of the OLF leadership (including Mikael Boran, Lammi Begna and Gamachu Ayana, who had already been imprisoned and released under this administration) and top Oromo Federalist Congress officials, Bekele Gerba, Dejene Tefa, and Jawar.

The latter was arguably the most influential Oromo opposition actor who was a central figure in the events that led to the previous serious bout of violence in Oromia in October 2019. As well as incitement, prosecutors have charged Jawar with training terrorists in Egypt in order to assassinate Orthodox Christian priests, thus potentially increasing religious tensions.

Jawar and Bekele were arrested in Addis Ababa at the Prosperity Party Oromia chapter head office mid-afternoon on 30 June after they got involved in a dispute over where Hachalu would be buried: Addis Ababa, or his hometown, Ambo. Jawar, who was born in Arsi, is relatively popular in Batu and across central and eastern Oromia where most of the violence occurred, but less so in the western Oromia strongholds of the OLF. Despite the active OLA rebellion in the west, and the fact that Hachalu is from Ambo town, which is 120 kilometers west of Addis Ababa, protests were largely peaceful there.

In July, more than 9,000 people were detained in police stations, warehouses, and offices in the region, and more than 4,000 people are being prosecuted in total. The authorities have also arrested and charged non-Oromo politicians, including Eskinder Nega, an opponent of the multinational federal system and Oromo nationalism, for incitement and plots in Addis Ababa.

Lidetu Ayalew, a veteran centrist, is being charged for calling for a transitional government after the federal parliament in June delayed elections beyond the federal and regional governments’ term limits due to COVID-19. Oromia police had also repeatedly failed to release him on bail in accordance with court orders. “That is the quintessential case where the justice system failed,” said an insider referring to political interference in Lidetu’s prosecution.

The government closed Oromia Media Network and Oromia News Network bureaus and detained their journalists and others that have been critical of Abiy’s administration. Authorities arrested 1,200 officials for allegedly failing to discharge their responsibilities and 500 government employees for participating in the violence.

On August 15, after an Oromia Prosperity Party meeting chaired by Abiy, the branch ditched the premier’s former closest ally, ex-Oromia president Lemma Megersa, former Shashemene mayor Teyba Hassen, and Milkessa Midega, an outspoken academic-turned-politician, over failure to discharge their duties, though a senior party figure said they were also involved in orchestrating the violence.

The three officials came out against the formation of the Prosperity Party, which ethno-nationalist critics, including Jawar, TPLF, and the OLF considered an unwelcome step towards a more centralized federation at a time when they sought more regional autonomy and devolution of powers.

The Prosperity Party was created in December 2019 by merging three out of four regional ruling parties from the EPRDF, and adding ruling parties from the five other regions, which had been affiliates of the front that had monopolized political power since 1991.

Although that system was widely considered broken, Jawar and other EPRDF opponents believed that a standalone regional ruling party was still needed to protect Oromia’s autonomy and collectively bargain at the center for Oromo rights. After Prosperity Party’s creation, Jawar entered politics himself by joining OFC, which then allied with the OLF and, initially, another OLF splinter group, creating a potentially powerful Oromo nationalist bloc to take on the ruling party at the ballot box.

As Prosperity Party is national and its membership is therefore open to any Ethiopian, which generally was not the case for the ethnic-based regional EPRDF parties, it raises the prospect of the large Amhara communities in Oromia urban centers becoming politically powerful locally, thus possibly creating a new arena for power struggles.

However, despite the formal unitary structure, the party’s different regional chapters appear to have remained discrete and ethnically homogenous so far—though that may change after its first convention in the next few months, a party official said.

The government’s post-Hachalu moves against opponents, as with other events, have been interpreted in markedly different ways.

The party line is that officials who were negligent, disloyal, or complicit in the violence were removed. The counter-narrative is that the unrest was stoked and then used to purge opponents and ruling figures who sided with Lemma, or with the opposition, by falsely blaming them for orchestrating the violence.

The versions of events offered by people in Batu offer some support for both theories.

Passive government

An Oromo youth said that the authorities’ inaction even when Terefe Hotel, which is close to Batu police station, was torched, indicates their culpability. Another resident, who, in order to protect his identity, Ethiopia Insight cannot describe further, was told over the phone by Batu’s mayor during the chaos that local officials were ordered not to act. The mayor even told him to return home.

Some Batu residents accuse the government of arresting youths and elders who tried to calm the situation. “Since the incident, we have no rights, they are killing people. But we were the ones trying to solve the problem,” an elder told Ethiopia Insight. One interviewee said the government arrested two judges outside the courtroom for denying police 14 days’ additional investigation time.

“Their only crime was using judicial independence and doing their job properly,” they said, a claim contradicted by another insider, who said opposition-sympathizing Oromia prosecutors and judges often dealt leniently with their ideological bedfellows. Sources in Batu said that the police told people not to take photos and confiscated mobile phones from those in the streets during the unrest, even from some who were not detained.

As they were doing in early September to enforce a curfew and guard against disorder, the resident saw Oromia Special Police doing nothing except patrolling the main road in a pickup. At around 1am he ran towards the burning Shuferoch Hotel on Batu’s main road with others to try and save it, but three armed town militia in front of the building blocked them.

Later in the morning, in his neighborhood, a short drive from the main road, he said low-level officials were the ones leading the attackers into residential areas. As he was standing outside his house along with others from his road trying to protect their Amhara neighbors, he said that he was told by one ketena-level representative who was with the attackers that he should let the arsonists pass, or he might be punished.

Days later, the same individual was reportedly promoted to the head of the ketena structure. In Oromia, following the 2014-18 protests that rocked the Ethiopian State, the ruling party and authorities reworked sub-kebele structures. Now, gare is the lowest; got the second and ketena the one below kebele. Formerly, it was 1-to-5, gare, and got next to kebele.

A Batu resident and a manager at a nearby investment, who is highly critical of Oromo nationalist leaders—he thinks Jawar wants to create an Islamic state—also said that the local authorities did nothing to protect properties or calm the situation, while 20 police officers were said to be captured on CCTV looting Haile Resort.

Destruction at Valley Land Hotel 2 in Batu; Ethiopia Insight

Almost everyone Ethiopia Insight spoke to claimed security forces said they did not get orders from higher officials to act, although it is not clear why local officers required orders to combat criminality. For instance, locals told Ethiopia Insight that the Valley Land Hotel owner went to the police station to ask them to at least save his other hotel, Valley Land 2, but officers said they did not have orders to respond. According to another youthful Oromo activist, often known as Qeerroo, police advised protesters “don’t rob the property, but burn it”.

A Batu policeman told Ethiopia Insight that on June 27 and 28 East Shewa Zone called all the wereda and town administrators, security heads, and police commanders in the zone for a meeting, disarmed them, and took their telephones until the violence erupted.

The officer, who believes Ethiopia’s overall government system is being restructured so that it resembles Emperor Haile Selassie’s unitary state, said that the police and security officials were not available after they returned and that after getting their phones back they still did not give orders. “Even militaries that were brought to the town from Butajira stood there and watched the houses burning.” He said that at least 30 police were subsequently removed and sent to other weredas and zones, which was confirmed by a senior officer, and around four police officers arrested.

Although the problem is “multi-faceted”, including a lack of clear understanding on Prosperity Party’s objectives, a concerted propaganda campaign against the Prime Minister and the ruling party was primarily responsible for the confusion and division among the regional authorities that led to the security failures in a few locations, including Batu, during the unrest, an Oromia government official told Ethiopia Insight.

“Due to false propaganda, which was not properly countered, local authorities including some police became two hearted: ‘Why would we defend a failing government’ some of them thought. Those ones bought the narrative that this is a neftegna government. Then, when innocent people were being killed, they failed to protect them,” the official explained.

Systemic security failure

All other media, political parties, and civil society groups who reported from the ground from Batu and nearby areas of Oromia made similar findings about the lack of an effective security response.

In a September statement, opposition party EZEMA, or Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice, which stands against ethnic nationalism, made the same complaint about police inaction after its researchers visited Shashamene and Dera: “Victims at the visited areas told the team that the region’s Special Forces and the National Defense Forces were unable to stop the attacks on innocent civilians because they ‘have not received an order’.”

On 17 July, Addis Standard reported atrocities against local minorities, including attacking Gurage- and Amhara-owned businesses in Batu, as well as against Orthodox Christians elsewhere. It wrote: “All of the victims interviewed for this story share one thing in common: they were left unprotected by law enforcement agents they were pleading with. ‘They did nothing’ was the collective answer from many.”

On August 6, local rights group, the Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD), reported eyewitnesses in Arsi Dera, Asella, Gedeb Asasa, Robe, Goba and Agarfa saying that the police had been passive for hours during the attack, claiming that they were not ordered.

In Dera, around 70 kilometers northeast of Batu, the Mail & Guardian spoke to Amhara victims sheltering at a church for 14 July article: “Residents of Dera who spoke to the M&G claimed that the regional Oromia Special Police Force did not intervene to stop the violence. According to another survivor, at least 150 members of the force were housed at Dera’s stadium, minutes away, as the carnage unfolded. ‘We kept calling them and begging them to help,’ he said. ‘They told us that without orders, they couldn’t get involved’.” An Agence France Presse reporter received similar accounts from Shashamene, as did The Guardian.

The lack of response from the police in Batu occurred during previous bouts of unrest, according to a local businessman. As in the past, although with longer delays then, the military’s arrival mid-afternoon on 30 June led to order quickly returning. “Some people said police are not getting orders, some say they are sympathizing with protests, some police are also afraid that they will be victimized,” they said.

Although it is unclear, the businessman believes that people arrived in Batu overnight, possibly from the surrounding countryside, and were then told which properties to attack by people with lists.  “There are too many rumors. It’s really hard to know what’s going on. The feeling is there was a plan, that was kind of obvious, but maybe for September,” they told Ethiopia Insight, referring to the original date for the expiry of the government’s term.

Though a training college for Oromia Special Police is located around 15 kilometers away from Batu in Bulbula town, and police were present in Batu in the hours after Hachalu was killed, residents accused the government of responding only after attackers destroyed properties. The Batu mayor was said to be removed from his position in the aftermath, but there is no evidence he has been arrested or investigated. According to a source with connections to senior Batu officials, the police officers that looted Haile Resort were detained.

Opposition party the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) said in a September report entitled ‘Recent genocidal violence in Oromia region’ that: “The Oromia security apparatus did nothing to stop the violence. In fact, many members of the Oromia Special Forces, the local paramilitary police, have taken part in the killings in various towns.” Although it considers the multinational federal system an anti-Amhara design, NaMA’s goal is to ensure a strong Amhara region and protect Amhara minorities who live elsewhere in Ethiopia that they say are particularly threatened by the Qeerroo movement and Oromo nationalist ideology.

Critics of Oromo nationalism downplay the Oromo marginalization narrative and highlight that Oromo tribes subjugated other groups as they expanded across central Ethiopia in the 16th and 17th centuries, that Oromo elites were integrally involved in Menelik II’s imperial conquests, and that the neftegna system disappeared with feudalism in 1974. They also point out that the Oromo claims to historic ownership of the Addis Ababa area are weak, as there is evidence it being inhabited by other communities in the preceding centuries.

Regarding Batu, where NaMA said only Orthodox Christian and Amhara properties were targeted, the report found: “Security forces were bystander observers who did nothing to prevent the mayhem throughout the day.”

The NaMA perspective highlights another point where polarization leads to wildy divergent versions of what occurred and why.

The allegations of Oromia government involvement in attacks buttress claims of atrocities like genocide, as state incapacity or security forces’ mobilization against a protected group, population, or individuals is one of a number of common risk factors present in Ethiopia for crimes against humanity to occur.

According to Zelalem Moges, an Ethiopian international human rights law expert, “there is evidence from victims in Bale and Arsi areas that perpetrators had an intention at the time of the attacks to destroy parts of the Amhara and Orthodox Christian groups and what is reported to have happened in those areas is a textbook example of genocide.” He said that in some instances the attackers identified, knew and had a list of names of their victims, and told them that ‘Amhara/Orthodox children can’t be born in Oromia’.

“The magnitude of the loss of life and property destruction revealed that the attacks were planned, coordinated and done with the support or under the acquiescence of local authorities,” he told Ethiopia Insight. “It is also important to note that the tragic incidents were preceded by media campaigns which openly called for an extermination of ‘neftegnas‘, a code term to refer to Amharas/Orthodox Christians.”

Meanwhile, Oromo nationalists, who consider Oromia to be controlled by a Prosperity Party that acts against fiercely guarded regional autonomy, believe that the authorities remained passive in order to allow unruly elements to commit arson and murder—thus justifying the subsequent sweeping move against the Oromo opposition and malcontents within the ruling establishment.

Some activists also allege that religiously diverse central and eastern areas of Oromia were the focus of provocateurs in order to increase the perception that the Qeerroo movement targets Orthodox Christians, an impression also enhanced by the charge that Jawar plotted to assassinate priests. Tension rose between the Orthodox establishment and Oromo activists in September last year when a plan by Oromo clerics emerged to create an administrative branch of the church that catered specifically for Oromo worshippers.

The government has said on a number of occasions that ineffective security responses are partly because it is trying to avoid the heavy-handed tactics routinely applied before the Prime Minister came to power. There is also the possibility that the personnel changes and restructuring that have taken place since then—for example, the Ministry of Peace was created in October 2018 and tasked with overseeing all federal security agencies—have resulted in an increasing lack of coordination of the federal and regional apparatuses.

Still, the federal government has also regularly used force, such as to intervene in Somali region in August 2018, in July 2019 to control unrest stemming from Southern Nations autonomy demands, to combat the ongoing OLA insurgency in western and southern Oromia, and now, most consequently, to remove Tigray’s leadership.

That said, despite its reputation for possessing a strong and authoritarian State, Ethiopia is relatively under-policed, with perhaps only around 40,000 Federal Police for a population of approximately 110 million.

With violent protests springing up in multiple locations, it is logistically difficult for regional and Federal Police, and the military, if called in, to respond—although Batu does lie on one of the country’s main arterial roads, and the authorities should have planned ahead for how to respond to another outbreak of mass unrest given the political situation in Oromia.

Batu was among 15 locations where damage was extensive, EHRC found, and security forces did not respond to requests for help, sometimes claiming they only had orders to protect property or that they were overwhelmed by the scale of attacks.

For an independent security analyst, who requested anonymity, the rigid organization of the Ethiopian security apparatus may partially explain such inaction as it hinders an officer’s ability to exercise an important aspect of their public duty: discretion.

“Given the very regimented structure, if leadership determines that not using force is the way to go, for whatever reason, e.g. solidarity with Qeerroo, or the belief that a securitized approach might further escalate tensions, officers can neither question such decisions nor make a different assessment and act on it,” he said.

“In essence, the structure discourages individual agency on the part of officers. Mind you, if you look at the laws and regulations governing the Federal Police, failing to act when there is a clear violation of law and order should result in an officer being held accountable, although it’s not clear when Oromia’s authorities requested federal assistance.”

However, the Federal Police told Ethiopia Insight that they cannot intervene without regional invitation and that in areas like Shashamene they did not receive a timely request from the Oromia authorities. A ruling party official said Oromia requested federal support around 9am on 30 June. When asked, a Federal Police spokesperson referred Ethiopia Insight to Oromia’s Police Commission.

Adami Tullu terror

Despite the chaos, destruction, and swirling conspiracies in Batu, there was no incident anything like as gruesome as the massacre in nearby Adami Tullu.

According to Meseret, the neighbor, the crowd arrived at the predominantly Amhara neighborhood called Addis Ketema, which is about 200 meters off the main road down a muddy track, at around 9am, searching for her husband Belay Woldemichael, the new chairman of Amanuel Idir savings association. The idir that has 300 members and some children of members were not happy with its leadership.

Meseret said that the crowd—whose composition Ethiopia Insight was unable to confirm though interviewees implied it was Oromo–came with a list and asked for her husband. She and her neighbors begged them not to attack, saying Belay is a newly appointed chairman and had not participated in any of the idir’s alleged misdeeds. Meseret thinks the properties of 23 members of the idir were attacked, including the murderous invasion of Geletaw’s compound, which four people have been arrested for, according to the Batu civil servant.

Yohannes Abebe, a priest who moved to Oromia five years ago, another neighbor of Geletaw, confirmed Meseret’s story and said the attackers targeted Amhara people, although it was also reported that Geletaw was Gurage.

Similar events were recorded during Ethiopia’s last transition in the 1990s, according to Africa Watch, which later became part of Human Right Watch. “Some of the worst incidents of violence occurred when Oromo people attacked Amhara settlers in their vicinity. The Amhara settlers were originally introduced to the area to pacify it on behalf of the central government in the nineteenth century. Generations later, the legacy of communal antipathy remains,” the group said in a 1993 report. Some Oromo activists claim that those events were also staged in order to defame Oromo nationalism.

The Adami Tullu compound where Geletaw was killed with his family; Ethiopia Insight.

Meseret, who was brought up in Adami Tullu, says she has nowhere to go now, but due to the threat of more ethnic targeting, Yohannes plans to move back to Amhara. “No Oromo property was destroyed. We are not feeling safe. We are ready to sell,” he told Ethiopia Insight.

A friend of one of Geletaw’s sons said in an interview in Adami Tullu that he was attacked because of a dispute with a community member who exploited the chaos. Geletaw’s son, Terefe, told Addis Insight that he doesn’t know why his father was targeted, and that he was a respected local figure. Abinet, another son, said in the same report that the bodies stayed on the ground until the military arrived at around 3 to 4pm. On the same day, security forces killed at least two people in Adami Tullu, locals said.

On Adami Tullu’s southern fringe, Afriflora Sher suffered a serious attack after lunch on 30 June. Oromo opposition supporters in Batu said the managers were not Oromo and people in nearby Bulbula town have complained that the company’s water usage led to shortages for residents for up to three months a year, while there have also been unproven allegations that chemical discharges led to birth defects.

“The damage is much bigger at Sher than in other similar attacks before in Ethiopia,” a businessman told Ethiopia Insight. In a move that angered foreign investors and diplomats, Jawar had stoked opposition to the flower farms in a 2 February election campaign speech in Batu by promising to return the land to the people if his party won power.

Chaos, conspiracy, confusion

Though no convincing evidence and few details were presented, Batu residents interviewed believe that the attackers came from outside the town. Some said from Shashamane, others that people came from Maraqo in the Gurage Zone of the Southern Nations region, and also villages surrounding Batu, though some said that the town’s youth predominated.

Some residents said both Afaan Oromo speakers and others were present, and one said that a property was attacked after guards failed to respond in Afaan Oromo. A Qeerroo member and Jawar supporter said a robber who exploited the chaos was unable to speak Afaan Oromo, while residents reported that people displayed green leaves, a sign of peace in Oromo culture, outside their houses to try and identify them as Oromo-owned homes.

Away from the main road, with police nowhere to be seen, an Afaan Oromo-speaking teacher said a large group of youths entered his neighborhood three times from 9am, but he and others were able to convince them not to attack, partly by stating they were not Amhara. He said the main motivation of the disorganized mobs that were speaking multiple languages was to loot clothes, jewellery, and other goods. “Some homes, after they had robbed them, they burned them,” he said. “Some come as if they are revenging what happened to Hachalu, but you cannot get revenge for Hachalu just by robbing.”

This contributed to his belief that someone directed the mob, which he said contained Wolayta language speakers who may have worked at Sher, in order to divide Batu’s Amhara and Oromo residents. “I think there are people who want to see the failure of the current system and want to come up with a new policy or new situation,” he told Ethiopia Insight. That view was shared by one of the Oromo government opponents in Batu: “We are intermingled. The government does not want us to live in stability.”

The civil servant was among a number of interviewees from Batu’s Oromo community—from Abba Gaadas (male elders) to Qeerroo (bachelors)—who said they tried to prevent attacks on Amhara-owned properties, as was also reported in Dera. Qeerroo members told Ethiopia Insight that on the night they gathered to discuss how to calm the situation, while the long-term Amhara resident of Batu said: “Oromo saved my house. The Oromo were divided into two groups. Not all Oromo are against the government.”

One of the people whose properties were destroyed said that they did not know where the arsonists came from and that they had never seen them before. The owner of Valley Land Hotel, a lifelong Batu resident and native Amharic speaker, who lost two hotels, a warehouse and his house, told Amhara Mass Media Agency that he doesn’t know why he was targeted as he had a good relationship with residents and steered clear of politics.

Despite widespread arson, in Batu, protesters did not attack people, including after three of them were killed near Kera Mosque around 3pm by a grenade thrown by an Amhara resident presumably concerned about his property. Attackers mostly targeted hotels and houses owned by Amhara and Gurage, though properties owned by Oromo and foreign companies were also set ablaze. “The Qeerroo were saying the neftegna killed Hachalu, but they did not attack Amhara to kill them,” said the opposition-sympathizing civil servant.

Some Qeerroo claimed that properties were attacked only after shots were fired at protesters. Town elders and those who lost property said the attackers do not represent any ethnic group in their discussion with Shimelis, Oromia’s president and Abiy’s former chief of staff. Oromia police said in a statement that the attacks were not ethnic-based but listed that out of the 167 killed, there were 114 Oromo, 46 Amhara, two Gamo, a Sidama, a Gurage, and three of unknown ethnicity. Six police and five militia were among the dead.

The civil servant was adamant that funds collected by Oromia’s government for Hachalu’s family are being funnelled towards compensation for arson victims. Oromo opposition supporters said some of the targeted Amhara hotel owners in Batu backed NaMA and were arrested around a year ago by the government for covertly organizing. The Amhara nationalist party denied any of its members have been arrested in Batu.

Pro-government residents interviewed, mostly non-Oromo, say people seeking to capitalize on Hachalu’s murder trucked in protesters, some claiming the intention was to force out Amhara, while others said those who arrived had received combat training from TPLF.

An elder said at the discussion with Shimelis that the attack was carried out by a group trying to overthrow the government, to portray Oromo as “monsters”, and isolate them from other Ethiopians. Shimelis agreed the intention was to overthrow the government, saying: “Those pushing our youth towards destruction to fulfill their own desire by putting our youths into fire, making them emotional and confusing them from various directions, are the ones that desire power, or were removed from power,” which was probably a reference to, respectively, Oromo opposition leaders like Jawar, and TPLF.

When intercommunal violence occurs in Ethiopia, often people blame TPLF-backed agent provocateurs. “They were paid money and trained to destroy the town by Woyane,” one long-term Amhara resident of Batu said, using a common term for the TPLF, while also arguing later that Jawar’s supporters torched the town. This narrative featured during the 2014-18 Oromo protests when any inter-communal violence was blamed on shadowy TPLF-linked forces, and has continued since Abiy took power. No evidence has been presented to back-up the allegations.

Throughout its decades in office, TPLF was accused of using divide-and-rule tactics to pit Amhara and Oromo against each other in order to maintain its pre-eminence. Assigning blame for Ethiopia’s transitional traumas to TPLF has contributed to Tigray’s isolation from the rest of the federation, and growing secessionist sentiment in the region—although opponents simply say the bitterness stems from TPLF’s being forced from power. Those tensions fuelled the ongoing conflict in Tigray.

Cover of darkness

Prosperity Party Oromia branch spokesman Taye Dendea said the TPLF funded and worked with Jawar and OLF-Shane to plan Hachalu’s killing and prepare destruction in Batu and other towns by providing flammable items and organizing mobs. “The plan in agreement with TPLF was to cause religious and ethnic violence which would lead to a security collapse. TPLF wants to disintegrate Ethiopia and told Jawar they would put him in power. Once there is a security breakdown, genocide starts, the fire cannot be stopped, and it’s over for Ethiopia. It would be paradise in a lost state for TPLF,” he told Ethiopia Insight. TPLF officials have dismissed all similar allegations, as have the OLF and Jawar.

The claims are harder to assess because, as with almost all of Ethiopia outside of Addis Ababa, including major cities, there are no private media organizations or rights-focused civil society groups based in Batu, nor are there any active political bloggers or citizen journalists probing local affairs. The government also shut down the internet on 30 June for three weeks, a move that had the effect of curtailing incendiary propaganda, but also denying Ethiopians reliable information. As documented by Foreign Policy recently, Hachalu’s killing is by no means the only recent murky act of political violence in Ethiopia since the TPLF’s fall from grace and Abiy’s rise.

One slightly brighter spot is the recent activity of the EHRC, which was established by proclamation in 2000, and has been run by former Human Rights Watch Africa Director Daniel Bekele since last July. It sent investigators to 40 Oromia towns that were affected by the violence that followed Hachalu’s killing for its recently released report.

On 14 September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said her office would support a “thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation by the Government into the killing [of Hachalu] and subsequent violence.” That could mean supporting an EHRC inquiry (although that would have to take place after related court cases have concluded) or the establishment of an independent inquiry, perhaps including opposition figures, accountable to parliament. Given the opposition allegations of government involvement, an investigation run by the Attorney General’s Office would do little to establish any kind of consensus on what took place.

On the political front, opposition groups and others are pushing for a National Dialogue, a formal, structured, inclusive process to try and heal deep societal fractures, that would address Ethiopia’s historical divisions and contemporary political trauma. The Prime Minister has signalled his support, although there are doubts over the government’s commitment to the type of process the opposition want, before the war the TPLF laid down conditions there was no chance of Addis Ababa agreeing to, and the chances of a successful process will be significantly reduced if key opposition leaders are under custody.

The postponed elections are now set for 5 June, but government opponents in Batu derided the idea of a satisfactory vote while their leaders are imprisoned and repression is ongoing. That is now also the position of the two main opposition parties in Oromia. Meanwhile, there is no sign of an independent inquiry. And with no agreement on who ordered Hachalu’s highly consequential killing, each side will continue to blame another—either for trying to foment instability, a revolution, or a crackdown.

This means the brutal ethnicized politics and elite intrigue are set to continue to take center stage.

“Politics is all about doing tricks, nothing else. It is all about how much you are able to do a trick. It is about how much you can play the intrigue. It is about how much you can use the power calculus properly,” said President Shimelis in a recording leaked in August of a meeting from around nine months before, which other officials have referred to in a manner that suggests it is genuine.

Divisive narratives

Shimelis is the prime example of an Abiy loyalist who has found himself being attacked from various corners of Ethiopia’s sharply demarcated political map.

Many Oromo nationalists consider him a sell-out who was foisted onto Oromia by Abiy after the prime minister removed Lemma by naming him Defense Minister in April last year. Yet, opponents of ethno-nationalism revile Shimelis for saying at last year’s Ireecha celebrations that holding them in Addis Ababa (The Oromo name is Finfinee) showed Oromo had overcome the oppressive “neftegna” system. Making matters worse,  in the leaked recording he said:

“The second reason why we are building Prosperity [Party] is for nation building. Their nation building is aborted. The one that is based on one nation, one language, one culture and one religion, has failed, after being attempted for 100 years. Now we, as Oromo, have a chance to reconstruct Ethiopia that resembles us and to plant Oromummaa within the superstructure.”

Within hours of Hachalu’s killing, Abiy had blamed domestic and foreign enemies, and Shimelis had pinned  the assassination on TPLF, and OLF-Shane, lumping together the federal government’s main adversaries.

This view, of course, just reflects one perspective among a multitude.

An opposition activist told Ethiopia Insight that blaming OLF-Shane was an effort to create divisions between Oromo from OLF’s Wellega stronghold and those from Shewa, which surrounds Addis Ababa. In line with the views of OLF and the OLA, Oromo youth and elders interviewed in Batu believe that Hachalu’s killer was the government or “neftegna”.

The term’s original application to an imperial settler class now refers–especially when “neo-neftegna” is used—to those who hold attitudes that were prevalent during that era, indicating that they insufficiently acknowledge the suffering that many Ethiopian ethnic communities suffered during the State’s expansion from its northern highland core and under subsequent periods of homogenization.

As have views on Menelik II himself, the term has become an important marker of position in Ethiopia’s rancorous political divide. Amhara nationalists, anti-ethnic federalists, and other critics perceive ethno-nationalists’ use of neftegna as referring to Amhara people. They therefore consider it a racist dog whistle that encourages and legitimizes attacks on innocent Amhara civilians under the guise of the Oromo liberation struggle.

On 30 June, the Oromia Media Network (OMN), which Jawar used to run, broadcast comments live where some interviewees talked about taking down Menelik II’s status in Addis Ababa and of “neftegna” responsibility for Hachalu’s killing. Since the late June maelstrom, some Oromo nationalist activists have doubled-down in their use of the term, and OFC’s Bekele Gerba employed it in court. While Menelik II is considered a modernizing state-builder by his backers, the civil servant in Batu captured the “incompatible ideologies” fuelling the debate: “To many people, Menelik is a Hitler.”

Batu youth argue, as other Oromo government opponents do, that “neftegnas” attempted to attack Hachalu several times, as he described in his OMN interview broadcast on 22 July where he expressed opposition to Abiy’s embrace of Amhara and other centrist elites.

Explaining that it was not acceptable to make tactical alliances with sworn enemies, as some Oromo opposition elites showed signs of doing with the TPLF, Hachalu said on OMN: “Neftegna is Oromo’s enemy! It is Oromo’s enemy today; Oromo’s enemy yesterday; and Oromo’s enemy in the future!”

In October 2019, video footage of youths assaulting Hachalu in Addis Ababa started circulating on social media. BBC Afaan Oromo interviewed Hachalu about the assault and he said was used to being assaulted for his identity in Addis Ababa. According to Hachalu, he was followed by four youths and was insulted with words he didn’t even want to repeat and he was also called “owner of the season”, reflecting the sentiment that it is Oromo’s time to dominate as there is an Oromo premier. “The reason behind the assault is their hate for Oromo,” he said.

The Batu Oromo youth highlighted social media posts of activists threatening Hachalu for opposing neftegna, and criticizing Menelik II, who was king of Shewa (the area around Addis Ababa, now part of both Amhara and Oromia) before becoming emperor, including calling him a “notorious criminal” and saying he stole his horse from an Oromo in Gelan, where the authorities say Hachalu was shot dead.

On the flip side, a regional official says Hachalu had friendly relations with Shimelis (they are both from Ambo), Abiy, and other government leaders, which led, he claims, to OLF and OLA verbal attacks and even an assassination attempt in Ambo.

Hachalu, who was an Orthodox Christian, seems to have found himself in the middle of an intra-Oromo struggle, which plays out along ideological but also sub-regional lines. In the interview he expressed concern for the Oromo dying in the conflict between the government and the OLA in Wellega, and said people from that area had warned him he may not be safe.

Along with Shimelis and Hachalu, Abiy also faces criticism from multiple directions.

In Batu, most Oromo interviewees believe he has allied with “neftegnas” and intends to revive elements of the imperial system, such as a unitary state, despite his government’s formal commitment to maintaining multinational federalism.  This narrative gathered such momentum that it was explicitly rejected by the Prime Minister’s Office in an 8 July statement:

“These and other similar false claims, half-truths and disinformation spree have misled sections of the public into thinking that the old-centrist, anti-federal force is lurking behind the person of Abiy Ahmed…They repeatedly bombarded the public with the false claim that ‘the comeback of neftegna is a real political danger’…The main goal of setting this agenda was to fuel ethnic conflict in Ethiopia, particularly between the most populous ethnic groups in Ethiopia: the Oromo and the Amhara.”

Still, some of Batu’s residents will take some convincing.

A 70-year-old told Ethiopia Insight that he grew up listening to his grandmother’s stories about the cruelty of Emperor Menelik II’s forces, such as cutting women’s breasts off and poisoning cattle.

“Abiy is bringing something that is worse than Menelik,” he said.

Query or correction? Email us

Follow Ethiopia Insight

Main photo: Destruction at Valley Land Hotel 2 in Batu; Ethiopia Insight.

Join our Telegram channel

Published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Cite Ethiopia Insight and link to this page if republished.

We need your support to analyze news from across Ethiopia

Please help fund Ethiopia Insight’s coverage

January 13/2021(ENA) Efforts are being exerted to restore electricity in Aksum and Adwa towns of Tigray Regional State, according to Ethiopian Electric Power.

Ethiopian Electric Power Communication Director, Moges Mekonen told ENA that high voltage power transmission lines connecting major towns in the region were destroyed by the TPLF junta before they fled.

The high voltage power transmission lines connecting Alemata through Ashegoda to Mekele, and Tekeze to Mekele and other parts of the country were severely damaged. 

“Heavy power lines in various parts of the region have been deliberately destroyed,” the director said, adding that transmission lines in most places have been broken.

“They are broken up so that they cannot be repaired quickly and easily. These destructions have completely disrupted electricity supply,” he noted

According to him, it would take some time to restore power to some areas although maximum efforts have been exerted to provide electricity.

Ethiopian Electric Power and Ethiopian Electric Utility are jointly undertaking activities to restore the lines, it was learned. 

Most of the towns in East Tigray, especially Alamata, Mehoni and Mekelle, have been receiving electricity, Moges disclosed.

“Extensive  repairing activities have been carried out in West Tigray, including Aksum, Adwa, Shire, and Shraro towns. The repair work might be completed within a few days and Adwa and Aksum areas will get electricity.”

Awetu Simesso participated as a guest speaker at EDAO’s International Conference in June 2018. (Photo Courtesy: Boka G Tesso/Facebook).

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, August 19th, 2018

New York (TADIAS) — It is with profound sadness that we share the news of Professor Awetu Simesso’s passing on Saturday, August 18th in Addis Ababa. The funeral and tribute celebrating his life took place on Sunday, August 19th at Mekana Yesus in Bishoftu with former president Dr. Negasso Gidada giving the eulogy.

A beloved educator Awetu returned from the United States after 32 years of residence to Ethiopia and contributed his talents in various sectors including working as a Professor at Addis Ababa University at the College of Law and Governance on an ongoing basis since 2010 and Professor of Global Studies & International Relations at New Generation University College (2005-2007). Awetu also served as Strategic Advisor at Development Assistance Group (DAG) advising Western donor governments (2014-2018) and as a Senior Advisor at USAID/Ethiopia focusing on democratic governance, peace and security issues (2006-2013). In 2009 Awetu received Meritorious Honor Awards from United States Agency of International Development (USAID) as well as the United States Department of State for outstanding service in the field of Democratic Governance. As a civic society leader Awetu traveled extensively throughout Ethiopia networking and assisting civic organizations across the nation.

Awetu was not only a beloved scholar, civic society leader, and talented actor but a lifelong friend whose mentorship and support was unparalleled. We first met Awetu while he was part of the Stanford University community where he had pursued a Master’s degree in Communication & Media Studies and a second Master’s in Political Science & Government on his way to a PhD in the same department. While performing in plays and theaters as an actor from 1973 to 2004 Awetu was actively involved in the Ethiopian Diaspora community on campus and beyond and held various leadership positions including President of the East African Relief Organization (EARO), Board Member of Emergency Relief Fund International and United Christian Ministries, member of the Stanford International Development Organization (SIDO) and the Overseas Development Network (ODN), Vice President of the Stanford African Students Association (SASA) as well as founding member and advisor of the Stanford Ethiopian Students Union (SESU).

Awetu Simesso (Photo Courtesy: Kathy Haverty Welsh/Facebook)

Awetu Simesso’s contributions were far-reaching and exemplary in the manner that he consistently engaged his peers and colleagues with kindness and generosity. It is difficult to summarize all of Awetu’s accomplishments but the best way is to share reflections and photos from his friends, students and colleagues in the U.S. and Ethiopia. Please write to us at info@tadias.com to share your stories of Awetu Simesso and we’ll keep this page updated.

From Ethiopian American Council

“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Awetu Simesso. Ethiopia has lost a powerful force for human rights, democracy and freedom. Ethiopian Americans in Bay Area fortunate to have many wonderful memories of Awetu. The passing of Awetu Simesso will be an enormous loss to Ethiopia and Ethiopians he cared so much about. RIP our brother.

From Daniel Gizaw

“I am absolutely stunned to read this sad story. Professor Aweitu was a close friend to me and served as my advisor and my critique during the writing of my books. He was inseparable from the Stanford university campus at the time. His profound intelligence was unmatchable. In the early 1980s, when we started a group called HAAn (Horn of Africa Action Network) consisting American Peace corps volunteers who served in Ethiopia, Aweitu became our lead man. He was a gifted orator and, with that bellowing voice he commanded respect. In the Bay area, we called him the Ethiopian guru. He was wise and patient. I will miss him immensely. May his soul rest in peace.”

From Hundee Dhugaasaa

I am deeply saddened by the death of Professor Awetu Simesso. I know Prof Awetu when he decided to visit Jimma University Students Union with Addis based Diplomats to discuss several issues at a very challenging time, after the troubles of the 2005 election. He was such a brilliant, humble and far sighted person. We lost him at a time we need him the most. RIP Obbo Awetu.

From Filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman

I am writing to share how Awetu Simesso enabled me to take on an almost impossible task. In all of my filmmaking efforts (which began in 1976) I had had connections to help me…friends, filmmakers, foundations and national organizations. With this support, during the decade from 1993 – 2003 I grew significantly as a filmmaker. Activities included five films on PBS stations, an Oscar-nomination and an Emmy.

At that point, I decided to take a bold step forward. I gathered all that I had learned and took up an opportunity: to document the ways in which Ethiopians in Ethiopia were meeting the challenges of HIV/AIDS. It was then that Awetu appeared.

My vision was to speak with professionals, and lay practitioners, as well as people in villages in Ethiopia, doing whatever they could to help each other. I wanted to focus on Ethiopians who were managing their own organizations on the ground, working with a range of their peers.

In order to get started, I put out a call to anyone anywhere in the SF Bay Area who could help me build a core community of Ethiopians who would volunteer to help me organize this project. The one person who responded was Aweto Simesso. He understood what I was daring to do.

Based on his intuition that this was a project worth his time and effort, he called together a dozen Ethiopians. We met in my living room and the project took root. That night gave birth to a cadre of almost 200 people, most of whom were volunteers, who worked with me. Many from the United States, many living in Ethiopia. Working together, they translated Amharic to English, English to Amhari, viewed footage giving input and feedback, logged more than 100 video tapes and much more.

The result? A five film series SEEDS of HOPE: Meeting the Challenges of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia.

From Fesseha A Atlaw

My friend, you are sorely missed already! You only saw the glimpse of your vision of Ethiopia… But God allowed you to see the promised land from the mountain top.

“…I am a proud Oromo and I am a proud Ethiopian, I don’t see any contradiction between the two…” — Professor Awetu Simesso

—
Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

A high-level online workshop on environmental diplomacy, encompassing several Ethiopian ambassadors and diplomats, kicked off today.

The four-day workshop will cover the basics in climate change science and Climate Diplomacy, international climate change policy frameworks and negotiations, including international considerations for climate change decision-making.

In delivering opening remarks, State Minister H.E. Ambassador Redwan Hussien said the workshop demonstrates Ethiopia’s unwavering determination to be at the forefront of climate change issues in the international arena.

Noting the recurrent drought, flooding, and locust invasions in the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Redwan said, it is vital that we give due attention to climate diplomacy to enhance support to mitigation and adaptation interventions at the grassroots level.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Foreign Service Training Institute and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) co-organized the workshop.

Al Negashi Mosque attack is believed to be the work of TPLF forces. Some Ethiopian Muslim  activists tend to speculate that it is the work of “anti-Muslim elements” of the Defense Force.  

borkena
January 4, 2021

Ethiopian government law enforcement campaign in northern Ethiopia  against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was completed over four weeks ago when Ethiopian Defense Forces controlled Mekelle, as reported by state media.

However, the extent of the damage was not fully revealed. This week evidence showing damage to the sides of the oldest mosque in the world which is also known to be UNESCO recognized world heritage site, Al Negashi Mosque attack, was circulating on social media.

Based on state media and Defense Force reports, TPLF was pursuing a scorched earth policy as it became evident that it was losing the war. Bridges were destroyed. Aksum airport, one of the busiest airports in the region essential for Ethiopia’s tourism industry, was destroyed, among others. TPLF has also massacred more than 1000 non-Tigrayan civilians in the town of Maikadra. All those damages were reported at the time.

The damage to Al Nejashi Mosque  was not  revealed at the time- possibly due to the sensitivity of the issue. And it is being interpreted politically and in a negative light.

Sadik Ahmed is one of the prominent Ethiopian Muslim activist based in Washington DC.  He sees three possibilities behind the attack and one of  them is what he called “anti-muslim elements,” in the Ethiopian Defense Force – a dangerous  speculation. The Ethiopian Defense is understood to be perhaps one of the only institutions that unifies the country – which is somewhat demonstrated during the law enforcement operation against TPLF.  He also accused Eritrean Forces whose involvement is in the war in Ethiopia is not yet verified.

Tigray region prosperity party senior leader, Abraham Belay who is also Minister of Innovation and Technology, said this week that TPLF is behind the attack on Al Negashi Mosque.

A prominent Ethiopian Muslim Scholar, Professor Ustaz Adam Kamil, said this week that the attack on the Mosque is intended for political gains.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has been following a policy of addressing the concerns and issues of Ethiopian Muslims, and it is believed that he has forged strong partnership with key Muslim spiritual leaders, young and old.

Abraham Belay said that the government will start  restoration work to the Al Negashi Mosque sooner rather than later.

The Islamic Affairs Supreme Council of Ethiopia has not yet released a statement regarding the attack on the mosque.

Join the conversation. Like borkena on Facebook and get Ethiopian News updates regularly. As well, you may get Ethiopia News by following us on twitter @zborkena

አዲስ አበባ፣ ጥር 6፣ 2013(ኤፍ ቢ ሲ) የአዲስ ወግ፤ አንድ ጉዳይ ውይይት በጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ጽህፈት ቤት አዘጋጅነት እየተካሄደ ነው፡፡

የዛሬው የውይይት መድረክ በቆላ አካባቢዎች እና አርብቶአደር ዜጎች የልማት ጉዞ ላይ ያተኮረ ነው፡፡

በውይይቱ ላይ የመነሻ ፅሁፍ የቀረበ ሲሆን ወይዘሮ ሃኒ ሁሴን የአርብቶ አደርና የስነ ጾታ ባለሙያ ባቀረቡት የመነሻ ፅሁፍ አርብቶ አደሩን ማህበረሰብ በትክክል ያለመረዳት ችግር መኖሩን ጠቅሰዋል፡፡

አርብቶ አደሩ ያለውን ውስን ሃብት በስትራቴጂ የሚጠቀም እንጅ እንዲሁ ዝም ብሎ ከቦታ ቦታ የሚሽከረከር አይደለምም ብለዋል፡፡

የውሃ፣ የመኖ እና ሌሎች አስፈላጊ ነገሮች በአንድ ቦታ ባለመገኘታቸው አርብቶ አደሩ በአንድ ቦታ ላይ ረግቶ እንዳይቀመጥ ያደረጉት ምክንያቶች መሆናቸውንም አስረድተዋል፡፡

ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያለውን አርብቶ አደር በሙሉ አንድ አድርጎ የማየት ችግር እንዳለ ጠቅሰው፥ በዚህ ምክንያት በሃገሪቱ ውስጥ በሚተገበሩ ፖሊሲዎች አርብቶ አደሩ ተጠቃሚ ሳይሆን ቆይቷልም ነው ያሉት፡፡

አቶ አብዱራህማን አዲ ጣሂር የሶማሌ ክልል መስኖና ተፋሰስ ቢሮ ሃላፊ በበኩላቸው በኢትዮጵያ የአርብቶ አደር ልማት ሁልጊዜ ከፀጥታ ጋር ብቻ ተያይዞ መተግበሩ ውጤታማ እንዳይሆን እንዳደረገው አንስተዋል፡፡

ባለፉት አመታት የተከናወነው የመንደር ማሰባሰብ ስራ ከሪፖርት የተሻገረ እንዳለሆነም አስታውሰዋል፡፡

አርብቶ አደሩ ለኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላላ የሃገር ውስጥ ምርት እድገት እስከ 15 በመቶ አስተዋጽኦ የሚያበረክት ሲሆን፥ ኢትዮጵያ በምትልካቸው የቁም እንስሳት የስጋ ምርቶች ደግሞ ከ95 በመቶ በላይ እንደሚያበረክትም ገልጸዋል፡፡

ይሁን እንጅ ተገቢ ትኩረት እንዳልተሰጠው አስታውቀዋል፡፡

በአንጻሩ በትምህርት እና በእንስሳት ጤና ጥሩ ውጤት መገኘቱን ነው የገለጹት፡፡

የግብርና ሚኒስር ዲኤታው ዶክተር ማንደፍሮ ንጉሴ መንግስት አሳታፊ፣ አካታች እና ዘላቂነት ያለው ልማት በአርብቶ አደሩ አካባቢ ለማምጣት የፖሊሲ ለውጥ ማድረጉን አስታውቀዋል፡፡

ማህበረሰቡን ተጠቃሚ የሚያደርግ ልማት ይተገበራልም ነው ያሉት፡፡

የአርብቶ አደር አካባቢ በኢትዮጵያ 60 በመቶ የቆዳ ስፋት እንዲሁም እስከ 14 በመቶ የህዝብ ብዛት ቁጥርን ይሸፍናል ተብሏል፡፡

አርብቶ አደር በስድስት ክልሎች ማለትም አፋር፣ ሶማሌ፣ ኦሮሚያ፣ ጋምቤላ፣ ደቡብ እና ቤኒሻንጉል ክልሎች ይኖራል፡፡

በአላዛር ታደለ

ከፌስቡክ ገፃችን በተጨማሪ ወቅታዊ፣ ትኩስ እና የተሟሉ መረጃዎችን ለማግኘት፡-

የፋና ድረ ገጽ https://www.fanabc.com/ ይጎብኙ፤
ተንቀሳቃሽ ምስሎችን ለማግኘት የፋና ቴሌቪዥን የዩቲዩብ ቻናል https://www.youtube.com/c/fanabroadcastingcorporate/ ሰብስክራይብ ያድርጉ
ፈጣን መረጃዎችን ለማግኘት ትክክለኛውን የፋና ቴሌግራም ቻናል https://t.me/fanatelevision ይቀላቀሉ
ከዚህ በተጨማሪም በትዊተር ገጻችን https://twitter.com/fanatelevision ይወዳጁን
ዘወትር ከእኛ ጋር ስላሉ እናመሰግናለን!

Mickaël Bethe-Selassié, a painter and sculptor whose colorful portraits of whimsical statue-like sculptures in papier mâché brought him international renown, has died at the age of 69.

The artist has exposed his works in some prestigious museums at the group and solo shows in Paris, Amsterdam, Anvers, Barcelona, Berlin, Cologne, Geneva, London, Rio de Janeiro, Washington DC. He appeared on the covers of several fine art magazines and was invited to produce art for high-profile cover art for Peter Gabriel music. The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C. has acquired one of his sculptures for its permanent collection.

The late Mickaël’s sister, Yehulashet confirmed her brother’s death on Wednesday, saying he had been found dead at his apartment in Paris, a city where he spent most of his adult life. An acquaintance of the artist told Ethiopia Observer that the artist has not been ill but might have suffered a heart attack.

Read the profile of the artist here.

Given the activist’s revered status among many Oromo, the attempt to silence and defame him will surely backfire.

Since the popular uprising that swept across Oromia in 2015, Jawar Mohammed’s reputation grew tremendously, leading him to become arguably the most influential figure in Ethiopian politics. Today, Jawar is in prison, yet he has become a household name among both supporters and detractors.

Beyond the Oromo, he enjoys a wide audience among other historically marginalized nations such as Afar, Somali, Sidama, and Wolayta. Even his political antagonists, such as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), are said to be impressed, rather grudgingly of course, by his foresight and intellectual acuity.

On the other hand, Jawar is hated, even demonized, by a small but very vocal group (hereafter addressed as the ‘vocal minority’) that are politically and psychosocially linked to an Abyssinian heritage.

Historical background

To understand the roots of the seemingly irrational hostility Ethiopianists harbor towards Jawar, one needs to examine the psychosocial and economic impact of the Abyssinian southward expansion on the indigenous inhabitants.

Following Menelik II’s conquests, the army that settled in Oromo land kept the nation under siege. Divisive policies were crafted to keep the incorporated nations under control. The imperial powers expropriated Oromo and other incorporated peoples’ ancestral land and appropriated it to members of the invading army and the Orthodox church they had institutionalized in the occupied nations.

The peoples of incorporated nations were reduced to serfdom, denied the use, exercise, and development of their political, linguistic, cultural, and religious identities. On the contrary, the imperial rule instituted a largely Amhara culture, language, and religion in all of Ethiopia. Jeylan Wolyie Hussein articulates this phenomenon as follows:

 “Following Menelik II’s conquest of the Oromoland, the Oromo were forced to relinquish their land and to pay tribute to the conquerors. They were also made to relinquish their religious, cultural, linguistic, and political identities. The conquerors created hegemonic structures through which they would perpetuate their cultural, economic, and political domination.” (J.W. Hussein, p.34)

The children of the marginalized people were denied access to education as the schools were found only in garrison cities where the settlers were located and not in rural areas where the predominantly farming community of the occupied people resided. Moreover, even those near the schools were largely unable to benefit from the opportunity as fluency or at least a passing grade in the Amharic (the settlers’ language) was required for a child to move from lower grades to the next level. The few who broke the language barrier and managed to get into these government schools were conditioned to reject their own people, deny their identity, change their names, and assimilate through marriage.

In contrast,

[Afaan] Oromo was denied any official status and it was not permissible to publish, preach, teach, or broadcast in Oromo. In court or before an official an Oromo had to speak Amharic or use an interpreter. Even a case between Oromos, before an Oromo speaking magistrate, had to be heard in Amharic. I sat through a mission service at which the preacher and all the congregation were Oromo but at which the sermon as well as the service was given first in Amharic, which few of the congregation understood at all, and then translated into Oromo. The farce had to be played out in case a Judas informed and the district officer fined or imprisoned the preacher. (Baxter 1978, 288)

In sum, these divisive policies conferred on the vocal minority unprecedented opportunities to sustainably dominate the country’s bureaucracy, defense, politics, diplomacy, external relation, and wealth. On the contrary, the Oromo and other occupied peoples were relegated to serfdom, poverty, and second-class citizenry.

Over the last three decades, however, the multinational federation, though imperfectly implemented, has nonetheless gradually eroded the foothold that the vocal minority had in the cultural, educational, and linguistic arena. The formation of federal structures has allowed the historically marginalized nations to develop their culture and languages, though political and economic progress were muted since power, decision making, and resources effectively remained at the center.

Moreover, during these three decades, the vocal minority maintained its dominance over the bureaucracy, culture, language, diplomacy, and media outlets, which they disproportionately influence, to control narratives and disseminate bogus allegations that targeted individuals and groups advocating for self-rule and equality.

How a musician’s killing exposed the media in Ethiopia

By Getachew Tamiru

It is at this critical juncture, when the many opposition groups could not do much beyond reeling at its loss of political power, that Jawar appeared in the political arena. He infused vigor in the Oromo political discourse by providing fresh analyses, commentaries, and eloquent defense of the Oromo cause at a moment when the Oromo politics was disenfranchised. He helped to spearhead the Qeerroo protest,  studying and modeling it after Orange Revolutions.

Furthermore, he pioneered the establishment of the first successful private international Oromo media house, Oromia Media Network (OMN), that gave voice to the voiceless Oromo nation and the incorporated peoples in Ethiopia. Using OMN, social media, and the Qeerroo organization, he became instrumental in pushing the TPLF out of power and ushering the OPDO-led current government in Ethiopia to power in 2018.

Nevertheless, the vocal minority felt threatened by the influence Jawar and OMN are gaining in Oromia and other marginalized nations. Thus, it commenced its fight not to yield, and to a certain extent to restore, the undeserved dominance and privilege the north had been enjoying over their southern counterparts since the emergence of the modern Ethiopian state. The model of governance it desires to reinstate had been a vehicle for implementing its divisive policies. Thus, it demonizes prominent activists like Jawar who threatened to unravel its narrative.

Irrational hostility

Jawar’s first and foremost crime is thus, being borne an Oromo. The Oromo, in P.T. W. Baxter’s words, is “Ethiopia’s unacknowledged problem” since “the problem of the Oromo people has been a major and central one in the Ethiopian Empire ever since it was created by Minilik (sic).” The only Oromo the vocal minority seem willing to accept is what they sometimes call “a good Ethiopian”; that is, an assimilated Oromo that rejects his/her Oromo heritage and identity and embraces “Ethiopian identity”—a code word for Amhara identity. Jawar flunks the test of being “a good Ethiopian” precisely because he is proud of his heritage and knows that he cannot become a good “Ethiopian” before he becomes a good Oromo.

Another accusation often directed at Jawar shows the inherent bias the vocal minority harbors to cultural and religious constructs that supposedly threaten northern hegemony on religio-cultural values. Jawar is a product of a Muslim father and an Orthodox Christian mother. He received his primary education at a Roman Catholic school. He is married to a protestant Christian wife.

Regardless of his markedly heterogeneous religious background, which ought to have silenced accusations of religious extremism, and his life-long adherence to non-violence, he is intentionally falsely portrayed as a Muslim terrorist with the intention of gaining the sympathy of the Western Powers.

Jawar’s third crime is that he is a well-educated Oromo with degrees from the National University of Singapore, Stanford University, and Columbia University. Jawar’s academic integrity, is not well received by the vocal minority as it threatens to undo their long-standing propaganda to mischaracterize Oromo activism as archaic and uninformed. Moreover, his well-articulated arguments exposed subtle biases and marginalization engrained in the social, economic, cultural, and political fabric of imperial Ethiopia the vocal minority wants to resuscitate.

Jawar’s fourth crime is that he mounted an incredible challenge to the exclusive control enjoyed by the vocal minority over media and diplomatic relations for more than a century. Successive Ethiopian governments have been using the national media and diplomatic relations to frame internal conflicts and disseminate them for the consumption of both internal and external audiences.

Ethiopian prosecutors charge Jawar with training terror group in Egypt

By Ethiopia Insight

Employing “a systematic policy of ‘showcasing’” these governments have been presenting “carefully designed programs and policies which conform to all the formal characteristics necessary to win acceptance, favors, and a partnership with imperial powers but which are facades without  base or foundation within the empire.” By establishing OMN and using its platform to provide news, analyses, and counter-narratives, Jawar enabled Oromia and other marginalized nations to address their concerns and aspirations.

Jawar’s final crime is his political views, which succeeded in captivating the hearts and minds of the Oromo. Upon ascending to power, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed disbanded the Oromo Democratic Party—ODP (formerly Oromo People’s Democratic Organization), as well as the ruling umbrella organization the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and replaced it with a quasi-unitary party known as the Prosperity Party. The Oromo public, and even significant members of ODP (including Lemma Megersa – one of the main architects of the reform), rejected the new party on the grounds that ODP is being disbanded before having had the chance to answer fundamental Oromo questions.

In the process of exposing the new party’s desertion of Oromo causes, of which Jawar played a significant role, the Prime Minister lost ground in Oromia. This increasingly pitted Jawar against the incumbent and a fierce diplomatic struggle over the soul of Oromia ensued. And perceiving a shift of allegiance of the premier towards the Ethiopianist bloc, Jawar decided to abandon his previous position as an activist and joined the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). This brought about immediate impact in terms of soaring support for the party.

However, the overwhelming support Jawar and OFC succeeded in amassing was not received well by Prime Minister and his allies. The subsequent decision by the incumbent to incarcerate Jawar and other influential political leaders on bogus allegations can therefore be seen as an implicit admission of defeat.

Fallacious nostalgia

Jawar Mohammed is on trial based on trumped-up charges; not for any wrongs he supposedly committed—but for what he represents. This is largely true for most Oromo political prisoners including Abdi Ragassa, Bekele Gerba, Dejene Tafa, Gemechu Ayana, Hamza Borana, Lammi Begna, and tens of thousands of Oromo currently languishing in prison. A closer look at the diversity of their political affiliations, their religion, and their places of origin, reveal that they are persecuted not because of these factors but simply because of their fidelity to the Oromo cause. Thus, the war against Jawar and the thousands of Oromo political prisoners is in effect an extension of the war of conquest commenced with the southward expansion of Abyssinia by Menelik II.

Jawar embodies the ideas, values, politics, and a worldview that challenges the domination of the small but vocal minority. The group is mistaken for thinking it could get rid of him by imprisoning him using a “kangaroo court” approach, or through a state-sanctioned extra-judicial killing, and that in doing so it would be able to silence Oromo nationalism. The group fails to realize that the wheels of history only move forward. The old days when a minority maintains hegemony over the majority and keep the atrocities it commits in the dark are gone, never to return.

Irrational fears

But why do Ethiopianists consider the Oromo as a problem?

First, the Ethiopian empire and those who sympathize with it are afraid of the implications of the genuine implementation of majoritarian democracy. Having emerged from a social class that thrived on resources looted from incorporated regions, built its privileged status on the back of the vanquished, being indifferent to sociocultural facets that are demeaning to the Oromo and the other marginalized people it has dominated, the vocal minority seems to agonize over the possibility of losing all these undeserved privileges.

Second, the vocal minority accuses Jawar of inciting Oromo protestors to commit acts of violence. They cite the October 2019 violence that erupted in some parts of Oromia cities after Jawar reported that the government attempted to remove his security in the middle of the night, possibly to assassinate him.  No credible, independent party has substantiated the accusation by Jawar’s detractors.

In defense of Jawar, a brilliant and dedicated agent of change

By Ezekiel Gebissa

Human Rights Watch has called on the Ethiopian government to “support a credible, independent, and transparent investigation into the use of excessive force by security forces and by those responsible for communal attacks.” No such credible and independent investigation has emerged.  The vocal minority’s attempt to hold Jawar responsible for government and mob killings in which, in some instances, the alleged perpetrators were reportedly the victims is a typical example of their demonizing tactics.

Third, it seems the vocal minority is gripped with baseless fears of retribution by the Oromo and other peoples of the Greater South. The vocal minority is cognizant of the atrocities that were committed against the historically marginalized people. Imperial Ethiopia had indeed imprisoned, tortured, maimed, and killed students, professionals, and intellectuals for a century and a half. It has silenced voices like Jawar for far too long.

But fears of irrational retributions and categorical persecutions are largely unfounded. Evidence for this is that during the 2015-18 Oromo Protests Qeerroo and the Oromo public have demonstrated a disciplined, matured, goal-oriented struggle against tyranny while protecting members of other peoples who live in Oromia.

Solving the stalemate

The successive governments of imperial Ethiopia’s response to Oromo leaders’ demand for equality, justice, freedom, democracy, and the rule of the law has been to eliminate them. The killings of Oromo leaders are designed presumably to disenfranchise the Oromo people. Prominent Oromo leaders allegedly assassinated by successive Ethiopian regimes in what some see as state-sponsored terror include Lij Iyasu, Lt. Mamo Mezemir, General Tadesse Birru, Dr. Haile Fida, Rev. Gudina Tumsa, Artist Ebbisa Addunyaa, and Artist Haacaaluu Hundeessa.

Yet past killings have not produced the desired outcome of silencing the Oromo. An egg gets harder the more it is boiled. Likewise, the more people are oppressed, the more they resist.

Those who demonize people like Jawar should take note. Imprisonment, demonization, and assassinations do not solve political problems. On the contrary, they just make it harder to reach an amicable solution. Only one thing could take us all one step closer towards solving the current stalemate in Ethiopia, and that is conscientious and thoughtful efforts towards inclusive dialogue—with the participation of Jawar and all other prominent political prisoners.

Query or correction? Email us

Follow Ethiopia Insight

This is the author’s viewpoint. However, Ethiopia Insight will correct clear factual errors.

Acknowledgment: The author is grateful to Bahiru Dhuguma (Ph.D.) for reading the draft manuscript and for his valuable suggestions.

Editor’s note: On 9 January, the reference to assassinated Oromo leaders was amended to reflect the fact that the state’s responsibility for some of those killings listed is disputed.

Join our Telegram channel

Published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Cite Ethiopia Insight and link to this page if republished.

We need your support to analyze news from across Ethiopia

Please help fund Ethiopia Insight’s coverage