By Seid Hassan, Murray State University | July 29, 2009
It is our hope that many Ethiopians have watched the PBS/WNET documentary film - The Market Maker/Wide Angle - which was broadcast beginning on July 23, 2009. This documentary followed the Ethiopian economist, Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, who is the CEO of the relatively newly established Ethiopian Commodity Exchange. Many of us were waiting for the documentary to show us how the ECX could “… transform the Ethiopian economy by becoming a global commodity market of choice,” as claimed in the ECX’s main web page. That was not to be.
We were disappointed (but not surprised) by the failure of the documentary film which failed to show us the difficulties that the ECX has and would face, let alone Dr. Eleni’s failure to explain to us how the ECX could “transform the Ethiopian economy.” The anchor of the documentary, a renowned journalist, Mr. Aaron Brown, opened the discussion by asking a question HOW the commodity exchange would lift the millions of Ethiopian poor farmers out of poverty. We were anxiously expecting Dr. Eleni to explain to us how many millions of non-literate peasants would read the coded commodity prices and use them to their advantage; how the ECX could function and survive in a country where free markets are non-existent; explain to us the mechanisms whereby the peasants would be able to obtain the necessary information about markets in a country where the independent media is slammed shut by the government authorities, a country where the limited media outlets (one of the poorest and lowest penetration rates in the world), such as the telephone, Internet, radio, TV, newspapers are totally controlled by the government. For those who don’t know the Ethiopian situation, we would like to inform them that even those who have access to the limited electronic and print media are so fed up with the government’s endless lies and false propaganda that they only pay attention to those foreign-owned and operated media outlets such as the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, al-jezeera and the Eritrean TV.
Moreover, those of us of Ethiopian origin were expecting the documentary to show us the difficulties and lack of coordination between market participants. In particular, we were expecting the producers of the documentary to have gone deep into the rural areas of Ethiopia and show us the daily lives of the peasants, their unbearable poverty, the meager outputs they produce, and how they “dump”, which is true to this day, their small products to any price they could fetch during harvest times, how they would be able to know what the ECX is (let alone their lack of understanding how it works). It was not to be.
As Thomas Paul who had watched the documentary aptly put it, the documentary failed to show the criteria for success, the market inefficiencies before the implementation of the ECX, how one could measure the benefits of an efficient trading system. The same observer also noted that Dr. Eleni failed to show any raw data supporting the ripple effects of market efficiencies that she talked about, the impacts of the price variances, the challenges, and implementation strategies. Most importantly, both the documentary and Dr. Eleni failed to show us what kind of regulatory schemes exist to build trust, which is a paramount currency in a (newly formed) commodity exchange system. The initiative is a start, assuming that all the necessary ingredients are in place (which is not the case), but it is far from the success story the documentary tried to portray. The same astute observer also noted: “The benefits and theoretical advantages of making trading easy, is a function of trust which in turn is a function of independence from the hands of the government. … “[W]hat was glaringly evident was that the system has so far failed to win the trust of stakeholders, as evidenced by the government's abrupt shutdown of an efficient auction system by which coffee was traded previously. As soon as stakeholders, farmers and merchants alike, were forced to transact through the ECX, they went underground. Some were accused of ‘hoarding’ and thrown in jail…” [Taken from a message posted on Ethiopian Email Exchange Network, posted on July 23, 2009.]
Let us briefly delve into some of the characteristics of a commodity exchange system and relate those characteristics to the ECX. In this particular article (our first installment on the issue), we show that the ECX is neither a Free Market based transparency and a level-playing field, nor it is intended to be, at least from the government’s stand point.
Since its establishment, which began its operation in April of 2008, the ECX has never been a free exchange market. The description “free commodity exchange market” was and still is just a PR stunt and a pretext to hoodwink donors and unsuspecting public. We know free markets galvanize private resources by bringing those who are willing and able to buy and sell when they try to maximize their own individual utility. We also know and understand that commodity exchange mechanisms could play vital roles provided that they are set up properly and allowed to function with minimal interference by the authorities. By the same taken, the ECX could alleviate, but not transform, some of the problems that the Ethiopian economy is in, again, provided that all the necessary conditions that will make a “free” commodity exchange to function properly. But there are a number of both conceptual and practical problems with the EXC.
A. Transparency: For more than a year, we have been looking for the identity of the officers and regulators of the ECX. As everyone knows, such a disclosure of the identity, background and financial interest of the individuals and the businesses involved in the exchange is paramount to the well-functioning and transparency of any commodity and financial exchange institution. We are happy to see, after more than a year of not doing so, the ECX putting out the identity of the officers, the regulators and trading members on the official website, but a detailed public record of those individuals and companies is necessary.
B. Market Information (lack of): The ECX on its only official website claims information being delivered all over the country through Radio, Television, and SMS. But it failed to inform us that there is no privately owned media infrastructure in the country. It failed to honestly inform the reader and the observer that not only the government owned and operated media outlets are biased but their usefulness to market participants is almost non-existent (for example, the internet penetration rates as compared to the rest of the world is only 0.02%!) The claim that market information is transmitted all over the country is, therefore, misleading and false.
C. Credit: Transparency of financing is a critical component of commodity trade. However, in addition to the listing of some of the ‘private’ banks, it is important to fully disclose the role of the government and the involvement of the ruling party owned credit establishments, particularly their relations to the private banks.
D. Storage: As a government agency, the ECX owns and operates the largest storage facilities. In so doing, it enjoys complete dominance in the storage of commodities throughout the country, thereby making this same government agency the price-maker. Everyone involved knows that impartiality to the private traders does not exist and the government is crowding out private storage operators. Moreover, another government agency, the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE), which is the largest grain purchaser in the country, is a member-trader of the exchange, owns major storage, transportation facilities throughout the country and directly competes against private traders. It has been recently disclosed that the EGTE destabilized the commodity market, due to its market dominance and the preference it gets from the government, and yet, no mention of this fact is made by the CEO of the ECX.
E. Transportation: As mentioned earlier, the dominance of the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise and the ruling party owned transportation operators are equally mentioned as private operators but they actually dominate its control. Such unequal relationship and favoritism is not only contrary to the normal operations of a market but the lack of disclosure their dominance, favoritism party owned parastatals, and their unfettered access to government regulators exacerbates the lack of trust on the part of the ECX.
F. Regulation: The government officials who are listed as regulators, including the Prime Minister’s involvement in the ECX’s affairs are the major causes of market destabilization and the failure of the exchange as a market institution. In addition, the ruling party affiliated traders, financers, transporters, and exporters should have been banned from the exchange. The Prime Minster as the leader of his party must disclosed his party owned enterprises and their financial interests to the public before they are permitted in the exchange. Moreover, the ECX should have disclosed the names of the donor countries and international institutions that are financing the establishment of the exchange, including their financial interests and how they would be accountable for any improprieties that either their agents or those whom they support could commit. They should have demanded the disclosure of the financial interests of the officers as well. Unfortunately, none of the above disclosures are made so far, thereby creating an appearance of conflict of interest.
We conclude, therefore, based on the problems we listed above and other issues, there is a lack of market information, lack of contract enforcement, and a lack of trust on the ECX. In particular, the asymmetric information (those who are close to the government possessing all the information and outright favoritism) has been damaging to the ECX and will continue to be so.
Furthermore, let it be known that no commodity exchange will work (let alone function and assist the 82 million Ethiopians) without transparency and accountability. Let it be known that there are no commodity exchange markets that have flourished under repressive, parasitic, nepotistic and oligarchic regimes as it exists in Ethiopia. Let it be known that there is no “free commodity exchange” where repression is the order of the day, where the Ethiopian people are so petrified by the repression of Meles Zenawi’s regime that they are leaving their country in drones. We believe there are better ways to feed starving Ethiopians, currently over ten million of them being dependent international food aid.
Let it be known that a commodity exchange, no matter how glittery it may seem, will not work in a malaise economy and with people under increasingly grinding poverty.
Let it be known that there is no true commodity exchange in a country where group of people who claim to represent a minority ethnic group, who have illegally transferred the means of production to themselves and the parastatals they fully control. Let it be known that the ECX adventure has been an exercise in futility, in part because the circumstances for a true commodity exchange system to function do not exist and in part because, as it became evident by Meles Zenawi’s “cutting of the hands” of the Ethiopian coffee exporters, the entire exercise is designed to have full control of the commanding heights of the Ethiopian economy.
It is also about time for those renowned journalists to speak on behalf of their colleagues, members of the Ethiopian independent media whose businesses have been closed, who have languished in the prisons of Meles Zenawi with concocted up charges and who have been forced into exile. There is no and cannot be a free commodity exchange market under such repressive circumstances.
It is about time to recognize that millions of Ethiopians get hurt with such gimmickry and uncalled for hypes. … Let it be known that the ECX is another well orchestrated gimmick, one of those government set up mega projects which are designed to control both the outputs and prices of the Ethiopian farmers, particularly the commodities which are the source of foreign exchange. Let be known that, as the saying goes: “all that glitters is not really gold!”
Let there be no more hypes, no more deceptions. Most importantly, it is time for those enablers of Meles’s greedy and kleptocratic regime that the creation of hypes real consequences. As a gimmickry mega project, the ECX has been and will be used to both squander the meager resources of the country and as means of controlling the outputs of the Ethiopian peasants. Let it be known that those who are a part of this process, including those at the helm of the ECX will be accountable for what they have done to Ethiopia and its people.
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The author and his collaborators could be reached at Seid.hassan@murraystate.edu
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
No Tears for Africa’s Intelectual Prostitutes
George B.N. Ayittey, Ph.D. July 24, 2009
The most painful and treacherous aspect of Africa’s descent into tyranny and economic decline has been the willful and active collaboration by Africa’s own intellectuals, many of whom are highly “educated” with Ph. D.s, and who should have known better. Yet a multitude of them sold off their conscience, integrity and principles to serve the dictates of barbarous regimes. As prostitutes, they partook of the plunder, misrule and repression of the African people. Some of their actions were brazen. In fact, according to Colonel. Yohanna A. Madaki (rtd), when General Gowon drew up plans to return Nigeria to civil rule in 1970, “academicians began to present well researched papers pointing to the fact that military rule was the better preferred since the civilians had not learned any lessons sufficient enough to be entrusted with the governance of the country” (Post Express, 12 November 1998, 5).
The Prostitutes
One such prostitute was Kokou Koffigoh who joined President Gnassingbe Eyadema as Togo’s Prime Minister in 1992. New African (January 1993) wrote that “the opposition thinks Koffigoh has sold out the gains of the Togo National Conference by not carrying out its decisions and by allowing President Eyadema to return to power” (19).
Another was Gwanda Chakuamba of Malawi, who was appointed the chairman of the “presidential council” by former Life-President Hastings Banda in 1993. As The Economist (20 November 1993) reported: “Chakuamba was an old Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and ex-minister, who was jailed in 1980 for sedition and released in July 1993. He then flirted briefly with the opposition United Democratic Front, but, while Dr. Banda was in hospital, suddenly emerged as secretary-general of ruling party and acting head of state” (47).
Chakaumba’s move was roundly denounced “as a betrayal to the opposition, who had tirelessly campaigned for his release following local and international pressure on the MCP government’s poor human rights record. “Reliable sources reported that whilst he was in prison, Chakuamba was subjected to immersion in water and was chained hand-and-foot for months on end” (African Business, December 1993, 29). How could an educated man, whose basic human rights were viciously violated in detention, suddenly decide to join his oppressor?
In February 1994, the MCP announced that Banda was to be the party’s presidential candidate in the forthcoming general election; Chakuamba was the vice-presidential candidate. In Malawi’s first multiparty elections, held on 17 May 1994, Bakili Muluzi and his United Democratic Front party defeated Banda and the Malawi Congress Party. Banda retired from politics in August 1994 and Chakuamba succeeded to the MCP party leadership.After unsuccessful alliance with other opposition parties, he suffered a defeat at the polls in 1999. In May 2004, he left the MCP and created the Republican Party (RP). The RP joined forces with six other parties to form the Mgwirizano Coalition. Chakuamba was selected as the coalition’s presidential candidate. They lost the election to Bingu wa Mutharika of the UDF. Chakuamba denounced his victory as fraudulent and threatened to challenge the results. In June 2004, he dropped the challenge and was subsequently made Minister of Agriculture in Mutharika’s government.
In September 2005, Chakuamba was sacked from Malawi’s cabinet for allegedly buying a limousine with government funds, amid rumors of an internal power struggle. He labeled the president as a “drunkard and a brute” and was hauled to court though was subsequently freed. Such has been the fate of a political chameleon. His burning ambition was to become the president of Malawi. He retired from politics in May 2009 without achieving that ambition.
When Captain Yahya Jammeh overthrew the democratically elected government of Sir Dawda Jawara on July 24, 1994, the only minister from the Jawara administration enticed to serve the military regime was the finance minister, Bakary Darbo, a very well respected economist — even in international circles. He was instrumental in getting the World Bank to resume aid to The Gambia. On 10 October 1994, he was fired by the military junta: He was no longer useful to them. Then on 15 November, he was accused of complicity in the 11 November abortive coup attempt. He fled to neighboring Senegal with his family.
Next to assume the finance ministry portfolio was Ousman Koro Ceesay. When he became no longer useful to the military junta, “they smashed his head with a baseball bat,” said Captain Ebou Jallow, the number-2 man in the ruling council who defected to the United States on 15 October (The Washington Times, 20 October 1995, A15).
Time and time again, despite repeated warnings, highly “educated” African intellectuals throw caution and common sense to the winds and fiercely jostle one another for the chance to hop into bed with military brutes. The allure of a luxury car, a diplomatic or ministerial post and a government mansion often proves too irresistible. Nigeria’s Senator Arthur Nzeribe once declared that General Babangida was good enough to rule Nigeria. When pressed, he confessed: “I was promised prime ministerial appointment. There is no living politician as hungry for power as I was who would not be seduced in the manner I was to invest in the ABN, with the possibility and promise of being Executive Prime Minister to a military president” (The Guardian, 13 November 1998, 3).
So hordes of politicians, lecturers, professionals, lawyers, and doctors sell themselves off into prostitution and voluntary bondage to serve the dictates of military vagabonds with half their intelligence. And time and time again, after being raped, abused, and defiled, they are tossed out like rubbish — or worse. Yet more intellectual prostitutes stampede to take their places.
African countries that have imploded in recent years were all ruined by the military: Algeria, Burundi, Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and Zaire, among others. In country after country in Africa, where military rule was entrenched, educational institutions (of the tertiary level - universities, and colleges) all decayed — starved of funds by the military. Although the official excuse is always lack of funds, the military predators always find the money to purchase shiny new pieces of bazookas for their thugs. But the real reason? “It is not in the best interest of these military governments to educate their people,” says Wale Deyemi, a doctoral student at the University of Lagos. “They do not want people to be able to challenge them” (The Washington Post, 6 October 1995, A30).
In Nigeria, the sciences have been hardest hit. Science teachers have been vanishing with such alarming frequency that Professor Peter Okebukola, the president of the National Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, lamented at the association’s thirty-sixth annual conference at Maiduguri that “good science teachers are increasingly becoming an endangered species” (African News Weekly, 13 October 1995, 17).
In spite of all this evidence, some African intellectuals still vociferously defend military regimes while their own institutions — the very places where they teach or obtained their education — deteriorate right under their very noses. One would have thought that these professors and intellectuals would protect their own institutions, just as the soldiers jealously protect their barracks and keep them in top shape. But no! For small change, the intellectuals have been willing to help and supervise the destruction of their very own university system.
Another expendable intellectual prostitute was Abass Bundu of Sierra Leone — the former secretary-general of ECOWAS — though his fate was less horrible. When he was appointed by the 29-year-old illiterate Captain Valentine Strasser to be Sierra Leone’s foreign minister in early 1995, he left home to grab the post in a cloud of dust. In August 1995 he was tossed into a garbage bin in a radio announcement. He claimed in a Voice of America radio interview that “he never applied to join the junta” (African News Weekly, 8 September 1995, 12).
“We just discovered that he’s an opportunist and one cannot trust such people. So we kicked him out,” said spokesman of the Strasser’s National Provisional Ruling Council. “When we appointed Abass Bundu through a radio announcement, he didn’t complain but when we fired him though another radio announcement, he wants to make noise” he added (The African Observer, 8-21 August 1995, 5).
Another case was that of Sierra Leone’s fearless human rights lawyer, Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie. He was a vociferous critic of the ruling NPRC over human rights abuses and was reported to have a personal dislike for the military. He was hailed on student campuses as a young radical barrister and was invited to student conventions, giving lectures on human rights and negative consequences of military rule. On several occasions he called for a national conference to prepare the way for civilian rule. Then suddenly in April 1995 he joined Sierra Leone’s military-led government as secretary of state in the Department of Youth, Sport and Social Mobilization. His detractors never forgave him.
Then there was Paul Kamara of Sierra Leone — a fearless crusader for human rights and ardent advocate of democracy. He published and edited the widely respected For Di People, whose circulation exceeded 30,000 copies a week. In January 1996, he joined the military government of Brigadier-General Maada Bio — a decision that by his own admission, “disappointed many people” (New African, May 1996, 14). On election night, February 26, five men dressed in military fatigues with guns waited for him at his newspaper offices. When he left his office and got into his official four-wheel-drive car, the soldiers chased him and opened fire. “We’ve got the bastard at last,” one of them shouted. But luckily, the “bastard” escaped death and was flown to London for treatment.
In Burkina Faso, Clement Oumarou Ouedraogo was not so lucky. He was the number- two man in the barbarous military dictatorship of Blaise Compaore. He later resigned and launched his own Burkina Labor Party. On 9 December 1992, he was killed “when unidentified attackers threw a grenade into his car as he was returning from a meeting of the opposition Coalition of Democratic Forces” (West Africa, 16-22 December 1991, 2116).
In neighboring Niger, when Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Barre Mainassara seized power in the January 1996 coup, overthrowing the civilian regime of President Mahamane Ousmane, the first civilian to join the new military regime as prime minister was Boukary Adji, who was deputy governor at the Central Bank of West African States in Dakar (The Washington Times, 1 February 1996, A14). Do Africa’s intellectuals learn?
In Nigeria, Baba Gana Kingibe, a career diplomat, was the vice-presidential candidate of Moshood K. O. Abiola in the 12 June 1993 presidential elections . Abiola won the election fair and square, but the result was annulled by the military government of Geneneral Ibrahim Babangida. Baba Kingibe then accepted the post of foreign minister from that same military regime. Nor did he raise a whiff of protest or resign when his running mate, Abiola, was thrown into jail. Neither did Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party, on whose ticket Abiola contested the 12 June election. In fact, Chief Anenih was part of a five-man delegation, sent by General Abacha to the United States in October 1995 to “educate and seek the support of Nigerians about the transition program.” At an 22 October 1995 forum organized by the Schiller Institute in Washington, “Chief Anenih and Colonel (rtd) Emeka O. Ojukwu took turns ripping apart the reputation of Abiola. Anenih took pains to discredit Chief Abiola, whom he said was being presented by the Western media as the victimized President-elect. Some of the Nigerians in the audience denounced the delegation as `paid stooges’ of Abacha” (African News Weekly, 3 November 1995, 3).
More pathetic was the case of Alex Ibru, the publisher of The Guardian Group of newspapers in Lagos who became the internal affairs minister. On 14 August 1994, his own newspaper was raided and shut down by the same military government under which he was serving. He did not protest or resign. After six months as interior minister, he too was tossed aside. In October 1995, his two newspapers, shut down by the military government for more than a year, were allowed to reopen after Ibru apologized to the authorities for any offensive reports they may have carried. Then on 2 February 1996, unidentified gunmen in a deep-blue Peugeot 504 trailed him and sprayed his car with machine-gun fire. The editor-in-chief, Femi Kusa, said that the car was bullet-ridden and Ibru was injured. He too was flown to Britain for treatment.
After the annulment of Nigeria’s 12 June elections, General Babangida was eased aside by the military top brass and Ernest Shonekan became the 89-day interim civilian president until he too was removed by the military despot, General Sani Abacha. On 19 September, Shonekan accompanied Nigeria’s foreign minister, Tom Ikimi, to London to deliver a “confidential message” to British Prime Minister John Major. Nigeria’s military junta told Westminster that it would pardon the 40 convicted coup plotters if British would help with the rescheduling Nigeria’s $35 billion debt, and support its transition program to democratic rule, its bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, and its attempt to gain U.S. recognition of its effort to fight drug trafficking.
First of all, how could Ernest Shonekan act as an emissary for the same barbarous military regime that overthrew him? Not only that, he accepted an appointment from Abacha to a committee of experts to plan for “Vision 2010.” Second, who thought that 35 years after “independence” from British colonial rule, Nigeria’s government would be holding its own citizens as hostages, demanding ransom from the former colonial power? It did not occur to any of the “educated” emissaries that their mission sank the concept of “independence from colonial rule” to new depths of depravity. Mercifully, the British refused to capitulate to these terroristic demands.
Dr. Tom Ikimi was the activist, who, in 1989, formed the Liberal Convention party to campaign for democracy in Nigeria. In June 1989 he launched a branch in the United Kingdom, where he made glorious speeches about participatory democracy and denouncing military regimes. In 1994 he became Nigeria’s Foreign minister under the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. He even appeared on The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, on 3 August 1995, and strenuously defended Nigerian military government’s record on democratization, calling General Abacha “humane.”
Ghanaians would point to a swarm of intellectual prostitutes who sold out to join the military regime of Fte./Lte. Jerry Rawlings: Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, the former minister of finance; Totobi Kwakye, minister of communication, who as a student leader battled the former military head of state, Col. I.K. Acheampong; Dr. Tony Aidoo, a presidential adviser; Dr. Vincent Assisseh, a press secretary; and Kow Arkaah, the Vice-President who was beaten up by President Rawlings in December 1995.
Vile opportunism, unflappable sycophancy, and trenchant collaboration on the part of Africa’s intellectuals allowed tyranny to become entrenched in Africa. Doe, Mengistu, Mobutu, and other military dictators legitimized and perpetuated their rule by buying off and co-opting Africa’s academics for a pittance. And when they fall out of favor, they are beaten up, tossed aside or worse. And yet more offer themselves up. Shed no tears for them.
Punishing the Prostitutes
One poignant lesson that can be drawn from Africa’s disastrous postcolonial record is the fact that sycophancy and collaboration seldom pay. The sycophants often delude themselves into thinking that, should their country blow, they would always escape to the West to enjoy their booty. But angry Africans have vowed to punish the traitors, sycophants, leeches and intellectual collaborators. During the 11 May 1995 “Kume Preko” demonstrations in Ghana, the tires of some deputy ministers were deflated. “Escape now,” the angry mob seemed to be saying. Kabena Kofi of Tema warned: “I would like to remind Messrs E.T. Mensah, Prof Awoonor, Obed Asamoah, Harry Sawyerr and others, that if the unexpected happens as a result of their sycophancy, they and their families would be the first to bear the anger of Ghanaians” (Free Press, 10-16 April 1996, 2). In Nigeria, Zaire, and several African countries, the houses and cars of intellectual collaborators were burned down.
In Liberia, the following people, who served under Samuel Doe of Liberia, met rather untimely deaths: Senate President Tambakai Jangaba; Justice Minister Jenkins Scott, Information Minister J. Emmanuel Bowier, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elbert Dunn, Finance Minister Emmanuel Shaw, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Kekura Kpoto.
In Senegal, after President Diouf’s ruling Socialist Party “won” a huge majority in parliamentary elections in February 1993, violence broke out amid charges of vote rigging and Babacar Seye, the vice-president of Senegal’s Constitutional Council, was killed. African News Weekly (4 June 1993) reported that: “Seye was found dead in his car, apparently the victim of an ambush . . . investigators said. According to the independent, Sud Quotidien a group calling itself the “People’s Army” claimed responsibility for Seye’s murder, the first political assassination in Senegal’s history . . . This is a warning for the other judges in the Constitutional Council, so they really respect the people’s will, it quoted the anonymous caller as saying.” (13). Seye’s killer was never found.
In Sierra Leone, a judge condemned 16 civilians, including five journalists, to death by hanging for collaborating with Sierra Leone’s ousted military regime of Capt. Paul Koroma. “Justice Edmond Cowan allowed the defendants 21 days to appeal the sentences, which he handed down after attorneys for the condemned made last-ditch appeals for leniency” (The Washington Times, 26 August 1998, A13).
Nigerian writer, Adebayo Willams, has warned: “Depending on how General Abacha leaves, all those who have contributed to the economic and political adversity of the country in the past twenty years must be ready to face some retribution as a way of laying a firm foundation for the future. In the case of those who have looted the treasury, all efforts must be made to trace and repatriate the ill gotten wealth” (Tell, 1 June 1998, 33).
In fact, the Secretary for Commerce in the defunct Interim National Government, Mrs. Bola Kuforiji Olubi, was forced to apologize to student activists who kept vigil at the Ikeja home of Chief M.K.O. Abiola when he died on July 7, 1998. “She was accosted by the angry students to explain her role in the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan. Sensing trouble, she responded by apologizing to all Nigerian students but her apologies were largely unheeded” (The Vanguard, 16 July 1998, 5).
Elsewhere in Africa, civic groups and the private press are playing a key role in bringing these scoundrels to book. In August 1994 The Campaign for Democracy, an alliance of 52 human rights and political groups, urged the European Union to repatriate the men who annulled Nigeria’s 1993 president election. Former military president Ibrahim Babangida and his deputy Augustus Aikhomu were both believed to be in Europe. “The popular opinion in Nigeria is that these elements must be tried for the untold hardship inflicted on the nation,” the group said in a letter to the European Union. “We therefore, with a high sense of responsibility, request their expulsion from Europe where they are currently domiciled” (African News Weekly, 26 August 1994, 29).
“Over 80 percent of Rwanda’s 700 judges and magistrates, many of them guilty themselves of the genocide, died or fled in the 1994 fighting” (The Economist, 23 March 1996, 37). Colonel Theoneste Bagosora of Habyarimana’s presidential guard, Marc Rugenera, former minister of finance, and many others fled into exile. The information minister, Eliezer Niyitegeka, who incited Hutus to kill Tutsis, fled to a refugee camp in Goma, Zaire. According to The Washington Post (19 February 1995), “Eliezer said in an interview in Zaire that he was so depressed that he was asking France for political asylum” (A46). Now he was depressed? At another squalid camp in Bukavu, Zaire, the former president, prime minister and cabinet ministers were holed up. Some settled in Cameroon which refused political asylum to several Rwandan Hutu officials accused of having played a significant role in the genocide there in 1994. One of them was Ferdinand Nahimana, former director of the state information office and a founder of Radio Mille Collines, the Kigali radio station whose inflammatory broadcasts egged on Hutu soldiers and ethnic militia to kill Tutsis.
On April 1, 1996, Cameroon went further, rounding up eleven of the masterminds of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and throwing them into jail. And on June 11, 1998, Mathieu N’Garoupatse, a former Rwandan justice minister suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide in his country, was arrested and repatriated to Rwanda (The Washington Times, 11 June 1998, A17).
Caeser Zvayi was one of President Robert mugabe’s henchmen. He was the editor of the government propaganda mouthpiece, The Herald. WhenZimbabwe’s economy collapsed, he fled to Botswana and took up a teaching position at LimKokWing University in Gaborone. He was teaching, among other the courses, Writing for Print and News Writing and Reporting 1 in the university’s Faculty of Communications and Media.
Zvayi, in the past, openly called for the alienation of the opposition and celebrated the violent crackdown on the opposition in Zimbabwe. He is well know for bastardizing the MDC acronym to mean Movement for the Destruction of our Country, sometimes with the ascetic ‘movement’ for ‘morons’. He became the first journalist to be added to the European Union travel restrictions on Zimbabwe.
Pro-democracy activists tracked him down and blew his cover to students:
‘If he supports Mugabe he must go back, he can be easily replaced by another lecturer from Zimbabwe with morals. How can anyone support Mugabe when people are suffering? After all, why is he in Botswana if he thinks Mugabe is doing the right thing?” said Kagiso Seloma, an 18-year old student at the university.Seloma’s sentiments were echoed by Gaborone resident Mary Kokorwe who said “Zimbabweans should stage a demonstration at the university. He should be arrested for promoting hate and Zimbabweans should demonstrate at the university campus, because that should send a message to those who are violating other people’s rights in Zimbabwe right now that they will not get away with it” (Zimbabwe Metro, July 28, 2008).,
In August 2008, Botswana booted Caeser Zvayi out of the country. Recall that Zimbabwe was the country that gave Comrade Haile Mariam Mengistu asylum in 1991.
After Mengistu overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in a 1974 military coup, the ailing emperor was suffocated with a wet pillow, and his body buried in an unmarked grave. Scores of his relatives were murdered or chained to walls in the cellars of the imperial palace. Thousands of suspected counterrevolutionaries were gunned down in the streets. More than 30,000 people were jailed. When a member of his own junta questioned the wisdom of such terror tactics, Mengistu shot him in the head. In 1991, after being routed by a rag-tag army of Eritrean rebels, Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe. How safe was he there?
“Former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam panicked and ran yelling for help when a would-be assassin fired a single shot at one of his guards last fall, a Zimbabwe court was told. The Eritrean suspect, Solomon Haile Ghebre Michael, 36, pleaded not guilty Monday in the attack on the exiled Col. Mengistu, given asylum by President Robert Mugabe in 1991 after he fled Ethiopia (The Washington Times, Thursday July 11, 1996; p.A10).
More than 200 former officials of the brutal Mengistu government were tossed into jail. But were Ethiopians free from tyranny? Meles Zenawi turned out to be a “crocodile liberator.” What do you think will happen to him and his henchmen?
It is the same truculent African tale of one perfidious betrayal after another. As Africans often say: “We struggle very hard to remove one cockroach from power and the next rat comes to do the same thing. Haba.”
Outside Africa, various groups of African exiles also have vowed to work tirelessly to bring the collaborators to justice and block the granting of political asylum to these “useless idiots.” After the Momoh regime was overthrown by Captain Strasser, the vice president, Dr. Abudulai Conteh, fled to Britain. Did he really escape? According to West Africa (31 August - 6 September 1992): “Dr. Abudulai Conteh has been deported from Britain, following a failed attempt by his lawyers to convince the UK authorities that Conteh was a genuine refugee. The British High Court Judge, Mr. Simon Brown, agreed with the Home Office that Conteh should bear some responsibility for the corruption of the Momoh government which played a major role in bankrupting Sierra Leone” (1496).
U.S. courts now allow foreign victims of atrocities to sue the perpetrators. Ethiopian exiles in the United States have been taking Mengistu’s henchmen who fled to the United States to court to claim damages. On Jan 5, 2005, a major success was achieved when Federal agents arrested Kelbessa Negewo, an Ethiopian national on charges of committing numerous acts of murder and torture in his native country — the first arrest by U.S. authorities of a suspected human rights violator under the recently passed intelligence reform act. “Today’s arrest marks a new chapter in ICE’s long-standing efforts to arrest, prosecute and remove human rights violators from the United States,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia, who heads ICE. “With the expanded authorities under the Intelligence Reform Act, ICE has a powerful new tool to deny these egregious criminals a safe haven in this country” (The Washington Times, Jan 5, 2005; p.A5).
In New York, Bawol Cabiri, a former Ghanaian diplomat, sued Baffour Assasie-Gyimah. As African Observer (25 April-8 May 1996) wrote: “In a stunning decision, a U.S. judge has ruled that President Rawlings should surrender one of his henchmen to face trial in New York for atrocities he committed against humanity. U.S. Judge Allen G. Schwartz ruled April 18, 1996 that there is overwhelming evidence that Baffour Assasie-Gyimah, who is described in court papers as Deputy Chief of National Security, has committed outrageous human rights abuses and therefore should be brought to the U.S. immediately and tried under the Torture Victim Protection Act and Alien Tort Claim Act. (3)
Then there was Elsaphane Ntakirutimana, a Rwandan Hutu priest, who in April 1994 fled to take refuge in Mugonero Hospital and then participated in a daylong attack on 16 April, in which hundreds of men, women, and children were killed. After Rwanda blew up, he fled to the United States. But Rwandese exiles here in the United States were waiting for him. They fingered him to the FBI and on 27 September 1996, he was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border which he was trying to cross.
The days of Africa’s intellectual prostitutes are numbered.
———————————————————————————The author, a native of Ghana, is a Distinguished Economist at American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation. He is the author of Africa Unchained (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2005) and Indigenous African Institutions (Transnational Publishers, 2006).
The most painful and treacherous aspect of Africa’s descent into tyranny and economic decline has been the willful and active collaboration by Africa’s own intellectuals, many of whom are highly “educated” with Ph. D.s, and who should have known better. Yet a multitude of them sold off their conscience, integrity and principles to serve the dictates of barbarous regimes. As prostitutes, they partook of the plunder, misrule and repression of the African people. Some of their actions were brazen. In fact, according to Colonel. Yohanna A. Madaki (rtd), when General Gowon drew up plans to return Nigeria to civil rule in 1970, “academicians began to present well researched papers pointing to the fact that military rule was the better preferred since the civilians had not learned any lessons sufficient enough to be entrusted with the governance of the country” (Post Express, 12 November 1998, 5).
The Prostitutes
One such prostitute was Kokou Koffigoh who joined President Gnassingbe Eyadema as Togo’s Prime Minister in 1992. New African (January 1993) wrote that “the opposition thinks Koffigoh has sold out the gains of the Togo National Conference by not carrying out its decisions and by allowing President Eyadema to return to power” (19).
Another was Gwanda Chakuamba of Malawi, who was appointed the chairman of the “presidential council” by former Life-President Hastings Banda in 1993. As The Economist (20 November 1993) reported: “Chakuamba was an old Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and ex-minister, who was jailed in 1980 for sedition and released in July 1993. He then flirted briefly with the opposition United Democratic Front, but, while Dr. Banda was in hospital, suddenly emerged as secretary-general of ruling party and acting head of state” (47).
Chakaumba’s move was roundly denounced “as a betrayal to the opposition, who had tirelessly campaigned for his release following local and international pressure on the MCP government’s poor human rights record. “Reliable sources reported that whilst he was in prison, Chakuamba was subjected to immersion in water and was chained hand-and-foot for months on end” (African Business, December 1993, 29). How could an educated man, whose basic human rights were viciously violated in detention, suddenly decide to join his oppressor?
In February 1994, the MCP announced that Banda was to be the party’s presidential candidate in the forthcoming general election; Chakuamba was the vice-presidential candidate. In Malawi’s first multiparty elections, held on 17 May 1994, Bakili Muluzi and his United Democratic Front party defeated Banda and the Malawi Congress Party. Banda retired from politics in August 1994 and Chakuamba succeeded to the MCP party leadership.After unsuccessful alliance with other opposition parties, he suffered a defeat at the polls in 1999. In May 2004, he left the MCP and created the Republican Party (RP). The RP joined forces with six other parties to form the Mgwirizano Coalition. Chakuamba was selected as the coalition’s presidential candidate. They lost the election to Bingu wa Mutharika of the UDF. Chakuamba denounced his victory as fraudulent and threatened to challenge the results. In June 2004, he dropped the challenge and was subsequently made Minister of Agriculture in Mutharika’s government.
In September 2005, Chakuamba was sacked from Malawi’s cabinet for allegedly buying a limousine with government funds, amid rumors of an internal power struggle. He labeled the president as a “drunkard and a brute” and was hauled to court though was subsequently freed. Such has been the fate of a political chameleon. His burning ambition was to become the president of Malawi. He retired from politics in May 2009 without achieving that ambition.
When Captain Yahya Jammeh overthrew the democratically elected government of Sir Dawda Jawara on July 24, 1994, the only minister from the Jawara administration enticed to serve the military regime was the finance minister, Bakary Darbo, a very well respected economist — even in international circles. He was instrumental in getting the World Bank to resume aid to The Gambia. On 10 October 1994, he was fired by the military junta: He was no longer useful to them. Then on 15 November, he was accused of complicity in the 11 November abortive coup attempt. He fled to neighboring Senegal with his family.
Next to assume the finance ministry portfolio was Ousman Koro Ceesay. When he became no longer useful to the military junta, “they smashed his head with a baseball bat,” said Captain Ebou Jallow, the number-2 man in the ruling council who defected to the United States on 15 October (The Washington Times, 20 October 1995, A15).
Time and time again, despite repeated warnings, highly “educated” African intellectuals throw caution and common sense to the winds and fiercely jostle one another for the chance to hop into bed with military brutes. The allure of a luxury car, a diplomatic or ministerial post and a government mansion often proves too irresistible. Nigeria’s Senator Arthur Nzeribe once declared that General Babangida was good enough to rule Nigeria. When pressed, he confessed: “I was promised prime ministerial appointment. There is no living politician as hungry for power as I was who would not be seduced in the manner I was to invest in the ABN, with the possibility and promise of being Executive Prime Minister to a military president” (The Guardian, 13 November 1998, 3).
So hordes of politicians, lecturers, professionals, lawyers, and doctors sell themselves off into prostitution and voluntary bondage to serve the dictates of military vagabonds with half their intelligence. And time and time again, after being raped, abused, and defiled, they are tossed out like rubbish — or worse. Yet more intellectual prostitutes stampede to take their places.
African countries that have imploded in recent years were all ruined by the military: Algeria, Burundi, Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and Zaire, among others. In country after country in Africa, where military rule was entrenched, educational institutions (of the tertiary level - universities, and colleges) all decayed — starved of funds by the military. Although the official excuse is always lack of funds, the military predators always find the money to purchase shiny new pieces of bazookas for their thugs. But the real reason? “It is not in the best interest of these military governments to educate their people,” says Wale Deyemi, a doctoral student at the University of Lagos. “They do not want people to be able to challenge them” (The Washington Post, 6 October 1995, A30).
In Nigeria, the sciences have been hardest hit. Science teachers have been vanishing with such alarming frequency that Professor Peter Okebukola, the president of the National Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, lamented at the association’s thirty-sixth annual conference at Maiduguri that “good science teachers are increasingly becoming an endangered species” (African News Weekly, 13 October 1995, 17).
In spite of all this evidence, some African intellectuals still vociferously defend military regimes while their own institutions — the very places where they teach or obtained their education — deteriorate right under their very noses. One would have thought that these professors and intellectuals would protect their own institutions, just as the soldiers jealously protect their barracks and keep them in top shape. But no! For small change, the intellectuals have been willing to help and supervise the destruction of their very own university system.
Another expendable intellectual prostitute was Abass Bundu of Sierra Leone — the former secretary-general of ECOWAS — though his fate was less horrible. When he was appointed by the 29-year-old illiterate Captain Valentine Strasser to be Sierra Leone’s foreign minister in early 1995, he left home to grab the post in a cloud of dust. In August 1995 he was tossed into a garbage bin in a radio announcement. He claimed in a Voice of America radio interview that “he never applied to join the junta” (African News Weekly, 8 September 1995, 12).
“We just discovered that he’s an opportunist and one cannot trust such people. So we kicked him out,” said spokesman of the Strasser’s National Provisional Ruling Council. “When we appointed Abass Bundu through a radio announcement, he didn’t complain but when we fired him though another radio announcement, he wants to make noise” he added (The African Observer, 8-21 August 1995, 5).
Another case was that of Sierra Leone’s fearless human rights lawyer, Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie. He was a vociferous critic of the ruling NPRC over human rights abuses and was reported to have a personal dislike for the military. He was hailed on student campuses as a young radical barrister and was invited to student conventions, giving lectures on human rights and negative consequences of military rule. On several occasions he called for a national conference to prepare the way for civilian rule. Then suddenly in April 1995 he joined Sierra Leone’s military-led government as secretary of state in the Department of Youth, Sport and Social Mobilization. His detractors never forgave him.
Then there was Paul Kamara of Sierra Leone — a fearless crusader for human rights and ardent advocate of democracy. He published and edited the widely respected For Di People, whose circulation exceeded 30,000 copies a week. In January 1996, he joined the military government of Brigadier-General Maada Bio — a decision that by his own admission, “disappointed many people” (New African, May 1996, 14). On election night, February 26, five men dressed in military fatigues with guns waited for him at his newspaper offices. When he left his office and got into his official four-wheel-drive car, the soldiers chased him and opened fire. “We’ve got the bastard at last,” one of them shouted. But luckily, the “bastard” escaped death and was flown to London for treatment.
In Burkina Faso, Clement Oumarou Ouedraogo was not so lucky. He was the number- two man in the barbarous military dictatorship of Blaise Compaore. He later resigned and launched his own Burkina Labor Party. On 9 December 1992, he was killed “when unidentified attackers threw a grenade into his car as he was returning from a meeting of the opposition Coalition of Democratic Forces” (West Africa, 16-22 December 1991, 2116).
In neighboring Niger, when Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Barre Mainassara seized power in the January 1996 coup, overthrowing the civilian regime of President Mahamane Ousmane, the first civilian to join the new military regime as prime minister was Boukary Adji, who was deputy governor at the Central Bank of West African States in Dakar (The Washington Times, 1 February 1996, A14). Do Africa’s intellectuals learn?
In Nigeria, Baba Gana Kingibe, a career diplomat, was the vice-presidential candidate of Moshood K. O. Abiola in the 12 June 1993 presidential elections . Abiola won the election fair and square, but the result was annulled by the military government of Geneneral Ibrahim Babangida. Baba Kingibe then accepted the post of foreign minister from that same military regime. Nor did he raise a whiff of protest or resign when his running mate, Abiola, was thrown into jail. Neither did Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party, on whose ticket Abiola contested the 12 June election. In fact, Chief Anenih was part of a five-man delegation, sent by General Abacha to the United States in October 1995 to “educate and seek the support of Nigerians about the transition program.” At an 22 October 1995 forum organized by the Schiller Institute in Washington, “Chief Anenih and Colonel (rtd) Emeka O. Ojukwu took turns ripping apart the reputation of Abiola. Anenih took pains to discredit Chief Abiola, whom he said was being presented by the Western media as the victimized President-elect. Some of the Nigerians in the audience denounced the delegation as `paid stooges’ of Abacha” (African News Weekly, 3 November 1995, 3).
More pathetic was the case of Alex Ibru, the publisher of The Guardian Group of newspapers in Lagos who became the internal affairs minister. On 14 August 1994, his own newspaper was raided and shut down by the same military government under which he was serving. He did not protest or resign. After six months as interior minister, he too was tossed aside. In October 1995, his two newspapers, shut down by the military government for more than a year, were allowed to reopen after Ibru apologized to the authorities for any offensive reports they may have carried. Then on 2 February 1996, unidentified gunmen in a deep-blue Peugeot 504 trailed him and sprayed his car with machine-gun fire. The editor-in-chief, Femi Kusa, said that the car was bullet-ridden and Ibru was injured. He too was flown to Britain for treatment.
After the annulment of Nigeria’s 12 June elections, General Babangida was eased aside by the military top brass and Ernest Shonekan became the 89-day interim civilian president until he too was removed by the military despot, General Sani Abacha. On 19 September, Shonekan accompanied Nigeria’s foreign minister, Tom Ikimi, to London to deliver a “confidential message” to British Prime Minister John Major. Nigeria’s military junta told Westminster that it would pardon the 40 convicted coup plotters if British would help with the rescheduling Nigeria’s $35 billion debt, and support its transition program to democratic rule, its bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, and its attempt to gain U.S. recognition of its effort to fight drug trafficking.
First of all, how could Ernest Shonekan act as an emissary for the same barbarous military regime that overthrew him? Not only that, he accepted an appointment from Abacha to a committee of experts to plan for “Vision 2010.” Second, who thought that 35 years after “independence” from British colonial rule, Nigeria’s government would be holding its own citizens as hostages, demanding ransom from the former colonial power? It did not occur to any of the “educated” emissaries that their mission sank the concept of “independence from colonial rule” to new depths of depravity. Mercifully, the British refused to capitulate to these terroristic demands.
Dr. Tom Ikimi was the activist, who, in 1989, formed the Liberal Convention party to campaign for democracy in Nigeria. In June 1989 he launched a branch in the United Kingdom, where he made glorious speeches about participatory democracy and denouncing military regimes. In 1994 he became Nigeria’s Foreign minister under the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. He even appeared on The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, on 3 August 1995, and strenuously defended Nigerian military government’s record on democratization, calling General Abacha “humane.”
Ghanaians would point to a swarm of intellectual prostitutes who sold out to join the military regime of Fte./Lte. Jerry Rawlings: Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, the former minister of finance; Totobi Kwakye, minister of communication, who as a student leader battled the former military head of state, Col. I.K. Acheampong; Dr. Tony Aidoo, a presidential adviser; Dr. Vincent Assisseh, a press secretary; and Kow Arkaah, the Vice-President who was beaten up by President Rawlings in December 1995.
Vile opportunism, unflappable sycophancy, and trenchant collaboration on the part of Africa’s intellectuals allowed tyranny to become entrenched in Africa. Doe, Mengistu, Mobutu, and other military dictators legitimized and perpetuated their rule by buying off and co-opting Africa’s academics for a pittance. And when they fall out of favor, they are beaten up, tossed aside or worse. And yet more offer themselves up. Shed no tears for them.
Punishing the Prostitutes
One poignant lesson that can be drawn from Africa’s disastrous postcolonial record is the fact that sycophancy and collaboration seldom pay. The sycophants often delude themselves into thinking that, should their country blow, they would always escape to the West to enjoy their booty. But angry Africans have vowed to punish the traitors, sycophants, leeches and intellectual collaborators. During the 11 May 1995 “Kume Preko” demonstrations in Ghana, the tires of some deputy ministers were deflated. “Escape now,” the angry mob seemed to be saying. Kabena Kofi of Tema warned: “I would like to remind Messrs E.T. Mensah, Prof Awoonor, Obed Asamoah, Harry Sawyerr and others, that if the unexpected happens as a result of their sycophancy, they and their families would be the first to bear the anger of Ghanaians” (Free Press, 10-16 April 1996, 2). In Nigeria, Zaire, and several African countries, the houses and cars of intellectual collaborators were burned down.
In Liberia, the following people, who served under Samuel Doe of Liberia, met rather untimely deaths: Senate President Tambakai Jangaba; Justice Minister Jenkins Scott, Information Minister J. Emmanuel Bowier, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elbert Dunn, Finance Minister Emmanuel Shaw, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Kekura Kpoto.
In Senegal, after President Diouf’s ruling Socialist Party “won” a huge majority in parliamentary elections in February 1993, violence broke out amid charges of vote rigging and Babacar Seye, the vice-president of Senegal’s Constitutional Council, was killed. African News Weekly (4 June 1993) reported that: “Seye was found dead in his car, apparently the victim of an ambush . . . investigators said. According to the independent, Sud Quotidien a group calling itself the “People’s Army” claimed responsibility for Seye’s murder, the first political assassination in Senegal’s history . . . This is a warning for the other judges in the Constitutional Council, so they really respect the people’s will, it quoted the anonymous caller as saying.” (13). Seye’s killer was never found.
In Sierra Leone, a judge condemned 16 civilians, including five journalists, to death by hanging for collaborating with Sierra Leone’s ousted military regime of Capt. Paul Koroma. “Justice Edmond Cowan allowed the defendants 21 days to appeal the sentences, which he handed down after attorneys for the condemned made last-ditch appeals for leniency” (The Washington Times, 26 August 1998, A13).
Nigerian writer, Adebayo Willams, has warned: “Depending on how General Abacha leaves, all those who have contributed to the economic and political adversity of the country in the past twenty years must be ready to face some retribution as a way of laying a firm foundation for the future. In the case of those who have looted the treasury, all efforts must be made to trace and repatriate the ill gotten wealth” (Tell, 1 June 1998, 33).
In fact, the Secretary for Commerce in the defunct Interim National Government, Mrs. Bola Kuforiji Olubi, was forced to apologize to student activists who kept vigil at the Ikeja home of Chief M.K.O. Abiola when he died on July 7, 1998. “She was accosted by the angry students to explain her role in the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan. Sensing trouble, she responded by apologizing to all Nigerian students but her apologies were largely unheeded” (The Vanguard, 16 July 1998, 5).
Elsewhere in Africa, civic groups and the private press are playing a key role in bringing these scoundrels to book. In August 1994 The Campaign for Democracy, an alliance of 52 human rights and political groups, urged the European Union to repatriate the men who annulled Nigeria’s 1993 president election. Former military president Ibrahim Babangida and his deputy Augustus Aikhomu were both believed to be in Europe. “The popular opinion in Nigeria is that these elements must be tried for the untold hardship inflicted on the nation,” the group said in a letter to the European Union. “We therefore, with a high sense of responsibility, request their expulsion from Europe where they are currently domiciled” (African News Weekly, 26 August 1994, 29).
“Over 80 percent of Rwanda’s 700 judges and magistrates, many of them guilty themselves of the genocide, died or fled in the 1994 fighting” (The Economist, 23 March 1996, 37). Colonel Theoneste Bagosora of Habyarimana’s presidential guard, Marc Rugenera, former minister of finance, and many others fled into exile. The information minister, Eliezer Niyitegeka, who incited Hutus to kill Tutsis, fled to a refugee camp in Goma, Zaire. According to The Washington Post (19 February 1995), “Eliezer said in an interview in Zaire that he was so depressed that he was asking France for political asylum” (A46). Now he was depressed? At another squalid camp in Bukavu, Zaire, the former president, prime minister and cabinet ministers were holed up. Some settled in Cameroon which refused political asylum to several Rwandan Hutu officials accused of having played a significant role in the genocide there in 1994. One of them was Ferdinand Nahimana, former director of the state information office and a founder of Radio Mille Collines, the Kigali radio station whose inflammatory broadcasts egged on Hutu soldiers and ethnic militia to kill Tutsis.
On April 1, 1996, Cameroon went further, rounding up eleven of the masterminds of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and throwing them into jail. And on June 11, 1998, Mathieu N’Garoupatse, a former Rwandan justice minister suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide in his country, was arrested and repatriated to Rwanda (The Washington Times, 11 June 1998, A17).
Caeser Zvayi was one of President Robert mugabe’s henchmen. He was the editor of the government propaganda mouthpiece, The Herald. WhenZimbabwe’s economy collapsed, he fled to Botswana and took up a teaching position at LimKokWing University in Gaborone. He was teaching, among other the courses, Writing for Print and News Writing and Reporting 1 in the university’s Faculty of Communications and Media.
Zvayi, in the past, openly called for the alienation of the opposition and celebrated the violent crackdown on the opposition in Zimbabwe. He is well know for bastardizing the MDC acronym to mean Movement for the Destruction of our Country, sometimes with the ascetic ‘movement’ for ‘morons’. He became the first journalist to be added to the European Union travel restrictions on Zimbabwe.
Pro-democracy activists tracked him down and blew his cover to students:
‘If he supports Mugabe he must go back, he can be easily replaced by another lecturer from Zimbabwe with morals. How can anyone support Mugabe when people are suffering? After all, why is he in Botswana if he thinks Mugabe is doing the right thing?” said Kagiso Seloma, an 18-year old student at the university.Seloma’s sentiments were echoed by Gaborone resident Mary Kokorwe who said “Zimbabweans should stage a demonstration at the university. He should be arrested for promoting hate and Zimbabweans should demonstrate at the university campus, because that should send a message to those who are violating other people’s rights in Zimbabwe right now that they will not get away with it” (Zimbabwe Metro, July 28, 2008).,
In August 2008, Botswana booted Caeser Zvayi out of the country. Recall that Zimbabwe was the country that gave Comrade Haile Mariam Mengistu asylum in 1991.
After Mengistu overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in a 1974 military coup, the ailing emperor was suffocated with a wet pillow, and his body buried in an unmarked grave. Scores of his relatives were murdered or chained to walls in the cellars of the imperial palace. Thousands of suspected counterrevolutionaries were gunned down in the streets. More than 30,000 people were jailed. When a member of his own junta questioned the wisdom of such terror tactics, Mengistu shot him in the head. In 1991, after being routed by a rag-tag army of Eritrean rebels, Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe. How safe was he there?
“Former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam panicked and ran yelling for help when a would-be assassin fired a single shot at one of his guards last fall, a Zimbabwe court was told. The Eritrean suspect, Solomon Haile Ghebre Michael, 36, pleaded not guilty Monday in the attack on the exiled Col. Mengistu, given asylum by President Robert Mugabe in 1991 after he fled Ethiopia (The Washington Times, Thursday July 11, 1996; p.A10).
More than 200 former officials of the brutal Mengistu government were tossed into jail. But were Ethiopians free from tyranny? Meles Zenawi turned out to be a “crocodile liberator.” What do you think will happen to him and his henchmen?
It is the same truculent African tale of one perfidious betrayal after another. As Africans often say: “We struggle very hard to remove one cockroach from power and the next rat comes to do the same thing. Haba.”
Outside Africa, various groups of African exiles also have vowed to work tirelessly to bring the collaborators to justice and block the granting of political asylum to these “useless idiots.” After the Momoh regime was overthrown by Captain Strasser, the vice president, Dr. Abudulai Conteh, fled to Britain. Did he really escape? According to West Africa (31 August - 6 September 1992): “Dr. Abudulai Conteh has been deported from Britain, following a failed attempt by his lawyers to convince the UK authorities that Conteh was a genuine refugee. The British High Court Judge, Mr. Simon Brown, agreed with the Home Office that Conteh should bear some responsibility for the corruption of the Momoh government which played a major role in bankrupting Sierra Leone” (1496).
U.S. courts now allow foreign victims of atrocities to sue the perpetrators. Ethiopian exiles in the United States have been taking Mengistu’s henchmen who fled to the United States to court to claim damages. On Jan 5, 2005, a major success was achieved when Federal agents arrested Kelbessa Negewo, an Ethiopian national on charges of committing numerous acts of murder and torture in his native country — the first arrest by U.S. authorities of a suspected human rights violator under the recently passed intelligence reform act. “Today’s arrest marks a new chapter in ICE’s long-standing efforts to arrest, prosecute and remove human rights violators from the United States,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia, who heads ICE. “With the expanded authorities under the Intelligence Reform Act, ICE has a powerful new tool to deny these egregious criminals a safe haven in this country” (The Washington Times, Jan 5, 2005; p.A5).
In New York, Bawol Cabiri, a former Ghanaian diplomat, sued Baffour Assasie-Gyimah. As African Observer (25 April-8 May 1996) wrote: “In a stunning decision, a U.S. judge has ruled that President Rawlings should surrender one of his henchmen to face trial in New York for atrocities he committed against humanity. U.S. Judge Allen G. Schwartz ruled April 18, 1996 that there is overwhelming evidence that Baffour Assasie-Gyimah, who is described in court papers as Deputy Chief of National Security, has committed outrageous human rights abuses and therefore should be brought to the U.S. immediately and tried under the Torture Victim Protection Act and Alien Tort Claim Act. (3)
Then there was Elsaphane Ntakirutimana, a Rwandan Hutu priest, who in April 1994 fled to take refuge in Mugonero Hospital and then participated in a daylong attack on 16 April, in which hundreds of men, women, and children were killed. After Rwanda blew up, he fled to the United States. But Rwandese exiles here in the United States were waiting for him. They fingered him to the FBI and on 27 September 1996, he was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border which he was trying to cross.
The days of Africa’s intellectual prostitutes are numbered.
———————————————————————————The author, a native of Ghana, is a Distinguished Economist at American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation. He is the author of Africa Unchained (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2005) and Indigenous African Institutions (Transnational Publishers, 2006).
ፍችውና ላግባሽ
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
አንች የልቤ ንግሥት -የእኔ ዴዝዲሞና
የጣና ዳር ሎሚ-የባህር ቄጠማ
ውብ ቆንጆ ውብ ንግስት- የዕኔ ሞናሊዛ
ልቤ ክንፍ አወጣ- ለፍቅርሽ ተገዛ።
ነሽዎይ የወሎ ልጅ- የትግራይ ወለላ
የዳህላክ ደማም- የከረን የአስመራ
የመንዝወርቅ ነሽወይ- የባሌ የአዶላ
የጎንደር ወይንእሸት- የጆቲ የጦና
የጋምቤላዋ አልማዝ-የጅማ የአዋሳ
የአፋር የኦጋዴን-የዱፍቲ የመርሳ
የወልቃይት እንቁ-የሸበል በረንታ
ልቤ ባንች ፍቅር- እጅጉን ተረታ።
ለካስ ያ ባልሽ ነው- ጢቅ ሲል ያየሁት
በስው ፊት የተፋው- ነውርን ነውር ንቆት።
ያ ቁመተ ደሃ- ፀባዬ ዲያብሎስ
አፍንጫ ጐራዳ-ትከሻ አልባ ሞገስ
አይኖቹ ሸውራራ-የማያስተውሉ
ጆሮወቹ ድፍን- ወሬ እማያጣሩ
ጥርሶቹ ዘርዛራ- ሚስጥር አይቋጥሩ
ግብሩ የሳጥናኤል-በአገር የተጠላ
ሽክ የማያቀርበው- ካህን ዎይ ደብተራ
መነኩሴ እሚገድል- አምላኩን ሳይፈራ
ከእናቱ እሚቀማ-ለደሃ የማይራራ
እራሰ መላጣ- ባለጉፋያ ፂም
እኔ አንችን ቢያደርገኝ- አብሬው አላድርም።
አይ ዘመን አይ ጊዜ- ወይ ስምንተኛው ሽ
ሚስቱን ከወንድሙ-ይኸው ተጋራሽ
አንገትን ውሽማ-ባል ዳሌ ተካፍሎ
እንዲህያለ ትዳር- አሳየኝ ዘንድሮ።
አምላክ የመረጠው- የሥላሴ ነብይ
ያሳየውን ነገር- ያኔ ሲተነብይ
“እንዲህ ወደ ራስሽ-ራስ ውጋት ይዞ
ለመዳን ሲያስቸግር-ሲያስጨንቅ ሰቅዞ
ጩኸት ታበዣለሽ- እግዜሩን ልመና
እጅሽን ዘርግተሽ- ለምህረቱ መና ”
የነብዩ ትንቢት- ይፈፀም ነውና
ራስ ምታት ባልሽ-ውጋቱ ውሽማ
አንችኑ ሲጋሩ- በዓለም ላይ ተሰማ።
መቸም ያንች ነገር-ታሪክሽ ቢወራ
እንኳን የዕኔ ቢጤው-የማያውቅ ምርመራ
ተነግሮ የማያልቅ-የሚያስገርም ስራ።
ታቻሃምና ያን ጊዜ- የገናእለት ማታ
ሰው በዓል ሊያከብር- ነጋሪት ሲመታ
ፍሪዳው ሲታረድ- ቅርጫው ሲሰናዳ
ውሽማሽ እንደ ቦምብ- ነገር አፈነዳ
ከከንፈርሽ ወርዶ -ደረትሽን ሻተና
አምባ ጓሮ ፈጥሮ- ጃሎ ሸለለና
ቀውጥ ሆነ ሰፈሩ-ራስሽ ታመመ
ሁልተኛ ጊዜ- ያኔም ተደገመ።
ከንፈርን ውሽማ- ዳሌን ባል ተካፍሎ
አምላክ ጉድ አሳየን- በዓይናችን ዘንድሮ
ከእንዲህ ያለ ነገር-ከእንዲህ ያለ ጉድ
ሚስቱን ከውሽማ-ከሚካፈል ወንድ
ምን ጉዳይ ኖሮሽ ነው- ካባልሽ ያለሽው
ውርደት ከዚህ በላይ- ምን ሲያመጣ አየሽው?
ሰማሁ እንዳስተኛሽ- ከግብጹ ነጋዴ
ከአሜሪካው ቱጃር-ከሱዳን መደዴ
ከቻይና ቃልቻ-ከየመን አዝማሪ
ከዓረብ አንዳውላ- ከአውሮጳ አመንዛሪ
ይህ ባልሽ ይቅርብሽ- ፊትሽን አዙሪ።
እንደኔ እንደኔማ- ልቤ እንደሚወደው
እግዜሩ ፀሎቴን- ወደ ላይ ቢያሰርገው
እኔም ጉልበት ኖሮኝ- መውዜሩን ገዝቸው
ወይ በሽማግሌ- በአገር አስፈርጀ
አንችን ከዚህ ባልሽ-ነጥቄ ወስጀ
ማየት ነው የምሻ- አንች ሆነሽ በጀ።
ወይ ዘማድ አዝማዱ- አንድ ላይ ተነስቶ
ያንን እኩይ ባልሽን -ልኩን አሳይቶ
ውሽማሽ ውንድሙን-በሚገባ ቀጥቶ
ይችል እንደሆነ-ዓይንሽን ሊያሣየኝ
ፍችውና ላግባሽ- ጥለሽው ነይልኝ።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ሐምሌ 2001
ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
አንች የልቤ ንግሥት -የእኔ ዴዝዲሞና
የጣና ዳር ሎሚ-የባህር ቄጠማ
ውብ ቆንጆ ውብ ንግስት- የዕኔ ሞናሊዛ
ልቤ ክንፍ አወጣ- ለፍቅርሽ ተገዛ።
ነሽዎይ የወሎ ልጅ- የትግራይ ወለላ
የዳህላክ ደማም- የከረን የአስመራ
የመንዝወርቅ ነሽወይ- የባሌ የአዶላ
የጎንደር ወይንእሸት- የጆቲ የጦና
የጋምቤላዋ አልማዝ-የጅማ የአዋሳ
የአፋር የኦጋዴን-የዱፍቲ የመርሳ
የወልቃይት እንቁ-የሸበል በረንታ
ልቤ ባንች ፍቅር- እጅጉን ተረታ።
ለካስ ያ ባልሽ ነው- ጢቅ ሲል ያየሁት
በስው ፊት የተፋው- ነውርን ነውር ንቆት።
ያ ቁመተ ደሃ- ፀባዬ ዲያብሎስ
አፍንጫ ጐራዳ-ትከሻ አልባ ሞገስ
አይኖቹ ሸውራራ-የማያስተውሉ
ጆሮወቹ ድፍን- ወሬ እማያጣሩ
ጥርሶቹ ዘርዛራ- ሚስጥር አይቋጥሩ
ግብሩ የሳጥናኤል-በአገር የተጠላ
ሽክ የማያቀርበው- ካህን ዎይ ደብተራ
መነኩሴ እሚገድል- አምላኩን ሳይፈራ
ከእናቱ እሚቀማ-ለደሃ የማይራራ
እራሰ መላጣ- ባለጉፋያ ፂም
እኔ አንችን ቢያደርገኝ- አብሬው አላድርም።
አይ ዘመን አይ ጊዜ- ወይ ስምንተኛው ሽ
ሚስቱን ከወንድሙ-ይኸው ተጋራሽ
አንገትን ውሽማ-ባል ዳሌ ተካፍሎ
እንዲህያለ ትዳር- አሳየኝ ዘንድሮ።
አምላክ የመረጠው- የሥላሴ ነብይ
ያሳየውን ነገር- ያኔ ሲተነብይ
“እንዲህ ወደ ራስሽ-ራስ ውጋት ይዞ
ለመዳን ሲያስቸግር-ሲያስጨንቅ ሰቅዞ
ጩኸት ታበዣለሽ- እግዜሩን ልመና
እጅሽን ዘርግተሽ- ለምህረቱ መና ”
የነብዩ ትንቢት- ይፈፀም ነውና
ራስ ምታት ባልሽ-ውጋቱ ውሽማ
አንችኑ ሲጋሩ- በዓለም ላይ ተሰማ።
መቸም ያንች ነገር-ታሪክሽ ቢወራ
እንኳን የዕኔ ቢጤው-የማያውቅ ምርመራ
ተነግሮ የማያልቅ-የሚያስገርም ስራ።
ታቻሃምና ያን ጊዜ- የገናእለት ማታ
ሰው በዓል ሊያከብር- ነጋሪት ሲመታ
ፍሪዳው ሲታረድ- ቅርጫው ሲሰናዳ
ውሽማሽ እንደ ቦምብ- ነገር አፈነዳ
ከከንፈርሽ ወርዶ -ደረትሽን ሻተና
አምባ ጓሮ ፈጥሮ- ጃሎ ሸለለና
ቀውጥ ሆነ ሰፈሩ-ራስሽ ታመመ
ሁልተኛ ጊዜ- ያኔም ተደገመ።
ከንፈርን ውሽማ- ዳሌን ባል ተካፍሎ
አምላክ ጉድ አሳየን- በዓይናችን ዘንድሮ
ከእንዲህ ያለ ነገር-ከእንዲህ ያለ ጉድ
ሚስቱን ከውሽማ-ከሚካፈል ወንድ
ምን ጉዳይ ኖሮሽ ነው- ካባልሽ ያለሽው
ውርደት ከዚህ በላይ- ምን ሲያመጣ አየሽው?
ሰማሁ እንዳስተኛሽ- ከግብጹ ነጋዴ
ከአሜሪካው ቱጃር-ከሱዳን መደዴ
ከቻይና ቃልቻ-ከየመን አዝማሪ
ከዓረብ አንዳውላ- ከአውሮጳ አመንዛሪ
ይህ ባልሽ ይቅርብሽ- ፊትሽን አዙሪ።
እንደኔ እንደኔማ- ልቤ እንደሚወደው
እግዜሩ ፀሎቴን- ወደ ላይ ቢያሰርገው
እኔም ጉልበት ኖሮኝ- መውዜሩን ገዝቸው
ወይ በሽማግሌ- በአገር አስፈርጀ
አንችን ከዚህ ባልሽ-ነጥቄ ወስጀ
ማየት ነው የምሻ- አንች ሆነሽ በጀ።
ወይ ዘማድ አዝማዱ- አንድ ላይ ተነስቶ
ያንን እኩይ ባልሽን -ልኩን አሳይቶ
ውሽማሽ ውንድሙን-በሚገባ ቀጥቶ
ይችል እንደሆነ-ዓይንሽን ሊያሣየኝ
ፍችውና ላግባሽ- ጥለሽው ነይልኝ።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ሐምሌ 2001
ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
Friday, July 24, 2009
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር (Speak out)
By: ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ልቤ እስከሚሸብር- መልካው እስኪናጋ
ወፎች ግ…ር እስኪሉ-እስኪበተን መንጋ
ጀግና እስከሚፎክር- ፈሪ እስከሚያመልጠው
ልጆች እስኪሮጡ- መዓት መጣ ብለው
ቄሱ እስከሚያማትብ- እስኪል “በሥላሤ”
ሠባኪው እስከሚል- “በጌታ እየሱሴ”
ሸኩ “ያ--አላህ” ብሎ- አዛን እስኪያሰማ
ሾፌሩ ለመሄድ-ለመቆም ሲያቅማማ
እናት “ውይ” እስክትል- ደረቷን ስትመታ
ሌባ እስኪበረግግ -እስኪሮጥ በአፍታ
እስከሚያስተጋባ- ሸንተረር ሸሎቆው
ተራራና ወንዙ- ዛፉና ቁጥቋጦው
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር- እኔም ልበል አሜን
እስካዳነ ድረስ- ሃገሬን ወገኔን
ላይጠራ አይደፈርስ- ሣይጨልም አይነጋ
በለው ተናገረው- መልካው እስኪናጋ።
መነኩሴው ሲረሸን- ቤተመቅደስ ገብቶ
ዔሎሄ ሃገሬ- ዎገኔ እሚል ጠፍቶ
ሚስት ስትገደል- ሥለባሏ ጮሃ
ወገኔ በሥደት ሲሞት በበረሃ
አዛውንት ሲታሰር- እህት ስትደፈር
ፍትህ ሥትዛባ- ሃይማኖት ሥትሻር
ዝምታው ምንድን ነው- ተናገር ላዳምጥህ
ወርቅ ነው እሚነጥር- አንጥረው ተናግረህ።
የውንድምህ ግጭት- ያኮረፍክበቱ
አያስደነግጥም- ቢታይም ውጤቱ
ሃገር አያጠፋ- አይገድል ወገን
“ያዝ ..ያዝ” መባባሉ ማውራት ይህንን
ለእኔ ይመስለኛል- ጊዜ ማባከን
እንኳንስ የስው ልጅ- እኩይ ምላስ ያለው
ድንጋይም ይጋጫል- የማይናገረው።
ይልቅ፤
ሰላምን ሥትሻ- ፍትህ እና መብት
ፍቅርን በልብ ይዘህ- ስትል ለእኛ መንግስት
ይህን ስትጠይቅ- በአንተ በፈረደ
አንተ ስትገነባ -እራሱ እየናደ
ያለውን ታገለው -“መለስ” የሚሉትን
ሀገር አፍራሽ ይጥፋ- ቅድሚያ ለእርሱ ይሁን።
ዝምታ ወርቅ ቢሆን- ቢያስከብር በወገን
አክባሪው ሲገደል- ዝምታ ምን ይሆን?
ድሮም ይባል ነበር- ለመሾም በመንበር
ዝምታ አይሆነውም- ከመናገር በቀር
መሾም አይገኝም- ደጃዝማችነቱ
በመናገር ጥረት- የምትገኝቱ።
ግና፡
መቋመጥ ለመውጣት- ከስልጣን ኮርቻ
ላገር ሳይሞቱላት- ልክ እንደነ ባልቻ
እንደነ አባ ታጠቅ- እንደነ አባ ዳኘው
እንደነ አባ በዝብዝ- እንደነ አባ ዳጨው
እንደነ አባ መላ- እንደነ አባ ውቃው
እንደነ አባ ኮስትር- እንደነ አባ ነጋ
እንደ ዘረዓይ ደረስ- እንደነ አብዲሳ አጋ
ካላወጡ ወገን- ከጠላት መንጋጋ
መናገር ቧልት ነው- የመለፍለፍ ዓመል
ሐኪም የሚያሰኘው- ቃልቻ ወይ ፀበል
እና፤
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር- እኔም ልበል አሜን
እስካዳነ ድረስ- ሃገሬን ወገኔን
አሳርግ ለፍትህ- ለሰላም ለመብት
ለአገር ብልፅግና-ለወገን ለአንድነት
ላይጠራ አይደፈርስ- ሣይጨልም አይነጋ
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር- ዙፋኑ እንዲናጋ።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ሐምሌ 2001
ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
ልቤ እስከሚሸብር- መልካው እስኪናጋ
ወፎች ግ…ር እስኪሉ-እስኪበተን መንጋ
ጀግና እስከሚፎክር- ፈሪ እስከሚያመልጠው
ልጆች እስኪሮጡ- መዓት መጣ ብለው
ቄሱ እስከሚያማትብ- እስኪል “በሥላሤ”
ሠባኪው እስከሚል- “በጌታ እየሱሴ”
ሸኩ “ያ--አላህ” ብሎ- አዛን እስኪያሰማ
ሾፌሩ ለመሄድ-ለመቆም ሲያቅማማ
እናት “ውይ” እስክትል- ደረቷን ስትመታ
ሌባ እስኪበረግግ -እስኪሮጥ በአፍታ
እስከሚያስተጋባ- ሸንተረር ሸሎቆው
ተራራና ወንዙ- ዛፉና ቁጥቋጦው
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር- እኔም ልበል አሜን
እስካዳነ ድረስ- ሃገሬን ወገኔን
ላይጠራ አይደፈርስ- ሣይጨልም አይነጋ
በለው ተናገረው- መልካው እስኪናጋ።
መነኩሴው ሲረሸን- ቤተመቅደስ ገብቶ
ዔሎሄ ሃገሬ- ዎገኔ እሚል ጠፍቶ
ሚስት ስትገደል- ሥለባሏ ጮሃ
ወገኔ በሥደት ሲሞት በበረሃ
አዛውንት ሲታሰር- እህት ስትደፈር
ፍትህ ሥትዛባ- ሃይማኖት ሥትሻር
ዝምታው ምንድን ነው- ተናገር ላዳምጥህ
ወርቅ ነው እሚነጥር- አንጥረው ተናግረህ።
የውንድምህ ግጭት- ያኮረፍክበቱ
አያስደነግጥም- ቢታይም ውጤቱ
ሃገር አያጠፋ- አይገድል ወገን
“ያዝ ..ያዝ” መባባሉ ማውራት ይህንን
ለእኔ ይመስለኛል- ጊዜ ማባከን
እንኳንስ የስው ልጅ- እኩይ ምላስ ያለው
ድንጋይም ይጋጫል- የማይናገረው።
ይልቅ፤
ሰላምን ሥትሻ- ፍትህ እና መብት
ፍቅርን በልብ ይዘህ- ስትል ለእኛ መንግስት
ይህን ስትጠይቅ- በአንተ በፈረደ
አንተ ስትገነባ -እራሱ እየናደ
ያለውን ታገለው -“መለስ” የሚሉትን
ሀገር አፍራሽ ይጥፋ- ቅድሚያ ለእርሱ ይሁን።
ዝምታ ወርቅ ቢሆን- ቢያስከብር በወገን
አክባሪው ሲገደል- ዝምታ ምን ይሆን?
ድሮም ይባል ነበር- ለመሾም በመንበር
ዝምታ አይሆነውም- ከመናገር በቀር
መሾም አይገኝም- ደጃዝማችነቱ
በመናገር ጥረት- የምትገኝቱ።
ግና፡
መቋመጥ ለመውጣት- ከስልጣን ኮርቻ
ላገር ሳይሞቱላት- ልክ እንደነ ባልቻ
እንደነ አባ ታጠቅ- እንደነ አባ ዳኘው
እንደነ አባ በዝብዝ- እንደነ አባ ዳጨው
እንደነ አባ መላ- እንደነ አባ ውቃው
እንደነ አባ ኮስትር- እንደነ አባ ነጋ
እንደ ዘረዓይ ደረስ- እንደነ አብዲሳ አጋ
ካላወጡ ወገን- ከጠላት መንጋጋ
መናገር ቧልት ነው- የመለፍለፍ ዓመል
ሐኪም የሚያሰኘው- ቃልቻ ወይ ፀበል
እና፤
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር- እኔም ልበል አሜን
እስካዳነ ድረስ- ሃገሬን ወገኔን
አሳርግ ለፍትህ- ለሰላም ለመብት
ለአገር ብልፅግና-ለወገን ለአንድነት
ላይጠራ አይደፈርስ- ሣይጨልም አይነጋ
ጮክ ብለህ ተናገር- ዙፋኑ እንዲናጋ።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ሐምሌ 2001
ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
ከወያኔ ዘረኛ እምነቶችና ድርጊቶች ምን እየተማርን ነው። የዘረኛነትን አደጋ ለመታገል ምን ማድረግ እንችላለን?
አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ
(ሐምሌ 5 ቀን 2001 ዓም፣ ሚነሶታ አሜሪካ በግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ስብሰባ ላይ የቀረበ ንግግር)
እያቆሰለንና እያደማን ስለመጣው የወያኔ ዘረኛነት ሁላችንም እናውቃለን። ዝርዝሩን ማቅረብ አያስፈልግም። ይህ ዘረኛነት እያስከተለ ስላለው መዘዝና ሁላችንም ይህንን መርዘኛ መዘዝ ለመታገል ምን ማድረግ እንደሚገባን ጥቂት ከማለቴ በፊት ለመግቢያ ወይም አንዳንድ ሰዎች እንደሚሉት ለመዋዣ እንዲሆነን በሚቀጥለው ነጥብ ልጀምር።
ወደ አሜሪካ ጉዞዬን ስጀምር የጉዞ ባልደረባዬ እንዲሆን የመረጥኩት መጽሃፍ የታዋቂውን ሩሲያዊ የፈዮዶር ዶስቶቭሰኬ ዘ ብራዘርስ ካራማዞቭ የተሰኘውን መጽሃፍ ነበር።
የኔ ትውልድ እንዲህ አይነቶቹን መጽሃፍት የማንበብ ልምድ የነበረው ቢሆንም እያደር እንደተረዳሁት እነዚህን መጽሃፍት ያነበብንበት እድሜያችን፤ የህይወት ተመክሮአችን፣ ያነበብነበት የአእምሮ ቅላጼ/mind set፣ የቋንቋ ችሎታችን ደካማነትና ሌሎችም ነገሮች በአንድ ላይ ተደምረው፤ የእነዚህን ድንቅ ስነጽሁፎች ለዛና ውበት አጣጥመንና መልክቶቻቸውንም ተረድተነው ነበር የሚል እምነት እንዳይኖረኝ አድርገውኛል። በእዚህ የተነሳ ከቅርብ ግዜ ወዲህ እነዚህን መጽሃፍት እንደገና ማንበብ ጀምሪያለሁ። እየገረመኝ ያለው ነገር በወጣትነት እድሜ ያላየሁዋቸው በርካታ ቁም ነገሮች በእነዚህ መጽሃፍት ውስጥ ማየት መጀመሬ ነው። ታላላቆቼ ‹‹ህይወት ትምህርቱ የማያልቅበት ዩኒቨርስቲ ነው›› ሲሉ እየሰማሁ በማደጌ በልጅነት ድንቁርናዬ መገረም የለብኝም።
ዶስቶቭስሲ ዘ ብራዘርስ ካራማዞቭ በተሰኘው መጽሃፉ ውስጥ አባ ዞሲማ የተባሉትን አረጋዊ ገጸ ባህርይ፤ አንደበቱ አድርጎ ‹‹ገሀነብ ምንድነው››? የሚል ጥያቄ አንስቶ ምላሹን በእኝሁመንፈሳዊ ሰው አንደበት ሲመልስ እንዲህ ብሎናል።
‹‹ገሃነብ ማለት የሰው ልጅ ለማፍቀር/ለመውደድ ያለው ተፈጥሮው በመስረቁ/በመሟጠጡ የሚገጥመው መከራ/ስቃይ ማለት ነው።›› ይለናል።
እውነቱን ልንገራችሁ፤ ወገኖቼ!!
ስለገሃነብ ብዙ ትርጉሞች ሰምቻለሁ እንደእዚህ የገሃነብ ትርጉም ግን አእምሮዬ ውስጥ ተቀርቅሮ የቀረ የለም። አእምሮዬ ውስጥ ተቀርቅሮ የቀረው ግን ያለምክንያት አይደለም። በግሌ ለአባባሉ ትልቅ ክብደት እንድሰጥ ያደረገኝ ወያኔ ስልጣን በሃገራችን ከያዘ ጀምሮ በሃገራችን የከፈተው ፈታኝ ዘመን ነው። የወያኔ የዘር ፖለቲካ ስብእናችን እየሰረሰ በአንድ ሃገር ውስጥ የምንኖር ዜጎች አንዳችን በሌላው ጥርጣሬ እንዲኖረን፣ አንዳችን የሌላውን ውበት ማድነቅ፣ የሌላውን ሳቅ መሳቅ የሌላውን ስቃይ መቁሰል በማንችልበት የጥላቻ እስርቤት ውስጥ እየጨመረን ነው የሚል ስጋት ስለሚሰማኝ ነው።
ምንም ነገር እንደራስ ልምድና ተመክሮ አስተማሪነት ያለው ስለማይሆን ይህንን ሰጋቴን ለመግለጽ ከራሴ ታሪክ ልነሳ።
እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር 2005 ሰኔ ወር ከምርጫው በኋላ፣ ትግርኛ ተናጋሪዎች ብቻ ያሉበት የወያኔ ሴኩሪቲ አፋኝ ቡድን ዛሬ በ80 አመቱ ቃሊቲ ወህኒ ቤት የተጣለውን የአባቴን ቤት አጥር ዘሎ ገባ። በግቢ ውስጥ በሚኖረው በርካታ ህዝብ ላይ ሽብር ፈጠረ። እኔን ወደ እስርቤት ሲወስድ፤ እዛው ግቢ ውስጥ ቆሞ ሁኔታውን በሚመለከተው አባቴና ሌሎች በግቢው ንዋሪዎች በሆኑ በርካታ ግለሰቦች ፊት አንዱ በያዘው ዱላ ጀርባየና ማጅራቴ ላይ መታኝ። የገረመኝ ዱላው አልነበረም።
ለምን ትማታለህ? የጠየቃችሁኝ አላደርግም አላልኩ? በማለት በዱላ ለመታኝ፤ በእድሜው ወጣት ለነበረው የወያኔ ሰላይ ጥያቄ እቀረብኩ። ሰውየው የሰጠኝ ምላሽ አስገራሚ ነበር። ከ15 የሚበልጡ ሰዎች እየሰሙት ‹ደብድቡት›› የሚል ትእዛዝ ተሰጥቶናል ነበር ያለው። ዱላው በእዚህ አላበቃም። አራተኛ ፖሊስ ጣብያ ከተወሰድኩ በኋዋላ ስድስት የደህንነትና የፌደራል ፖሊስ አባላት በዱላ በጠመንጃና በሽጉጥ ሰደፍ ሲቀጠቅጡኝ እርስ በርሳቸው በትግርኛ ቋንቋ
እየተናገሩ ነበር። የራሳቸውን ዘር እየቀጠቀጠ የመግዛት መብት እንዳለው፤ ለእዛም መብት ያበቃቸውን የተለየ ጀግንነት የተላበሱ መሆናቸውን በድንፋታ እየተናገሩ ነበር ዱላውን የሚያዘንቡብኝ። በደህና ቀን የተማርኳት ትግርኛ ባለጌ ስድባቸውን ለመስማት አስቻለችኝ። እንደእውነቱ ከሆነ የሰማሁትን ከሰማሁ በኋላ ጆሮየን ቢቆርጡኝ ትግርኛ የማልሰማ ቢሆን ደስ ባለኝ ነበር።
በእዛ እለት በአዲስ አበባ ንጹሃን የህዝብ ደም የሰከሩት የወያኔ ነፍሰ ገዳዮች ሁሉንም ዘር ነበር የሚሳደቡት። ለብሄር እኩልነት ቆሚያለሁ እያለ ከሚነግድ የድርጅት አባላት፤ በአደባባይ እንዲህ አይነቱ ዘረኛ ንቀት ለሁሉም የሃገሪቱ ብሄር ብሄረሰቦች ይገለጻል ብዩ አስቤ አላውቅም ነበር። በተለይ አማራ ብለው የሚጠሩትን ዘር እጅግ አጸያፊ ከዘር ጋር የተያያዘ፣ እዚህ ለመድገም የሚቀፍ ስድብ እየተሳደቡ ነበር የዱላ የርግጫ የካራቴ ናዳ ያወርዱብኝ የነበረው። ልብ በሉ ዘር የምለው ቃላት ያለምክንያት አይደለም። እነዚህ የወያኔ ሰዎች፣ ሰዎችን በደምና በአጥንታቸው እየቆጠሩ ወገናቸው አድርገው እንደሚያዩ ሁሉ ሌላውንም አጥንቱንና ደሙን መርምረው በዘሩ ጠላት አድርገው የሚፈርጁ ናቸው። ይህ ደግሞ ባለፉት አመታት ድርጊቶቻቸው የበለጠ ገሃድ የወጣ ተፈጥሮአቸው ሆኗልና የሚያከራክር አይደለም።
ወደ ደብዳቢዎቼ ስመለስ ግማሽ ፊቴን በሰደፍ አፍርሰው ኮማ ውስጥ ጨምረውኝ በጭቃ እጨቀየው የፖሊስ ጣቢያው መሬት ላይ ጥለውኝ ሄዱ። በዘር ጥላቻ ላይ የተመሰረተ ብልግና የሞላውን ድርጊታቸውን የፈጸሙት ከ700 እስከ 800 መቶ የሚሆን እስረኛ ፊት ነው። ዱላው ምንም አላማ አልነበረውም። ጥየቄ የለም። ምንም ነገር የለም። ደብድቡት የሚል ትእዛዝ የተላለፈው በወቅቱ ቅንጅትን በመደገፌ ብቻ ነበር። የኔን መንፈስና ቅስም ለመስበር ነበር።
ሌላውንም በአብዛኛው ወጣት የነበረውን እስረኛ ለማሸበር የተደረገ በጭካኔና በእብሪት የተሞላ ድርጊት ነበር።
በድብደባው የተነሳ ስንት ሰአት ወይም ደቂቃ ኮማ ውስጥ እንደቆየሁ አላውቅም። ከኮማ ስወጣ ግን ያገኘሁት ማንነቴ፤ ኮማ ውስጥ ከመግባቴ በፊት ከነበረኝ ማንነቴ የተለየ ነበር። ለደብዳቢዎቼ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከደብዳቢዎቼ ዘር ጋር ለተገናኘ ማንኛያውም ሰውና ነገር ከፍተኛ ጥላቻና ምሬት ልቤን ሞልቶት አገኘሁት። ከሚደበድቡኝ 6 የመለስ ዜናዊ አሽከሮች በላይ የሚሻገር ከሰዎቹ ትግሬነት ጋር የተሳሰረ ለዘራቸው በሙሉ መጥፎ ስሜት እንዲሰማኝ ያደረገ ጥላቻ ስብእናየን እንደአሲድ ሲበላው አገኘሁት። በጣም የሚያስፈራ የሚያስደነግጥ የሚያሳዝንና የሚያበሳጭ ስሜት ነበር።
በግሌ የማውቀውን የትግራይ እናቶች ደግነትና ሩህሩህነት፣ የትግራይ አርሶ አደር ለሰው ልጅ ያለውን ፍቅር ከህሊናዬና ከልቤ ፍቆ ማንኛውን ከትግሬነትን ጋር የተያያዘ ነገር በጠላሁበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ ሆኜ ራሴን ከሳትሁበት ሁኔታ የነቃሁት። ይህ ነበር ያሳዘነኝና ያበሳጨኝ። እነዚህ ዘረኞች እኔንም እንደእነሱ ስብእና የሌለው አውሬ ሊደርጉኝ ነው በማለት ነበር የተናደድክት። እንግዲህ አስቡት እኔ በቅርቡ ብዙ ነገር ስለትግራይ ህዝብ ምንነት የማውቅ ሰው፣ እንዳውም ከደርግ ጥይት ሸሽቴ መጠለያዬ የሆነኝን፣ በኋላም ከረሃብ ከወባ ከተስቦ ተርፌ በህይወት
እንድሰነበት በመሃከሉ አኑሮ፣ ከእዛ በችግር ከተሞላ ህይወቱ ያለውን አካፍሎ መልሶ ሰው ያደረገኝን የትግራይ ማህበረሰብ በአንድ ጨፍልቄ ለዘር ማንዘሩ ጥፋት ከተመኘሁ ሌላው የእኔ አይነት የህሊና ወቃሽና አስተዋሽ የሌለው ተመሳሳይ በደል የሚደርስበት ዜጋ ምን ሊያስብ እንደሚችል ገምቱት። በለመስ ዜናዊ የወያኔ ወታደሮች ቤቱ የተቃጠለው፤ የታረደው፣ ሚስቱን ወጣት ሴት ልጁን የተደፈረው፣ መንድሩ የጋየው፣ በገፍ የተጋዘው፣ የተዋረደው፣ የተዘረፈው፣ የዘር ማጥፋት እርምጃ የተወሰደበት መላው የሃገሪቱ ህዝብ ምን ይሰማዋል?
በእዚህ ስራ በዋንኛነት መለስ ዜናዊ የሚያሰማራቸውም የሚያምናቸውም የወያኔ ሰዎች በሙሉ የትግራይ ሰዎች ናቸው። ያው ሁላችሁም በቅርቡ ዝርዝሩን እንዳያችሁት ወታደራዊና የሴኩሪቲ ተቋማቱን በሙሉ የተቆጣጠሩት ወያኔዎች ናቸው። ከእነዚህም መሃል ከሌሎች ብሄሮች የተቀላቀሉ ጥቂት ወታደሮችና ደህንነቶች ቢኖሩም ዋናውን ስልጣን ይዘው ፍለጠው ቁረጠው ግደለው እሰረው ዝርፈው የሚለውን ትእዛዝ የሚያስተላልፉት የትግራይ ተወላጆች የወያኔ አባላት ናቸው።
እነዚህ ሰዎች የሚፈጸሙትን ግፍና አበሳ ሆን ብለው ዘረኛ የሆነ ልባስ ይሰጡታል። ሆን ብለው ስልጣኑ ያለው በእኛ በትግሬዎች እጅ ነው ምን አባክ ትሆናለህ የሚል መልአክት ነው በሁሉም ድርጊቶቻቸው ለማስተላለፍ የሚፈልጉት። ልብ በሉ ስልጣን በእኛ ወያኔዎች እጅ ነው አይሉም። በእኛ በትግሬዎች እጅ ነው የሚሉት። ግፍና በደሉ የሚደርስበት የሃገሪቱ ህዝብ የሚደርስበትን ስቃይ በዘር የተደራጁ ሃይሎች ዘር ለይተው የሚያደርሱበት የዘር ጥቃት አድርጎ እንዲያየው ሆን ብለው ተግተው እየሰሩ ነው። ይህ ጉዳይ ከወታደራዊና ከአፈና ፈርጆች አልፎ በሰልጣንና ሃብት ድልድልም አግጦ የሚታይ ሲሆን ደግሞ ሁኔታው ምን ያህል የከፋና የተወሳሰበ ሊሆን አንደሚችል ገምቱት።
አንዳንድ ሰዎች ይህ ጉዳይ ተደባብሶ አሁን የምሰጠውን ትኩረት አግኘቶ ወይይት እንዲደረግበት አይፈልጉም። በእዚህ እኔ አልስማማም። በበኩሌ ይህ ሸፋፍኖ የመሄድ ጉዳይ የትም አያደርሰንም። እንዳውም በድፍረት በአደባባይ በመነጋገር የወያኔ የዘር ፖለቲካ ከቁጥጥር ውጭ ወጥቶ ፊታች ላይ ሳይፈነዳ መፍትሄ እንድንፈልግለት ያሽችለናል ባይ ነኝ። እውነቱን ለመናገር ይህ አይነቱ ዘረኛ አመለካከት፤ የመለስ ዜናዊና የወያኔ አባላት ብቻ ችግር ነው የሚል
እምነት የለኝም።
ኋላቀርነትና ድህነት ጠፍረው በያዙት፣ ነጻነትና መብት ባልተከበረበት፣ ህዝብ ከማንኛውም አይነት ጭቆና እራሱን መከላከል የሚችልባቸው የዴሞክራሲና የፍትህ ተቋማት በሌሉበት ሃገር ውስጥ የሚገኝ ኋላቀር ልሂቅና ምሁር ወያኔ ስራ ላይ ባዋለው ተመሳሳይ የዘር ፖለቲካ በቀላሉ ለስልጣንና ለጥቅም እበቃለሁ ብሎ የሚያስብ መሆኑን መረዳት ይኖርብናል።
በእኔ አመለካከት የወያኔ ዘረኛ አመለካከትና ደርጊት፤ ሌላው ህዝብ ወገኑ የሆነውን የትግራይን ህዝብ የሚያይበትን አይን ብቻ አይደልም እያቀላ ያለው። ሌሎችም በሃገርቱ ውስጥ የሚገኙ የተለያዩ ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት ወይም ብሄረሰቦች የየራሳቸውን አክራሪ ዘረኛነት እንዲኖራቸው እያደረገም ነው። ሰዎች ከራሳቸው ዘር ውጭ ሌላውን ማመን የማይችሉበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ እየገቡ ለመሆናቸው በርካታ ማስረጃዎች አሉ። በጋራ ሁላችንም በሰውነታችን ብቻ ልንቀበላቸው የሚገቡ፣ ዘርን፤ ቋንቋንና ባህልን ተሻግረው ሊያስተሳስሩን የሚገቡ ጉዳዮችን፤ ለምሳሌ ውበትን፣
ፍትህንና እውነትን የመሳሰሉ ቁም ነገሮች፣ ትርጉም የሚኖራቸው በዘር መነጽር እስካየናቸው ብቻ የሆነበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ እየገባን ነው። ይህ ደግሞ ቀደም ብዩ የጠቀስኩትን ዶስቶቭስኪ የገለጸውን ገሃነብ በሃገራችን መገንባት ጀምረናል ማለት ነው።
እስቲ አስቡት ከፊት ለፊታችን የምናያት፣ የውበት ጸዳልዋ መንገዱን ሞልቶ በሩቁ ያደነቅናት ወጣት አጠገባችን ደርሳ በደንብ ስናውቃት ኦሮሞ/አማራ/ትግሬ ወይም ከእኛ ዘር ውጭ በመሆንዋ ብቻ ውበቷ ትርጉም የሚያጣ ከሆነ፤ በንጽህና ሳቃቸው ልባችንን የሚሰርቁት የህጻናት ድምጽ የሚነካን ህጻናቱ ከራሳችን ዘር መምጣቸውን ስናውቅ ብቻ ከሆነ፤ ለልጇ ሞት አምራ የምታለቅስ እናት ሃዘኗ የሚሰማን የእኛ ከምንለው ዘር ብቻ ከመጣች ከሆነ፤ እስቲ አስቡት ምን
አይነት ሃገርና ማህበረሰብ እየፈጠርን ነው? እውነትም በጥላቻ የተሞላ የመውደድና የማፍቀር አቅማቻን የተሰለበበትን በስቃይ የተሞላውን ምድራዊ ገሃነብ እየገነባን ነው ማለት ነው።
ከልቤ ነው፣ ከወያኔ ዘረኛ እምነትና ተግባር ተምረን በግዜ ሁላችንም ብሄረሰብን/ዘውግን ወይም ዘርን በሚመለከት የያዝነውን የፖለቲካ ቅኝት ለመፈተሽና በእዚህ ከዘር ጋር በተያያዘ ፖለቲካ ውስጥ ያሰፈሰፈውን ለአንዳችንም የማይበጅ የጥፋት መርዝ በግዜ ካልነቀልነው የኢትዮጵያና የዜጎቿ መከራና ጣር ማለቂያ አይኖረውም። አሁን ከምናየው ደረጃ በሽዎች እጥፍ የሚያድግበትን ሁኔታ ልንፈጥር እንችላላን የሚል ስጋት አለኝ።
ወያኔ ዛሬ እራሱ በተግባር እያዋለው ያለው ዘረኛነት እየቀሰቀስ ያለው ቁጣ የተለያዩ መገለጫዎች አሉት። አንዱና አስፈሪ የሆነው መገለጫ የዘር ስሜትን ማጠናከር ነው። በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተን ጥላቻ ማስፋፈትን ነው። ወያኔ የራሱን የዘረኛት እምነት ለማስፋፋትና ዘረኛ የሆነውን አገዛዙን ለማጠናከር የቻለው በሃገራችን ውስጥ የተለያዩ ብሄር ብሄረሰቦች፣ ወይም ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት የመኖራቸውን ሃቅ ለእኩይ አለማው መጠቀሚያ በማድረግ ነው። ሃገራችንም እነዚህን ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት ለማሰባሰብ ይሁን የተሰባሰቡትን ይዞ ለመቀጠል የቻለችበት ታሪኳ፤ በስቃይ፣ በመከራ፤ በእንባና በደም የተለወሰ አንድ አሳዛኘ ገጽታ ያለው መሆኑን ሃቅ ለመሰሪ አላማው መገልገያ በማድረግ ነው። ይህንንም የታሪክ ገጽታ ወያኔ መዘርጋት ለፈለገው ዘረኛ ስርአት መጠቀሚያ ለማድረግ ቆርጦ በመነሳቱ ነው።
ወያኔ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የተቀሰቀሰውንና ለረጅም ዘመናት የቆየውን ፍትሃዊ የሆነ የዘውጎች/የብሄር ብሄረሰቦች የእኩልነት ጥያቄ ወደ ዘር ጥላቻ እንዲቀየር በማደረግ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ከፋፍሎ ለመግዛት ተጠቀመበት። ወያኔ ብሄር/ ብሄረሰቦች ወይም የዘውግ ማህበረሰቦች ያነሷቸውን፣ በማእከላዊ መንግስት ጉዳዮች ጭምር የመወሰን መብት ጥያቄ፤ ራስን በራስ የማስተዳደር ጥያቄ፣ ቋንቋን የመጠቀም ባህልን የማበልጽግ ጥያቄ፣ በዋንኛነት ይህ ጥያቄ ከሚመለከታቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ዜጎች ቀምቶ፤ ዘመናዊነት ያልቀበረውን የጨለማ ዘመን የትግራይ መሳፍንቶች የስልጣንና የጥቅም ሽኩቻ በአዲስ መልኩ ነፍስ ዘርቶበት ከደደቢት በረሃ ተንደርድሮ አዲስ አበባ ከምኒልክ ቤተመንግሰት ከች ያለ ድርጅት ነው።
ዛሬ በሃገራችን ዜጎች ወይም የሰው ልጆች ምርጫ ሳይኖራቸው የተወለዱበትን የዘውግ ቡድን/ዘር/ ብሄረሰብ፣ ማለትም ኦሮሞነትን፣ አማራነትን፣ ጉራጌነትን፣ ሲዳማነትን፣ አኝዋክነትን መለያ ያደረገ ጥቃት እየደረሰባቸው ነው። የመገደል፣ የመታሰር፣ የመዋረድ፣ ምክንያቶች በዘር መለያ የሚታደል ሆኗል። የመደህየት፣ የመሰደድ፣ በበሽታ የማለቅ እድላቸው፣ በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ ሆኗል። ለስልጣን፣ ለሃብት፣ ለከፍተኛ ትምህርት የሚታጩበት ወይም
የማይታጩበት እድል በዋንኛነት በዘር ማንነት ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው። ይህ ሁኔታ እኛና እነሱ የሚልን መከፋፈል መፍጠሩ የማይቀር ነው። እራሱን ተጠቃሚ አድርጎ የሚያየው የአንድ ዘውግ ቡድን አገኘሁት የሚለውን ጥቅም በማናቸውም ኪሳራ ለመከላከል ሲሞክር፣ ከጥቅም የተገለለውም ደግሞ በማናቸውም ኪሳራ የተቀማውን ጥቅምና መብት ለማስመለስ ሲታገል መጨረሻው ፍጥጫ ግጭትና እልቂት እንደሚሆን የታወቀ ነው። ወያኔ በሃገራችን የዘረጋው ዘረኛ ስርአት እንዲህ አይነቱን ሁኔታ በIትዮጵያ ውስጥ በማንገስ ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው።
ወያኔ በጉልበት የያዘውን ስልጣንና ከእዚህም ስልጣን ጋር ተያይዞ የሚያኪያሂደውን አጅግ ዘግናኝ የሆነ ዘረፋ፣ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ ከመግፋት ሌላ አማራጭ የለውም። ይህ ዘረኛነት ሌላውን በዘር ለይቶ መበደል ብቻ ሳይሆን፤ በእዚህ በደል የተነሳ በሌላው ወገን የሚነሳውን ፍትሃዊ ተቃውሞ መቋቋም እችላለሁ ብሎ ወያኔ የሚያምነው ሁሉንም የትግራይ ተወላጅ በወያኔ ስርአት ተጠቃሚ እንደሆነ አድርጎ እንዲያምን ሌላውም ህዝብ ይህን እውነት ነው ብሎ
እንዲቀበል በማድርግ ነው። የትግራይ ህዝብ ህልውና፣ ከወያኔ ህልውና ጋር የተቆራኘ እንደሆነ ያለወያኔ የትግራይ ህዝብ መብቱም ጥቅሙም ህልውናውም እንደማይኖር ለማሳመን በመጣር ነው።
የወያኔ ዘረኛነት በሃገራችን ከእዚህ ቀደም ታይቶ የማይታወቅ ርእዮተ አለማዊ ሽፋን ያለው ዘረኛነት እያስፋፋ ነው። በሃገሪቱ ውስጥ በሚገኙት ህዝቦች የስብእና መዋረድ፣ መራቆትና መደህየት፣ የመብት ገፈፋና ረገጣ ወያኔ የሚያምንበት የትግራይነት ምንነት/ identity መገንቢያ ለማድረግ አቅዶ የሚንቀሳቀስ ነው። ይህንን ለማደረግ የታሪክ ጭብጦችን ማጣመም፣ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከትግራይ ህዝብ ጋር የሚጋራው ታሪክ እንደሌለው መዋሸት ልማዱ ነው። ከእዚህም አልፎ ወያኔ ለአባላቱ የሚያስተላልፈው መልእክት ወርቅና ምርጦች ናችሁና ምርጥ ምርጡ ይገባችኋል የሚል ነው። ወያኔ እየሞከረ ያለው፤ የዘውግ አፓርታይድ/ethnic Apartheid በኢትዮጵያ በመገንባት በዘር አንደኛና ሁለተኛ ደረጃ የተፈረጁ ዜጎች በአንድ ሃገር ላይ ለመፍጠር ነው።
ይህ የወያኔ መርሃ ግብር ምን ያህል ተሳክቷል የሚለው ጥያቄ ሳይንሳዊ መልስ የሚሰጠው ባይሆንም በእዚህ የወያኔ መሪዎች በእብደት የተሞላ እምነት እየተለከፈ ያለውን የሰው ቁጥር ለፖለቲካ ድለላ ብለን ማሳነሱ ተገቢ አይመስለኝም። ይህ መሰሪ የሆነ የወያኔ ድርጊት የማታ ማታ የሚኖረውን አስከፊ መዘዝ በሚገባ ተረድተው በግዜ ወያኔ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ እየበከለ ያለውን የትግራይ ማህበረሰብና ወያኔ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ በሌላው የIትዮጵያ ህዝብ ላይ የሚያደርሰውን አይን ያወጣ በደል፣ ግፍና ዘረፋ መቃወም ያለባቸው በዋነኛነት እራሳቸው የትግራይ ተወላጆች ናቸው። የትግራይ ምሁራንና ዴሞክራት፣ የትግራይ የፖለቲካ ልሂቃን ከፍተኛ መስዋእትንት እየከፈሉም ቢሆን የወያኔንን ዘረኛ አደገኛ አመለካከትና ድርጊት በተግባር መታገል የሚገባቸው እነሱ ናቸው። ይህን የወያኔ አደገኛ አመለካከትና ድርጊት የሚኮንኑኑን የሌሎች ዘውጌ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በጸረ ትግሬነት መኮነኑን ትተው በቅድሚ ማውገዝ የሚገባቸው የወያኔን ፋሽቶችንና ዘራፊዎችን ሊሆን ይገባል። የጸረ ዘረኛት የቤት ስራችንን ሁላችንም ተባብረን እንድንሰራ ከተፈለገ ይህንን የተቀደሰ የጋራ አላማ በዋንኛነት መምራት የሚገባቸው እነዚሁ አርቆ አሳቢ የትግራይ ምሁራንና ልሂቃን ናቸው የሚል እምነት አለኝ።
ሌሎቻችን ባለንበት ወቅት ማድረግ የሚገባን ጉዳይ ቢኖር ለራሳችን ክብር ደህንነት ቅድሚያ ሰጥተን ወያኔ በምንም አይንት መንገድ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ አዋርዶ ሊገዛን የማንፈቅድለት መሆኑን በተግባር ማሳየት ነው። የዘረጋውን ዘረኛ ስርአት አወላለቅን በቦታው ሁሉንም ዜጎች፣ ወያኔ ነጻ አወጣዋለሁ የሚለውን የትግራይንም ህዝብ ጨምሮ በእኩልነት የሚያስተናግድ ፍትሃዊ ስርአት ለመመስረት ቆርጠን መነሳት ነው። ይህ አስቸጋሪ ትግል የሚጠይቀውን ማናቸውንም
መስዋአትንት ለመክፈል መዘጋጀት ነው። በቃን የማለት ቁርጠኛነት መያዝ ማለት ነው።
ሌላው ከእዚህ የቁርጠኛነት ውሳኔ ጋር ማድርግ የሚገባን ነገር፤ ከወያኔ ዘረኛነት ምን ተምረናል የሚል ጥያቄ ማንሳት ነው። ይህ ጥያቄ በሃገራችን ልንፈጥረው የምንፈልገው የፖለቲካ ስርአት ወያኔ ከተደፈቀበት የዘረኛነት አደጋ እራሱን አንዴት መከላከል ይችላል? የሚል ሊሆን ይገባዋል።
ከወያኔ ዘረኛ አካሄድ መማር የሚገባን የወያኔ ዘረኛት ባስመረረን ቁጥር እያንዳንዳችን የራሳችንን በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ አጥር በመስራት ችግሩን ልንፈታወ የማንችል መሆኑን ነው። የዘር አጥር መገንባት የወያኔ ዘረኛነት በጋራ ለመታገል የምንችልበትን ጉልበት በታትነን ከሃገሪቱ ህዝብ 6 በመቶ የማይሞላውን ትግራይን እወክላለሁ ለሚል ኋላ ቀር ቡድን ራሳችንን መቀለጃ በማድርግ ለሚደርስብን ውርደት እራሳችንን ተባባሪዎች አደርገን ማቅረብ ይሆናል። ከወያኔ ጋር የምናደርገውን ትግል እኛም እንደወያኔ በዘር ተከፋፈለን እንግፋው ብንል በዋንኛነት ተጠቃሚው ወያኔ ነው። በሃገራችን ሌላው ቀርቶ ሁለቱ ትልልቅ ዘውጌ ማህበራሰባት ኦሮሞውና አማራው ብቻ በወያኔ መረገጥ በቃን ብለው ቢነሱ፤ የተቀረቱንም ወያኔ የዘር ማጥፋት እርምጃ ሳይቀር የወሰደባቸውን አናሳ ዘውጌ ማህበራት ማስተባበር ቢችሉ፤ ወያኔ አስራ ስምንት አመት ቀርቶ አስራ ስምንት ወር ይህንን አይን ያወጣ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ የተደራጀ ግፍና ዘረፋ እየፈጸመ መሰንበት የማይችል እንደነበር ማወቅ ይኖርብናል።
ሌላው ትልቁ ቁምነገር የወያኔን ዘረኛነት ለመታገል ሁሉም የዘረኛነት ግንብ የሚገነባ ከሆነ፣ ዘረኛ ጦሩን የሚስል ከሆነ፤ በዘረኛ መንገድ ወታደራዊ ጉልበቱንና ሃብቱን አስቀድሞ ያደራጃውን ወያኔን ታግሎ የማስወገድ እድሉ ጠባብ እንደሚሆን ነው። ትግሉ ወያኔ ላይ ብቻ ያነጣጠረ ሳይሆን በየራሱ ዘር ተደራጅቶ ሊያጠቃኝ ይችላል ከሚል ሌላም ዘር ጋር ጭምር መሆኑ አይቀርምና። ከእዚህም አልፎ በአንድ አጋጣሚም ይህ ወያኔን የመጣል የተለያዩ ድርጅቶች የተናጠል ትግል ቢሳካ መጨረሻው የወያኔን ዘረኛ ስርአት በሌላ ዘረኛ ስርአት መተካት ይሆናል። የእዚህ ውጤት ደግሞ ማለቂያ የሌለው የዘር ፍጥጫ፣ ግጭት ማቀጣጠል ይሆናል። ይህ የሚያስገነዝበን ዘረኛውን ወያኔን ታግለን ለማሸነፍ፤ አሸንፈንም ሁሉም የሃገሪቱ ዜጎች ያለምን መድለዎ በሰላምና በእርጋታ መኖር የሚችሉበትን ሁኔታ መፍጠር የምንችለው ገና ካሁኑ ዘረኛነትን የዘለለ የፖለቲካ ንድፈሃሳብና አደረጃጀት የሚያስፈልገን መሆኑን
ተገንዝበን ይህንንም እውን ለማድረግ ተግተን ከሰራን ብቻ ነው።
ቀደም ብዬ እንደጠቀስኩት የወያኔ ዘረኛነት መነሻው ፍትሃዊ የሆነውን የብሄረሰቦች/ የዘውግ ማህበረሰቦች የመብት ጥያቄ በዋንኛነት ከሚመለከታቸው የሃገሪቱ ዜጎች ቀምቶ፤ እነዚህን የመብትና የእኩልነት ጥያቄዎች ወያኔ ሊገነባው ላሰበው ዘረኛ ስርአት መሳሪያዎች ስላደረጋቸው ነው። ወያኔ ይህን ማድርግ የቻለው የዘውግ ስሜት ሃገራዊ የሆነውን የዜግነት ስሜት በፕሮፓጋንዳም ይሁን በአደረጃጀት ደረጃ እንዲረግጠው ማድረግ በመቻሉ ነው። እኛም ስለፈቀድልነት ነው። በሃገራችን ሁላችንም ፍትሃዊነቱን የምንቀበለው የዘውግ እኩልነት ጥያቄ አንድ አይነት ሃገራዊ መጠብቅ ካልተደረገለት በቀላሉ ራሱን ወደ እኛ እና እነሱ ወደሚሉ ዘረኛ ክፍፍሎች የሚወስድ መሆኑን ካለፉት 18 አመታት ታሪካችን የተማርነው ነው። ደጋግሞ ደጋግሞ እንደታየውም የዘውግ የእኩልነት ጥያቄን ከሃገሪቱ ዜጎች በሙሉ የዜግነት መብት ጥያቄ ጋር ሳያስተሳስሩ ሰዎችን አጥንትና ደማቸውን እየመነዘሩ የሚያሰባስቡ ድርጅቶች ውለው አድረው የሚያጠናክሩት ዘረኛነትን ብቻ ነው።
ይህን አደጋ መጠቆም ፍትሃዊ የሆነው የዘውግ እኩልነት ዴሞከራሲያዊ ጥያቄዎችን እንርሳ፣ እንደሌሉ አድርግን እንቁጠራቸው ማለት አይደለም። የዘውግ/ የብሄር/ብሄረሰብ የእኩልነት ጥያቄዎችን ዘረኛ አመለካከትንና አደረጃጀትን ሳናጠናከር ምላሽ የምንሰጥበትን ሁኔታ እንፍጠር ለማለት ብቻ ነው። ይህን ማድረግ የምንችለው የሁሉንም የሃገሪቱን ዜጎች፤ በየትኛውም የሃገሪቱ ክፍል ይኑሩ፣ ሁሉም በዜግነታቸው የሚገቧቸውና ሊገሰሱ የማይችሉ መብቶች በማስቀመጥ ብቻ ነው። በእዚህ መብቶች መከበር ዙሪያ ሁሉም ዜጎች በጋራ ታግለው፣ በዜግነታቸው የሚኮሩበት ሃገራዊ የፖለቲካ ስርአት መፍጠር የዘረኛነትን አደጋ መከላከያው ቁልፍ መሳሪያ ነው።
የዘውግ እኩልነት ፍትሃዊ ጥያቄ በሃገር ውሰጥ ዜጎች መብታቸው በመከበሩ የተከበረ መብት መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ ስንችል በዘውግ ማንነታችንና በአንድ ሃገር ዜግነታችን መሃክል ያለው ቅራኔ ይጠፋል። ወያኔ እንደሚለው የአንድ ሃገር ዜግነታችንና የአንድ ዘውጌ ማህበረሰብ አባልነታችን በተፎካካሪነት ወይም በእኩልነት የምናስቀምጥበት ሁኔታ ከተፈጠረ ግን በእነዚህ ሁለት ስሜቶች ማሃከል የሚፈጠረው መሳሳብ ለሁላችንም የጋራ የሆነች ሃገር በመፍጠሩ ስራችን ላይ ትልቅ አደጋ የሚያስከትል መሆኑን መረዳት ይኖርብናል። የዘውግ መብቴን የማታከብር ኢትዮጵያ ትበጣጠስ የሚል የዘውግ አባል በተበጣጠሰች ኢትዮጵያ ወስጥ ሰላምና እርጋታ አግኝቶ የራሱን ሃገር ፈጥሮ የዘውግ መብቱን ማስከበር የሚችልበት ሁኔታ እውን ሊመጣ ይችላል ወይ ብሎ ሊጠይቅ ይገባዋል። በበኩሌ ይህ ሁኔታ ሲፈጠር ማየት ስለማልችል የዘውግ መብት እንዲከበር የሚታገሉ ሁሉ ጠንካራና ዴሞክራሲያዊት ኢትዮጵያን መገንባትም የእዚሁ ትግላቸው ዋንኛው አካል አድርገው ሊያዩትና ሃላፊነትም ወስደው ሊዋደቁለት የሚገባ ጉዳይ ነው የሚል እምንት አለኝ። ሃገራዊ ፖለቲካ የሚያስተሳስራቸው፣ ለሃገራዊ ዴሞክራሲዊና ፍትሃዊ ተቋማት መኖር በጋራ የሚታገሉ የአንድ ሃገር ዜጎች ከሌሉ፤ ሁሉም የዘውግ ማንነቱን ከዜግነቱ አስቀድሞ የሚቆምበት ሁኔታ ከተፈጠረ የዘረኛነትን ሸርተቴ ማስቆም እንደማንችል ማወቅ ይኖርብናል።
ወያኔ አስካሁን ከነብልግናው በሁላችንም ጫንቃ ላይ መሰንበት የቻለው፣ ሌሎች ዘውጌ ማህበረሰቦችን በተለይ ትልልቆቹን የሃገሪቱን ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት፤ በዘውግ ፖለቲካ አጥንት ንክሻ ላይ ብቻ እንዲረባረቡ ማድረግ በመቻሉ ነው። ወያኔ ግን የፌደራል አገዛዙን ሃብት፣ ጉልበት ጠቅልሎ የያዘበት፣ የሃገሪቱን የውጭ ጉዳይ ፖሊሲ ለራሱ ዘረኛ የስልጣን እድሜ ማራዘሚያ አድርጎ መቅረጽ በመቻሉ ነው።
ከእዚህ የምንወስደው ትምህርት ግልጽ ነው። ሁላችንም፤ አስከዛሬ ድረስ በራሳቸው የዘውግ ፖለቲካ አጀንዳዎች ዙሪያ ሲሽከረከሩ የነበሩ ግለሰቦችና ቡድኖችን ጨምሮ፣ ሃገራዊ ለሆነው የፖለቲካ ምህዳር ትኩረት መስጠት፤ የወያኔ ኋላቀር አመለካከትና ድርጊት ወደ ነበረበት የታሪክ ቆሻሻ መመለሻው ቁልፍ መሳሪያ መሆኑን ነው።
በተለይ ራሳቸውን በዘውግ የአደራጁ ቡድኖች የዘውጋቸውን አበላት ብቻ ሳይሆን ሁሉንም ዜጎች የሚመለከቱ ሃገራዊ አጀንዳዎችን ማንሳት፣ በሃገር ደረጃ የሚፈጠረውን የፖለቲካ ስርአት ቅርጽ መስጠት፣ አልፎ ተርፎም ሃገራዊ ትግሉን የመምራታ ሃላፊነትና ግዴታ አለባቸው። ይህንን ለማድረግ ችሎታው ብቃቱና ሰፊ ህዝባዊ መሰረት እንዳላቸው በፍጥነት ተረድተው ቢንቀሳቀሱ የራሳቸውን የዘውግ አበላት ብቻ ሳይሆን የተቀረውንም ኢትዮጵያዊ ወገናቸውን የመከራ ቀን በማሳጠር የሚጫወቱት ወሳኝ ሚና ይኖራል የሚል እምነት አለኝ።
የጸረ ወያኔ ትግላችን እንዲሳካ፤ የሃገራችን በርካታ ትውልዶች የዜግነትና የዘውግ እኩልነት መብቶቻቸው እንዲከበሩ የከፈሉት ማለቂያ የሌለው መስወአትነት ውጤት እንዲፈራ፣ ከድህነት ከስደት መላቀቅ ከፈለግን ወያኔ በሃገራችን ፖለቲካ ውስጥ የፈጠራቸውን በተለይ ከዘር ጋር የተያያዙ አዳዲስ ተግዳረቶች/challenges የሚመጥን የፖለቲካ አመለካከትና የአደረጃጀት ለውጥ ማድርግ ይኖርብናል።
የዘመኑን የፖለቲካ ፈተና ተግዳሮት/ challenge በነባሩ የፖለቲካ አመለካከትና አደረጃጀት እስርቤቶች ውስጥ ሆነን ልናልፈው አንችልም። የኔ ተስፋ ይህ ግንዛቤ በሁላችንም ውስጥ በፍጥነት ተጭሮ በጋራ ትግል የወያኔን ዘረኛ አምባገነናዊ ስርአት በሃጋራችን የመጨረሻው አምባገነናዊ አገዛዝ ለማድረግ የምንችልበት የትግል ምእራፍ በፍጥነት ሲጀምር ማየት ነው። ይህ ተስፋ ብቻ ሳይሆን ተጨባጭ የሆነ ድርጊት ሊሆን እንደሚችል አመላካች ነገሮች
ይታዩኛል።
የግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ ጥሪ፣ ሁላችንም ይህ ጎደላት በማንላት የIትዮጵያ ውስጥ በዜግነታችን ኮርተን፣ ሁሉም አይነት ሰብአዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ መብቶቻችን ተከብረው ተፋቅረን/ተዋደን የምንኖርባት ሃገር በቅርቡ ለማየት በጋራ ለትግል እንድንነሳ ነው። ይህን በማድረግ ሩስያዊው ዶስቶቭስኪ ካስጠነቀቀን ገሃነብ ራሳችንንና መጪውን ትውልድ ለማዳን በጋራ በወያኔ ላይ እንድንነሳ ነው።
አመሰግናለሁ
አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ
www.ginbot7.org
(ሐምሌ 5 ቀን 2001 ዓም፣ ሚነሶታ አሜሪካ በግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ስብሰባ ላይ የቀረበ ንግግር)
እያቆሰለንና እያደማን ስለመጣው የወያኔ ዘረኛነት ሁላችንም እናውቃለን። ዝርዝሩን ማቅረብ አያስፈልግም። ይህ ዘረኛነት እያስከተለ ስላለው መዘዝና ሁላችንም ይህንን መርዘኛ መዘዝ ለመታገል ምን ማድረግ እንደሚገባን ጥቂት ከማለቴ በፊት ለመግቢያ ወይም አንዳንድ ሰዎች እንደሚሉት ለመዋዣ እንዲሆነን በሚቀጥለው ነጥብ ልጀምር።
ወደ አሜሪካ ጉዞዬን ስጀምር የጉዞ ባልደረባዬ እንዲሆን የመረጥኩት መጽሃፍ የታዋቂውን ሩሲያዊ የፈዮዶር ዶስቶቭሰኬ ዘ ብራዘርስ ካራማዞቭ የተሰኘውን መጽሃፍ ነበር።
የኔ ትውልድ እንዲህ አይነቶቹን መጽሃፍት የማንበብ ልምድ የነበረው ቢሆንም እያደር እንደተረዳሁት እነዚህን መጽሃፍት ያነበብንበት እድሜያችን፤ የህይወት ተመክሮአችን፣ ያነበብነበት የአእምሮ ቅላጼ/mind set፣ የቋንቋ ችሎታችን ደካማነትና ሌሎችም ነገሮች በአንድ ላይ ተደምረው፤ የእነዚህን ድንቅ ስነጽሁፎች ለዛና ውበት አጣጥመንና መልክቶቻቸውንም ተረድተነው ነበር የሚል እምነት እንዳይኖረኝ አድርገውኛል። በእዚህ የተነሳ ከቅርብ ግዜ ወዲህ እነዚህን መጽሃፍት እንደገና ማንበብ ጀምሪያለሁ። እየገረመኝ ያለው ነገር በወጣትነት እድሜ ያላየሁዋቸው በርካታ ቁም ነገሮች በእነዚህ መጽሃፍት ውስጥ ማየት መጀመሬ ነው። ታላላቆቼ ‹‹ህይወት ትምህርቱ የማያልቅበት ዩኒቨርስቲ ነው›› ሲሉ እየሰማሁ በማደጌ በልጅነት ድንቁርናዬ መገረም የለብኝም።
ዶስቶቭስሲ ዘ ብራዘርስ ካራማዞቭ በተሰኘው መጽሃፉ ውስጥ አባ ዞሲማ የተባሉትን አረጋዊ ገጸ ባህርይ፤ አንደበቱ አድርጎ ‹‹ገሀነብ ምንድነው››? የሚል ጥያቄ አንስቶ ምላሹን በእኝሁመንፈሳዊ ሰው አንደበት ሲመልስ እንዲህ ብሎናል።
‹‹ገሃነብ ማለት የሰው ልጅ ለማፍቀር/ለመውደድ ያለው ተፈጥሮው በመስረቁ/በመሟጠጡ የሚገጥመው መከራ/ስቃይ ማለት ነው።›› ይለናል።
እውነቱን ልንገራችሁ፤ ወገኖቼ!!
ስለገሃነብ ብዙ ትርጉሞች ሰምቻለሁ እንደእዚህ የገሃነብ ትርጉም ግን አእምሮዬ ውስጥ ተቀርቅሮ የቀረ የለም። አእምሮዬ ውስጥ ተቀርቅሮ የቀረው ግን ያለምክንያት አይደለም። በግሌ ለአባባሉ ትልቅ ክብደት እንድሰጥ ያደረገኝ ወያኔ ስልጣን በሃገራችን ከያዘ ጀምሮ በሃገራችን የከፈተው ፈታኝ ዘመን ነው። የወያኔ የዘር ፖለቲካ ስብእናችን እየሰረሰ በአንድ ሃገር ውስጥ የምንኖር ዜጎች አንዳችን በሌላው ጥርጣሬ እንዲኖረን፣ አንዳችን የሌላውን ውበት ማድነቅ፣ የሌላውን ሳቅ መሳቅ የሌላውን ስቃይ መቁሰል በማንችልበት የጥላቻ እስርቤት ውስጥ እየጨመረን ነው የሚል ስጋት ስለሚሰማኝ ነው።
ምንም ነገር እንደራስ ልምድና ተመክሮ አስተማሪነት ያለው ስለማይሆን ይህንን ሰጋቴን ለመግለጽ ከራሴ ታሪክ ልነሳ።
እንደ አውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር 2005 ሰኔ ወር ከምርጫው በኋላ፣ ትግርኛ ተናጋሪዎች ብቻ ያሉበት የወያኔ ሴኩሪቲ አፋኝ ቡድን ዛሬ በ80 አመቱ ቃሊቲ ወህኒ ቤት የተጣለውን የአባቴን ቤት አጥር ዘሎ ገባ። በግቢ ውስጥ በሚኖረው በርካታ ህዝብ ላይ ሽብር ፈጠረ። እኔን ወደ እስርቤት ሲወስድ፤ እዛው ግቢ ውስጥ ቆሞ ሁኔታውን በሚመለከተው አባቴና ሌሎች በግቢው ንዋሪዎች በሆኑ በርካታ ግለሰቦች ፊት አንዱ በያዘው ዱላ ጀርባየና ማጅራቴ ላይ መታኝ። የገረመኝ ዱላው አልነበረም።
ለምን ትማታለህ? የጠየቃችሁኝ አላደርግም አላልኩ? በማለት በዱላ ለመታኝ፤ በእድሜው ወጣት ለነበረው የወያኔ ሰላይ ጥያቄ እቀረብኩ። ሰውየው የሰጠኝ ምላሽ አስገራሚ ነበር። ከ15 የሚበልጡ ሰዎች እየሰሙት ‹ደብድቡት›› የሚል ትእዛዝ ተሰጥቶናል ነበር ያለው። ዱላው በእዚህ አላበቃም። አራተኛ ፖሊስ ጣብያ ከተወሰድኩ በኋዋላ ስድስት የደህንነትና የፌደራል ፖሊስ አባላት በዱላ በጠመንጃና በሽጉጥ ሰደፍ ሲቀጠቅጡኝ እርስ በርሳቸው በትግርኛ ቋንቋ
እየተናገሩ ነበር። የራሳቸውን ዘር እየቀጠቀጠ የመግዛት መብት እንዳለው፤ ለእዛም መብት ያበቃቸውን የተለየ ጀግንነት የተላበሱ መሆናቸውን በድንፋታ እየተናገሩ ነበር ዱላውን የሚያዘንቡብኝ። በደህና ቀን የተማርኳት ትግርኛ ባለጌ ስድባቸውን ለመስማት አስቻለችኝ። እንደእውነቱ ከሆነ የሰማሁትን ከሰማሁ በኋላ ጆሮየን ቢቆርጡኝ ትግርኛ የማልሰማ ቢሆን ደስ ባለኝ ነበር።
በእዛ እለት በአዲስ አበባ ንጹሃን የህዝብ ደም የሰከሩት የወያኔ ነፍሰ ገዳዮች ሁሉንም ዘር ነበር የሚሳደቡት። ለብሄር እኩልነት ቆሚያለሁ እያለ ከሚነግድ የድርጅት አባላት፤ በአደባባይ እንዲህ አይነቱ ዘረኛ ንቀት ለሁሉም የሃገሪቱ ብሄር ብሄረሰቦች ይገለጻል ብዩ አስቤ አላውቅም ነበር። በተለይ አማራ ብለው የሚጠሩትን ዘር እጅግ አጸያፊ ከዘር ጋር የተያያዘ፣ እዚህ ለመድገም የሚቀፍ ስድብ እየተሳደቡ ነበር የዱላ የርግጫ የካራቴ ናዳ ያወርዱብኝ የነበረው። ልብ በሉ ዘር የምለው ቃላት ያለምክንያት አይደለም። እነዚህ የወያኔ ሰዎች፣ ሰዎችን በደምና በአጥንታቸው እየቆጠሩ ወገናቸው አድርገው እንደሚያዩ ሁሉ ሌላውንም አጥንቱንና ደሙን መርምረው በዘሩ ጠላት አድርገው የሚፈርጁ ናቸው። ይህ ደግሞ ባለፉት አመታት ድርጊቶቻቸው የበለጠ ገሃድ የወጣ ተፈጥሮአቸው ሆኗልና የሚያከራክር አይደለም።
ወደ ደብዳቢዎቼ ስመለስ ግማሽ ፊቴን በሰደፍ አፍርሰው ኮማ ውስጥ ጨምረውኝ በጭቃ እጨቀየው የፖሊስ ጣቢያው መሬት ላይ ጥለውኝ ሄዱ። በዘር ጥላቻ ላይ የተመሰረተ ብልግና የሞላውን ድርጊታቸውን የፈጸሙት ከ700 እስከ 800 መቶ የሚሆን እስረኛ ፊት ነው። ዱላው ምንም አላማ አልነበረውም። ጥየቄ የለም። ምንም ነገር የለም። ደብድቡት የሚል ትእዛዝ የተላለፈው በወቅቱ ቅንጅትን በመደገፌ ብቻ ነበር። የኔን መንፈስና ቅስም ለመስበር ነበር።
ሌላውንም በአብዛኛው ወጣት የነበረውን እስረኛ ለማሸበር የተደረገ በጭካኔና በእብሪት የተሞላ ድርጊት ነበር።
በድብደባው የተነሳ ስንት ሰአት ወይም ደቂቃ ኮማ ውስጥ እንደቆየሁ አላውቅም። ከኮማ ስወጣ ግን ያገኘሁት ማንነቴ፤ ኮማ ውስጥ ከመግባቴ በፊት ከነበረኝ ማንነቴ የተለየ ነበር። ለደብዳቢዎቼ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከደብዳቢዎቼ ዘር ጋር ለተገናኘ ማንኛያውም ሰውና ነገር ከፍተኛ ጥላቻና ምሬት ልቤን ሞልቶት አገኘሁት። ከሚደበድቡኝ 6 የመለስ ዜናዊ አሽከሮች በላይ የሚሻገር ከሰዎቹ ትግሬነት ጋር የተሳሰረ ለዘራቸው በሙሉ መጥፎ ስሜት እንዲሰማኝ ያደረገ ጥላቻ ስብእናየን እንደአሲድ ሲበላው አገኘሁት። በጣም የሚያስፈራ የሚያስደነግጥ የሚያሳዝንና የሚያበሳጭ ስሜት ነበር።
በግሌ የማውቀውን የትግራይ እናቶች ደግነትና ሩህሩህነት፣ የትግራይ አርሶ አደር ለሰው ልጅ ያለውን ፍቅር ከህሊናዬና ከልቤ ፍቆ ማንኛውን ከትግሬነትን ጋር የተያያዘ ነገር በጠላሁበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ ሆኜ ራሴን ከሳትሁበት ሁኔታ የነቃሁት። ይህ ነበር ያሳዘነኝና ያበሳጨኝ። እነዚህ ዘረኞች እኔንም እንደእነሱ ስብእና የሌለው አውሬ ሊደርጉኝ ነው በማለት ነበር የተናደድክት። እንግዲህ አስቡት እኔ በቅርቡ ብዙ ነገር ስለትግራይ ህዝብ ምንነት የማውቅ ሰው፣ እንዳውም ከደርግ ጥይት ሸሽቴ መጠለያዬ የሆነኝን፣ በኋላም ከረሃብ ከወባ ከተስቦ ተርፌ በህይወት
እንድሰነበት በመሃከሉ አኑሮ፣ ከእዛ በችግር ከተሞላ ህይወቱ ያለውን አካፍሎ መልሶ ሰው ያደረገኝን የትግራይ ማህበረሰብ በአንድ ጨፍልቄ ለዘር ማንዘሩ ጥፋት ከተመኘሁ ሌላው የእኔ አይነት የህሊና ወቃሽና አስተዋሽ የሌለው ተመሳሳይ በደል የሚደርስበት ዜጋ ምን ሊያስብ እንደሚችል ገምቱት። በለመስ ዜናዊ የወያኔ ወታደሮች ቤቱ የተቃጠለው፤ የታረደው፣ ሚስቱን ወጣት ሴት ልጁን የተደፈረው፣ መንድሩ የጋየው፣ በገፍ የተጋዘው፣ የተዋረደው፣ የተዘረፈው፣ የዘር ማጥፋት እርምጃ የተወሰደበት መላው የሃገሪቱ ህዝብ ምን ይሰማዋል?
በእዚህ ስራ በዋንኛነት መለስ ዜናዊ የሚያሰማራቸውም የሚያምናቸውም የወያኔ ሰዎች በሙሉ የትግራይ ሰዎች ናቸው። ያው ሁላችሁም በቅርቡ ዝርዝሩን እንዳያችሁት ወታደራዊና የሴኩሪቲ ተቋማቱን በሙሉ የተቆጣጠሩት ወያኔዎች ናቸው። ከእነዚህም መሃል ከሌሎች ብሄሮች የተቀላቀሉ ጥቂት ወታደሮችና ደህንነቶች ቢኖሩም ዋናውን ስልጣን ይዘው ፍለጠው ቁረጠው ግደለው እሰረው ዝርፈው የሚለውን ትእዛዝ የሚያስተላልፉት የትግራይ ተወላጆች የወያኔ አባላት ናቸው።
እነዚህ ሰዎች የሚፈጸሙትን ግፍና አበሳ ሆን ብለው ዘረኛ የሆነ ልባስ ይሰጡታል። ሆን ብለው ስልጣኑ ያለው በእኛ በትግሬዎች እጅ ነው ምን አባክ ትሆናለህ የሚል መልአክት ነው በሁሉም ድርጊቶቻቸው ለማስተላለፍ የሚፈልጉት። ልብ በሉ ስልጣን በእኛ ወያኔዎች እጅ ነው አይሉም። በእኛ በትግሬዎች እጅ ነው የሚሉት። ግፍና በደሉ የሚደርስበት የሃገሪቱ ህዝብ የሚደርስበትን ስቃይ በዘር የተደራጁ ሃይሎች ዘር ለይተው የሚያደርሱበት የዘር ጥቃት አድርጎ እንዲያየው ሆን ብለው ተግተው እየሰሩ ነው። ይህ ጉዳይ ከወታደራዊና ከአፈና ፈርጆች አልፎ በሰልጣንና ሃብት ድልድልም አግጦ የሚታይ ሲሆን ደግሞ ሁኔታው ምን ያህል የከፋና የተወሳሰበ ሊሆን አንደሚችል ገምቱት።
አንዳንድ ሰዎች ይህ ጉዳይ ተደባብሶ አሁን የምሰጠውን ትኩረት አግኘቶ ወይይት እንዲደረግበት አይፈልጉም። በእዚህ እኔ አልስማማም። በበኩሌ ይህ ሸፋፍኖ የመሄድ ጉዳይ የትም አያደርሰንም። እንዳውም በድፍረት በአደባባይ በመነጋገር የወያኔ የዘር ፖለቲካ ከቁጥጥር ውጭ ወጥቶ ፊታች ላይ ሳይፈነዳ መፍትሄ እንድንፈልግለት ያሽችለናል ባይ ነኝ። እውነቱን ለመናገር ይህ አይነቱ ዘረኛ አመለካከት፤ የመለስ ዜናዊና የወያኔ አባላት ብቻ ችግር ነው የሚል
እምነት የለኝም።
ኋላቀርነትና ድህነት ጠፍረው በያዙት፣ ነጻነትና መብት ባልተከበረበት፣ ህዝብ ከማንኛውም አይነት ጭቆና እራሱን መከላከል የሚችልባቸው የዴሞክራሲና የፍትህ ተቋማት በሌሉበት ሃገር ውስጥ የሚገኝ ኋላቀር ልሂቅና ምሁር ወያኔ ስራ ላይ ባዋለው ተመሳሳይ የዘር ፖለቲካ በቀላሉ ለስልጣንና ለጥቅም እበቃለሁ ብሎ የሚያስብ መሆኑን መረዳት ይኖርብናል።
በእኔ አመለካከት የወያኔ ዘረኛ አመለካከትና ደርጊት፤ ሌላው ህዝብ ወገኑ የሆነውን የትግራይን ህዝብ የሚያይበትን አይን ብቻ አይደልም እያቀላ ያለው። ሌሎችም በሃገርቱ ውስጥ የሚገኙ የተለያዩ ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት ወይም ብሄረሰቦች የየራሳቸውን አክራሪ ዘረኛነት እንዲኖራቸው እያደረገም ነው። ሰዎች ከራሳቸው ዘር ውጭ ሌላውን ማመን የማይችሉበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ እየገቡ ለመሆናቸው በርካታ ማስረጃዎች አሉ። በጋራ ሁላችንም በሰውነታችን ብቻ ልንቀበላቸው የሚገቡ፣ ዘርን፤ ቋንቋንና ባህልን ተሻግረው ሊያስተሳስሩን የሚገቡ ጉዳዮችን፤ ለምሳሌ ውበትን፣
ፍትህንና እውነትን የመሳሰሉ ቁም ነገሮች፣ ትርጉም የሚኖራቸው በዘር መነጽር እስካየናቸው ብቻ የሆነበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ እየገባን ነው። ይህ ደግሞ ቀደም ብዩ የጠቀስኩትን ዶስቶቭስኪ የገለጸውን ገሃነብ በሃገራችን መገንባት ጀምረናል ማለት ነው።
እስቲ አስቡት ከፊት ለፊታችን የምናያት፣ የውበት ጸዳልዋ መንገዱን ሞልቶ በሩቁ ያደነቅናት ወጣት አጠገባችን ደርሳ በደንብ ስናውቃት ኦሮሞ/አማራ/ትግሬ ወይም ከእኛ ዘር ውጭ በመሆንዋ ብቻ ውበቷ ትርጉም የሚያጣ ከሆነ፤ በንጽህና ሳቃቸው ልባችንን የሚሰርቁት የህጻናት ድምጽ የሚነካን ህጻናቱ ከራሳችን ዘር መምጣቸውን ስናውቅ ብቻ ከሆነ፤ ለልጇ ሞት አምራ የምታለቅስ እናት ሃዘኗ የሚሰማን የእኛ ከምንለው ዘር ብቻ ከመጣች ከሆነ፤ እስቲ አስቡት ምን
አይነት ሃገርና ማህበረሰብ እየፈጠርን ነው? እውነትም በጥላቻ የተሞላ የመውደድና የማፍቀር አቅማቻን የተሰለበበትን በስቃይ የተሞላውን ምድራዊ ገሃነብ እየገነባን ነው ማለት ነው።
ከልቤ ነው፣ ከወያኔ ዘረኛ እምነትና ተግባር ተምረን በግዜ ሁላችንም ብሄረሰብን/ዘውግን ወይም ዘርን በሚመለከት የያዝነውን የፖለቲካ ቅኝት ለመፈተሽና በእዚህ ከዘር ጋር በተያያዘ ፖለቲካ ውስጥ ያሰፈሰፈውን ለአንዳችንም የማይበጅ የጥፋት መርዝ በግዜ ካልነቀልነው የኢትዮጵያና የዜጎቿ መከራና ጣር ማለቂያ አይኖረውም። አሁን ከምናየው ደረጃ በሽዎች እጥፍ የሚያድግበትን ሁኔታ ልንፈጥር እንችላላን የሚል ስጋት አለኝ።
ወያኔ ዛሬ እራሱ በተግባር እያዋለው ያለው ዘረኛነት እየቀሰቀስ ያለው ቁጣ የተለያዩ መገለጫዎች አሉት። አንዱና አስፈሪ የሆነው መገለጫ የዘር ስሜትን ማጠናከር ነው። በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተን ጥላቻ ማስፋፈትን ነው። ወያኔ የራሱን የዘረኛት እምነት ለማስፋፋትና ዘረኛ የሆነውን አገዛዙን ለማጠናከር የቻለው በሃገራችን ውስጥ የተለያዩ ብሄር ብሄረሰቦች፣ ወይም ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት የመኖራቸውን ሃቅ ለእኩይ አለማው መጠቀሚያ በማድረግ ነው። ሃገራችንም እነዚህን ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት ለማሰባሰብ ይሁን የተሰባሰቡትን ይዞ ለመቀጠል የቻለችበት ታሪኳ፤ በስቃይ፣ በመከራ፤ በእንባና በደም የተለወሰ አንድ አሳዛኘ ገጽታ ያለው መሆኑን ሃቅ ለመሰሪ አላማው መገልገያ በማድረግ ነው። ይህንንም የታሪክ ገጽታ ወያኔ መዘርጋት ለፈለገው ዘረኛ ስርአት መጠቀሚያ ለማድረግ ቆርጦ በመነሳቱ ነው።
ወያኔ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የተቀሰቀሰውንና ለረጅም ዘመናት የቆየውን ፍትሃዊ የሆነ የዘውጎች/የብሄር ብሄረሰቦች የእኩልነት ጥያቄ ወደ ዘር ጥላቻ እንዲቀየር በማደረግ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ከፋፍሎ ለመግዛት ተጠቀመበት። ወያኔ ብሄር/ ብሄረሰቦች ወይም የዘውግ ማህበረሰቦች ያነሷቸውን፣ በማእከላዊ መንግስት ጉዳዮች ጭምር የመወሰን መብት ጥያቄ፤ ራስን በራስ የማስተዳደር ጥያቄ፣ ቋንቋን የመጠቀም ባህልን የማበልጽግ ጥያቄ፣ በዋንኛነት ይህ ጥያቄ ከሚመለከታቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ዜጎች ቀምቶ፤ ዘመናዊነት ያልቀበረውን የጨለማ ዘመን የትግራይ መሳፍንቶች የስልጣንና የጥቅም ሽኩቻ በአዲስ መልኩ ነፍስ ዘርቶበት ከደደቢት በረሃ ተንደርድሮ አዲስ አበባ ከምኒልክ ቤተመንግሰት ከች ያለ ድርጅት ነው።
ዛሬ በሃገራችን ዜጎች ወይም የሰው ልጆች ምርጫ ሳይኖራቸው የተወለዱበትን የዘውግ ቡድን/ዘር/ ብሄረሰብ፣ ማለትም ኦሮሞነትን፣ አማራነትን፣ ጉራጌነትን፣ ሲዳማነትን፣ አኝዋክነትን መለያ ያደረገ ጥቃት እየደረሰባቸው ነው። የመገደል፣ የመታሰር፣ የመዋረድ፣ ምክንያቶች በዘር መለያ የሚታደል ሆኗል። የመደህየት፣ የመሰደድ፣ በበሽታ የማለቅ እድላቸው፣ በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ ሆኗል። ለስልጣን፣ ለሃብት፣ ለከፍተኛ ትምህርት የሚታጩበት ወይም
የማይታጩበት እድል በዋንኛነት በዘር ማንነት ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው። ይህ ሁኔታ እኛና እነሱ የሚልን መከፋፈል መፍጠሩ የማይቀር ነው። እራሱን ተጠቃሚ አድርጎ የሚያየው የአንድ ዘውግ ቡድን አገኘሁት የሚለውን ጥቅም በማናቸውም ኪሳራ ለመከላከል ሲሞክር፣ ከጥቅም የተገለለውም ደግሞ በማናቸውም ኪሳራ የተቀማውን ጥቅምና መብት ለማስመለስ ሲታገል መጨረሻው ፍጥጫ ግጭትና እልቂት እንደሚሆን የታወቀ ነው። ወያኔ በሃገራችን የዘረጋው ዘረኛ ስርአት እንዲህ አይነቱን ሁኔታ በIትዮጵያ ውስጥ በማንገስ ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው።
ወያኔ በጉልበት የያዘውን ስልጣንና ከእዚህም ስልጣን ጋር ተያይዞ የሚያኪያሂደውን አጅግ ዘግናኝ የሆነ ዘረፋ፣ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ ከመግፋት ሌላ አማራጭ የለውም። ይህ ዘረኛነት ሌላውን በዘር ለይቶ መበደል ብቻ ሳይሆን፤ በእዚህ በደል የተነሳ በሌላው ወገን የሚነሳውን ፍትሃዊ ተቃውሞ መቋቋም እችላለሁ ብሎ ወያኔ የሚያምነው ሁሉንም የትግራይ ተወላጅ በወያኔ ስርአት ተጠቃሚ እንደሆነ አድርጎ እንዲያምን ሌላውም ህዝብ ይህን እውነት ነው ብሎ
እንዲቀበል በማድርግ ነው። የትግራይ ህዝብ ህልውና፣ ከወያኔ ህልውና ጋር የተቆራኘ እንደሆነ ያለወያኔ የትግራይ ህዝብ መብቱም ጥቅሙም ህልውናውም እንደማይኖር ለማሳመን በመጣር ነው።
የወያኔ ዘረኛነት በሃገራችን ከእዚህ ቀደም ታይቶ የማይታወቅ ርእዮተ አለማዊ ሽፋን ያለው ዘረኛነት እያስፋፋ ነው። በሃገሪቱ ውስጥ በሚገኙት ህዝቦች የስብእና መዋረድ፣ መራቆትና መደህየት፣ የመብት ገፈፋና ረገጣ ወያኔ የሚያምንበት የትግራይነት ምንነት/ identity መገንቢያ ለማድረግ አቅዶ የሚንቀሳቀስ ነው። ይህንን ለማደረግ የታሪክ ጭብጦችን ማጣመም፣ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከትግራይ ህዝብ ጋር የሚጋራው ታሪክ እንደሌለው መዋሸት ልማዱ ነው። ከእዚህም አልፎ ወያኔ ለአባላቱ የሚያስተላልፈው መልእክት ወርቅና ምርጦች ናችሁና ምርጥ ምርጡ ይገባችኋል የሚል ነው። ወያኔ እየሞከረ ያለው፤ የዘውግ አፓርታይድ/ethnic Apartheid በኢትዮጵያ በመገንባት በዘር አንደኛና ሁለተኛ ደረጃ የተፈረጁ ዜጎች በአንድ ሃገር ላይ ለመፍጠር ነው።
ይህ የወያኔ መርሃ ግብር ምን ያህል ተሳክቷል የሚለው ጥያቄ ሳይንሳዊ መልስ የሚሰጠው ባይሆንም በእዚህ የወያኔ መሪዎች በእብደት የተሞላ እምነት እየተለከፈ ያለውን የሰው ቁጥር ለፖለቲካ ድለላ ብለን ማሳነሱ ተገቢ አይመስለኝም። ይህ መሰሪ የሆነ የወያኔ ድርጊት የማታ ማታ የሚኖረውን አስከፊ መዘዝ በሚገባ ተረድተው በግዜ ወያኔ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ እየበከለ ያለውን የትግራይ ማህበረሰብና ወያኔ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ በሌላው የIትዮጵያ ህዝብ ላይ የሚያደርሰውን አይን ያወጣ በደል፣ ግፍና ዘረፋ መቃወም ያለባቸው በዋነኛነት እራሳቸው የትግራይ ተወላጆች ናቸው። የትግራይ ምሁራንና ዴሞክራት፣ የትግራይ የፖለቲካ ልሂቃን ከፍተኛ መስዋእትንት እየከፈሉም ቢሆን የወያኔንን ዘረኛ አደገኛ አመለካከትና ድርጊት በተግባር መታገል የሚገባቸው እነሱ ናቸው። ይህን የወያኔ አደገኛ አመለካከትና ድርጊት የሚኮንኑኑን የሌሎች ዘውጌ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በጸረ ትግሬነት መኮነኑን ትተው በቅድሚ ማውገዝ የሚገባቸው የወያኔን ፋሽቶችንና ዘራፊዎችን ሊሆን ይገባል። የጸረ ዘረኛት የቤት ስራችንን ሁላችንም ተባብረን እንድንሰራ ከተፈለገ ይህንን የተቀደሰ የጋራ አላማ በዋንኛነት መምራት የሚገባቸው እነዚሁ አርቆ አሳቢ የትግራይ ምሁራንና ልሂቃን ናቸው የሚል እምነት አለኝ።
ሌሎቻችን ባለንበት ወቅት ማድረግ የሚገባን ጉዳይ ቢኖር ለራሳችን ክብር ደህንነት ቅድሚያ ሰጥተን ወያኔ በምንም አይንት መንገድ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ አዋርዶ ሊገዛን የማንፈቅድለት መሆኑን በተግባር ማሳየት ነው። የዘረጋውን ዘረኛ ስርአት አወላለቅን በቦታው ሁሉንም ዜጎች፣ ወያኔ ነጻ አወጣዋለሁ የሚለውን የትግራይንም ህዝብ ጨምሮ በእኩልነት የሚያስተናግድ ፍትሃዊ ስርአት ለመመስረት ቆርጠን መነሳት ነው። ይህ አስቸጋሪ ትግል የሚጠይቀውን ማናቸውንም
መስዋአትንት ለመክፈል መዘጋጀት ነው። በቃን የማለት ቁርጠኛነት መያዝ ማለት ነው።
ሌላው ከእዚህ የቁርጠኛነት ውሳኔ ጋር ማድርግ የሚገባን ነገር፤ ከወያኔ ዘረኛነት ምን ተምረናል የሚል ጥያቄ ማንሳት ነው። ይህ ጥያቄ በሃገራችን ልንፈጥረው የምንፈልገው የፖለቲካ ስርአት ወያኔ ከተደፈቀበት የዘረኛነት አደጋ እራሱን አንዴት መከላከል ይችላል? የሚል ሊሆን ይገባዋል።
ከወያኔ ዘረኛ አካሄድ መማር የሚገባን የወያኔ ዘረኛት ባስመረረን ቁጥር እያንዳንዳችን የራሳችንን በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ አጥር በመስራት ችግሩን ልንፈታወ የማንችል መሆኑን ነው። የዘር አጥር መገንባት የወያኔ ዘረኛነት በጋራ ለመታገል የምንችልበትን ጉልበት በታትነን ከሃገሪቱ ህዝብ 6 በመቶ የማይሞላውን ትግራይን እወክላለሁ ለሚል ኋላ ቀር ቡድን ራሳችንን መቀለጃ በማድርግ ለሚደርስብን ውርደት እራሳችንን ተባባሪዎች አደርገን ማቅረብ ይሆናል። ከወያኔ ጋር የምናደርገውን ትግል እኛም እንደወያኔ በዘር ተከፋፈለን እንግፋው ብንል በዋንኛነት ተጠቃሚው ወያኔ ነው። በሃገራችን ሌላው ቀርቶ ሁለቱ ትልልቅ ዘውጌ ማህበራሰባት ኦሮሞውና አማራው ብቻ በወያኔ መረገጥ በቃን ብለው ቢነሱ፤ የተቀረቱንም ወያኔ የዘር ማጥፋት እርምጃ ሳይቀር የወሰደባቸውን አናሳ ዘውጌ ማህበራት ማስተባበር ቢችሉ፤ ወያኔ አስራ ስምንት አመት ቀርቶ አስራ ስምንት ወር ይህንን አይን ያወጣ ዘረኛ በሆነ መንገድ የተደራጀ ግፍና ዘረፋ እየፈጸመ መሰንበት የማይችል እንደነበር ማወቅ ይኖርብናል።
ሌላው ትልቁ ቁምነገር የወያኔን ዘረኛነት ለመታገል ሁሉም የዘረኛነት ግንብ የሚገነባ ከሆነ፣ ዘረኛ ጦሩን የሚስል ከሆነ፤ በዘረኛ መንገድ ወታደራዊ ጉልበቱንና ሃብቱን አስቀድሞ ያደራጃውን ወያኔን ታግሎ የማስወገድ እድሉ ጠባብ እንደሚሆን ነው። ትግሉ ወያኔ ላይ ብቻ ያነጣጠረ ሳይሆን በየራሱ ዘር ተደራጅቶ ሊያጠቃኝ ይችላል ከሚል ሌላም ዘር ጋር ጭምር መሆኑ አይቀርምና። ከእዚህም አልፎ በአንድ አጋጣሚም ይህ ወያኔን የመጣል የተለያዩ ድርጅቶች የተናጠል ትግል ቢሳካ መጨረሻው የወያኔን ዘረኛ ስርአት በሌላ ዘረኛ ስርአት መተካት ይሆናል። የእዚህ ውጤት ደግሞ ማለቂያ የሌለው የዘር ፍጥጫ፣ ግጭት ማቀጣጠል ይሆናል። ይህ የሚያስገነዝበን ዘረኛውን ወያኔን ታግለን ለማሸነፍ፤ አሸንፈንም ሁሉም የሃገሪቱ ዜጎች ያለምን መድለዎ በሰላምና በእርጋታ መኖር የሚችሉበትን ሁኔታ መፍጠር የምንችለው ገና ካሁኑ ዘረኛነትን የዘለለ የፖለቲካ ንድፈሃሳብና አደረጃጀት የሚያስፈልገን መሆኑን
ተገንዝበን ይህንንም እውን ለማድረግ ተግተን ከሰራን ብቻ ነው።
ቀደም ብዬ እንደጠቀስኩት የወያኔ ዘረኛነት መነሻው ፍትሃዊ የሆነውን የብሄረሰቦች/ የዘውግ ማህበረሰቦች የመብት ጥያቄ በዋንኛነት ከሚመለከታቸው የሃገሪቱ ዜጎች ቀምቶ፤ እነዚህን የመብትና የእኩልነት ጥያቄዎች ወያኔ ሊገነባው ላሰበው ዘረኛ ስርአት መሳሪያዎች ስላደረጋቸው ነው። ወያኔ ይህን ማድርግ የቻለው የዘውግ ስሜት ሃገራዊ የሆነውን የዜግነት ስሜት በፕሮፓጋንዳም ይሁን በአደረጃጀት ደረጃ እንዲረግጠው ማድረግ በመቻሉ ነው። እኛም ስለፈቀድልነት ነው። በሃገራችን ሁላችንም ፍትሃዊነቱን የምንቀበለው የዘውግ እኩልነት ጥያቄ አንድ አይነት ሃገራዊ መጠብቅ ካልተደረገለት በቀላሉ ራሱን ወደ እኛ እና እነሱ ወደሚሉ ዘረኛ ክፍፍሎች የሚወስድ መሆኑን ካለፉት 18 አመታት ታሪካችን የተማርነው ነው። ደጋግሞ ደጋግሞ እንደታየውም የዘውግ የእኩልነት ጥያቄን ከሃገሪቱ ዜጎች በሙሉ የዜግነት መብት ጥያቄ ጋር ሳያስተሳስሩ ሰዎችን አጥንትና ደማቸውን እየመነዘሩ የሚያሰባስቡ ድርጅቶች ውለው አድረው የሚያጠናክሩት ዘረኛነትን ብቻ ነው።
ይህን አደጋ መጠቆም ፍትሃዊ የሆነው የዘውግ እኩልነት ዴሞከራሲያዊ ጥያቄዎችን እንርሳ፣ እንደሌሉ አድርግን እንቁጠራቸው ማለት አይደለም። የዘውግ/ የብሄር/ብሄረሰብ የእኩልነት ጥያቄዎችን ዘረኛ አመለካከትንና አደረጃጀትን ሳናጠናከር ምላሽ የምንሰጥበትን ሁኔታ እንፍጠር ለማለት ብቻ ነው። ይህን ማድረግ የምንችለው የሁሉንም የሃገሪቱን ዜጎች፤ በየትኛውም የሃገሪቱ ክፍል ይኑሩ፣ ሁሉም በዜግነታቸው የሚገቧቸውና ሊገሰሱ የማይችሉ መብቶች በማስቀመጥ ብቻ ነው። በእዚህ መብቶች መከበር ዙሪያ ሁሉም ዜጎች በጋራ ታግለው፣ በዜግነታቸው የሚኮሩበት ሃገራዊ የፖለቲካ ስርአት መፍጠር የዘረኛነትን አደጋ መከላከያው ቁልፍ መሳሪያ ነው።
የዘውግ እኩልነት ፍትሃዊ ጥያቄ በሃገር ውሰጥ ዜጎች መብታቸው በመከበሩ የተከበረ መብት መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ ስንችል በዘውግ ማንነታችንና በአንድ ሃገር ዜግነታችን መሃክል ያለው ቅራኔ ይጠፋል። ወያኔ እንደሚለው የአንድ ሃገር ዜግነታችንና የአንድ ዘውጌ ማህበረሰብ አባልነታችን በተፎካካሪነት ወይም በእኩልነት የምናስቀምጥበት ሁኔታ ከተፈጠረ ግን በእነዚህ ሁለት ስሜቶች ማሃከል የሚፈጠረው መሳሳብ ለሁላችንም የጋራ የሆነች ሃገር በመፍጠሩ ስራችን ላይ ትልቅ አደጋ የሚያስከትል መሆኑን መረዳት ይኖርብናል። የዘውግ መብቴን የማታከብር ኢትዮጵያ ትበጣጠስ የሚል የዘውግ አባል በተበጣጠሰች ኢትዮጵያ ወስጥ ሰላምና እርጋታ አግኝቶ የራሱን ሃገር ፈጥሮ የዘውግ መብቱን ማስከበር የሚችልበት ሁኔታ እውን ሊመጣ ይችላል ወይ ብሎ ሊጠይቅ ይገባዋል። በበኩሌ ይህ ሁኔታ ሲፈጠር ማየት ስለማልችል የዘውግ መብት እንዲከበር የሚታገሉ ሁሉ ጠንካራና ዴሞክራሲያዊት ኢትዮጵያን መገንባትም የእዚሁ ትግላቸው ዋንኛው አካል አድርገው ሊያዩትና ሃላፊነትም ወስደው ሊዋደቁለት የሚገባ ጉዳይ ነው የሚል እምንት አለኝ። ሃገራዊ ፖለቲካ የሚያስተሳስራቸው፣ ለሃገራዊ ዴሞክራሲዊና ፍትሃዊ ተቋማት መኖር በጋራ የሚታገሉ የአንድ ሃገር ዜጎች ከሌሉ፤ ሁሉም የዘውግ ማንነቱን ከዜግነቱ አስቀድሞ የሚቆምበት ሁኔታ ከተፈጠረ የዘረኛነትን ሸርተቴ ማስቆም እንደማንችል ማወቅ ይኖርብናል።
ወያኔ አስካሁን ከነብልግናው በሁላችንም ጫንቃ ላይ መሰንበት የቻለው፣ ሌሎች ዘውጌ ማህበረሰቦችን በተለይ ትልልቆቹን የሃገሪቱን ዘውጌ ማህበረሰባት፤ በዘውግ ፖለቲካ አጥንት ንክሻ ላይ ብቻ እንዲረባረቡ ማድረግ በመቻሉ ነው። ወያኔ ግን የፌደራል አገዛዙን ሃብት፣ ጉልበት ጠቅልሎ የያዘበት፣ የሃገሪቱን የውጭ ጉዳይ ፖሊሲ ለራሱ ዘረኛ የስልጣን እድሜ ማራዘሚያ አድርጎ መቅረጽ በመቻሉ ነው።
ከእዚህ የምንወስደው ትምህርት ግልጽ ነው። ሁላችንም፤ አስከዛሬ ድረስ በራሳቸው የዘውግ ፖለቲካ አጀንዳዎች ዙሪያ ሲሽከረከሩ የነበሩ ግለሰቦችና ቡድኖችን ጨምሮ፣ ሃገራዊ ለሆነው የፖለቲካ ምህዳር ትኩረት መስጠት፤ የወያኔ ኋላቀር አመለካከትና ድርጊት ወደ ነበረበት የታሪክ ቆሻሻ መመለሻው ቁልፍ መሳሪያ መሆኑን ነው።
በተለይ ራሳቸውን በዘውግ የአደራጁ ቡድኖች የዘውጋቸውን አበላት ብቻ ሳይሆን ሁሉንም ዜጎች የሚመለከቱ ሃገራዊ አጀንዳዎችን ማንሳት፣ በሃገር ደረጃ የሚፈጠረውን የፖለቲካ ስርአት ቅርጽ መስጠት፣ አልፎ ተርፎም ሃገራዊ ትግሉን የመምራታ ሃላፊነትና ግዴታ አለባቸው። ይህንን ለማድረግ ችሎታው ብቃቱና ሰፊ ህዝባዊ መሰረት እንዳላቸው በፍጥነት ተረድተው ቢንቀሳቀሱ የራሳቸውን የዘውግ አበላት ብቻ ሳይሆን የተቀረውንም ኢትዮጵያዊ ወገናቸውን የመከራ ቀን በማሳጠር የሚጫወቱት ወሳኝ ሚና ይኖራል የሚል እምነት አለኝ።
የጸረ ወያኔ ትግላችን እንዲሳካ፤ የሃገራችን በርካታ ትውልዶች የዜግነትና የዘውግ እኩልነት መብቶቻቸው እንዲከበሩ የከፈሉት ማለቂያ የሌለው መስወአትነት ውጤት እንዲፈራ፣ ከድህነት ከስደት መላቀቅ ከፈለግን ወያኔ በሃገራችን ፖለቲካ ውስጥ የፈጠራቸውን በተለይ ከዘር ጋር የተያያዙ አዳዲስ ተግዳረቶች/challenges የሚመጥን የፖለቲካ አመለካከትና የአደረጃጀት ለውጥ ማድርግ ይኖርብናል።
የዘመኑን የፖለቲካ ፈተና ተግዳሮት/ challenge በነባሩ የፖለቲካ አመለካከትና አደረጃጀት እስርቤቶች ውስጥ ሆነን ልናልፈው አንችልም። የኔ ተስፋ ይህ ግንዛቤ በሁላችንም ውስጥ በፍጥነት ተጭሮ በጋራ ትግል የወያኔን ዘረኛ አምባገነናዊ ስርአት በሃጋራችን የመጨረሻው አምባገነናዊ አገዛዝ ለማድረግ የምንችልበት የትግል ምእራፍ በፍጥነት ሲጀምር ማየት ነው። ይህ ተስፋ ብቻ ሳይሆን ተጨባጭ የሆነ ድርጊት ሊሆን እንደሚችል አመላካች ነገሮች
ይታዩኛል።
የግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ ጥሪ፣ ሁላችንም ይህ ጎደላት በማንላት የIትዮጵያ ውስጥ በዜግነታችን ኮርተን፣ ሁሉም አይነት ሰብአዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ መብቶቻችን ተከብረው ተፋቅረን/ተዋደን የምንኖርባት ሃገር በቅርቡ ለማየት በጋራ ለትግል እንድንነሳ ነው። ይህን በማድረግ ሩስያዊው ዶስቶቭስኪ ካስጠነቀቀን ገሃነብ ራሳችንንና መጪውን ትውልድ ለማዳን በጋራ በወያኔ ላይ እንድንነሳ ነው።
አመሰግናለሁ
አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ
www.ginbot7.org
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Ethiopian currency falls to lowest rate ever
As posted on Ethiomedia:
AFP July 14, 2009 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP)--Ethiopia's currency, the birr, fell to its lowest ever rate Monday against the dollar, losing nearly 10% to exchange at 12.445.
The National Bank of Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa nation's central finance institution, devalued the birr in the face of dwindling forex reserves.
In January a dollar was worth 10.57 birrs.
The foreign exchange shortage is mainly due to a reduction in coffee exports, from which more than 60% of the country's total foreign exchange revenue is generated. Ethiopia's hard currency reserve stood at $800 million last month, against a target of more than $1 billion.
In 2007-2008 Ethiopia exported 171,000 metric tons of Arabica coffee - almost 15% of world production - and earned more than $500 million, according to official figures. Authorities have issued a grim forecast this year however, with figures expected to be as low as slightly more than $300 million due to a slump in demand as a result of the global economic slowdown.
For your info: Effects of Devaluation.
A significant danger is that by increasing the price of imports and stimulating greater demand for domestic products, devaluation can aggravate inflation. If this happens, the government may have to raise interest rates to control inflation, but at the cost of slower economic growth. Another risk of devaluation is psychological. To the extent that devaluation is viewed as a sign of economic weakness, the creditworthiness of the nation may be jeopardized. Thus, devaluation may dampen investor confidence in the country's economy and hurt the country's ability to secure foreign investment.
Another possible consequence is a round of successive devaluations. For instance, trading partners may become concerned that a devaluation might negatively affect their own export industries. Neighboring countries might devalue their own currencies to offset the effects of their trading partner's devaluation. Such "beggar thy neighbor" policies tend to exacerbate economic difficulties by creating instability in broader financial markets.
---Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
AFP July 14, 2009 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP)--Ethiopia's currency, the birr, fell to its lowest ever rate Monday against the dollar, losing nearly 10% to exchange at 12.445.
The National Bank of Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa nation's central finance institution, devalued the birr in the face of dwindling forex reserves.
In January a dollar was worth 10.57 birrs.
The foreign exchange shortage is mainly due to a reduction in coffee exports, from which more than 60% of the country's total foreign exchange revenue is generated. Ethiopia's hard currency reserve stood at $800 million last month, against a target of more than $1 billion.
In 2007-2008 Ethiopia exported 171,000 metric tons of Arabica coffee - almost 15% of world production - and earned more than $500 million, according to official figures. Authorities have issued a grim forecast this year however, with figures expected to be as low as slightly more than $300 million due to a slump in demand as a result of the global economic slowdown.
For your info: Effects of Devaluation.
A significant danger is that by increasing the price of imports and stimulating greater demand for domestic products, devaluation can aggravate inflation. If this happens, the government may have to raise interest rates to control inflation, but at the cost of slower economic growth. Another risk of devaluation is psychological. To the extent that devaluation is viewed as a sign of economic weakness, the creditworthiness of the nation may be jeopardized. Thus, devaluation may dampen investor confidence in the country's economy and hurt the country's ability to secure foreign investment.
Another possible consequence is a round of successive devaluations. For instance, trading partners may become concerned that a devaluation might negatively affect their own export industries. Neighboring countries might devalue their own currencies to offset the effects of their trading partner's devaluation. Such "beggar thy neighbor" policies tend to exacerbate economic difficulties by creating instability in broader financial markets.
---Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
ዛሬን እንኑረው
ገና ያላየነው-ገና ያልበቀለ
በዚህ አለም ሰዎች- ያልተመረመረ
ማሳው ያልታረሰ- ገና ያልተዘራ
ተሰልፎ ያለ- ከማናውቀው ጎራ
አንገትም ያልለየ- ገና የማይታይ
“ላም አለኝ በሰማይ- ወተቱንም አላይ”
አይደለምወይ ነገ- ያላየነው ሲሳይ?
ጨለማው ብርሀን- ካልሆነልን ዛሬ
ሆነን እያለፍን- ለግፈኛ ሎሌ
ሞተን ሳለን እኛ-እንዴትስ ተኖረ
የመቃብር ኑሮ-ኑሮ እየተባለ
እስከመቸ ድረስ-አንዲህ ይኖራለ?
በግፈኛ አገዛዝ- ወገን እየሞተ
ይህን ኑሮ ብሎ- ማንስ ተደሰተ
አምሳያ መሪያችን- አንገት እየቀላ
ደም እየፈሰስ-በአዲስ በጋምቤላ
ሰው እየታረደ-በአይደር በባህርዳር
በጅማ በደሴ -ደብረ ታቦር ጎንደር
አሰቦት በደኖ-አሶሳና ህረር
መቐለና ማርቆስ-አዋሳ ኦጋዴን
ማለፉ ምንድን ነው- ሳንኖረው ዛሬን?
“ነገ-ነገ” አትበሉኝ-ዛሬን ነው እምንኖረው
ነገ የኛ አይደለም- የሌላው ተራ ነው
ዛሬን ነው እምንኖረው- ዛሬም ነው እምናልፈው።
አውቃለሁ ወገኔ- አትደከም አትልፋ
ትናንት ትዝታ ነው- ነገም ደግሞ ተስፋ
ምን ዋጋ አለው ነገ- ወገኔ ከጠፋ-ሃገሬ ከጠፋ
እንዴትስ ሊደረስ- እንዴትስ ልንኖረው
የኛ ተራ ዛሬ- ነገም የሌላ ነው።
ዛሬ ምን አግብቶት- በነገ ጉዳይ
ነገ-ነገ አይደልዎይ-የሚያድር ሲሳይ
በምን አቆጣጠር- በማንስ ቀመር
ምን አገባው ነገ-በዛሬ ነገር
ቢቆጠር አበሳው-ቢቆጠር ክፋቱ
የማናውቀው መልአክ- ነገ የሚሉቱ
ያስፈራ የለምዎይ- ከዛሬ አጋንንቱ?
ፈጣሪ የሰራው-እንደኔው ፍጡር
አላስኖረኝ ካለ- በአምላኬ ምድር
ምን አለኝ ብየ- ነው ለነገ ማሰቤ
ዛሬን መኖሬ ነው-የመኖር ማተቤ።
አይደለም አትበሉኝ- ፈቃደ ሥላሴ
ተጠባ ተጭንቃ- ተወጥራ ነፍሴ
አምላኬ አይዎቅሰኝም- ስለዚህ ተግባሬ
ሃጥያት አይሆን ፍጹም- ለዛሬ መጣሬ
“ኢንሻ አላህ” ብትሉኝ “በጌታ እየሱስ”
የዛሬ ምኞቴ-ዛሬው እንዲደርስ
ሃገር ነጻ ብትሆን- ከአገዛዝ መለስ
ጽድቅ ይሏል እርሱ ነው-መኖር መቻል ዛሬ
በነጻነት መኖር- በኢትዮጵያ ሀገሬ።
ሐምሌ 2001
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
በዚህ አለም ሰዎች- ያልተመረመረ
ማሳው ያልታረሰ- ገና ያልተዘራ
ተሰልፎ ያለ- ከማናውቀው ጎራ
አንገትም ያልለየ- ገና የማይታይ
“ላም አለኝ በሰማይ- ወተቱንም አላይ”
አይደለምወይ ነገ- ያላየነው ሲሳይ?
ጨለማው ብርሀን- ካልሆነልን ዛሬ
ሆነን እያለፍን- ለግፈኛ ሎሌ
ሞተን ሳለን እኛ-እንዴትስ ተኖረ
የመቃብር ኑሮ-ኑሮ እየተባለ
እስከመቸ ድረስ-አንዲህ ይኖራለ?
በግፈኛ አገዛዝ- ወገን እየሞተ
ይህን ኑሮ ብሎ- ማንስ ተደሰተ
አምሳያ መሪያችን- አንገት እየቀላ
ደም እየፈሰስ-በአዲስ በጋምቤላ
ሰው እየታረደ-በአይደር በባህርዳር
በጅማ በደሴ -ደብረ ታቦር ጎንደር
አሰቦት በደኖ-አሶሳና ህረር
መቐለና ማርቆስ-አዋሳ ኦጋዴን
ማለፉ ምንድን ነው- ሳንኖረው ዛሬን?
“ነገ-ነገ” አትበሉኝ-ዛሬን ነው እምንኖረው
ነገ የኛ አይደለም- የሌላው ተራ ነው
ዛሬን ነው እምንኖረው- ዛሬም ነው እምናልፈው።
አውቃለሁ ወገኔ- አትደከም አትልፋ
ትናንት ትዝታ ነው- ነገም ደግሞ ተስፋ
ምን ዋጋ አለው ነገ- ወገኔ ከጠፋ-ሃገሬ ከጠፋ
እንዴትስ ሊደረስ- እንዴትስ ልንኖረው
የኛ ተራ ዛሬ- ነገም የሌላ ነው።
ዛሬ ምን አግብቶት- በነገ ጉዳይ
ነገ-ነገ አይደልዎይ-የሚያድር ሲሳይ
በምን አቆጣጠር- በማንስ ቀመር
ምን አገባው ነገ-በዛሬ ነገር
ቢቆጠር አበሳው-ቢቆጠር ክፋቱ
የማናውቀው መልአክ- ነገ የሚሉቱ
ያስፈራ የለምዎይ- ከዛሬ አጋንንቱ?
ፈጣሪ የሰራው-እንደኔው ፍጡር
አላስኖረኝ ካለ- በአምላኬ ምድር
ምን አለኝ ብየ- ነው ለነገ ማሰቤ
ዛሬን መኖሬ ነው-የመኖር ማተቤ።
አይደለም አትበሉኝ- ፈቃደ ሥላሴ
ተጠባ ተጭንቃ- ተወጥራ ነፍሴ
አምላኬ አይዎቅሰኝም- ስለዚህ ተግባሬ
ሃጥያት አይሆን ፍጹም- ለዛሬ መጣሬ
“ኢንሻ አላህ” ብትሉኝ “በጌታ እየሱስ”
የዛሬ ምኞቴ-ዛሬው እንዲደርስ
ሃገር ነጻ ብትሆን- ከአገዛዝ መለስ
ጽድቅ ይሏል እርሱ ነው-መኖር መቻል ዛሬ
በነጻነት መኖር- በኢትዮጵያ ሀገሬ።
ሐምሌ 2001
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
UK Parliamentarians’ Advice Regarding Ethiopia: “Let Us Hear the Voices of Our Constituents!”
By: Obang Metho, Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
July 1, 2009
On June 16, 2009 something significant happened. For the first time, the Parliament of the United Kingdom opened up the doors to the House of Commons and gave the stage to Ethiopians in order to learn more from them about the grave human rights violations, including genocide, the pervasive injustice and the rampant corruption going on in Ethiopia under the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
This is a sign of progress for which we can be thankful. In the past, Ethiopians have rallied in front of the U.K Parliament building; delivering letters to public officials who may or may not have responded, but this time, Ethiopians themselves have been given the opportunity to give details about what is going on back home.
Thanks to Third World Solidarity, an organization made up of parliamentary members interested in issues affecting the Third World, we were given this opportunity. A special thanks to Mr. Mushtaq Lasharie, Honorable David Anderson and for being “fighters for justice” whose focus goes beyond their borders to those who have little political clout in this increasingly complex, and sometimes exploitive, world.
I give much appreciation to my fellow Ethiopians in the UK who organized this event, preparing far in advance by making the strategic contacts that made this event possible. Many worked very hard to make this as successful as it turned out to be. I thank those Ethiopians who invited me, those of you who attended the event and those Ethiopians who did their share by contributing money for most of my air ticket—friends in Canada, Denmark, Norway, England and the US—making it possible to participate in this strategic opportunity.
It had an impact which can be seen from the quick reaction from the EPRDF government’s Ethiopian Ambassador to Britain who was heard on Voice of America denying that any such meeting took place; later explaining that it was simply a fundraising banquet with no parliament members present; and still later, admitting that there were some members present. However, I am not worried about what the ambassador says as such disclaimers are predictable from a government grounded on lies and immorality.
The main highlights of the meeting
Let me quickly summarize some of the main highlights of the meeting followed later by personal comments from elected officials in the UK, Canada and the US. The meeting was opened by Chairman of the Third World Solidarity, MP David Anderson, who greeted the people with graciousness and warmth.
He said he hoped that by the end of the meeting, we all could come up with a concrete plan to ease the suffering of the Ethiopian people. For me, as he spoke in his deep voice about his passion for the common good and justice, it fed my hope that Ethiopians are not alone.
After he finished his talk, Third World Solidarity Councilor Mr. Lasharie, explained their mission and the role they might take in working with Ethiopians. He said that their organization was formed to work on these kinds of issues—like human rights, injustice, equality, democracy and fair elections—and that this House of Commons was now being opened to Ethiopians in order for to tell the Parliament what was going on in their country. He finished his talk with the same warm appeal to Ethiopians. He addressed Ethiopians, “We are here to work with you and don’t think this is the end. It is just the beginning!”
He was followed up by Mr. Satterlee, the same person who had produced a documentary on the Ethiopian drought of 1984. Mr. Satterlee’s main point emphasized that many of the problems facing Ethiopians would be corrected were there good government in the country. He stated, “The Ethiopia of today is the same place it was in 1980, but with good governance, the very hardworking and capable people of Ethiopia could feed themselves. The lack of good leaders and government today is the reason why Ethiopians are still starving today.”
Mr. Kefale Alemu, an Ethiopian and a member of Third World Solidarity, spoke next. He gave an eloquent introduction to the presentation from Ethiopians, sharing the purpose of the meeting and explaining that the things people take for granted in the UK, do not exist in Ethiopia—like good government, equality under the rule of law, the opportunity to vote and the most basic of civil rights such as freedom to express oneself. He said he hoped that the meeting would expose the kinds of oppressive conditions under which Ethiopians are currently living.
I spoke next on the agenda and then showed the video that provided documentation of the genocide and other gross human rights crimes going on in Ethiopia that is now available online.
After me, a wonderful Ethiopian man presented, Mr. Zelalem Tessema. This is my first time meeting with him, but as he spoke, his sense of humor and the way he expressed himself, grabbed everyone’s attention. He spoke of the lack of democratic rights, giving specific examples from the past Ethiopian National Election of 2005 and documentation of the efforts being made by the current regime to close off any political space before the next election in May of 2010.
He utilized an illustration of a child’s game where “the elephant always won” because he kept changing the rules to fit his interests. This man really exposed the regime, citing many examples of its aggressive attacks against democracy. I was so proud of him. He spoke about why the previous election did not work and why the next one will not work either. Despite all of these negative things, he ended up giving a message of hope by saying, “If Ethiopians can really stand and work together and if the UK and other donor countries can stand on the side of the people, things can be changed.”
He was inspiring as he gave hope to all of us that if we could work together, Ethiopia could be lifted up to become a more prosperous nation. I learned that he has multiple language, speaking Oromo, Amharic and English. He is also a humble man who during the middle of the rally in the UK, called on the people to pray to God for divine help. He told them that God would not forget them. He is a true Ethiopian.
Mr. Wondmu Mekonnen spoke next about the misuse of aid money to Ethiopia and about the rampant corruption going on in the country under this regime. I already knew Wondmu. He is one of the wonderful people I have met through working on this struggle and I count him as an example of one of the many Ethiopians who has enriched my life. To me, he is a brother, a mentor, a friend and a fellow countryman. People like brother Wondmu are the reason why I strongly believe that a new Ethiopia is not only probable, but very possible.
People like him have the intellect, the compassion for others, the generosity and the love of their country that is necessary for Ethiopia to be transformed from a country of pain to one of peace and from one of misery to one of prosperity.
Mr. Wondmu has worked with the SMNE from the very beginning and he has become one of the key leaders of the SMNE in London. He does not belong to any one group, but to the whole of Ethiopia. His love for his people and his country is something you can see through his talk, his voice, his smile and his body language. He used to be a professor of economics at Addis Ababa University and now that he is in London, he is a professor at the University of Birmingham—as he says, going from “A” to “B.” Yet, he said that were peace to come to Ethiopia peace, he would be in Ethiopia because there is much greater need there, but that the lack of security, hope and good government is the reason he is in London.
He knew his material, exposing the corruption in Ethiopia from the inside out. Using projectors and documentation uncovered in extensive research, he showed extensive financial information regarding aid and what happened to it. He visually showed in detail how this regime “is sucking the resources and depleting the country.” Mr. Wondmu ended up encouraging both Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians to never turn their backs on this country and to not lose hope. As a good professor always does, he had control of the room and some of the parliamentarians later commented on the impact of his presentation.
The last person to speak was Ms. Sabra Mohammed. Her topic was human rights violations against women and children. She is not Ethiopian born, but was born in Russia; however, when she had gone to Ethiopia many years ago as a music teacher, she was so won over by the hospitality of the Ethiopian people, that she fell in love not only with the people but also the country. She now calls herself a proud Ethiopian. Her love of Ethiopia was the reason she was deported out of Ethiopia not one time, but five times.
In her presentation, she described in detail how horribly the TPLF had treated her; dehumanizing her and separating her from her children and family and treating her like a criminal despite not being guilty of anything except loving Ethiopia. She said the TPLF government has violated many women’s rights; an recent example being that of imprisoned opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa. She ended her presentation by fervently calling all Ethiopian people to join together, regardless of ethnicity, skin color or religion, to fight this “terrorist regime” and “to free the Ethiopian people from the prison they are now in.”
She called on the British parliament to stand together with the Ethiopian people and to stop funding the regime that was acting in opposite ways to all those principles on which Britain had been founded. She affirmed that she would always be wherever Ethiopians were fighting for justice and she hoped that Ethiopians would know that they could always count on her to be with them.
We Ethiopians are more than capable—with God’s help—of transforming Ethiopia from being a “beggar nation” to a “better nation.”
I was so proud of the Ethiopian presenters who delivered their message with such articulation and professionalism; giving me reason for believing that we Ethiopians are more than capable—with God’s help—of transforming Ethiopia from being a “beggar nation” to a “better nation.” If these kinds of people would be in Ethiopia, running the country, instead of in exile throughout the world, most of us would go back home and those in Ethiopia, would not be searching for ways to leave.
The room was packed with Ethiopians who came, showing their concern and support. All these things are sources of hope. Beyond that, a brother from the Ogaden stood up during the question and answer period and said, “We are all being killed the same; we need each other and we must united and stand together against this regime!” This audience gave him a standing ovation and enthusiastically applauded the acknowledgement that we Ethiopians have more in common with each other than what separates us.
This is a beautiful vision of what a “New Ethiopia” might be like; that is, if increasingly more Ethiopians decide to value “humanity before ethnicity!” This part is up to us, but there is more we need to do as well. Outsiders can help us, but they will not and should not be expected “to do it for us.” In other words, we cannot sit back and wait for someone else to free us. Too many Africans go to free countries and plead, “…please free us,” but fail to recognize their own responsibility. Let us not make that same mistake!
UK MP George Bruce ended the meeting by saying, “Africa is a wonderful place but failed to produce good leaders who were cared for the people. The root cause could be blamed on the colonizers, but in the case of Ethiopia, you were not colonized so you cannot blame the British, like others who were colonized in Africa can do. I know that Ethiopians are good people and from what I learned today, I can see that you are ready to create a good government and to determine your own destiny. I will advocate for you. This means I will go to all of the elected parliament members I know to educate them to be on the side of the Ethiopian people.”
This ended a highly successful meeting, marking the beginning of a shared effort between these elected officials, representatives from Third World Solidarity and the people of Ethiopia. In a companion article, Part Two, I will share what I learned in my follow-up with some of these MP’s, as well as with other elected officials and key people in Canada and the US. They have some very good advice for us to further our partnership and our effectiveness.
May God bring new partners together in effective ways!
=================================== ======================================
Please do not hesitate to email me if you have comments to: Obang@solidaritymovement.org,
Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
July 1, 2009
On June 16, 2009 something significant happened. For the first time, the Parliament of the United Kingdom opened up the doors to the House of Commons and gave the stage to Ethiopians in order to learn more from them about the grave human rights violations, including genocide, the pervasive injustice and the rampant corruption going on in Ethiopia under the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
This is a sign of progress for which we can be thankful. In the past, Ethiopians have rallied in front of the U.K Parliament building; delivering letters to public officials who may or may not have responded, but this time, Ethiopians themselves have been given the opportunity to give details about what is going on back home.
Thanks to Third World Solidarity, an organization made up of parliamentary members interested in issues affecting the Third World, we were given this opportunity. A special thanks to Mr. Mushtaq Lasharie, Honorable David Anderson and for being “fighters for justice” whose focus goes beyond their borders to those who have little political clout in this increasingly complex, and sometimes exploitive, world.
I give much appreciation to my fellow Ethiopians in the UK who organized this event, preparing far in advance by making the strategic contacts that made this event possible. Many worked very hard to make this as successful as it turned out to be. I thank those Ethiopians who invited me, those of you who attended the event and those Ethiopians who did their share by contributing money for most of my air ticket—friends in Canada, Denmark, Norway, England and the US—making it possible to participate in this strategic opportunity.
It had an impact which can be seen from the quick reaction from the EPRDF government’s Ethiopian Ambassador to Britain who was heard on Voice of America denying that any such meeting took place; later explaining that it was simply a fundraising banquet with no parliament members present; and still later, admitting that there were some members present. However, I am not worried about what the ambassador says as such disclaimers are predictable from a government grounded on lies and immorality.
The main highlights of the meeting
Let me quickly summarize some of the main highlights of the meeting followed later by personal comments from elected officials in the UK, Canada and the US. The meeting was opened by Chairman of the Third World Solidarity, MP David Anderson, who greeted the people with graciousness and warmth.
He said he hoped that by the end of the meeting, we all could come up with a concrete plan to ease the suffering of the Ethiopian people. For me, as he spoke in his deep voice about his passion for the common good and justice, it fed my hope that Ethiopians are not alone.
After he finished his talk, Third World Solidarity Councilor Mr. Lasharie, explained their mission and the role they might take in working with Ethiopians. He said that their organization was formed to work on these kinds of issues—like human rights, injustice, equality, democracy and fair elections—and that this House of Commons was now being opened to Ethiopians in order for to tell the Parliament what was going on in their country. He finished his talk with the same warm appeal to Ethiopians. He addressed Ethiopians, “We are here to work with you and don’t think this is the end. It is just the beginning!”
He was followed up by Mr. Satterlee, the same person who had produced a documentary on the Ethiopian drought of 1984. Mr. Satterlee’s main point emphasized that many of the problems facing Ethiopians would be corrected were there good government in the country. He stated, “The Ethiopia of today is the same place it was in 1980, but with good governance, the very hardworking and capable people of Ethiopia could feed themselves. The lack of good leaders and government today is the reason why Ethiopians are still starving today.”
Mr. Kefale Alemu, an Ethiopian and a member of Third World Solidarity, spoke next. He gave an eloquent introduction to the presentation from Ethiopians, sharing the purpose of the meeting and explaining that the things people take for granted in the UK, do not exist in Ethiopia—like good government, equality under the rule of law, the opportunity to vote and the most basic of civil rights such as freedom to express oneself. He said he hoped that the meeting would expose the kinds of oppressive conditions under which Ethiopians are currently living.
I spoke next on the agenda and then showed the video that provided documentation of the genocide and other gross human rights crimes going on in Ethiopia that is now available online.
After me, a wonderful Ethiopian man presented, Mr. Zelalem Tessema. This is my first time meeting with him, but as he spoke, his sense of humor and the way he expressed himself, grabbed everyone’s attention. He spoke of the lack of democratic rights, giving specific examples from the past Ethiopian National Election of 2005 and documentation of the efforts being made by the current regime to close off any political space before the next election in May of 2010.
He utilized an illustration of a child’s game where “the elephant always won” because he kept changing the rules to fit his interests. This man really exposed the regime, citing many examples of its aggressive attacks against democracy. I was so proud of him. He spoke about why the previous election did not work and why the next one will not work either. Despite all of these negative things, he ended up giving a message of hope by saying, “If Ethiopians can really stand and work together and if the UK and other donor countries can stand on the side of the people, things can be changed.”
He was inspiring as he gave hope to all of us that if we could work together, Ethiopia could be lifted up to become a more prosperous nation. I learned that he has multiple language, speaking Oromo, Amharic and English. He is also a humble man who during the middle of the rally in the UK, called on the people to pray to God for divine help. He told them that God would not forget them. He is a true Ethiopian.
Mr. Wondmu Mekonnen spoke next about the misuse of aid money to Ethiopia and about the rampant corruption going on in the country under this regime. I already knew Wondmu. He is one of the wonderful people I have met through working on this struggle and I count him as an example of one of the many Ethiopians who has enriched my life. To me, he is a brother, a mentor, a friend and a fellow countryman. People like brother Wondmu are the reason why I strongly believe that a new Ethiopia is not only probable, but very possible.
People like him have the intellect, the compassion for others, the generosity and the love of their country that is necessary for Ethiopia to be transformed from a country of pain to one of peace and from one of misery to one of prosperity.
Mr. Wondmu has worked with the SMNE from the very beginning and he has become one of the key leaders of the SMNE in London. He does not belong to any one group, but to the whole of Ethiopia. His love for his people and his country is something you can see through his talk, his voice, his smile and his body language. He used to be a professor of economics at Addis Ababa University and now that he is in London, he is a professor at the University of Birmingham—as he says, going from “A” to “B.” Yet, he said that were peace to come to Ethiopia peace, he would be in Ethiopia because there is much greater need there, but that the lack of security, hope and good government is the reason he is in London.
He knew his material, exposing the corruption in Ethiopia from the inside out. Using projectors and documentation uncovered in extensive research, he showed extensive financial information regarding aid and what happened to it. He visually showed in detail how this regime “is sucking the resources and depleting the country.” Mr. Wondmu ended up encouraging both Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians to never turn their backs on this country and to not lose hope. As a good professor always does, he had control of the room and some of the parliamentarians later commented on the impact of his presentation.
The last person to speak was Ms. Sabra Mohammed. Her topic was human rights violations against women and children. She is not Ethiopian born, but was born in Russia; however, when she had gone to Ethiopia many years ago as a music teacher, she was so won over by the hospitality of the Ethiopian people, that she fell in love not only with the people but also the country. She now calls herself a proud Ethiopian. Her love of Ethiopia was the reason she was deported out of Ethiopia not one time, but five times.
In her presentation, she described in detail how horribly the TPLF had treated her; dehumanizing her and separating her from her children and family and treating her like a criminal despite not being guilty of anything except loving Ethiopia. She said the TPLF government has violated many women’s rights; an recent example being that of imprisoned opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa. She ended her presentation by fervently calling all Ethiopian people to join together, regardless of ethnicity, skin color or religion, to fight this “terrorist regime” and “to free the Ethiopian people from the prison they are now in.”
She called on the British parliament to stand together with the Ethiopian people and to stop funding the regime that was acting in opposite ways to all those principles on which Britain had been founded. She affirmed that she would always be wherever Ethiopians were fighting for justice and she hoped that Ethiopians would know that they could always count on her to be with them.
We Ethiopians are more than capable—with God’s help—of transforming Ethiopia from being a “beggar nation” to a “better nation.”
I was so proud of the Ethiopian presenters who delivered their message with such articulation and professionalism; giving me reason for believing that we Ethiopians are more than capable—with God’s help—of transforming Ethiopia from being a “beggar nation” to a “better nation.” If these kinds of people would be in Ethiopia, running the country, instead of in exile throughout the world, most of us would go back home and those in Ethiopia, would not be searching for ways to leave.
The room was packed with Ethiopians who came, showing their concern and support. All these things are sources of hope. Beyond that, a brother from the Ogaden stood up during the question and answer period and said, “We are all being killed the same; we need each other and we must united and stand together against this regime!” This audience gave him a standing ovation and enthusiastically applauded the acknowledgement that we Ethiopians have more in common with each other than what separates us.
This is a beautiful vision of what a “New Ethiopia” might be like; that is, if increasingly more Ethiopians decide to value “humanity before ethnicity!” This part is up to us, but there is more we need to do as well. Outsiders can help us, but they will not and should not be expected “to do it for us.” In other words, we cannot sit back and wait for someone else to free us. Too many Africans go to free countries and plead, “…please free us,” but fail to recognize their own responsibility. Let us not make that same mistake!
UK MP George Bruce ended the meeting by saying, “Africa is a wonderful place but failed to produce good leaders who were cared for the people. The root cause could be blamed on the colonizers, but in the case of Ethiopia, you were not colonized so you cannot blame the British, like others who were colonized in Africa can do. I know that Ethiopians are good people and from what I learned today, I can see that you are ready to create a good government and to determine your own destiny. I will advocate for you. This means I will go to all of the elected parliament members I know to educate them to be on the side of the Ethiopian people.”
This ended a highly successful meeting, marking the beginning of a shared effort between these elected officials, representatives from Third World Solidarity and the people of Ethiopia. In a companion article, Part Two, I will share what I learned in my follow-up with some of these MP’s, as well as with other elected officials and key people in Canada and the US. They have some very good advice for us to further our partnership and our effectiveness.
May God bring new partners together in effective ways!
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Please do not hesitate to email me if you have comments to: Obang@solidaritymovement.org,
Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
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