Ethiopia: MISTAKEN IDENTITY OF THE AMHARA PEOPLE AND THE QUEST FOR ORGANIZED RESISTANCE AGAINST TPLF ATROCITIES

By Abinet Hunegnaw

INTRODUCTION

To all readers, particularly for foreigners, please be advised that even as we speak, the present TPLF dominated regime in Ethiopia using its restrictive laws, the ATP or Anti terrorism proclamations of 2009 and the State of emergency of 2016, is committing untold persecution in the form of extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions in the Amhara state. The Amhara have officially begun a protracted armed struggle against the regime. Due to frequent restrictions in internet and mobile phone usage and limitations, clear cut information is not allowed to come out of Ethiopia. The international community is purposely kept in the dark and only gets the wrong propaganda sprayed by the regime’s and its satellites’ media. Some forces within the opposition on their part have begun a very negative propaganda war against Amharans who began an open defiance and resistance against oppression. The negative rhetoric of these forces and individuals indicate a clear cut sinister objective of seizing power at the expense of the innocent blood shed in Amhara. The continuing denial of Amhara resistance by them has reached an irresponsible stage. For these so called oppositions, the genocide of Amhara is nothing more than a collateral damage. This approach on the part of these power hungry diaspora based anti regime individuals and groups is an open declaration of war on the Amhara people. This is ABOMINATION.

Whether these groups and anti Amhara forces like it or not: The resistance and the quest for a viable Amhara organization

Tsegede, Humera, Armachiho & the Wegera district’s Janora & Anqashe localities. Now, Amhara resistance is wide spreading like wild fire all over Northern Gondar zone without any recognition, attention and coverage by international media. However, due to intense Amhara activism in Britain, ‘The Guardian’ on 12/22/2016 became the first world media to break the cycle of silence by writing an article entitled “Ethnic tensions in Gondar reflect the toxic nature of Ethiopian politics”. To Amhara resistance this is very encouraging. On page 24 of this article it reads:



“Shops and schools have reopened in Gondar, after the authorities reasserted control in urban areas by declaring a state of emergency on 8 October. But sporadic clashes with the military continue in the countryside.”

The total dismemberment of Amhara began with a bang when the TPLF took significant proportion of lands from Gondar and Wollo. Apart from territories that the Tigryan junta transferred as a handout to other regional states and Sudan, it created special zones like Awi, Wag, Argoba, Oromo, Kemant/Qimant, and in due course Lasta, Morret, etc. will follow suit with the right to secede, completing the process. Will Amhara survive such onslaught or not, therefore, depends on the success of an organized resistance and a positive response by all Amharas to a united front.

PART ONE

The writer informs readers that the article ”አስቸኩዋይ ጥሪ ለመላው አማራ ተወላጆች በሙሉ or “Emergency call to all Amharas” and Telahun Ashenafee’s ”አማራ ማነው or “Who is Amhara” are the basis for this paper.

AMHARA
There are a number of conflicting analysis and approaches in history and related literature about the definite background and identity of the Amhara. Most say Amharas are Semitic and give them a Semitic ethnic code. Some others describe them to have a Cushitic stock. In Ethiopia, the longstanding conventional wisdom and the available reading material without deeply researching & analysing historical evidence simply hooked itself with a controversial conclusion. Such mentality that explains the Amhara in terms of a Semitic base and a fake identity based on Yemeni immigrants who came and settled in the northern part of the country during the Sabean era is absolutely unacceptable.



However, serious archeological, anthropological, genealogical and related researches and studies no longer support the unscientific & myths like approach mentioned above and strongly advocate that the Amhara people are Cushitic and did not come from across the Gulf of Aden. The studies place ancient Amhara in the Tana Lake & Blue Nile river valley that includes Gojam and todays Wollega, the Merb and Tekezie rivers drainage zone that includes Setit Humera, Kasalla which is now in Sudan, Welkait, Tsegede, and Tselemt, around the Beshilo and Mile rivers basin and since time immemorial known as Amhara Saint, Angot, Bete Amhara, Lakomelza, Bete mariam etc. and as far as the Awash river basin that includes the whole of Shewa including Metehara, Awash National Park, the Kesem Bereha, etc. Therefore, all must understand that አማራ መጤ አይደለም! (Amhara by all means is not an immigrant!)



The ancient Greek maps of what is today’s Ethiopia clearly placed the Amhara just as described in this paragraph. (Refer to Tilahun’s “Who is Amhara” for the ancient Greek map). Most scholars who did deep study and research, refer to tangible evidence rather than fiction and agree that settlements around the Nile river banks began over 50000 years ago. According to T.A Neter Foundation publication based on the’ Hebrew Torah’ puts Ethiopia in a geographic context as follows:



“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads … and the name of the second river is Ghion: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.”



The publication deals with Ethiopia and Kush from 13000 BC up to 700 AD. Since time immemorial, Amhara people have been living in the Blue Nile river valley. Therefore, it is sufficient to conclude that the Amhara people need to be listed in the category of other local or indigenous groups identified as Cushitic.



*The writer knows very well this approach is highly controversial and will cause a barrage of negative comments. But let us expand what I outlined further in a scientific or empirical way rather than based upon repeatedly expressed and unconvincing conclusions of conventional wisdom and mythology forced upon us for several generations.*

Amhara peoples’ Cushitic lineage and as one of the ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia is also strengthened further by the living chronicles of the famous Ethiopian priest and Saint Abune

Teklehaymanot who lived between 1205 & 1304 AD. (Some historians put the time 1215 to 1313 AD) He traveled extensively from his base in Bulga Shewa to southern and northern Ethiopia spreading christianity and converted many followers. His works clearly indicates that:



”when Christians from Ancient Axum traveled south to the highlands, they found this non Christian people with a different tongue and religious beliefs from their own. This people in Amhara country (land), speak with a different tongue and prey before a Python to whom they offer a sacrifice at all times …”



Basil Davidson, the renown Historian in his ‘Africa Episode 1’ entitled ‘Different but Equal’ in 1984 provided a detailed analysis of ‘Nubia’s Cush civilisation’ showed an ancient stone statue of a python, and concluded by saying:



”…At Naga, the Python on the other hand was an inner African religious symbol regarded in many lands down to this day as a figure of spiritual power… ”



This detailed evidence strongly links ancient Amhara beliefs found in Gorgora and Hayek with the beliefs held by the Nubian Cush of that particular moment in history. One must ask why the ‘Python’ was a religious symbol at that time in Nubia and Amhara? Remember both Nubia and Amhara are mostly identified with the Nile river valley. The best possible answer therefore, should be that

Amharas humble past has a Cushitic beginning. The saintly testimony of Teklehaymanot shows that the Amhara existed with distinct culture and way of belief from the northerners. This also openly & strongly confirms that Amharas are not immigrants (አማራ መጤ አይደለም). Although, the Axumites are believed to be widely mixed with those Arabian settlers, there is a strong evidence that suggests the base of their ethnic stock was also Cushitic.



Without any doubt the Arabian migrants settled in areas north of all the known or historically accepted geographic areas of the Amhara peoples’ settlements recorded since time immemorial. These realities disqualify the assumption and the conventional wisdom that the Amharas descended from across the Red sea as migrants and they are Semitic. According to a “History World” publication titled “History of Ethiopia” by Gascoign, Bamber at www.historyworld.net pp.1-2



“The north is the area where the first rulers establish themselves, arriving from across the red sea. Comprising at times both Eritrea and Tigre, this province contains Aksum …’’



It is said that the Axumites introduced Christianity to the Amhara, but mind you their contact with the Amhara took place hundreds of years after their northern territory was settled by the Arabian migrants who then mixed with the indigenous population. Therefore, the Amharas in the south, unlike Axumites did not come directly into contact with those migrants from Arabia. This evidence strengthens the Cushitic beginnings of the Amhara. There are groups both in religious as well as intellectual circles who claim that the Amhara people and Amharic were playing a dominant role in Axum. But they need to support the claim, analysis and conclusion with science and tangible evidence. Because, the time when Christianity was introduced and declared as the official religion in Axum and then spread southwards to Amhara are believed have taken place at different moments. According to Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History of October 2002 by Emma George Ross:



“The adoption of Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the fourth century reign of the Axumite emperor Ezana …”



Some historians hold the view that Christianity was introduced in the ancient city, when

emperor Bazin (Bazen) ruled Axum in the first century AD. Brendan Pringle’s article of December 19, 2015,“Ethiopia: The First Christian Nation?” mentioned:



“Before the Ethiopian king Ezana (whose kingdom was then called Aksum) embraced Christianity for himself and decreed it for his kingdom (c.330AD), his nation had already constituted a large number of Christians…”



For centuries, before Axumite marched south to Amhara and long before Christianity was spread & introduced, researchers found relics of similarly made stone artifacts upon which sacrifices were used to be made and offered to Pythons in a Gondar cave near Gorgora by lake Tana, and on the shore of lake Hayk in Wollo, that is, one in the east and the other in the west of proper Amhara. The clear structural striking resemblance of these archeological findings by researchers is a proof that the Amhara had developed their own way of organized communal living and characteristics before Christianity. As to when Christianity and the Amhara were introduced, since the idea of this paper is all about the Amhara Resistance, this article’s writer prefers for the moment, to abide by the information that is provided by the chronicles of Abune TekleHaymanot.



Over time, the changes in religion, exposure to the northerners, the various wars fought for survival as well as trade, Amharas got mixed with different ethnic groups of the country, and today the Amhara show evidence of traces of Hamitic and Semitic genes alongside their Cushitic base like most ethnic groups. Except very few Omotic and Nilo-Saharan groups neither the Tigryans, Oromos,

Gurages, Agews, Sidama, Yem, nor Hadiya, Kembatta etc. can boast of purity as only Cushitic or Semitic. When it comes to the real science of genealogy, all of them are mixed stocks. For example: It is said most of the Oromos in Shewa have a strong Amhara blood in their genes and vice versa, despite OLF’s denial of historical facts. (There are credible evidences that the people of West, East and North

Shewa in today’s Oromia are in fact Amharas assimilated by the Oromo)



As to the Axumites, the present regime of TPLF officially claim it was a civilization of only the Tigrians and not the rest of Ethiopia, since the history of Ethiopia began with Emperor Menilik a little over 100 years ago. Numerous interviews given by senior leaders of this party, at different times till today defend their position openly without hesitation. EBC (Ethiopian TV) documentaries, articles on regime controlled newspapers like ‘The Ethiopian Herald’, the Amharic daily ‘Addis Zemen’, ‘The Reporter’, Fana Broadcast, Walta Information etc. and their archives are available for reference.

According to Durame’s ‘Top 10 infamous Meles Zenawi Quotes’, (www.durame.com/2012/06), in a 1993 interview with the reporter, and in 1997 in a discussion with Donald Levine the former TPLF leader and Prime Minister said:


”Ethiopia is only 100 years old. Those who claims otherwise are indulging themselves in fairy tales.” 2. ”The Tigreans had Axum, but what could that mean to the Gurague? The Agew had Lalibella, but what could that mean to the Oromo? The Gonderes had castles, but what could that mean to the wolaita?”



However, up to now not even single historic evidence is found linking the Axumite civilization only with the Tigryans as Meles claimed. No script in Tigrygna, the language of the Tigryans, was found in Axum’s obelisks and related relics. The Axumites at first used Sabean as a means of communication and most of what anyone can see from the structural remains are Sabean symbols and inscriptions. After they converted to Christianity, Geeze as an official language replaced Sabean. The Axumites, furthemore, with the advance of their fame and power, widely mixed with various ethnic groups of northern Ethiopia, like the Beja, the Beniamer, the Saho, Afar, other Agews, Tigre, Tigryan, Amhara, and even Nubians of Meroe, etc. and became a fused Ethiopian stock. As a result’ their history was and is Ethiopian as opposed to the unscientific propaganda of the TPLF.



An article on Ancient Origins, on 27 September, 2016, entitled ‘ Axum: Legendary Kingdom of Ancient Ethiopia ‘ stated clearly that:



”At its height, Axum controlled modern-day ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Western Yemen, Southern SaudiArabia, and parts of Somalia. Although largely forgotten today, references to Ethiopians can be seen in such seminal works as the Bible, the Qur’an, the Iliad, and the Devine Comedy.

Such wide acclaim reflects the power and influence once held by the powerful Axumite Empire.”




AMHARIC



The Amharic language, in accordance with the publication of “The National African Language Resource Center” of the University of Wisconsin- Madison, is much older than anyone thought, i.e.,



“The origins of the Amharic language are traced back to the 1st millennium BC.”



This shows that Amharic was a spoken language way before Geez was introduced to the highlands by the Christian monks & priests of the north in the sixth century AD. Just like the Amhara people, their language is described to have a Semitic beginning. Considering the Amhara to have a Cushitic base before mixing with various groups and over time became fused with Hamitic, Semitic and Cushitic stock, so is Amharic a manifestation of crisscrossing of different Semitic, and Cushitic languages that gives it a unique accent and expression with a touch of simplicity to communicate which got it to where it is today. Even the conventional wisdom that attaches Semitic identity to Amharic or its proponents so far failed to reach a common theory about the language’s origin. For example, according to Girma Awigchew Demeke’s ‘The Origin of Amharic’ that appeared on ‘Lincom Studies in AfroAsiatic Linguistics’, vol.28, 29, pp.356, 2009:



”There are basically two hypotheses on the origin of Amharic: it may be a descendent of a common Proto EthioSemitic language or it may have evolved as a Semitic-based pidgin, which became a creole and eventually developed into a full-fledged language.”



Step by step Amharic as the local means of communication began to adopt words and styles first from the various Agew dialects. This is so factual since the two population groups, i.e., the Amharas and Agews lived together in the same geographic locations for many thousands of years with intense inter marriage and cultural mix. For example when the Agew people ruled Ethiopia for about three centuries, i.e., 300 years, the Agew kings promoted and transformed Amharic into the language of their courts or administration. (Some Ethiopian elites claim Amharic was used as a means of communication by the kings military).



During the Zagwe era, Geez continued to be used widely especially by the Orthodox Church. The prominent role given to Amharic by the Zagwe leadership and by adopting countless words and style from Geeze, Amharic grew with an alphabet and numeric characters of its own that gave it an edge over others. After the Oromo expansion and migration to Amhara territories in the 2nd half of the 16th century, the Amharic language managed to blend with Oromo words enriching itself further. Apart from the above mentioned influences with some Hebrew touch, Amharic succeeded in becoming the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia. A CCTV article of 2014 explains Amharic as follows:



”Amharic which is the official language of Ethiopia has more than three thousand years of history. It is arguably the only African language which has its own letters and features. Although Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups and hundreds of different languages,

Amharic is still the most accepted and used language in the country’s history.”




FALSE CHRISTIAN ONLY IDENTITY



Another long standing myth that is widely mentioned is the mistaken Christian only identity that other Ethiopians and all foreigners stress when talking about Amharas. In reality, there are millions of Muslim Amharas in the four provinces of Gondar, Gojam, Wollo and Shewa. The Amhara Muslim community is believed to be more than thirteen hundred years old and share the same social values with the Amhara Orthodox community. Both the Christian and Muslim Amhara communities have been and are equally exposed to both domestic and external threats, massacres and related atrocities throughout their history. Both groups, i.e, Amhara Christians and Muslims without a doubt have the same psychological makeup and identity.

The two groups do not negotiate with anyone about the unity of Ethiopia and their flag, Green, Yellow, and Red emblem, that the former Prime Minister shamefully called ”It is just a piece of cloth”. This statement is well documented by the Ethiopian TV (EBC) and in the minds of each and every

Ethiopian. Another separatist by the name Lencho Letta of OLF, commented disrespectfully against the National flag in a public meeting in Stockholm, organized by ‘Ethiopian national Movement’ in December 2016. He said:



”… as to the flag after the fall of the TPLF government, a new legal document or constitution reflecting the wish of all the people will decide. Why are you scared about the idea of changing the Bandira(flag)? Oh! Is it an Arabic word? Yes! But whether you like it or not the OLF flag will not be changed. It is and continues to be the symbol of the Oromo people, because they shed their blood for it.”



Ethiopians from all walks of life died for their flag and continue to do so. History recoded all the sacrifices they paid holding their Emblem (flag) high for freedom, independence, sovereignty, glory and unity. The victory of the battle of Adwa in 1896 against Italian colonialism, which is highly regarded all over Africa and beyond, is the best example that no one can deny. During this monumental battle all ethnic groups were represented Oromos included under the leadership of Emperor Menilik. In fact the top Generals like Balcha Abanefso, Fitawrari Habtegiorgis (Menilik’s defence minister), etc. were Oromos. If the flag was not the peoples’ emblem Ethiopians could have suffered as slaves of a colonial master for a long time and lost their pride. I don’t think Lencho understands or cares about this historic fact.



Just to show that Muslim Amharas are equally exposed to persecution like the Christians, when the OLF and OPDO/TPLF tortured, brutally killed and forcibly evicted Amharas in mostly Muslim areas of Arsi, Bale and Jimma, Asossa and others, the Oromo butchers did not differentiate between the two groups at all. They simply massacred both Christian and Muslim alike showing their hatred of Amharas has/ knows no religious boundaries. This is ultimate hate and not hearsay that all Oromo politicians that work alongside the TPLF FASCIST regime and Oromo separatists share in common and preach to their constituencies the hate and anti Amhara rhetoric 24/7. Amhara resistance must therefore, incorporate both Christian and Muslim Amharas in order to expand and succeed. I raised this issue because most civic and political Amhara groups seems to rely mostly on Christian Amharas and need to work very hard to attract our Muslim brothers and sisters to enrich the struggle.



Forces of all kinds, that strongly challenge the Amhara from organizing have continued to cause havoc and mayhem using ‘money’ to buy undecided Amhara’s support to further destabilize the whole struggle of the Amhara resistance from gaining momentum. They also concentrate their propaganda work using a false premise, that if the Amhara achieve a strong political stance in the form of a party, the unity of Ethiopia is doomed. So, they are using this scare tactic and rumor mongering to disenfranchise the Amhara by instigating division between the two religious groups and achieve their goal of seizing power. But this is not going to happen. The Christian and Muslim Amhara have built a longstanding bond of brotherhood to the envy of their enemies. The writer also believes that these forces might come up with a bogus ‘Amhara organization’ to confuse the people. This as well is not going to be a surprise to the majority of Amharas.




MISCONCEPTION OF AMHARA DOMINATION



In addition to the above, there is an established misleading rhetoric or conception that the Amhara dominated and ruled over the rest of Ethiopia for many generations. (Most ethnocentric groups like the TPLF, OLF, others including Eritrea’s EPLF reduce Ethiopia’s over 3000 years of history to only a little over 100 years and claim that the Ethiopian state was established in 1889 by the Shewan Amhara kings in particular when emperor Menelik came to the throne). But in fact it was during Emperor AmdeTsione’s rule between 1314 and 1344 the Ethiopian state was shaped to look like the map that we all know before 1993 came about. (Before Eritrea became separated)



In the late 16th century and early 17th century, an orthodox priest Abba Bahrey who wrote about the carnage caused by the Oromo warriors expansion and invasion, was serving the Ethiopian King of the time, although he lived in southern Ethiopia. This means the king in the north was ruling southern Ethiopia. I can go on with countless facts to dispute the separatists’ artificial claims, but this is enough for now.



Most foreigners who are brain washed by colonial powers, as well as the above mentioned separatist elements’ elites’ artificially created and poisoned interpretations of history and relentless propaganda, underline the lie and myth of Amhara domination & control over the rest of the people whenever they write about Ethiopia. Attaching the Solomonic dynasty and the Ethiopian kings only with the concept of ‘Amhara domination’ is an absurd and ridiculous fiction with no intellectual and rational merit whatsoever.



At different times, Ethiopia was ruled by the Agew, Felasha, Hadiya, Tigre, Adal (Issa), Oromo,

Amhara etc. kings, queens, and war lords. For example, the Zagwe kings, Queen Yodit (Gudit), Queen Eleni, Emperor Yohannes, even Ahmed Gragne himself who is not widely considered to have such a title, and many others. Facts on the ground however, speak otherwise. Almost all emperors who are mentioned and associated with the Amhara by such forces however, have a well-established multi ethnic background. A good example is that Emperor Menelik who is widely targeted by the various separatist elements and foreign writers is half Oromo and most of his loyal officials were not Amharas but Oromos. Emperor Menilik and his administration were mostly dominated by the Oromo elites of that particular period. Therefore, even by Menilik’s standards, Amhara domination was not there. ‘Amhara domination’ is nothing more than a distorted myth that continues to be loudly mentioned all over without being challenged about its authenticity. In this regard, the truth must come out. Therefore, I urge all Amhara and foreign intellectuals to conduct a research on this particular subject in order to expose the fiction and misleading picture created by TPLF, OLF, EPLF, and some brain washed foreigners who are somewhat forced to skip the facts for reasons not clear to explain.



After the fall of the Zagwe dynasty that left us the renown famous rock hewn churches of Lalibela, Yukuno Amlak who replaced the last Zagwe king is believed to be the first Amhara to climb to power. In real terms, his ascendancy to the throne as emperor by claiming that he descended from the Solomonic dynasty of the Axum line of kings makes it open for further study about his precise background.



Emperor Yukuno Amlak and the other monarchs that followed up to 1974 did not rule Ethiopia in the name of the Amhara people or give a priority to the Amhara in terms of political power, infrastructure & economic development and other related favors. This is not an empty rhetoric but an undeniable historical, physical and material fact that is visible on the ground. Following the official myth, infrastructures like paved roads, healthcare centers, schools, and safe drinking water facilities, etc. could have been available in the lands of the Amhara, but this is not the case. The standard of living of the Amhara stands at the bottom compared to any other ethnic group in Ethiopia. For more information refer to publications of the Ethiopian central statistics office that clearly support this argument. Even Aljazeera network in its documentary about the issue of Trachoma in the Amhara region openly commented that: “The Amhara region is the poorest in Africa.” (I quoted Aljazeera in my 2014 article published on ECADF).



Therefore, claims of Amhara Hegemony and Domination propagated and contemplated by the TPLF, OLF, EPLF etc. are pure fiction. The never ending fiction of Amhara domination is clearly stated by quoting Christopher Clapham who intelligently & convincingly explains in the book ‘The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism, The Nation State at Bay’ edited by Crawford Young as follows:



”… the Ethiopian central government far from being the Amhara preserve, as the mythology of the opposition movements claims, readily provides positions of power for Oromos, Gurages, Aderes, Wolayittas, or Kambattas…. Some non Amharas rose to positions of prominence and power both before and after the revolution of 1974… Therefore, the system is not ethnically exclusive and considers the cries of the opposition that they have been dominated by the Amhara to be just a stick with which to beat the regime.”




ATROCITIES AGAINST AMHARA FROM 10th to 21st CENTURY GENERAL DESCRIPTION



The history of the Amhara is characterized by invasions and worst destructions committed against its population from the north, east, west and south by forces that usurped Amhara’s ancestral lands & assimilated the vanquished Amhara at different moments. There are many examples; the carnage of Queen Yodit (Gudit) left a lasting & prominent scar inside Amhara. She burnt and destroyed monasteries and any structure standing on her way with rage. If it wasn’t for her cruel tenth century genocide and destructions, those old relics could have been testimonies to the humble Amhara and their civilization.

In the 16th century the Adal war lord popularly known as Ahmed Grange, with Ottoman Turks

push and support carried out jihadist invasions and destroyed whatever was left of the Christian Amhara after the destruction of Yodit’s atrocities. Grange Ahmed’s Islamist war against Amhara left feudal lords and kings of that moment weak and defenseless. (I mentioned about this in a number of my articles). As a result, the various Oromo Lubas carried out successive moves into Amhara lands. The relentless, opportunistic and ”predatory” acts of invasions during the second half of the 16th and 17th centuries by the Oromo resulted in their forced settlements on traditional and historic Amhara territories. The Oromo invasions left hundreds of thousands of Amhara people killed & the rest in particular child bearing Amhara women and small children mostly girls were assimilated. The boys just like grown men were mutilated massacred and their organs were severed and taken as trophies. The Amhara people lost thousands of young and adult men whose male organs were cut or mutilated.



Nowadays in the country, Oromo elders or Gedas as they are called openly wear on their foreheads a replica of a male reproductive organ during traditional or cultural ceremonies, proving beyond reasonable doubt that Oromos never gave up their obsession of displaying in public a mutilated male organ as a trophy of victory. But OLF by twisting evidence that any Ethiopian or foreigner can see, wrongfully level Amharas as the mutilators instead. This is more than fiction and every Amhara must officially expose the atrocities the Oromo invaders carried out against the male population of

Shewa & Bete Amhara, etc. There is a saying in Amharic, ‘ጅራፍ ራሱ ገርፎ ራሱ ይጮሀል‘ i.e, ‘A whip makes a jittery cry after flogging ‘. In other words ‘The victimizer is accusing the victim’. This is what Oromo activists are doing in their relentless false propaganda.



For a detailed and precise nature of Oromos predatory invasions and atrocities of the above mentioned era, read the eye witness accounts of Abba Bahrey’s ‘Zenahu Le Galla’ that narrates in detail the Oromo invasion originally written in Geeze script during the end of the 16th century. The late professor Alem Eshete translated this monumental work into the Amharic language. Other Ethiopian and foreign elites as well translated it into various languages and it is available in most libraries around the world.



Amhara also lost huge territory now occupied by Oromo settlers and OLF has made plans to officially invade and territorially expand at the expense of the rest of Shewa and Wollo, Gojam and even Gondar just like the Tigryans have done in north Gondar and Wollo when they seized power in 1991. OLF plans to incorporate Metekel (Metekel is part of Gojam, Amhara) and give Gondar’s land bordering the Sudan to Benishangul. In fact, both OLF and TPLF have the same agenda in dismantling and wiping out Amhara from world geography. Simply by referring to their dream maps of these fascists, anyone can see their devastating future plans for Amhara.



Enough is enough! No more silence! The Amharas therefore, without hesitation need to hurry and set up a defensive mechanism before it is too late to save themselves. Every able-bodied Amhara from now on must openly expose the various anti-Amhara dogmatic ideologies, propaganda and their destructive goals by fighting them to the end. Amharas must teach their children about all this, instead of sticking to the old attitude and passive silence that time & again continue to bring one cruel misery after another! Amharas must unconditionally adopt the new and active philosophy of pro-Amhara resistance mentality.



This approach should be nonnegotiable. Amhara political activists, civic and pseudo-political organizations must start openly talking about the lost Amhara territories which are now settled by the Oromos and Tigres and challenge OLF and TPLF about the myth & fiction they created about ‘Oromia’ and so-called greater Tigray, with tangible facts and figures of history, etc. Amharas must remove and trash the mask that covers their entire self-consciousness and absolutely stop being diplomatic for the sake of their very survival. In order to refresh the need for attitude change of every Amhara, the writer of this article presents quotations from ‘Treasures in the Family Tree: Some Notes in Ethnic Interactions in Ethiopian History’ by Alessandro Triulzi a scholar who produced a number of works about the Oromo.



“The vast plateau of Shoa in the center of the present Oromia region contained many Amharic speakers. This used to be the center of the Shoan Amhara kings (not talking about highland Bulga, Menz and Minjar). Debre Libanos- the most important monastery in Ethiopia, and the location where Gran burned 400 monks is located here. Clearly many Amhara were assimilated into the Oromo ethnic group here… Who were the original inhabitants of Wellega prior to the Oromo conquest? Some people note the remains of a 15th century palace attributed to Zera Yakob (Jibat Forest), and refer to maps showing the historical region of Damot used to be located here.”



Those Amharas of different denominations who are against the need for an Amhara to organize and defend itself, please refer to the OLF map that proves the hateful, predatory, genocidal and expansionist agenda that the Oromo ultra-nationalists adopted at the expense of the Amhara just like their forefathers of the 16th century.



From the west, in the 19th century, the Mahdi or the Dervish of the Sudan repeatedly invaded and destroyed various villages in Gondar. If not for such invasions, Gondar could have been one of the very few well preserved and spectacular castle towns in the world. Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia during the Second World War was another devastating incident that engulfed the Amhara with a cruel torching fire. Although, the Italians return during the Second World War was to colonize the country, their sinister and ruthless military actions brought about the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Amhara victims and the total destruction of Shewa (a historic Amhara province). This proved Italy’s hatred of the Amhara. They brought horror to avenge their defeat in the late 1890’s by the famous emperor Menilik at the battle of Adwa. Italy like present day enemies of the Amhara blindly associated the role of the heroic emperor Menilik only with the Amhara people despite his Oromo and Amhara background which they knew very well. But make no mistake: All Amhara people and Ethiopians are proud of Emperor Menelik and his legacy, except all separatist groups that are planning to dismember the country.



The Italians, who lost the 1896 war at Adwa, returned after 40 years under Duce Mussolini’s fascist leadership and invaded Ethiopia in 1935 to avenge their loss and satisfy their long dream of colonizing the country. As a result the Italians massacred numerous Amharas by using heavy fire power, executed thousands by hanging, using the outlawed Napalm bomb, also burnt and destroyed all palaces and monasteries built by the people and emperors of Shewan Amhara in Ankober, Angolela, Menz, Tegulet etc. during the 5 years of terror they imposed upon the Amhara. The scars of Italian destruction are still visible today on the ground in the above mentioned areas of Shewa.



Between 1974 and 1991, the military regime carried out surgical and targeted executions in all

Amhara provinces. At the beginning when it declared its ‘Land to the tiller’ proclamation, prominent Amharas who were blacklisted as feudal lords were one by one extrajudicial executed all over Ethiopia. In the former Harerghe province, the military officials forcefully disarmed Amharas by accusing them of chauvinism and branding them as ‘Neftegnas’ and used the local militia that it formulated and armed to kill them in cold blood. Amhara students identified with the opposition groups of that moment were mercilessly eliminated during the famous RED TERROR campaign. Thousands of mothers and wives who lost their children and husbands are still broken with sorrow and have not yet recovered. Today everywhere you go in Ethiopia, mostly in Gondar and Shewa the loss of loved ones and the deep grief of their families still reverberate around.




TPLF HATRED OF AMHARA



Now the most concealed and systematic terror and genocide condoned and sanctioned by a domestic born regime against the Amhara is in full swing since 1991 unabated. The past 25 years transformed Ethiopia in a tumultuous and complicated way into a living hell for each and every Amhara. The TPLF junta of Ethiopia has identified the Amhara as the number one enemy of the Tigryan people that must be dealt with harshly until it gets into the status of a dissipated, broken and weak, minority that won’t recover to pose any challenge to a future independent greater Tigryan state.



This very genocidal hatred against the Amhara is officially stated by the TPLF manifesto of 1978. Since that moment on, the Woyane Tigryan ethno centric junta opened an all-out war against the history, culture, tradition, language, political and economic wellbeing and the very existence of the Amhara people. These facts alone make the quest for Amhara resistance and the need for organization an unavoidable necessity for the very survival of the Amhara.



TPLF’s official hatred to the Amhara began way before Tigryan activists were in their earlier stages of beginning an armed struggle. This fact is well explained by one of those activists who at one

time was TPLF’s chief financial officer and now lives in Australia as a refugee by the name Gebremedhin Araya. He said on 12/31/2011 during an interview on ESAT:



”… ትግራይ ነፃ አገር የነበረች ሉዓላዊነትዋ ተከብራ በነፃ ትኖር የነበረች አገር በአፄ ሚኒሊክ ተወራ የአማራው ቅኝ አገዛዝ ሆነች። ትግራይ የአማራ ቅኝ ግዛት ነች። ፓምፍሌቱም አለ እዚህ በደንብ አድርጎ ሊያስረዳን ይችላል። ይሄ የወያኔ ማኒፌስቶ ነው። ዋናው ሕገ ደንብ ነው… ስለዚህ ትግራይ ከአማራው ቅኝ ገዢ እጅ አስወጥተን የትግራይን ዲሞክራቲክ ሪፓብሊክ መንግስት መመስረት አለብን የሚል ነው (ሁለተኛ) ። ሶስተኛ አማራ የሚባል የትግራይ ሕዝብ ጠላት ነው። ጠላት ብቻ ሳይሆን የትግራይ ሕዝብ ጠላት ጠላት ነው። ስለዚህ አማራን መምታት ፤ ማጥፋት ፤ አለብን። አማራ ካልጠፋ ፤ አማራ ካልተደበደበ ከዚህ መሬት ካልተነቀለ ትግራይ በነፃ ልትኖር አትችልም። ለምንፈጥረውም መንግስት እንቅፋት የሚሆንብን አማራ ነው የሚል ነበር።”



The close English translation of the above is as follows:



”… Tigray was a sovereign and independent country. After Emperor Menelik’s invasion, Tigray became an Amhara colony. I have with me a TPLF pamphlet that clearly explains the Amhara hatred. This is the main principle of the Woyane(TPLF) manifesto which says, therefore, we must free Tigray from Amhara colonialism and establish the Government of an independent Tigray Democratic Republic. Amhara is the enemy of the people of Tigray. Amhara is Tigray’s enemies’ enemy. Therefore, we must hit Amhara hard and destroy it. If Amhara is not hit hard, eliminated and uprooted, Tigray will not (cannot) exist as an independent entity. Amhara is an impediment of the Government that we envisage to establish.”



When the Woyane (TPLF) set up a transitional government in 1991 and later catapulted to head an ethnic based federal arrangement, the only people not represented in the conference were the Amhara. The former leader of the Woyane and prime minister of Ethiopia said during an ETV (EBC) interview: “No one came to us and requested to participate in the conference as a representative of the Amhara.” But in reality, the same person and his political organization TPLF managed to pick antiAmhara individuals from most of Ethiopia’s ethnic groups and let them form ethnocentric parties as its allies to represent the interests of their respective constituencies during the meeting that resulted in the creation of the present Apartheid like regional states.



Between 1991 and 1995 the TPLF junta ruled the country as head of the transitional regime with a martial law called the TRANSITIONAL CHARTER that curtailed human and democratic rights in favor of Tigryan domination. By applying the charter, hundreds of thousands of Amhara became targets and were politically purged from the civil service and the military. Thousands or even millions of these Amharas and their families were forced to be destitute and homeless. Others were arbitrarily arrested and killed after being severely tortured. Between the establishment of the transitional government and the declaration of a federal state in 1995 the TPLF leadership practically applied its MANIFESTO. TPLF architects proudly mention this particular time of cleansing the civil and military services from Amharas as a very critical political measure in terms of consolidating power for Tigryan hegemony.



After the fall of the military government, the Amhara were not allowed to take part in the 1991 meeting of the rest of Ethiopia’s ethnic groups that resulted in a transitional government. The unrepresented Amhara people lost huge territories to Tigray in the north, to the newly set up Beni Shangul state in the west, to the Oromia region in the south and to Afar in the east. ANDM/TPLF that is imposed upon the Amharas by the Tigryan junta was EPDM whose leadership and members were and are mostly Tigryans, Oromos and from other ethnic groups. ANDM has neither an Amhara affiliation nor interest what so ever. It is a kind of colonial administration that is imposed upon the Amhara by force.



The predominantly Amhara lands like the fertile districts of Humera, Welkait, Tsegede, Tselemt, Ofla, Inda mahony, Raya and Alamata were forcibly annexed by Tigray and the TPLF authorities. Following which they settled more than six hundred thousand Tigryans from its arid lands to the fertile lands of Amhara by forcibly uprooting and evicting the indigenous Amharas. The regime, in order to destroy the will of the Amhara people, ordered its plant (ANDM/TPLF) and the other politically powerless regional states leaderships of the so called federation to cleanse their respective states from all Amhara settlers or wipe out Amharas from their midst by all means available. (In all of my Amharic and English articles I exposed this crime).




AMHARA GENOCIDE



As a result it is now an accepted fact that about 5 million Amharas were killed during the twenty five years in the country since the present regime came to the center of power. These Amhara killings are no doubt clearly tantamount to GENOCIDE. A number of publications in the form of books are now emerging revealing the quietly taken and hidden crimes committed against the Amhara by the ruling junta and its satellites with evidence, eg. ምፅዓተ ዐማራ ‘Amhara Genocide’ & የጥፋት ዘመን ‘The Era of Destruction’.



I highly recommend to foreigners and Ethiopians alike to read these informative books to have an understanding of the horrific crimes against humanity that continue to take place in Ethiopia against the Amhara people. I also strongly urge the 2 authors, Moresh Wegenie Amhara Organization and journalist Muluken Tesfaw to make available an easy-to-read summarized format in English in order for the international community to have a firsthand information on the subject of this very smartly camouflaged terrible genocide in Ethiopia carried out against the Amhara by the Tigryans and other ethnocentric groups. All Amhara activists must contact the UN, EU, and the US, and all other influential governments that blindly support the TPLF regime by introducing and presenting these books. The genocide against the Amhara people needs to come to the attention of the world, without which it will be an uphill and arduous battle for the Amhara to avert the devilish situation alone.



Foreign governments, international organizations and media give great attention and wide coverage to the Oromo, Gambella, and the Ogaden. Has any Amhara asked why the suffering of the Amhara is not taken into account? It is very clear that less attention is given to the plight of the Amhara by the majority of Amhara intellectuals who are watching the genocide by sitting on side lines. But now the young Amharas have openly become strong activists and started to be more practical in their resolve in openly publicizing and talking about Amhara genocide in social media. The uprising of the Welkaite Amhara identity issue as well as the revolts that followed in Gondar and Gojam, etc. is now international public news. Amhara activists must capitalize on this golden and wide open opportunity to further their diplomatic work in order to expose and begin the process of holding the TPLF and OLF cadres legally responsible for the genocide against the Amhara.




ETHNIC CLEANSING OF THE AMHARA BY OLF AND OPDO (Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Org.)



All Oromo nationalist groups and their vocal activists in common spread relentlessly an all-out propaganda war against the history, culture, language and psychological makeup of the Amhara people. The above mentioned organizations openly committed and continue to carry out ethnic cleansing in the form of forced evictions, forced robbery of properties, and massacres against the Amhara who lived and are living for thousands of years in today’s TPLF created Oromia regional state since 1991. The OLF was a TPLF partner between 1991 and early 1993 in the Transitional government holding four ministerial posts and with a share of large number of ambassadorial positions Diplomatic missions abroad. Before the TPLF created OPDO became visibly favorable to the Tigryan junta, OLF enjoyed political, security and economic administration as leader of Oromo state. This short lived advantage was due to OLF’s close ties with the EPLF of Eritrea and TPLF during the war with Dergue or the military regime. Still the headquarter of this group is in Asmara, capital of Eritrea.



In its 1993 World Report, Human Rights Watch, on page 8 of ‘ Africa Watch ‘ section printed the following:



” In December 1991, OLF cadres instigated repeated attacks on Amhara settlers. Villages were burned and civilians were killed. One hundred fifty-four Christians mainly Amhara, were killed in Arba Gugu, and a further 46 were murdered in a neighboring area of Harerghe. In July and August 1992, another round of attacks were launched, allegedly at the instigation of a senior OPDO cadre. Harrerghe province in the east of the country was the site of other fierce clashes. At Bedeno in mid-April, 150 civilians were reported killed, many of them by being forced to jump of cliffs. Most of those killed were ethnic Amhara. A commission of inquiry into the incident established by the Council of Representatives, the Ethiopians parliament, put the blame squarely on the OLF. While admitting that its supporters were responsible for the massacre, the OLF denied institutional responsibility.”



On different forums that the OLF itself organized in Europe and North America over the years, during a number of interviews the OLF leaders in charge of their organization’s conduct as a key member of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia, and even today some of those well-known OLF leaders who joined Ginbot 7’s coalition still defy public opinion and reject involvement in the killings and atrocities and deny any fact finding mission took place about the Human Rights Watch reported ethnic cleansing of the Amhara. For example, Dima Negeo, former minister of information during the Transitional period and ex OLF leader in order to hide the facts and clear himself from any future legal responsibility, lied and blamed OPDO for the crimes and denied also that any inquiry took place, during an interview with ESAT. The full interview is uploaded on YouTube by ‘Bete Mera’ on September 20, 2011. During this interview Dima said:



“The OLF choose 4 ministerial posts, i.e. agriculture, education, trade and information with the purpose of directly reaching our people and explain our position …”



This self-admission clearly indicate that Dima used the media under his command to instigate hatred that resulted in the various hate crimes that took place in the Oromo dominated Arsi, southern Showa, Welega, provinces as well as Jimma, Asossa etc.

Dima Negeo, as information minister of the transitional government was the chief architect of the vicious anti Amhara propaganda that was launched by the Ethiopian TV and Radio, as well as the English daily Ethiopian Herald, the Amharic daily Addis Zemen and the Oromo language newspapers

Berissa. At that time the National Radio service which was transmitting programs in the Afar and Somali languages were used to spread hate against the Amhara. On the contrary Dima’s controlled media not even once mentioned about the atrocities committed against the Amhara during news hours or documentary features and articles between 1991 and 1992.



Another OLF former leader Lencho Letta who like Dima joined the above mentioned coalition, in a December 2016 fund raising held in Stockholm, sitting next to Berhanu Nega leader of Ginbot7 without mentioning Amhara victims, and by referring to the words ‘other people’ openly and with no regrets said:



” When the incident took place in Arba Gugu, OLF was not present in the Arba Gugu area, the Oromo group working with the present regime was in charge. For more than 20 years this allegation continues accusing the OLF. Although, presently, I cannot speak on its behalf, since I was a senior leader at that time, I know that OLF was not responsible. Say an inquiry needs to be held, who is going to be in it? How is it going to be conducted? Do we know that the killings even took place at all? ”



This criminal OLF founding member and former leader is in self-denial. Such inhuman cruelty took place when he was in charge of all the OLF delegation that worked side by side with the TPLF at that particular time. He lacks the credibility and moral value to challenge the conclusion of the inquiry and the report of Human Rights Watch mentioned above.



Between 1991 and 1993 alone hundreds of thousands of Amharas were evicted, massacred and their personal belongings were confiscated throughout the Oromo region by OLF and OPDO anti Amhara pressures. In all the incidents, despite the legal obligation of the regime to protect its citizens from such open atrocities, the TPLF has done nothing either to stop the killings and evictions, but also did not hold responsible the perpetrators. As I mentioned repeatedly in this paper, the Tigryan junta was and is behind the ethnic cleansing based on its political directives that officially singled out the Amhara as the enemy of the aspirations of the Tigray pepole.



At the time of the transitional period, the late professor Asrat woldeyes, leader of the now defunct AAPO (All Amhara Pepole’s Organization) attempted to defend Amharas exposed to the unfortunate situation, by seeking legal protection from the regime without success. The frustration of the organization is well explained in its official letter’s plea written to the council of representatives of the Transitional Government on June 8, 1992. It reads:



‘‘ While the Amhara pepole … who work and live peacefully in all the regions of Ethiopia, are not represented in the council, there can hardly be any argument that all as well as the groups represented have a legal and moral obligation the human rights of all groups. The All-Amhara Pepole’s Organization, true to this spirit, had in its letter dated Tir 30 1984 (January 8, 1992), brought to the attention of His Excellency Ato Meles Zenawi, the atrocities committed, and being committed against the Amhara residents of Arba Gugu Awraja (Arsi province) Rather than taking steps to bring to a halt these mass killings, the Government’s response has been to disarm the Amharas. This is not surprising as the atrocities and killings are being led by representatives of the Transitional Government itself. These government officials have prevented the Amharas from fleeing the areas where they are being persecuted; they have had their dwellings encircled, and after boasting ‘that the bones and blood of the Amhara will fertilize the soil’, have drawn up programs for daily massacres. As a result the Amhara people, including children pregnant women, and the elderly, are being slaughtered daily. Individuals who have managed to escape from these heinous crimes have come to our offices to appeal for help. They have confirmed to us that the killings have taken a grim intensity since Gnbot 26, 1984 (June,4, 1992 ), with the bodies of the dead being thrown into gorges or burnt in their dwellings.”



For the villages, areas and the time of such horrific genocide that took place at that particular moment and still being carried out in the Oromo region refer to the 1993 Human Rights watch Report, AAPO’s documents dated June 8,1992 and September, 17, 1992, the two books mentioned in this article ,i.e. ምፅዓተ አማራ ‘ Amhara Genocide ‘ and የጥፋት ዘመን ‘ The Era of Destruction’. The 2 books also displayed in detail other well documented ethnic cleansing of the Amhara that were and are taking place in Guraferda, Benishangul, Gambela, Welkait, etc.between 1992 and 2016. In short, this evidence is a wakeup call, a warning and an echo of the genocide victims and a very convincing reason whyAmharas need to be alert by organizing and defending themselves no matter what from an OLF future genocide looming over every Amhara becomes a reality. There is a saying that all Amharas must keep in their hearts, i.e. ” If you full me once, it’s on you. If you full me twice it’s on me.”

CENSUS 2007



The former director of the Central Statistics Office admitted before members of the TPLF/EPRDF controlled puppet parliament in 2007 that the national census was off by 2.5 million people, and she said, (this is public record & can be found from the 2007 census report)



“I think the shortage or discrepancy is associated with the Amhara population count that failed to meet the projected goal of 19.5 million by 2.5 million less population figures…”



Such an admission by an Oromo senior member of the regime, who now represents the TPLF/ EPRDF as its ambassador to Senegal, is an indication of a systematic policy in action to contain and reduce the Amhara population from growth. The 2007 census of Ethiopia according to its 117 pages report, the total coast of the project was close to seventy four million American dollars. All this money is wasted on a false conclusion that the TPLF Fascists statistic bureau released in the end. Regarding the shortage of Amhara state’s projected population count, the report in black and white acknowledged that:

“CSA’s experts working with national and international consultants … looked into the possible reasons for the difference between the counted and projected population figures of the Amhara region… the conclusion reached was that there was no need for re-enumeration and adjustment of the results of the 2007 census of the Amhara region.” (CSA in the quotation refers to Central Statistics Agency)



The TPLF regime didn’t even bother to reexamine the fallacies of the census. This shows that Amharas were and are victims of official ethnic cleansing carried out by authorities of the federal government and officials of regional states. So far no western country that claim to be champion of democracy and human rights officially exposed the genocide. Sadly, they also continue to funnel financial, military and diplomatic assistance to the criminal TPLF regime of Ethiopia.

With regard official TPLF policy to misrepresent the 2007 population census and target the

Amhara as the only community in Ethiopia that recorded the lowest birth rate and highest death rate, Berhanu Abegaz professor of Economics at College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, wrote an article entitled ‘ Ethiopia: Three million Amara missing?: An Analysis based on the 1994 and the 2007 Ethiopian Population Censuses’, Nazreth.com, March 24, 2015:



” Deliberate miscounting and undercounting: the various manifestos of the ruling Tigray Pepole’s Liberation Movement (TPLF) are full of strident attacks on the Amaras…. The Amara have been singled out for collective punishment in myriad forms including lackluster Federal budgetray allocations for basic public services for basic public services ( such as roads, education and health )… Tens of thousands of Amara, historically dispersed in all administrative regions of Ethiopia have been subjected to unprovoked violence, mass murder, dispossession, daily intimidation, and ethnic cleansing, from districts where they lived for generations. It is therefore, entirely probable that a deliberate policy of census undercounting has been deployed as an effective tool for shortchanging the Amara in the current system of Federal revenue sharing which is based on population size and need.”

Ethiopia: Where do we go from here?

NARIOBI (HAN) April 7. 2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. By Teshome Abebe (PhD) The following text of the speech was presented at Vision Ethiopia Conference on March 27, 2016. Because of time limitations, some paragraphs may not have been presented. I attended the conference as an academic only representing myself, and not as a member of a political party or any other group. As a result, the views expressed are mine alone. No financial support was requested or received from any individual or group, and my assignment was to respond to the following questions:
Quo Vadis? Where Do We Go From Here? Who Should Do What to Guarantee Democracy, Transition, and Unity in Post Conflict Ethiopia?

1. Background

Where We Have Been

There is no need to dwell too long on this part of my presentations, as all of you know so well where we have been over the past many decades. Suffice it to state that part of the failures in our past have to do with the excessive need to maintain and exercise power by the Atse Haile Selassie regime as well as by the Derg. In both cases, we have witnessed that they stayed in power too long; refused to listen to the citizenry; and never prepared the country for a peaceful transition of power in any meaningful manner. The result has been very familiar: assume power by force; get chased out of office by force. The price the nation has had to pay for this state of affairs or dysfunction has been enormous. We have lost too many and too much both in lives and treasury; we have lost enormously in opportunity cost; and for all intents and purposes, the nation is still backward: we still can’t feed ourselves; and we have taught the young an incredibly bad lesson: that disordered force is the norm in Ethiopia. In my opinion, this is a truly sad state of affairs. On this, I am certain that there is general agreement on all sides.

B) Where We Are Now

As I leave where we have been and transition to where we are now, I am afraid that I don’t have too many things that are encouraging either. Talking about where we are now requires one to take a sort of a survey – kind of a meta-study of the events and then conditions in which we find our country today. Let me first state that when we talk about the conditions in our homeland, we are not waging a vendetta or a personal campaign against anyone; rather it is simply an examination of the unflattering facts.

Though you are all students of Ethiopian affairs, let me try to summarize the situation in the following manner. This summary is based on the review of the literature of important studies; a thorough reading of the opinions and positions of people in academics, the professions, and most of all, of people in government; and a personal assessment of events and conditions on the ground in Ethiopia.

The African Development Bank, in a report on economic outlook in Ethiopia, recently stated that, “Ethnic Federalism has heightened and transformed historical territorial conflicts into contemporary inter-regional boundary conflicts. Inter-clan conflicts have begun to inform perceived or real disenfranchisement and inequitable distributions of economic and/or political benefits. Radicalism has also underlain sporadic religious clashes.”

Where we are today, can charitably be described as, what Thomas Hobbes referred to as “the chaos of competing enemies”. This chaos of the competing enemies afflicting the country is a classic strategy manufactured to sow conflict. When resources are short (the resource here could also be power), people divide, scapegoating one another. What ensues is the turning of one region against another; one culture against another; older people against younger ones; one political party against the others; leaders against members; and one idea against another. Hobbes called this the pre-social pre-political world. For the ruling party, chaos has become power, and an opportunity to remake the world in their preferred configuration.

The ethnic stratification we witness in Ethiopia today, is the result of several factors: the introduction and implementation of the Killil system (a hammer blow to Ethiopian unity) the appearance or perceived appearance of ethnocentrism; the competition along ethnic lines for some common goal, such as power or influence, or a material interest, such as wealth or territory; and the emergence of deferential power. (See Donald Noel). To make matters worse, there is evidence that the competition is driven by self-interest and hostility, and would result in inevitable further stratification and conflict. (See Lawrence Bobo & Vincent Hutchings). These conditions, interwoven with what I will call the policy of ambitious domination, have the potential to produce ethno-national conflict.

Where We Have Consensus

Asserting that we have a general agreement on some things is a dangerous proposition among any group much less among Ethiopians who are very passionate about politics, and even more passionate about their country. Over the past quarter of century, we have debated as well as grieved. People are sad about what has happened in Ethiopia, and they have talked and written about all kinds of topics. I have to admit that this ‘grieving’ process continues even today.

I can safely state, however, that there is an amicable consensus on a number of fronts among the commenting class, and those who are engaged with the issue. The debates we have had over the past 25 years—and they were intensive debates–have rendered some arguments moot, and yielded consensus on others. What are the areas in which we have general consensus?

There is general consensus that we wish to see a Democratic Ethiopia. We have experimented enough with other forms of government, and that the future for Ethiopia must clearly, unambiguously and unalterably be Democratic. An Ethiopia in which democratic institutions thrive; an Ethiopia whose leaders have an unflinching commitment to democratic values; and a country whose leaders have purged themselves of all forms of non-democratic impulses. Of this much, we agree.

There is consensus that we wish to see a united Ethiopia. By this we also mean one country, one people, with differentiated cultures but a common root. Diversity with a common root!

There is consensus that we wish to have an Ethiopia whose sovereignty is not questioned (not left to interpretations): not questioned by outsiders; and certainly not questioned by its children.

There is consensus that we wish to have an Ethiopia whose integrity is not violated. By this, we mean that the assurance of sovereignty is necessary but not sufficient: it must also be respected.

There is consensus that we wish to see a developed Ethiopia. What we wish to have is an Ethiopia that is socially, economically, technologically and scientifically developed.

There is no consensus on the issue of how to deal with the ruling party—the TPLF/EPRDF. I hold the very controversial view that when it comes to engaging the government; we might do better to focus on replacing, reforming, influencing and/or humanizing the TPLF/EPRDF rather than its complete eradication as some would wish to have it. The realistic choice that I think we face isn’t really a choice between an Ethiopia without TPLF/EPRDF and an Ethiopia with only TPLF/EPRDF. The realistic choice we face is between an Ethiopia where Democratic values, buttressed with democratic institutions, are supreme; where human rights are respected and upheld; and where the development process is all-inclusive versus an Ethiopia where these are lacking. Given that choice, the former sounds more appealing to me regardless of who rules the country. This, I believe, is an expansionist (as opposed to a reductionist) view that is not only proper, but also consistent with the principles of inclusion as well as that of true democracy.

Furthermore, I hold the view that the more serious and long-term threats to Ethiopia are not the TPLF/EPRDF or nationalist forces by themselves. Rather it is the coalescing threat on the horizon, that which might emerge from the Arab World. The petro dollar enabled alliance between Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti is likely to become an existential threat, with religion as the driving force, but the desire to weaken Ethiopia as the primary thrust.

III. What is Lacking Or What Must Be Done?

For a variety of reasons, Ethiopians have lacked unity in their responses to the ruling party’s policy of ambitious domination. This has been true of all segments of society. We espouse too many divisions; too many plans; too many groups; too much duplication of effort; and too many personal agendas. It seems to be natural to us, that in an instant, we fall back on an almost tribal urge to defend our side. And as you know, sometimes, one choice precludes another. As a consequence, we are ineffective in our efforts even if we were to come together temporarily. It seems to me that what it is called for here is the Latin imploration ‘in things important, unity’. Remember our own adage ‘Dirr Biabir, Anbesa Yasir’. Yet, it seems that when it comes to meaningful action, the adage gets thrown out the window. There are economic and non-economic explanations for that state of affairs. But regardless of the explanations, what is undeniably true is that we remain intangible to those in power if we are not united. We remain intangible to those that might wish to assist us if we are not united; and we remain intangible to those that wish to dominate us if we are not united. The first duty we should have to each other on the matter of the motherland is unity! Unity based on ‘citizenship’ or some other super-ordinate goal.

The second thing we must have is reconciliation. One might ask, who is to be reconciled and with whom? Well, there is plenty of reconciliation that must take place before we unite for a purpose. To be sure, reconciliation is not just about receiving or just about corrective action. It is about the future. It is a means of addressing how we are going to live together; it is a means of taking constructive action; it is a means of sorting through choices; and it is a means through which we take responsibility for past mistakes, and pledge to never ever repeat the offense again.

As such, we should have true and genuine reconciliation between political parties. This requires that the transgressions, real or imagined, of the past must be buried for good, and new efforts must be made to start anew. And I am happy to report that there are groups gearing up and ready to assist with this.

We need reconciliation between the governed and the governing. This is so because the ruling party has so much to explain.

Reconciliation between the government and the opposition parties is also critical if the country is to deploy all available talent to overcome the multitude of challenges.

Reconciliation between Ethiopians and their history is another must. Though this requires time as well as patience, there is a general feeling that many in Ethiopia and some outside of it are revising the country’s history to fit current needs. It may be possible to embellish history, but unnatural to edit it without molesting the truth. As a consequence, our historians have their work cut out for them in this regard.

We also need reconciliation on the issue of ‘ethnic federalism’. There are essentially two recognized methods of dealing with this important issue.

The first method is for the government not to acknowledge ethnic, national or social identities but rather instead enforce political and legal equality of all individuals. (See Jurgen Habermas & Bruce Barry).

It appears to me that this might be unworkable at the moment. For one thing, the current generation and the one just before it primarily see themselves as belonging to an ethnic group first, and the prominence of ‘citizenship’ is not as strong as we might wish to see it. I have to concede here that while I can only judge my contemporaries, I can only make educated guesses about those before or after me.

Second, ethnic groups in general, and ethnic cultures in Ethiopia in particular, have moved up and down the ethnic ‘diacritic’ overtime. And which ‘diacritic’ of ethnicity is salient depends on whether people are scaling ethnic boundaries up or down, and whether they are scaling them up or down depends generally on the political situation. (See Ronald Cohen & Joan Vincent). Furthermore, ethnicity emerges when it is relevant as a means of furthering emergent collective interests and changes according to political changes in the society. (See Barth & Seidner for more on this). Unless the political system changes, people will cling to what appears to them to be safe, comfortable, or even expected.

The second method is for the government to recognize ethnic identities and develop a process through which the particular needs of ethnic groups can be accommodated within the boundaries and/or sovereignty of the country. ( See Charles Taylor & Will Kymlicka). The Ethiopian government attempted to do the later but with provisions that have had disastrous consequences. These two points of view must be reconciled, and, I believe it is possible to do so.

The third thing that must be done is to provide a unified response to the three questions of: Land Ownership; Religion; and Ethnic Federalism.

Before the TPLF ascended to power and thereafter, it identified these three factors as wounds of the Ethiopian polity, and decided to turn them into weapons. Initially, the three issues resonated with the general population that had already been emotionally decimated by the Derg. While there will be disagreements on the efficacy, policy wise, of the particular factor, it is safe to say that the ruling party has used these three factors as a wedge issue between and among the populous. It is also safe to state that the initial euphoria generated among the population may have started to ebb as the public began to weigh and assess the benefits and costs associated with the particular issue. I am going out on a limb and suggest that the Ethiopian people have not embraced the ‘ethnic’ issue in a way that could make the ruling party claim success. In fact the opposite might just be true as Ethiopians began to view the ‘ethnicity’ issues as very divisive and threatening national unity and security. Indeed, an honest and correct assessment of the issue, notwithstanding what the high priests of ‘ethnic federation’ might think, would lead us to conclude that the ‘ethnic cleansing’ that took place in parts of the country had repulsed Ethiopians and offended their senses.

In all cases, however, there have not yet been clearly articulated positions or alternatives provided by either opposition political parties or academe to the vexing issues of land ownership (as you know, ownership is the prerogative to control); the role of religion, if any; and viable alternatives to ethnic federalism acceptable to all.

The fourth thing that must be done is an identification of a new form of ambition. Simply stated, we need to formulate a new agenda, if you will. The ruling party had promised Ethiopians the freedom from hunger. That concept has sold well overseas where outsiders, having tired of watching little hungry kids on their television sets, had given the government the benefit of doubt. Now that we know the result of that promise, I will refrain from restating it here again. But I think that Ethiopians—both inside and outside of the country—wish to articulate a new form of freedom: the freedom not to have to consider ethnicity in their daily lives. Simply stated, we need to have a new ambition. Because all ambitions require forward thrust, perhaps, this will provide the forward momentum that we desperately lacked.

Finally, we must establish a post-conflict organization to instigate economic, political, social, technological as well as scientific reform, and to make sure that the gains achieved are maintained and advanced; to advance a genuine inclusion agenda that incorporates actors from all stakeholders, and assure that there is no backsliding; and to sustain a conflict containment agenda that is proactive to make sure that the economic costs of violence are contained and managed.

How Would We Accomplish These?

In two recent articles, I have argued that we must have conversation. The conversation we are going to have should be about the solutions to the problems the country faces, and would include conversations about politics, power, authoritarianism and hegemony. If we agree that it is time for solutions, we must also agree that such solutions must be based on a transparent and realistic account of what caused the problems in the first place. Here, I don’t mean to overburden our conversations with a chronology of what took place and when because that won’t help explain it. What we need to do is examine the motivation for the actions taken, and on what basis those actions were taken. In trying to do so, all sides must understand that while the regime in Ethiopia faces considerable opposition, it also enjoys internal support. Most importantly, the government also has powerful allies, notably the U.S and the U.K. just to mention two.

Having framed the issue in this manner, a message has to be framed and delivered, and that message has to be effective. For a message to be effective, first, it must come from a unified group—a united opposition (just remember that no one in their right mind would wish to bargain with an intangible entity that can not deliver); and second, it must reach and influence those in control—whether they are elected officials, dictators, regulators, or private actors. That means, therefore, the communication would ultimately have to be with the ruling party. This is crucial. Take for instance women’s issues: to bring about change regarding women’s issues, it is not enough to talk to women alone. The conversation has to include men as well. Similarly, if we wish to bring about change in power and hegemony, the conversation would have to be with those that wield it. Peaceful change will only take place in Ethiopia with the positive involvement of the ruling party.

So what will we be the modality of the conversation with the ruling party? The Constitution, of course. I have written before that if there is ever anything we ought to talk about, it is the constitution. Why the constitution? Because, like it or not, accept it or not, the current government of Ethiopia is a ‘lawful’ regime and not an ‘unlawful’ one. It may be unlawful in many of its governing practices, but is recognized as a lawful regime by every country in the world. Hence, the focus on the constitution. It should be the center of our effort, the focus of our energies, and the roadmap to any peaceful change that is likely to bring about solutions to the problems Ethiopia faces to day. I have never advocated throwing away the current constitution in its entirety. I hold the opinion that the current constitution is one of the most liberally worded constitutions out there—it even allows for ethnic groups to cede from the motherland! How more liberal can you get? But like everything else, the devil is in the details. While there are elements of the document that might be useful to retain, there are also elements of the document that could produce disastrous consequences, and are damaging to the country.

Although not directly echoing my call for a constitutional reform, even the Chair of the Constitutional Assembly, Negaso Gidada, has given recent testimony that the drafting, approval and implementation of the constitution was fraught with many errors and problems, and expressed regret at the end product. Of the stunning admissions is his regret that the people of Ethiopia had no say in the final document. (See Teshome Abebe; & Negaso Gidada Interview).

Concluding Remarks

Let me summarize these comments as follows: Our country is distressed, and it needs our attention. Each person has an opportunity to contribute their talents and unleash some of their potential (ሀብት ያለው በሀብቱ፣ ጉልበት ያለው በጉልበቱ፣ እወቅት ያለው በእውቀቱ).

The ruling party borrowed strength from the position it held; and from the emotions created by using ethnicity, the issue of land ownership and religion as weapons. We now know the consequences of this ploy. But like all borrowed assets, borrowed strength eventually diminishes as one loses influence with those that they wish to impress, and the strength turns into weakness. It is at this juncture that we must ask, “what does the situation demand? What strength, what skill, what knowledge, and what attitude?”

To me, the situation demands that there must be unity: unity in goals, unity in purpose, unity in effort, and unity in principles.

The situation demands the strength of empathy: empathy to seek to understand, and then to be understood.

The situation demands the skills to build relationships and build them with consistency and sincerity, based on national imperatives and not personal agendas.

The situation further demands the knowledge to be able to teach, to explain, to organize and to execute.

And finally, the situation demands an attitude of reconciliation, inclusiveness, democratic values, and of a new ambition to a new kind of freedom for Ethiopians: the freedom not to have to consider ethnicity in their daily lives! Thank you

The solutions for Ethiopians are Ethiopians, Unified or die together

The TPLF government (following the footsteps of its late prime minster) want us to believe that the Meles Zenawi was a progressive and intelligent person that created a new Ethiopia. The most shameless claim Zenawi is the father of Ethiopian democracy.

I totally disagree with these assertions. Firstly, while Zenawi was not an ignorant, he’s ability to maintain control was not because of his intelligence, but merely because he was very good at wagging his tail around western leadership.

Zenwai was willing to do anything to get their approval and in particular brought nothing to the table, he was simply acted based of his millions of dollars’ worth of advisers from western countries, doing as they told him. Those advisers had no understanding of Ethiopian culture, traditions and mind set, similar to previous communist regime that forced communist theory on the shoulder of Ethiopians, which ultimately Ethiopians refused to swallow.

Furthermore, he paid millions dollars for lobbyists to advance his interests, and all other well western educated Ethiopian’s intellectuals are not trust worthy for him. Ethiopians have no confidence in his ability to execute anything that the Ethiopian people support.

If you go to any developing or developed Asian countries, most of their development policies embrace their cultural heritage, and many utilize their unique cultures in various industries as a driver of the economic growth in order to sustain long term development. But in Ethiopia, the TPLF is destroying the Ethiopian culture and instead helping the Arab, Indians, Turks and Chinese millionaires cultivate Ethiopian land for their own profits. They have marginalized and forced out native people from their lands, which they have lived for generations, and at their expenses, foreign millionaires are making millions dollars. As far as I am concerned that is not development, this is simply selling out. And Meles Zenwai is a sellout.

And see the Oakland institute web click here

The Ethiopian government is waging war against all Ethiopians, and in the last few years, has killed many Oromos for demanding for their basic democratic rights. In Gamebellas, Southern Ethiopia and Ogeden, Amahras have also been killed for demanding rights. In response to their deaths has been incomprehensible silence by the western media, who have not even asked a single question about these killings.

Recently All western medias talk about in regards to Ethiopia is its starvation, yet they never criticize the source of this problem, the Ethiopian government itself.

Amazing Journalist like Stephen John Sackur of BBC in his last stand off with the late Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawai confronted him, that never happen again. I could not even find the interview online again.

The EPRDF control every piece of land in Ethiopia, which they treat as their personal properties, and yet still they want to show off their muscle and have kicked out some of the non-Tigranyas from their lands in particular in northern Ethiopia, and they kicked out Amharas, and they are force them to be Tigrays. This is unheard of in the 21st century and yet the western governments are watching allowing uncivilized idiots to continue to push down the Ethiopian people.

And I am not sure why the western governments are waiting for. When will they tell the Ethiopian government enough is enough? I hope they are not waiting till Ethiopia to be like Syria?

Government has the duty and responsibility to put an end to hate propaganda and violence

By Fesseha Akalu

What started as citizens’ opposition to a city expansion plan is clearly degenerating into something else. And this is because the usual suspects who see an opportunity in every public discontent to promote their own political and religious agenda are doing their utmost to hijack a genuine and legitimate public concern into a cause célèbre for violent revolution. This is not new, and shouldn’t of course come as a surprise as the country has been on that road before. Yet, what’s unusual and baffling is the fact that the government is showing extreme restraint (in politically correct term) or looking the other way when political adversaries are openly encouraging hysteria, feeding paranoia and promoting violence. Ethiopians are used to these types of propaganda coming from anti-peace forces overseas. What makes the new phenomenon alarming, however, is the fact that it’s happening from within the country, thus raising the “Where is the government?” question. On that note, to my knowledge, the one of the main emerging agents of hate propaganda and promoters of violence is a “journalist” by the name Anania Sorri who, among other things, is on record for:

a. Defaming public figures, and making death threats against them. He so far has named Ato
Abay Tsehaye, Ato Getachew Reda and Wro. Mimi Sebhatu as targets.
b. Inciting political unrest, lawlessness in the country by advising citizens to arm themselves up
or an inevitable showdown with the government.
c. Trying to create ethnic conflict with such inflammatory statements that one ethnic based regional political party has declared a “Holocaust/Genocide” against another.
d. Declaring war on one particular ethnic group.
e. Calling on the army to turn its guns on the government, etc.

So, when the issue is this serious and there happens to be damning evidence to bring people like
Anania Sorri to justice, why are government officials and security forces not taking action? Only they can answer that, but one can make an informed speculation.

1. Government officials and those in charge of the country’s security may look down on the likes of
Anania Sorri as immature political lightweights, and thereby underestimate their impact. However, this would be wrong not only because death threats and inciting hate/political unrest are serious offences, but also because there are innocent young minds that could easily be influenced by the propaganda, and ultimately rise to action at the expense of endangering their own lives as well as that of the public.
2. After attracting negative publicity on the national and international stage following the arrest of political activists, journalists and bloggers, the government could be shying away from making new arrests. If so, this would be wrong too. After all, it is one thing to show restraint when it comes to minor offences, but quite another when law and order, ethnic relations as well as citizens’ and public safety are openly threatened and clearly put in danger.
3. There could be a desire or an attempt to appease the opposition in the hope of bridging gaps and resolving conflict amicably. While this, in principle, is the right thing to do, history shows that hatred and violence can never be appeased. Rather, they need to be dealt with as quickly and fiercely as possible before they spread like wildfire paving the way for lawlessness and anarchy.

To sum up, as government has the duty and responsibility to protect its citizens by keeping law and order, a quick action needs to be taken against those who are making death threats, spreading hatred, promoting violence against people and preaching ethnic Armageddo

ETHIOPIA: A PLACE WHERE NAMES SHOULDN’T COUNT FOR MUCH

By Teshome Abebe*


I begin this essay by paying tribute to the men who perished in the hands of the cowardly, ignorant, despicable, and abhorrent criminals who murder men and women and enslave children for political gain in search of power. Though their aim was, in part, to provoke inter and intra-religious antagonism and conflict in Ethiopia, they must have discovered, to their surprise, that in matters of peace and war, Ethiopians do not have a history of begging for mercy. In the spirit of the age-old Ethiopian tradition, the young men who perished never begged for mercy knowing fully that those who plead for it never get it.

Emperors Libene Dingel and Gelawdewos never begged for mercy when Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, (‘Ahmed Gragne’) and his cousin Nur Ibn Miyahid, took turns horrifying the land; Tewodros never begged for mercy in the face of a superior invading foreign force; Yohannes never begged for mercy—instead he presented his neck; Abuna Petros never begged the Fascists of Italy for mercy—he died willingly. The countless ‘arbegnotch’ and scholars whose heads were chopped off by the Italians never begged for mercy—they knew they would be remembered as heroes by the future sons and daughters of Ethiopia.

A man alone is an easy prey even for a hyena, and the men who perished didn’t die rich. But they died stubbornly, committed to their individual faith, and whether we agree with their faiths or not, we admire their resolve and acceptance of their fate. We only wish that the Ethiopian government will do everything in its power to determine who was behind the dastardly criminal act so that we will be able to figure out and understand the real force or forces that perceived a license to spill the blood of its citizens.

Now, to my intended essay. In this essay, I wish to argue that acknowledging one’s errors is never a sign of weakness. Instead, it can be a sign of confidence and the acquisition of new knowledge—i.e. learning. I believe it must have been one of the former presidents of the United States who once said that there could be no effort without error or shortcomings! This is true for every undertaking, and it certainly is true of politics in general. Furthermore, we can safely state that there can be no single authority in a multidimensional world. And there can be no single arbitrating authority in a world with a multitude of issues and multiple identities. Whenever there is some sort of authority, it is usually authority based upon the largest audience or followership. Even a dictator’s authority is divisible in that he or she has to at least have the concurrence or acquiescence of some.

Over the past several years, there have been numerous individuals who have argued as well as counseled that the Ethiopian economy needed to be diversified, and that the private sector needed to be opened up to those with investment potential and capabilities regardless of their domicile. Without ignoring completely the government’s arguments that the infant industry at home needed some protection as well as the compelling argument that there are activities where the private sector would not willingly make investments, like road building, bridges, and other essential infrastructure of the ‘public good’ nature, some adjustment of current policy is essential. It is in this sense that I welcome the news that the government is planning to make changes or a course correction in at least some sectors. For example, it is now common knowledge that the government is going to open up the housing sector for foreign investments, and to make 2.3 million hectares of land available for investors. In addition, even the most strident supporters of the government are raising serious questions about the government’s inability to remain impartial in the market place, and for its perceived inability to curb rent-seeking activities including in the more high-profile cases in the country. This should be viewed as a welcome development, and here are some of the reasons why.

The first of these is the government’s optimistic and erroneous assumption earlier on that the local entrepreneurs have the expertise and capital, and thereby the ability, to satisfy demand. To the surprise of the government, it has now discovered that there is no talent that outsiders possess—including the Diaspora-- which the country cannot now use. In addition, and the second reason, it appears that the government has learned that sometimes it lacks knowledge rather than skills; at other times it lacks skills rather than knowledge to solve problems.

The practical consequence of this condition is that the resolutions for the many problems the government has faced have either been arbitrary or politically inspired and/or dogmatic. This in turn has denied it the ability as well as the flexibility to find irrefutable solutions to current problems. Therefore, overtime, the problems have become dilemmas to which practical solutions have not been considered or available. I am not suggesting that the problems are easy or simple to manage. What I am suggesting is that because the problems are so intractable, ideology and politics should never be allowed to exclude consideration and adoption of potential solutions.

In that sense, let me address the new elephant in the room, as an example. Regardless of what the government and its supporters have to say, in my opinion, the feature of a huge country like Ethiopia with multiple identities, and where people are divided along instrumentalized killil lines based on instrumentalized ethnicity and to the possible detrimental effects on the free and unencumbered movement of skilled labor, capital and entrepreneurial expertise, will always have an instrumentalized shortage of one thing or another.

Add to this the other old elephant in the room—the lack of meaningful, determined initiatives at population control where the norm today is for inflated families that cannot be fed adequately, the impact of geography on absolute poverty will be further accentuated rather than being minimized. If this persists, the current condition of ‘leading’ and ‘lagging’ regions or killils will be the norm—a situation that is contrary to the notion of equal development.

I am in agreement with the government’s conclusions that political stability along with macroeconomic stability is key to economic development. Yet, the concept of instrumentalized killils is contrary to the forces of globalization, which are irreversible. Instead of forging a new enlightened path to more integration where regions are subject to a common freedom of resource exploitation without exercising national sovereignty, the government had in effect decreed that certain things are not object of private rights, and others are insusceptible to being influenced by the natural forces of outside influences. In this sense, the practical effect of the killils is that Oromia, for example, has to rely on its own labor force for economic development, as do Amhara, Tigrai or any of the other killils. The observable result is, for example, not much else is being developed outside of Adama and Addis Ababa in Oromia where the federal government has not taken interest. Stretches of communities from Messela, Tullo, Burka, Deder, Kobo, Kersa, Bedeno, Gara Muleta, and many, many other communities are in some ways worse of today than they were decades ago.

By similar illustration, one can find examples of communities in the other killils through out the country where the regional governments have simply not been able to develop on their own. The inherently unsustainable doctrine of self-sufficiency originating with the creation of the instrumentalized killil system is partly to blame. Just as a country that can draw on the world’s population for its development is far better off than the one that is closed (think of the USA here), a region (killil) is better off when it can rely on the labor force, resources and skills of other regions (killils).

It is admirable that the government talks about national collective unity, and indeed, has made this one of its pillars of economic development and progress but in a perverse way. I assert here that the government can achieve national collective unity by other means as well. A good place to start would be to begin giving people good choices that are meaningful. Economic development, in part, is about giving people good choices.

A third reason for the perceived change of course, I believe, is the government’s realization that it can not continue to be the single largest employer of the labor force in the country. The generation of jobs and creative employment for the multitude of the young unemployed and underemployed requires the cooperation and contributions of the private sector. That the government seems to have recognized this should be of no surprise to anyone as it has created many higher education institutions each graduating many of the young people who in turn expect value for their education. The alternative would be an unwelcome disillusionment followed by cynicism and, in the worst case, chaos.

It is a forgone conclusion that the government will still be in power after the scheduled political ‘contest’ this month. By the end of its next term, the TPLF/FDRE government will have been in power for nearly thirty years—a rule that is one of the longest in the country’s history. This experience should have given it wisdom and knowledge along with confidence to trust and embrace not only just some Ethiopians but also all Ethiopians, and to allow for the correction of some of its missteps and errors. Others would write and speak about the political and social missteps, and could do so in more informed ways than I could. With regard to the economy, however, it is always worth remembering that a healthy respect for market-led resource allocation is essential for economic development. This is so because all economies are guided by macroeconomic goals, but function according to microeconomic rules and principles. To illustrate this point or cite an example, the government has done quite a bit to help farmers export food because of prevailing high prices overseas. The consequence of this is that not all of the poor are worse off: farmers (who happened to be poor for the most part) benefit, but the urban poor suffer. Helping farmers become more productive and sell overseas is good for their income, but does very little for food prices at home. The government collects whatever taxes it levies on exports, never mind the foreign exchange generated, but the poor still pay the higher domestic prices.

Few objective observers could seriously argue that the intractable problems Ethiopia faces today, including absolute poverty, underdevelopment, fleeing citizens and a degree of polarization, are due to lack of theories, facts or knowledge and skills or even thoughtlessness. Instead, it is partly due to the values and beliefs as well as the policies and stories the government allows to be played out. It is these beliefs, policies and stories that are going to serve us as our trust worthy landmarks come the next ‘election’. Once again, every generation holds the promise of a fresh start, and that begins with what we think. And what we think is that names shouldn’t count for much, and that a course correction is both desirable and necessary. It can even be a sign of confidence and maturity!

*Professor Teshome Abebe is a former Provost and Vice President, and may be reached at: teshome2008@gmail.com