gamechuibrahim

[gamechuibrahim]

The Prosperity Party is a threat to multinational federalism

Ethiopia is in the throes of a dreadful civil war. It is a culmination of more than two years of pissing-match between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the leaders of the Tigray regional state. The war is being fought in the backdrop of an ideological conflict and competing visions for the future of Ethiopia.

Since he was swept to power in 2018, Abiy has made no secret of his disdain for federalism and nostalgia for the centralized and assimilationist days of the unitary state. On the other hand, his opponents in Tigray have positioned themselves as the only buffer standing in the way of Abiy and his highly centralized vision for the country.

To understand Abiy’s anti-federalist views, consider his recent parliamentary speech in which he touted the democratic merits of a unitary state. Unsurprisingly, his comments raised many eyebrows. Why did the leader of a multinational federation even bother to defend the accommodationist quality of a unitary system? Was it a Freudian slip or a subliminal message?

Abiy has continually repudiated and at times trivialized the mounting demands for statehood in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). For example, he has suggested that the demand for statehood is simply a desire by local elites for more V8 vehicles rather than a genuine demand for autonomy or self-rule.

He has also tried to coerce zonal representatives to delay their formal request to the House Federation for statehood until a comprehensive political roadmap is devised and decided upon. When Sidama became the 10th member of the federation, following a historic referendum, neither Abiy nor his office extended a congratulatory message to the Sidama people.

The diversity challenge

Ethiopia has followed a unitary state system ever since the polity took its current shape through the conquest of Menelik II at the turn of the 20th century. Multinational federalism was adopted in 1995 to accommodate a century-old ‘diversity challenge.’ For the first time, it recognized and at least in theory celebrated ethnic diversity. To codify these changes, the constitution established nine regional states based on ethno-linguistic identity and granted significant autonomous power over regional matters to the constituent parts. It also enshrined the powers and principles of shared rule.

Ethnic groups became sovereign entities and the building blocks of the new arrangement. They were also given the right to co-govern and take their due share in the national cake. Pointedly, Article 39(3) of the constitution recognized the unconditional rights of ethnic groups to have an ‘equitable representation’ in the federal government

However, if we draw a balance sheet of the last 27 years, the principles and rules of federalism have been honored in the breach. While the country was constitutionally a federal state, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) snatched self-rule and compromised shared rule through its practice of democratic centralism. (Democratic centralism is a Leninist organizational principle in which a centrally decided policy is binding on all members.) Hence, the constitutional rights and powers of ethnic groups were short-circuited by a party dogma. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant partner in the wobbly coalition, employed this tactic to offset its numeric minority and held an unquestioned hegemonic power.

That is why TPLF met opposition and resistance at every turn. A 2014 Addis Ababa Master Plan rekindled sustained Oromo protests sealing TPLF’s fate. At its core, the Oromo protests were a demand for the respect of regional autonomy over development and urban planning. The protest eventually expanded to other states, most crucially to the Amhara region, and grew to include demands for regime change. The protesters sought to end TPLF’s authoritarian rule and establish a fair, just, federal, and democratic order.

The four-year-long protest movement precipitated TPLF’s demise and paved the way for the rise to power of Oromo and Amhara reformists inside the EPRDF. The upheaval culminated in the selection of Abiy Ahmed as the prime minister.

Abiy wasted no time to disband the EPRDF and haphazardly rebrand it as Prosperity Party (PP). Initially, PP vowed to build on the achievements of the EPRDF and rectify its political and economic shortcomings. Abiy quickly made an about-face as his electoral chances dwindled under the new party tag.

Regressive ideological shift

PP is progressively drifting toward the right by embracing a dangerous and divisive narrative. The party’s Medemer ideology has been billed as an indigenous philosophical solution to Ethiopia’s problems. But a closer examination reveals that it is institutional engineering based on a simplistic and distorted reading of history. It applies a reductionist and revisionist approach to unpack the many contradictions of Ethiopia. For example, it purports to dismiss ethno-national movements as ‘elitist instrumentalism’ rather than a genuine quest for recognition and inclusion.

While it grudgingly accepts the existence of national oppression in imperial Ethiopia, Medemer dismisses the last 50 years’ efforts to accommodate ethnic diversity as a national disaster. In short, Medemer is predicated on restoring the homogenization and centralization legacy of pre-1991 Ethiopia.

While disastrous humanitarian and human rights violations were committed over the last 50 years, this period also saw relentless efforts and sacrifices to remake Ethiopia as a multicultural and multinational polity. Both the class revolution and the adoption of federalism had brought about positive changes in managing diversity. Hence, a political ideology that casts this period in a bad historical light could not be considered as a solution to manage diversity.

Some of the prime minister’s surrogates do not even hide PP’s ultimate objective. For example, earlier this year, Abiy’s senior advisor Daniel Kibret underscored that the main task of PP is to finish the nation-building process initiated by Menelik II. So far, neither the party nor the prime minister has denounced and distanced themselves from that outrageous remark. It could only be interpreted as tacit approval of the statement. Abiy’s latest speech is thus in keeping with the deliberate effort to slowly but surely chip away at the federal project. It is under this context that Abiy and TPLF are now engaged in an omnious conflict that could destablize the entire Horn of Africa.

A unitary structure and policy

Several comparative studies have shown that a party structure can significantly affect federalism. While an autonomist party system enhances the principles of self-rule, a unitary party weakens regional autonomy. The impact of PP on federalism is more pronounced for two reasons. First, PP is a ruling party that controls the federal government and all regional states except Tigray. Second, and most importantly, PP is a hegemonic political party. Under EPRDF, Ethiopia effectively became a one-party state. And every function and sector of government has been impacted by the unrestrained party-state fusion. That is also why a shift in party policies and structures carries serious political repercussions for the body politics.

Besides the ideological backsliding, PP’s organizational structure also undermines the multinational federal arrangement. A cursory reading of PP documents reveals that it is a unitary party. Unlike EPRDF which was a coalition of institutionally autonomous regional political parties, PP was established as a single national entity without leaving any room for regional and institutional autonomy. All meaningful and consequential party policies and decisions are made at the center by the highest party echelon. Local branches are merely there to execute what has been decided at the center. For example, there is no Oromia or Somali Prosperity Party but a Prosperity Party branch in Oromia and Somali regions. The branches do not necessarily represent the interests of the local people other than having PP presence at the regional level.

In other words, the organization makeup of PP undermines constitutionally sanctified state autonomy by reducing the regional party branch into an instrument of central leadership. Worryingly, the leadership of the branch offices (including the administrators of the regional states) is made accountable to the federal Central Committee. Even if the so-called ‘affiliates’ (Agar) parties were brought into the fold, upgrading affiliates to PP members came at the cost of losing relative local autonomy. Thus, concerning regional self-rule, if EPRDF’s democratic centralism was akin to indirect rule, PP’s organizational structure resembles a direct rule

Furthermore, membership in PP is individual-based without any ethnic affiliation. Meaning, its members do not represent a group but themselves as individuals. This defies one of the essential requirements of multinational federalism that calls for the existence of an autonomous local party that protects and advances local interests.

In characteristic PP self-contradiction and doublespeak, the party claims that the composition of its party Council and Central Committee is based on population size. Whether this refers to ethnicity or residence is not clear. Since membership is an individual-based – without ethnic affiliation or linguistic proficiency – the population size clause may refer to residency. This is contrary to multinational federalism which requires ethnic representation in shared-rule institutions.

Such a unitary structure could also negatively affect the constitutional requirement of equitable ethnic representation at the federal level. How does a person who joined the party in an individual capacity represent an ethnic group? Since ethnicity or language is not a requirement for membership, there is a likelihood that PP branches could be dominated by members of different linguistic groups, eschewing ethnic quota and representation.

Dismantle or Democratize?

Reversing Ethiopia’s federal system let alone the multinational version risks disintegration. It is highly unlikely to reset the clock on multinational federalism easily without risking the country’s territorial integrity and unity. Ethiopia should not go far to discern the danger of rollbacking federalism. The dissolution and concomitant political ramifications of the Eritrean federation is a glaring lesson. The seeds for Eritrean secession were sown during the dissolution of the federation act. If PP attempts to dismantle federalism, the specter of more Eritrea-like scenarios won’t be far-fetched. Not only a risk of secession but it could also lead to bloody communal violence. Localized and spontaneous pogrom would be commonplace as seceding entities would engage in downward homogenization and ethnic purification.

But democratization and further institutionalization can work and perhaps save Ethiopia from the abyss. Multinational federalism and constitutional dispensation while lacking original democratic legitimacy, over time, have earned a redeemed legitimacy as attested by wider support among Ethiopian people.

Today, except for the so-called pan-Ethiopianist forces and urban-based elites, multinational federalism enjoys widespread acceptance and support. As a recent Afro Barometer survey shows 61 percent (had it not been for a methodological flaw of the survey, the support rate could have been higher) of Ethiopians support the continuity of the federalism system. Hence, the way forward is to democratize and ensure institutional autonomy and complement it with a robust minority protection regime.

PP’s ideological and institutional drift away from multinational federalism and Abiy Ahmed’s stubborn refusal to change tack will only escalate the already tense political atmosphere in Ethiopia. It has already engendered a civil war in Tigray, bringing the country one step closer to a failed state with devastating national and regional ramifications.

By: BAHAR OUMER

[gamechuibrahim]

ምላሽ ለኣፍሪካ ህብረት ኮሚሽን ሊቀ-መንበር መግለጫ

(የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባር መግለጫ -ህዳር 4, 2020ዓም)

የኣፍሪካ ህብረት ኮሚሽን ሊቀ-መንበር ክቡር ሙሳ ፋኪ መሃሜት ህዳር 3, 2020ዓም የኢትዮጵያን ወቅታዊ ሁኔታ ኣስመልክተው ላወጡት መግለጫ ያለንን ታላቅ ኣድናቆት እንገልጻለን። የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባር ላለፉት ሁለት ዓመት ተኩል ያንሻበበውን አደጋ ኣስቀድሞ በመገመትና የለውጡ ሂደት መስመር እንዲይዝና በኣግባቡ እንዲመራ በተደጋጋሚ ለኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ሲገልጽ ሰንብቷል።

ለቀውስና ለግጭቶች በጊዜ መፍትሄ እንዲበጅ ሃሳብ በማቅረብ ሁሉም ባለድርሻ ኣካላት በውይይትና ዲሞክራሲን እውን በማድረጉ ሂደት ውስጥ እንዲሳተፉ ሲጠይቅ ነበር። በተለይም የደህንነት ችግርና በማህበረስብ መካከል ያሉ ግጭቶችን አስመልክተን ያለንን ከፍተኛ ስጋት ገልጸናል።

የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባር በተናጠልና ከሌሎች ተቃዋሚ ቡድኖች ጋር በጋራ በመሆን የለውጥ ሂደቱን መልክ በማስያዝ ወደ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ሽግግር ያመራ ዘንድ ኣገራዊ መግባባት ላይ እንዲደረስ ሁሉንኣቀፍ ብሄራዊ ውይይት እንዲካሄድ ሰፋ ያለ የመፍትሄ ሃሳብ በማርቀቅ ኣቅርቧል። ለውጡ በኣግባቡ ካልተመራና የተለያዩ ቅሬታዎችና ጥያቄዎች ላሏቸው ብሄር ብሄረሰቦችና ህዝቦች መሰረታዊና ፍትሃዊ ምላሽ ካልተሰጠ ሊከሰት የሚችለውን ከባድ ኣደጋ በተከታታይ ለዓለም ማህበረሰብ ሲያሳውቅ ነበር።

የኣፍሪካ ህብረት ኮሚሽን ስጋታችንን ከትኩረት ውስጥ በማስገባትና በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ሰላምና መረጋጋትን ለማስፈን ሁሉን ኣቀፍ ውይይት ለማካሄድ ጥረት መደረግ እንዳለበትና ሃገሪቷን ለማገዝ ዝግጁ መሆኑን በመግለጹ ኦነግ የተሰማውን ደስታ ይገልጻል።

በተደጋጋሚ ስንገልጽ እንደነበረው ላጋጠመው ህገ-መንግስታዊ ቀውስ መፍትሄ ለማርቀቅ፣ ኣስፈላጊውን ስትራቴጂ ለመቀየስና በስራ ላይም ለማዋል በሚደረግ የጋራ ጥረት ሁሉ ውስጥ በመሳተፍ ድርሻችንን ለማበርከት ያለንን ፍላጎት እንገልጻለን።

ክቡር ሊቀ-መንበር፡ በዚህ ኣጋጣሚ በመጠቀም ትኩረትዎን እንዲያገኝ የምንሽው ጉዳይ፡ በኢፌዴሪ የኦሮሚያ ብሄራዊ ክልላዊ መንግስት ዜጎች የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባር በኢፌዴሪ ውስጥ የኦሮሚያ ብሄራዊ የሽግግር መንግስት እንዲመሰረት ያቀረበውን ጥሪ ሙሉ በሙሉ በሚባል ደረጃ ደግፈውታል።

ይህም ብዙ ህዝብ በሚኖርበት በዚህ ክልል ውስጥ የፖለቲካ ቀውስና የደህንነት ችግር ይበልጥ እንዳይከፋ ይረዳል ብለን እናምናለን። ከዚህም ሌላ የኦሮሚያ ብሄራዊ ሽግግር መንግስት መመስረት በቀጣይነት እየተፈጸመ ያለውን ግድያ፣ የጅምላ እስራት ይህንን ሰቆቃ ለማስቆም በተደጋጋሚ እየተካሄደ ላለው ኣመጽ ምላሽ በመሆን፡ በኢትዮጵያ ሰፊው ለሆነው ለዚህ ክልል የሰላም መስረት በመጣል መረጋጋትን ያሰፍናል የሚል ጽኑ እምነት ኣለን።

በመጨረሻም የኣፍሪካ ህብረት ኮሚሽን ሁሉም ኣካላት በሁሉን-ኣቀፍ ውይይት እንዲሳተፉ ያቀረበውን ጥሪ የምንቀበል መሆኑንና ኣገራዊ መግባባትን በመፍጠር ሃገሪቷ የገጠማትን ህገ-መንግስታዊ ቀውስና ይህም በኣፍሪካ ቀንድ ቀጣናና ከዚያም ባሻገር የሚያደርሰውን ከባድ ጫና ለማስቀረት ከሁሉም ባለድርሻ ኣካላት ጋር የሚሰራ መሆኑን ይገልጻል።

ድል ለሰፊው ህዝብ!

የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባር

ህዳር 4, 2020ዓም

[gamechuibrahim]

The Attack on Tigray People Is the Attack on Entire Federalist Forces by the Former PM, His Foreign Allies and Unionists in Ethiopia.

By Denboba Natie, November 05, 2020

Over 115 million peoples of Ethiopia are inadvertently allowing their country to descend into protracted chaotic civil war with the potential of disintegration. This is becoming the case simply because the Ethiopia’s former narcissist PM (illegally remaining in power) and his unionist advisers with the Eritrea’s despotic dictator have in unison illegally decided to attack Tigray’s national regional State. This is a premeditated and well planned war that is portrayed by the invaders as the war entered into with the foreign country. The attack of the so called government against its own citizens is intensifying needing an unconditional and united condemnation of all liberated peoples of the world.

The above looks like a fairy tale that never practically happens in any country with the system that holds the leaders into account for any action they may do. In particular, when the war involves a foreign country to attack its own citizens with the aim of politically benefiting the politicians on power; it results in an impeachment of and an unconditional removal or resignation of the implicated traitors from their respective positions with eventual treason charges. This is happening in the Ethiopia as the former colonel PM is conducting full scale war in Tigray defying the constitutional mandate of the regional state.

Furthermore, the former PM wishes to become the 7th king of the empire. He is therefore hell bent on achieving his delusional dream with all costs mainly by sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of civilians in the country. His regime has shown that it is capable of dehumanising innocent civilians for his political gain and blames various groups for committing heinous crimes his security apparatuses plan and execute in the past two and a half years. A week ago- his agents have committed genocide on Amhara civilians in Wolaga zone of Oromia as part of warming up for the war with the citizens in Tigray although they put the blame on TPLF and OLF.

One of the former ‘Information Network Security Agency (INSA)’ founders who has been one of the key architects in planning and implementing citizens dehumanisation project in Ethiopia has grabbed the dearly earned power in April 02, 2018 after over 5,800 sons and daughters of the Oromo nation have sacrificed their precious lives. The former PM who has terribly deceived the subjects by taking full responsibility for all crims his party (EPRDF) has committed prior to his assumption of power. Furthermore, he has also vowed to make Ethiopia bullet sound free country for the reason he has been awarded 2019 Noble Peace Prize. The vows and promises were only short lived as he turned to be become ‘Blood Thirsty Dangerous Beast’ whose psychopathic nature urges him to lie and continually lie to get where he would like to be for his personal gain.

Nowhere on planet has been witnessed leaders attacking their citizens forging an alliance with the foreign country. It is unambiguous that such actions results in severe punishment. These sadly are unfolding in Ethiopia as the 2019 Noble Peace prize winner sets his eyes on Tigray under the pretext of attacking TPLF’s former officials for disobeying his rule.

The war has been started in Tigray since midnight of November 03, 2020 and continued with air gunship supported attack of the Tigray peoples to date. Moreover, in the northern border where Ethiopia and Eritrea have fought bitter war between 1998 and 2000 with the cost of between 80, 000 and 100,000 lives; the Eritrea’s dictator Afeworki has assembled his army as part of Colonel Abiy’s and his plot to attack Tigray simply because it has become evident that it is only Tigray that is hindering the PM from achieving his dream of becoming the 7th king of the Ethiopian Empire by creating ultra-right unionist empire’ the system that the Eritrea’s dictator wishes to create in Ethiopia.

Additionally, the Eritrea’s president, one of the longest serving rulers of the Africa who has never been elected and never left his office since 1992 independence referendum has got serious grievances against the TPLF. Therefore, he has found colonel Abiy’s regime the best messenger with whom he can fight a proxy war. This is the reason why his security and military commanders with Special Forces were allowed into Ethiopia’s unclassified security materials including its facilities as they were plotting to attack Tigray. The Eritrea’s security officers and high level military officials were operating in the Ethiopian soil for the last two years.

The indicated operatives with the former PM are responsible for masterminding the ongoing unrest in Ethiopian to allow Abiy’s regime to remain in power illegally. This is the regime ended up attacking the citizens of the country using foreign country and its agents. The former PM has also assassinated several high profile politicians, professionals and military commanders including Chief of staff of Ethiopian army General Seare Mekonnen, Ethiopian Dam engineer Simegnew Bekele, Amhara regional leader Dr Ambachew Mekonen, the Oromo’s beloved singer Hacaaluu Hundessa and hundreds of thousands of others who became the victims of his political plots. Various unrests were meticulously masterminded by his security and Palace advisers to put the blame on others such as the TPLF, OLF and numerous others.

Therefore, it is logical and morally compelling for all peoples in Ethiopia to unconditionally condemn with the Strongest Possible Terms the Ethiopian former PM’s invasion of Its Own citizens in ‘Tigray’ Region and equally should deplore the massacre of Amhara civilians in Wolaga Zone by his secret operatives. The Peoples of Tigray and wider Ethiopia are not asking for a bullet and civil war. Rather, they all are demanding their rights to be honoured and allowed to exercise freedom, democracy and rights to self-rule!

Finally, we advise those Amhara elites and misinformed or erroneously informed peoples in Ethiopia thus blindly and gullibly supporting the former PM’s short sighted decisions on:

1. FORGING UNHOLY alliance with the foreign country to attack its own citizens

2. Allowing Eritrean dictator's army to cross the border of sovereign country.

3. Illegally opening the sovereign rights of the country to a foreign country's security

4. Selling the secrets of the country to the foreign groups

5. Opening war on Tigray people without due regard to the rights of the citizens

6. Masterminding various massacre to blame OLF and TPLF

7. Wasting limited resources on war with own people as over 20 million are depending on a foreign food aid.

8. Allowing PM's delusional dream to materialise at the expense of the suffering of civilians

9. Disregarding huge human and material costs this blind war may brings

10. Allowing the country to immerse itself into protracted civil war that potentially destabilising the entire horn beyond Ethiopia; to think twice and stop their alliance with a person behaving like a mad dog.

Therefore, all nations and peoples in Ethiopia must unite to stop this psychopath dog from his madness.

Unconditionally stop attacking Tigray!!

By Denboba Natie, Edinburgh, Scotland

[gamechuibrahim]

Breaking (For Urgent Release)!

The SNLF Endorses the Qeerro’s 5th Round Call to Reject the Illegal Unionist Regime Dehumanizing the nation In Ethiopia whilst Denouncing Its’ Plot to Attack Tigray.

Press Release by Sidama National Liberation Front (SNLF),

November 01, 2020

The Oromo Nation is fighting for its national survival as its identity is at stake. The nation is living under harrowing situations and it is subjected to ongoing unionist former Prime Minister premeditated and stage managed massacre and genocide since late 2018. Today, the Oromo nation is denied its fundamental rights to survival in its own soil. The nation’s people are increasingly targeted and hunted down to be killed and maimed by the Ethiopia’s national army and security forces centrally coordinated by the former PM, Colonel Abiy Ahmed led unionist regime. The properties of the Oromo peoples in various areas are decimated to ashes and the nation is vilified by the unionist PM and its unionist advisers.

The Oromo youth are picked up from their houses to be executed and thrown on the streets from where their loved ones are denied access to their dead bodies to give them a final farewell. The Oromo women and girls are rapped and left under unsignifying conditions whilst their husbands or children are incarcerated in mass. Oromia is turned to a literal war zone where the illegal regime that has completed its constitutional mandate in office on the 5th of October 2020 illegally remains on power by depersonalising the Oromo people primarily and the rest nations of the empire in general. The Oromo’s entire prominent opposition leaders including Obbo Jawar Mohammed, Obbo Bekele Garba, Jaal Hamza Boran, Jaal Colonel Gemechu Ayana, more than 2/3rd of OLF’s leadership and tens of thousands of others remain illegally incarcerated since the assassination of the Oromo’s most beloved singer and human rights defender ‘Hacaaluu Hundeessa’ on June 29, 2020 by Abiy’s assassins. Over 345 Sidama civilians also remain incarcerated. We urge the regime to unconditionally release all the Oromo, Sidama and the other prisoners in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, the Oromo nation is also fighting to rescue federalism in Ethiopia along with the Tigray’s national regional state, the only region that has conducted its election in September 2020 as per the constitutional prerogative- thus at loggerheads with the illegal regime operating from the capital Finfinnee (Addis Ababa). The indicated illegal regime led by Colonel Abiy Ahmed is also beating war drum in collaboration with the foreign country to attack Tigray for denouncing its unconstitutionality. The Situation in Ethiopia becomes fluid and the life condition for the Oromo nation extremely dire.

Therefore, the Oromo Qeerroo has called for the Oromo nation and its supports to reject state terrorism in Oromia during its previous four calls for action including abstaining cooperation with the regime and its apparatuses in Oromia, demanding all transportation service to be stopped- but the essentials such Ambulance services, hospital and the likes. The regime obliviously continued its Oromo dehumanising projects by intensifying War against the nation.

Therefore, the Oromo Qeerroo has called for the 5th round of popular rejection of Colonel Abiy Ahmed’s regime in Oromia. Their calls for rejection in cooperating with Abiy’s regime start on Monday, November 02, 2020. We, the SNLF’s leadership and supporters strongly believe that the Oromo nation has got full right for a peaceful existence in their own land; hence we denounce with the strongest possible terms the regime’s ongoing brutality to Oromo nation and demand it to unconditionally stop and allow a transitional government to commence as urgently as possible. Thus, we support the Oromo’s call. Thus, we call upon all the Sidama and the entire federalist forces in Ethiopia to support the Oromo’s call by unconditionally showing fraternity and solidarity with the Oromo whose fruit benefits us all the federalist forces in Ethiopia.

Finally, we also call upon the international communities directly or otherwise supporting the Ethiopian authoritarian regime to demand it to stop State terrorism in Oromia by holding it responsible for all tragedies unfolding in the entire country. We also call for an unconditional cessation of hostility between the legal Tigray regional state and the illegal Ethiopian regime that potentially causes dangerous eventually in the entire horn for which a sole responsible will be colonel Abiy, his regime and his unionist behind the scene architects.

Justice, Freedom And Equality For All Nations And Peoples In Ethiopia!

The Sidama National Liberation Front (SNLF)

November 01, 2020

[gamechuibrahim]

Dr. WapLip

If there is No OROMO and OROMIYAA ODP/OPDO, OLF or other Oromo political parties whom/where are they going to govern?

If mistakes are not corrected on time, definitely, I predicate that the end of ODP/OPDO day is numbered.Remember we heard all conspiracy Of G7 and Menilik followers against Oromo nation.

OPDO never respond to this menilik followers propaganda cause of their Medemar poltics, they choosed to be silent.We are reached at its critical turning points and at the stage of everything impossible to hear from the local and government media propanaga started spreading poisons of divisions aganist Oromoo followed by Amhara political parties.

Surprisingly, Amhara political parties G7, NAMA, Blue was denied the exsitance of Oromos and Oromia, OPDO still keep quite for their political reason. Finally, Naftenya Menilkk followers and Derg was destroyed once for ever in the history of human beings.

The same thing may be happen to ODP/OPDO, because most of the Amhara parties, individuals, groups do not like the OROMO people and and OROMIA. Amhara is barkes Oromo, Oromia, Oromo, OLF, Oromia continously with bad insults.

Some time Amhara political parties consider Oromo as foreign people. Many of the Amhara parties are making secret meetings and discussions against Oromo and Oromia either in group or separately as to how to destroy the Oromo people and Oromia government forever.

My Oromo people Take care and wake up for defending our Oromia and keep your unity more than ever and do not compromise and bargain your people and Oromia with the Died Naftenya Amhara and your historical enemies.

In front of you, heavy and black clouds are forecasting there that the rain fall may be very much heavy and may result a heavy flood that may erode you and your Oromia. Good luck!

Have a Great day!

[gamechuibrahim]

Western #Oromia was under control of #OLA since 2018. The same is true with southern Oromia. There is no government structure in all zones of Wollegas and Gujjis. National army and federal police are stationed near Nekemte and waiting for real fight with OLA. OPDO sent poorly trained Oromia special forces to fight with OLA but were ambushed and destroyed by OLA. OPDO deliberately sent other ethinicities to kill Oromos mercilessly. National army retreated back from west Wollega and stationed in East Wollega because of the repeated loss of their members by invisible OLA. National army was involved to fight OLA at Gujji and Borena front but did not bring any victory yet. Heavy casualities was reported in the military side. Fearing those effects, national army and federal police shy away from fighting with the brave OLA. Currently, the central command of OLA is preparing to launch offenses on the mafia and as a result, the mafia created central birgade fearing the inevitable loss.

Oromo is winning

- Leul Henok

[gamechuibrahim]

SCORE CARD OF THE FORMER PM OF ETHIOPIA - ABIY AHMED ALI

1. Over 2 million internally displaced persons

2. Over 7 political assassinations in about two years

3. Several Civilian massacres (Benishangul Gumuz etc)

4. Arrest of over 30k Oromo youth on no legal charge

5. Mass Arrest of Oromo political leaders

6. Continuous discrimination against Tigray Region and it’s people

7. Systemic State corruption

8. Not willing to sit for a national peace and reconciliation.

9. Not willing to help with desert locust which is invading farming community

10. THE RETURN TO AUTHORITARIAN STATE

- Henok G. Gabisa

[gamechuibrahim]

የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ያሳዝነኛል!!

ኦሮሞ ከሰው ጋር ለመኖር ምንም ችግር ያለበትም። አይደለም በእኩልነትና በፍትህ አብሮ መኖር ጨቋኞች ብሆኑ ወደ ቀልባቸው ይመለሳሉ ብሎ ሰውነትን በማስቀደም (Ilma namaa akka hin godhan የሰው ልጅ እንደዚህ አይደረግም) እያለ ግፍን በጸየፍ አብሮ ለመኖር የምተጋ ህዝብ ነው።

የኦሮሞ ህዝብ በተደረጀ መልኩ የፖለቲካ ትግል የጀመረው ወደ ግማሽ ምዕተ ዓመት ተጠግቷል። በዚህ ረጅም ዘመናት በፈጀ ትግል ብዙ ድሎች እየተመዘገቡ መጥቷል። በራስ ቋንቋ መማር መቻልና ኦሮሚያ የሚባለውን ክልል እውና ማድረግ ዋናዎቹ ናቸው። በመሆኑም የኦሮሞ ብሔርተኝነት ሀገር አፍራሽ ነው ተብሎ በገዛ ከሃዲ ልጆቹ እየተወገዘ ለማፍራስ ብሠራም የህዝቡን ትግል አንድ ጋት ወደ ኋላ መመለስ የምችል አይሆንም። ዝሆኑ ከነቀ ቋይቷልና!

የኦሮሞ ለኢትዮጵያ ስጋት አድርገው ማቅረብ ሀገርቷን ይጎዳታል እንጂ ምንም አይጠቅማትም። እውነተው ይሀ አይደለም። እኩልነትና ፍትህን የሚጠሉት ከተዛባ የባህል፣ የኢኮኖሚና የፖለቲካ ሥልጣን የህዝቦች ግንኙነት አትራፊ የሆኑና ለፖለቲካ ሥልጣንና ለቡድን ጥቅም ለ Establishment ትርክት ራሳቸውን ያስገዙ አገር እንድናለን የሚሉ ሀገር የሚያፈርሱ ሆድ አደሮች ናቸው።

የኦሮሞ ህዝብ እንደ ህዝብ በትግሉ ከፍተኛ ተሳታፍ ነው። በገንዘብ፣ በዕውቀትና በትግሉ ውስጥ ቀጥታ ተሳትፎ በማድረግ የከፈለውንና እየከፈለ ያለውን መስዋዕት ዘርዝሮ መጨረስ አይቻልም። የኦሮሞ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች ከህዝብ ምንም ድጋፍ ሳያጡ በሚፈለገው ፍጥነትና አደረጃጀት ወደ ግብ መምራት የቻሉ አይደሉም። አንዳንዴ ህዝቡ ትግሉን እየመራ ድርጅቶቹ ስከታሉም ታይተዋል። ትልቅ እርግማን ነው!

በፖለቲካ ሥራ ውስጥ ሰዎችን አሳምነው መደራጀት ከባድ ስሆን በኦሮሞ ፖለቲካ ህዝቡን አደራጅቶ ማንቀሳቃስ የምችል ድርጅት ያለም። በሥልጣን በየመንግሥታቱ በጉልበት ብሞክርም የህዝቡን ልብ ስለማየገኙ መጨረሻቸው ውድቀት ነው። አሁንም የተለየ ነገር አይጠበቅም።

ኦሮሞ ለምን አሳዘነኝ!?

የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ ከገባ ወዲህ ብዙ የቴሌቭዥን ጣቢያዎች ተዘግቷል። ይሄ ደግሞ የኢኮኖሚ ችግርና በህዝብ ድጋፍ ማጣት ዋናኘ ችግሮቹ ናቸው።

የኦሮሞን ህዝብ ሚዲያዎች ተመልከቱ፦ OMN, ONN ከሳታላይት የሚወርዱት በመንግሥት ጃም ተደርገው እንጂ በገንዘብ እጥረት ወይንም በህዝባዊ ድጋፍ ማጣት አይደለም! የOMN ስቱዲያ በሸገር ስዘጋ አሜሪካ ያለው ተጠናክሮ ሥራውን ቀጠለ፣ ህዝባዊ ድጋፉም በብዙ እጥፍ ጨመረ። ለዚህ መሳያ ስንት ሰው OMN ��ቃጥታ በማኅበራዊ ሚዲያ እንደምከታታል ማየት በቂ ነው። መንግሥት OMNና ሌሎች ሚዲያዎችን ለመተካት የቴሌቭዥን ጣቢያዎች በብዙ ሚሊዮኖች ብከፍትም የተሳከለት አይመስልም።

OMN ፊንፊኔ ከተዘጋ አሜሪካ በሲያትልና በሚኒሶታ ሁለት ስቱዲዮችን በተደረጃ መልኩ በመክፈት ለህዝብ መረጃ ማቀበሉን ቀጥሎበታል።

ጌታዬ ከዚህ ሁሉ ጃርባ የማይናወጥ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ የፋይባንስ ድጋፍ ስላለ እንጂ ሌላ ተዓምር አይደለም። ህዝቡ ትግሉን ለምን እንዲህ እንደምደግፍ አሳምሮ ይረዳል።

አሳዛኙ ነገር እንዲህ ለትግሉ ቀናኢ የሆነ ህዝብ ጠንካራ መሪ ድርጅትና ማጣቱ ፣ በሆድ አደር የሆኑ ልጃቹ በየዘመኑ ክህደቱ እየተፈፀመበት መሆኑ ናቸው።

- Wadaay Galamoo

[gamechuibrahim]

#Ethiopia: Behind the arrests of thousands & miscarriage of justice is the silent sufferings of prisoners' families

#AddisStandard's #SiyaanneMekonnen looked into the social, psychological & financial crisis of having loved ones, often the family breadwinners, locked away.

Excerpts:

***#SisayBekele, a father of a one-year-old baby boy, was freed by a court after his arrest in July. But he was rearrested by #Oromia police as his wife, #TejituUrga, was battling against an advanced endometrial cancer. Tejitu succumbed to her illness & was buried in his absence.

***#KelebSeyoum (Aster) is facing terrorism with other members of the Balderas for Genuine Democracy party. It's the 2nd time she is indicted with terrorism. She was nursing her first born during her first arrest; she left her second child at home yet again. Her husband speaks to #AS.

***#SamuelBekele, who was recently detained, & who grew up in the absence of his father #BekeleGerba, speaks of the fear his family is living under especially after the Attorney General publicly referenced to his detained father & others as "ultra-nationalist, violent militant."

***#AselefechMulatu, the wife of the #OFC senior leadership Dejene Tafa, reflects on the first time he was pardoned from prison 2 years ago. “I am aware that freedom is not the pardoning of 3 or 4 renowned political prisoners." Recently, she gave birth to a son whose father is in prison.

Source: Addis Standard

[gamechuibrahim]

FINFINNEE OROMIA

In Ethiopia, a heated political tug-of-war sparks security fears

#Abiy Ahmed has been locked in a bitter dispute with the political party that used to dominate the country’s politics for decades, raising questions about his ability to hold Ethiopia together through a fraught political transition.

On October 7, legislators at Ethiopia’s upper house of Parliament – known as the House of Federation (HoF) – voted to withhold budgetary subsidies to the Tigray regional state in the country’s north.

The move by the HoF, which is dominated by allies of Abiy, came two days after Tigray’s regional leaders – and Abiy’s political rivals – decided to recall their representatives at the federal level.

Tensions were already running high since September when the Tigray region held an election in defiance of a decision by central authorities earlier this year to postpone all parliamentary and regional elections scheduled for August due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Abiy’s opponents said the postponement was a move by the prime minister to prolong his rule and pressed ahead with the election, in which the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – the dominant political force in the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a multi-ethnic, four-party coalition that had run the country for almost 30 years – won a landslide victory.

The TPLF had already split from the EPRDF in 2019 when it refused to merge along with the three other coalition parties into the newly formed Prosperity Party (PP) under Abiy.

The HoF, however, declared the September 9 vote null and void, indicating the new Tigray regional assembly will not be recognised by the federal government.

The latest moves, seen as part of a campaign of mutual de-legitimisation, have sparked fears the political turmoil could spiral into a security crisis, the latest challenge to the federal system that stitches Ethiopia’s more than 80 ethnic groups together.

Wondimu Asaminew, a former diplomat and currently the head of the Tigray Friendship Liaison Office based in the Tigray regional capital of Mekelle, is adamant the federal government in Addis Ababa is to blame for the current situation.

“Abiy’s team, from the start, had a strategy of trying to sideline, make irrelevant and even criminalise TPLF,” Wondimu said.

Wondimu was referring to the tense relationship between the prime minister and the TPLF dating back to April 2018, when Abiy assumed his post after weeks-long secretive deliberations within the EPRDF.

Taking office after months of anti-government protests, Abiy promised to solve the country’s deep ethnic and political divides and change the EPRDF’s repressive and violent image. In the first few months, he speeded up the political reforms started in the dying days of his predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn. Political prisoners were released and opposition parties were allowed to operate, while Abiy even won a Nobel Prize for securing peace with neighbouring Eritrea.

The reform process saw the long-dominant TPLF being cast aside, as the Oromo and Amhara political wings of the EPRDF moved into the political centre stage – even as in recent months prominent Oromo figures have accused Abiy, an ethnic Oromo, of being a poor advocate for Oromo interests and sliding towards authoritarianism.

Ethnic Tigrayans make up about 6 percent of Ethiopia’s population, while ethnic Amharas and Oromos combined comprise some 65 percent of Ethiopia’s total population.

While Abiy’s and TPLF’s relationship was tense from the start, the merging of the EPRDF into the PP led to outright hostility between the two sides – and the postponement of the national elections added fuel to the fire.

“Abiy wasn’t ready to solve issues within the political and constitutional framework and instead resorted to expelling our officials and destroying EPRDF,” Wondimu said.

‘Mutual brinkmanship and mistrust’

A political analyst based in Addis Ababa, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the dispute between Tigray and the federal government comes at the worst time for Ethiopia, which is already battling to slow the spread of COVID-19 and tackle a potentially devastating desert locust invasion.

“The two sides are locked in a cold war of attrition which could drag the whole country into a mess,” the analyst said. “In such a climate of mutual brinkmanship, mistrust and confusion, this could lead to an armed conflict no side intended to enter into just like what happened 22 years ago with the Ethiopia-Eritrea border war.”

Nebiyu Sehul-Michael, the head of the PP’s office in the Tigray region, ruled out an armed conflict but said the TPLF’s destructive political behaviour needed a proportionate answer from Addis Ababa.

“The federal government’s withholding of budget subsidy is meant to significantly end TPLF’s utter lawlessness and treasonable actions,” Nebiyu said.

“The current freeze of relations was quite late due to the federal government’s open-mindedness and leniency. Legal relations with lower bodies and administration can continue based on the federation, the constitution, as well as proclamations and procedures.”

The region was due to receive federal budget subsidies totalling some $280m for the current fiscal year. It is unclear how much of that funding will be affected by the HoF’s move. The federal government has previously said it would funnel funds through lower-level government bodies in Tigray, bypassing the state legislature and executive, although questions remain of how that will work in practice.

Some said the move to cut budget subsidies will likely cause mutual economic pain.

“Tigray has a big tax base and relatively robust manufacturing base. In addition, an economic siege by the federal government would likely backfire, as it would create solidarity between the people and the government in the face of a perceived threat by the central government,” the analyst said.

Already, Tigray region officials have publicly indicated they will retaliate by withholding tax revenues collected in their region from the federal government.

National dialogue, a way out of the crisis?

With both sides seemingly standing their ground, many in Ethiopia have called on for the reactivation of national dialogue to break the political deadlock.

Wondimu, while welcoming such an initiative, said it would not to be all-encompassing, and not just between the TPLF and PP.

“We’re still open for a comprehensive dialogue, illustrated in our call under the federalist forces banner,” said Wondimu.

Similarly, Nebiyu agreed that national dialogue should happen, but accused the TPLF of spoiling the groundwork needed for it to happen.

“Discussions and other peaceful means are of top-shelf importance to resolve any contested issues. But this isn’t easy in a political landscape that was spoiled by the 27-year destructive rule of the TPLF,” he said.

Observers, meanwhile, said while both sides – in principle – may accept entering a national dialogue, the terms they might set could torpedo it right from the start.

“TPLF wants a comprehensive dialogue with other stakeholders in it, as bilateral dialogue with PP would automatically make TPLF a minority stakeholder,” the analyst said.

“PP could see a national dialogue as a time-buying strategy to win an election against a disorganized and repressed opposition possibly to be held by mid-2021.”

Source: aljazeera.com

[gamechuibrahim]

The Political Economy of the Emerging Neo-Neftegna State in Ethiopia

By Makonnen Tesfaye

1. Dictatorship and the Neo-Neftegna State Capture

1.1 In the political economy and history of Ethiopia the Neftegna State and Order was the socio-economic and political system that prevailed in the Southern, Eastern and Western parts of the country (also extending to parts of the Welqait and Raya lands of Tigray) for over 100 years, spanning from Menelik to Haileselassie imperial eras. The political economy was based on modes of production and relations characterised by serfdom intermingled with features of slave economies. Serfdom was the dominant form of production and relation between the Southern nationalities and peoples and the Neftegna nobility and their armed enforcers. Serfdom was a form of feudalism based on an agrarian economy, where day after day serfs worked exploitatively on their annexed land. Children born to serfs inherited the status of their parents and were born into serfdom. Moreover, serfs bound not only themselves but their future progeny and offspring. The distinguishing features of the Neftegna system was the bloody annexation of many independent kingdoms, lands and peoples; brute feudo-military annexations and occupations (alternatively characterised as “feudo-military colonialism”) of the peoples and lands of oppressed nationalities; only second or third class citizenships were conferred on oppressed nationalities; the prevalence of enslavement, slave trade and feudal exploitation; and the suppression of the identities, languages, cultures, traditions, histories and religions of the annexed lands and conquered peoples under One-Nation, One-Language, One-Religion imperial rule.

1.2 The February 1974 Revolution of the peoples and nationalities of Ethiopia dealt a blow to the feudal economic base of the Neftegna land tenure system by granting land to the tillers, but without politically liberating the peasantry democratically or improving the backward mode of production of agriculture. Moreover, the demands of nationalities for democracy, self-determination, and peace and development were brutally suppressed by the dictatorial regime of the Derg that waged wars (under the Neo-Neftegna banner of “Ethiopia Tikdem”) against the peoples and nationalities for 17 years until its demise in 1991.

1.3 The advent to power of the EPRDF and OLF and the proclamation of the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Republic (EFDR) Constitution in 1994 herald the victory of the struggle of Ethiopian nationalities for democracy and self-determination; unity based on diversity; and the equality of all religions. For most parts of the 27 years, the EPRDF pursued the economics of a “developmental state” and the politics of “revolutionary democracy”, which was a pro-poor partisan class politics of safeguarding the interests of the broad masses during the process of the building of a capitalist economy in a nascent, work-in-progress democratic experiment; and within the context of an emerging multi-polar global order that enabled the pursuit of a relatively non-aligned foreign policy. To its credit, the EPRDF registered significant and sustainable progress in promoting social cohesion and peace; developing the economy; and building vital hard and soft infrastructure of the country, making a difference to the livelihoods of tens of millions of hitherto downtrodden masses. It pursued a successful, relatively autonomous and non-aligned foreign policy that straddled major global and regional power divides, often successfully defending the sovereignty of the country. 1.4 Yet, the democratic developmental state experiment has come to an end due to the gradual ascendency of rent-seeking capitalism and economic injustice; the spread of systemic corruption; the growth of alienated masses, youth and intelligentsia; lack of democracy and mal-governance; and the growth of external neoliberal and dependency influences, which engineered the development and realignment of classes and forces that facilitated and enabled a Neo-Neftegna State Capture. Furthermore, the over centralisation of the Ethiopian Federal Government and State at the expense of the Regions and nationalities, and the undermining of the demands for Regional Statehoods by nationalists in Southern Ethiopia further alienated nationalities creating the conditions that weakened democratic federalism. Moreover, the EPRDF ignored and failed to combat the entrenched and hegemonic Neo-Neftegna ideology, bureaucracy and politics within the state superstructure and the society at large (including amongst the toxic Diaspora) during the 27 years of its rule. Furthermore and above all, the internal ideological and political decay of the EPRDF facilitated and enabled the advent of rent-seeking bureaucratic class and capitalists within its ranks; let loose widespread corruption; and opened wide the gate for the ascendency of neo-liberal and dependency ideologies and interests. These developments within the EPRDF and within the state were critical to the demise of the democratic developmental state experiment. On the back of a popular movement led by the youth, in particular the Oromo Qeerroo, who demanded democracy, self-determination and justice, the EPP Cliques assumed state power initially promising “reform”, “change” and “democracy”. The promises soon proved empty; instead they have become profoundly anti-democratic and dictatorial like the previous regimes of Haileselassie and the Derg. Over the last two years the Abiy dictatorial rule has undermined the fundamental pillars of the Federal Constitution, including the illegal and unconstitutional usurpation and extension of power; undermining the self-determination and sovereignty of nationalities; and creating a political environment that encourages insecurity, civil strife and dislocation and the breakdown of law and order. Hoodwinking global public opinion (including farcically managing to secure the Nobel Peace Prize), the EPP Cliques have been aided and abated by the emerging domestic ruling classes and elites and external hegemonic powers and regional dictators, in the particular Isaias Afewerki’s regime in Eritrea that has similar anti-democratic federalist agenda.

1.5 The emerging dictatorship of the EPP Cliques led by Colonel Abiy Ahmed and the political economy order that is being instituted is often characterised as Neo-Neftegna State, which is the off-spring of the political economy that was dealt major blows by the 1974 Revolution that gave land to the tillers and the 1994 EFDR Constitution that enshrined the multi-national democratic federalism. The Neo-Neftegna politics of present day Ethiopia is the result of the counter-revolutionary reversal of these two historical victories of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia and the revival and ascendency of the supremacist, expansionist and irredentist Amhara ruling class politics and ideology. The Neo-Neftegna ideology and politics is right-wing and authoritarian. It is profoundly anti-democratic, with a disdain for the recognition of human rights, whether group, or individual rights. The principal characteristics, traits and anatomy of Neo-Neftegna ideology and political economy are briefly discussed next. 2. Centralised and Unitarian State: One-Nation, One-Language, One-Religion Polity

2.1 The Neo-Neftegna State is the counter-revolutionary restoration of a centralised and unitarian state, which is the Menelikian Project of nation state building based on a polity of One-Nation, One-Language, One-Religion country. This is the very anti-thesis of a Democratic, Multi-National Federalism that accommodates diversity with unity. The plan to institute the Amharic language as a compulsory language in elementary schooling (in lieu of mother tongues) in all nationalities is a clear example of the mission to create a One-Language State at the expense of the other nationalities’ languages. In the same vein, the Neo-Neftegnas strongly object to other nationalities’ languages becoming working languages of the Federal Government. Similarly, the ideological and political association by Neo-Neftegna elites (e.g. by Mahibere Kidusan) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church with one nationality and language undermines the separation of politics and religion as stipulated in the EFDR Constitution. For example, the Neo-Neftegnas accuse the Oromos as “Anti-Orthodox Tewahedo” and they object to the Oromos using their language in their church liturgy, or administering their ecclesiastical or clerical affairs in their Region without undue church bureaucracy. Furthermore, the Abiy Cliques are surrounded by Neo-Neftegna advisors, the likes of Deacon Daniel Kibret, who flagrantly violate the separation of religion and politics, and who are known for promoting state religion and preaching division between Christians and Moslems in the country.

3. Neo-Neftegna Expansionism, Revanchism and Irredentism

3.1 In line with the Neftegnas of the Menelik and Haileselassie eras, the present day Neo-Neftegnas are profoundly irredentists and expansionists claiming over lands of non-Amhara Ethiopian nationalities and peoples based on past conquests by Amhara ruling classes and elites and their juniors. This is best shown by the Neo-Neftegnas claims over the Oromo lands incorporated under the imperial and Neftegna provincial boundaries of Shoa and Wollo; the claim over the feudal-imperial conquered Tigrayan lands of Welqait and Raya Azebo; and the Neftegna claim over conquered Metekel land of the Benishangul-Gumuz people. The expansionism and irredentism is of Menelikian proportion and goes as far as claiming Addis Ababa (the so-called Berera in lieu of Finfine), Adama and other cities in Oromia, Dire-Dawa and Harrar, 4. The Expropriation of the Peasantry through Land Privatisation and Rent-Seeking Capital

4.1 The Neo-Neftegna parties, in particular EZEMA, ANM and EPP, seek to consolidate the Neo-Neftegna State’s economic base by expropriating the Ethiopian peasantry through land privatisation and by employing the forces of rent-seeking capital that has been accumulated through corruption and mal-governance over the last two decades. This will further accentuate the already rampant process of the uprooting of the peasantry from their land, in particular those who live around Addis Ababa and other urban areas in the country. Having exhausted the acquisition of urban land and failing or unwilling to invest in productive sectors, such as in manufacturing, the presence and abundance of rent-seeking capital accumulated corruptly is seeking new and fertile ground for the acquisition of land on massive scale and country-wide, which can only materialise when land is privatised and is available for sale. Hence, the privatisation of land is at the top of the agenda of the Neo-Neftegna political manifesto.

5. Undermining the Rights of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples to Commonly Own their Land

5.1 Article 40 (3) of the EFDR Constitution stipulates that “...land is a common property of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of exchange”. By advocating land privatisation and by using capital accumulated through rent-seeking and corruption, the Neo-Neftegna ruling classes and elites seek to expropriate, or buy-off the land of the peasantry cheaply through asymmetric market, bureaucratic and political power, resulting in tens of millions of pauperised and landless peasantry. This process would throw back Ethiopia’s political economy to the Haileselassie era. Moreover and more importantly, with the lands of nationalities and peoples in the hands of the Neo-Neftegna classes, this would essentially mean the complete undermining of the economic base of the self-determination of nationalities and a complete throw-back to the political economy of the Haileselassie era where the national and land questions were inextricably linked.

6. Neo-Neftegna Political Supremacy and Cultural Hegemony

6.1 The ideology and mind-set of “Ethiopiawinet” based on Neftegna cultural hegemony and political supremacy is the anti-thesis of multi-national federalism that accommodates diversity with unity. It is a conception of Ethiopia and “Ethiopianism” based on ahistorical and mystical foundations, but defined and refined over centuries to serve the hegemonic rule of Amhara elites and ruling classes. The narrative (e.g. by ANM) that Ethiopia is constructed in the images of the past Amhara ruling classes and elites and that all the other nationalities must bow to and respect Neo-Neftegna values and norms is undemocratic and chauvinistic. Concomitantly, it is the manifesto of the political and bureaucratic supremacy and the cultural hegemony over all other nationalities in the country. This lends to their aggressive nationalism (masquerading under “Ethiopianism”) and their visceral hatred of the notion of equal and sovereign nations and nationalities in Ethiopia with equal rights and stakes. This is politically manifested, amongst others, by their vehement rejection of democratic federalism and their espousing of a centralised and unitarian state under the hegemony of the Amhara ruling classes and elites. 4. The Expropriation of the Peasantry through Land Privatisation and Rent-Seeking Capital

4.1 The Neo-Neftegna parties, in particular EZEMA, ANM and EPP, seek to consolidate the Neo-Neftegna State’s economic base by expropriating the Ethiopian peasantry through land privatisation and by employing the forces of rent-seeking capital that has been accumulated through corruption and mal-governance over the last two decades. This will further accentuate the already rampant process of the uprooting of the peasantry from their land, in particular those who live around Addis Ababa and other urban areas in the country. Having exhausted the acquisition of urban land and failing or unwilling to invest in productive sectors, such as in manufacturing, the presence and abundance of rent-seeking capital accumulated corruptly is seeking new and fertile ground for the acquisition of land on massive scale and country-wide, which can only materialise when land is privatised and is available for sale. Hence, the privatisation of land is at the top of the agenda of the Neo-Neftegna political manifesto.

5. Undermining the Rights of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples to Commonly Own their Land

5.1 Article 40 (3) of the EFDR Constitution stipulates that “...land is a common property of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of exchange”. By advocating land privatisation and by using capital accumulated through rent-seeking and corruption, the Neo-Neftegna ruling classes and elites seek to expropriate, or buy-off the land of the peasantry cheaply through asymmetric market, bureaucratic and political power, resulting in tens of millions of pauperised and landless peasantry. This process would throw back Ethiopia’s political economy to the Haileselassie era. Moreover and more importantly, with the lands of nationalities and peoples in the hands of the Neo-Neftegna classes, this would essentially mean the complete undermining of the economic base of the self-determination of nationalities and a complete throw-back to the political economy of the Haileselassie era where the national and land questions were inextricably linked.

6. Neo-Neftegna Political Supremacy and Cultural Hegemony

6.1 The ideology and mind-set of “Ethiopiawinet” based on Neftegna cultural hegemony and political supremacy is the anti-thesis of multi-national federalism that accommodates diversity with unity. It is a conception of Ethiopia and “Ethiopianism” based on ahistorical and mystical foundations, but defined and refined over centuries to serve the hegemonic rule of Amhara elites and ruling classes. The narrative (e.g. by ANM) that Ethiopia is constructed in the images of the past Amhara ruling classes and elites and that all the other nationalities must bow to and respect Neo-Neftegna values and norms is undemocratic and chauvinistic. Concomitantly, it is the manifesto of the political and bureaucratic supremacy and the cultural hegemony over all other nationalities in the country. This lends to their aggressive nationalism (masquerading under “Ethiopianism”) and their visceral hatred of the notion of equal and sovereign nations and nationalities in Ethiopia with equal rights and stakes. This is politically manifested, amongst others, by their vehement rejection of democratic federalism and their espousing of a centralised and unitarian state under the hegemony of the Amhara ruling classes and elites.

[gamechuibrahim]

Viva Somali Nation!

The @ONLF party is holding a rally in the town of Qabrihare in the Somali Region. Thousands of people dressed in ONLF flags filled the streets. This shows that the criminal @AbiyAhmedAli PP has no support from the Somali people.

[gamechuibrahim]

Nama umrii isaa guutuu qabsoo saba kanaaf gaaraa laga bahaa, bu’aa bahe gadheen ummata Oromoo ajjeessaa asi geesse itti taphata jirti. Kunis ni dabara!

[gamechuibrahim]

100% True.........that why everyone hates Ethiopia because of so called Amhara preachers were useless creatures.

[gamechuibrahim]

ሚኒሊክ እንደ ሁሉም አፄዎች ፀረ ― ሙስሊም ነበር ።

፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣፣

የቀደምት ሙስሊም አያቶቻችን ቀንደኛ ጠላት አፄ ሚኒሊክን ጀግና እያሉ የሚያሞጋግሱ መንጋዎችን ወደ አማራ አገር እያየን ነው። ሙስሊሞች ቆም ብለን እናስብ አበው እንደሚሉት የጠላትህ ወዳጅ ጠላትህ ነው

አንዳርጋቸው ፅጌ እውነቱን ተናግሯል

[gamechuibrahim]

There we go..... that why all Ethiopian hates Minilik followers.

[gamechuibrahim]

Why Only Amhara Elites are Against Oromo’s Claim on Finfinne?

BY: Fayyis Oromia

No question that the Oromo are already free from Abyssinian (Amhara and Tegaru) domination. The struggle now is between Oromo liberals in power and Oromo republicans as oposition. Oromo liberals are so cautious not to take radical steps in answering Oromo’s basic questions like promoting Afaan Oromo to federal working language and bringing back the lost Oromian territories like Finfinne and Diredhawa. Now, the liberals are moving slowly, but surely towards implementing these rights of the Oromo. Dr. Abiy and his adminstration tried to balance the triangular forces (Amhara, Tegaru and Oromo) in Ethiopia (Great Oromia). At the beginning, all the three angles supported the prime minister, hoping that he will be in service of their respective perspective. After few months as the pm started to release all political prisoners, reform the polity and pushed for the accountability of criminals, the Tegaru angle started to oppose him. Recently, by observing the move of the pm in answering certain Oromo question like the Finfinne issue, the Amhara angle began to protest. Of course Oromo republicans from the third angle accuse the pm that he neglects the Oromo just to appease the two Habesha forces. How long can he balance this triangle of hot conflict? Why are the Amhara elites the only opponents of Oromo’s right on Finfinne now?

The past move of all oppressed nations in Ethiopia to forge an all-inclusive alliance against the TPLF has already provoked controversial debates and discussions. Specially, the approach of Amhara democratic forces and Oromo liberation forces since the formation of AFD in 2006 has caught attention of Tigrean dictators, who have lived, ruled and survived for the last many years by polarizing Amhara and Oromo elites as well as by instigating a conflict between the two big nations in the region. AFD was a symbolic first move which later substantially grew towards real and effective alliance of all oppressed nations, including Amhara nation.

Just as AFD had failed because of continuous campaigns made by Tigrean forces, and by the mutually mistrustful nationalists in Amhara integrationists struggling to re-establish a unitary country devoid of an autonomous Oromia and Oromo independencists fighting to liberate Oromia by dismembering Ethiopia, but with the possibility of forging a union of free peoples in the region. Today, also these three forces (Tigrean colonists, as well as the mutually mistrustful Amhara and Oromo nationalists) are doing their best to hinder the possible inclusive alliance. Specially one of the arguments given by Oromo nationalists opposing the alliance is that “Amhara elites are colonizing force, whom the Oromo, as a colonized nation, should not trust to forge any alliance with.” This argument has led me to ask a question: were the Amhara under TPLF rule (since 1991) a colonized nation or a colonizing force?

Fortunately, I came across an interesting article written by one Amhara intellectual, Professor Daniel Kinde, in which he described how TPLF colonized Amharaland, specially how parts of Gondar and Wollo were annexed into Tigrai. This colonization rhetoric of the professor goes in parallel to that of some Amhara nationalists, who have started to feel, experience and sense what it means to live under an apartheid system of national domination. It is clear that Amhara nation was under Tigrean colonial rule since the end of twentieth century, just like the colonial experience of Oromo nation since the end of nineteenth century. For the sake of an operational understanding, let me define what I mean by colonialism/colonization in this short essay.

“Colonialism is a policy by which a nation maintains or extends its control over foreign dependencies, i.e. the acquisition and colonization by a nation of other territories and their peoples. It may also be seen as a search for raw materials, new markets, and new fields of investment. Sometimes, but not always, colonialism was accompanied by colonization, that is the physical settling of people from the imperial country. Typical aspects of colonialism include racial and cultural inequalities between the ruling and the subject peoples, political and legal domination by the imperial power, and exploitation of the subject people. It is the policy and practice of a strong power extending its control territorially over a weaker nation or people. Sometimes, ‘colonial’ must be in distancing quotation marks because, where such colonization occurred a long time ago, the descendants of the settlers feel themselves as much part of the territory as those whose ancestors they had displaced (for instance in South Africa).”

Then, can’t we say, in a sense of this operational definition, that Tigreans were colonists of all oppressed nations, including Amhara nation, in Tigrean empire? Is this not what Tigrean colonists did – particularly in annexation of parts of Amharaland and Oromoland (e.g. in Raya and Azebo) as well as in whole area of the empire, in general? Was the alliance between Amhara and Oromo not an alliance of two colonized nations against their common colonizer? I think, the last quarter century was good time to talk about neither Ethiopian empire nor Abyssinian/Amhara empire, but only about the Tigrean empire’s system of colonization/domination. Just like the Whites in apartheid system of South Africa, only Tigreans were the privileged citizens in their present empire and all other citizens, including those from Amhara nation, were considered as second-class citizens.

Slowly, some Amhara nationalists woke up not to be manipulated by deception of Tigrean colonists by using Amharinya at federal level, which they tried to use as a cover for their own domination over Amhara and other nations. The mere fact that Amharinya has been used as the only federal working language is a plan by Tigrean rulers to make other oppressed nations, including the Oromo, feel as if they are still dominated/colonized by the Amhara. To promote this sense of being dominated by Amhara, the Tigrean colonizers were also vehemently opposed to Afaan Oromo getting the same status, so they wanted Oromo-Amhara conflict to go on. I think this was a reason why some Oromo nationalists felt as if Amhara were the colonizers, and why they opposed the suggested Amhara-Oromo alliance as if it was the alliance between colonizing forces and colonized forces, which was, of course, unproductive. I personally believe that Amhara nation was as oppressed as the Oromo and other nations under the TPLF.

Of course, almost all Amhara nationalists are still centripetal, and they tend to prefer a unitary centralized country on the contrary to the decentralized federation or union of free peoples, which is a choice of the centrifugal Oromo nationalists. It is because of the reality that Amharinya is the only working language of the federation and because of the authoritarian culture in Amhara society that Amhara nationalists are yet notorious centralists. Had it been otherwise, for instance that Afaan Oromo be the only federal language, surely they would have been centrifugal federalists to keep their Amhara region from being Oromonized. Tigrean colonists were exploiting this Amhara mentality; so most Amhara nationalists could not perceive that they were suffering under colony just as the Oromo and other nations in the empire. But, it is encouraging that some of them, like Professor Daniel Kinde, have started to feel the colonial misery under Tigrean fascist rulers.

I hope the future political development in the empire will be marked by the conversion of Amhara unitarists (who take U.S.A. governing structure as a model and who want to forge a country in which all nations will be melted into Amharinya speakers) to Amhara unionists, who will start to think, talk and walk like Oromo unionists having EU (European Union) governing structure as a model, i.e. trying to foster a union of free peoples developing their own languages in their respective national areas, but be ready to build a union for common economical benefits. This conversion of Amhara forces from their unitarist position to a unionist stand would have been best option as a nice precondition for effectiveness of the suggested all-inclusive cooperation for the democratization. But, even if this was not the case, the suggested opposition alliance against Tigrean colonists could have the left-wing Oromo unionists striving to achieve a union of independent nations, the middle body of true killil federalists, including almost all nations in the SNNP, and the right-wing Amhara unitarists struggling to forge a unitary country in a form of a geographical federation. The question to be answered was: how can such an opposition alliance be attained and maintained despite these three different visions of the three wings?

The only common ground is the two-phased struggle against Tigrean colonists’ apartheid system of domination: decolonization/liberation phase and democratization/election phase. Now, we have already concluded the first phase, in which all three wings of the opposition could act as freedom fighters or as liberation fronts and forged an all-inclusive alliance to get rid of the fascists. In this phase of liberation, it was not necessary to debate and to discuss on three visions of three wings of the opposition, even though cadres of Tigrean colonists wanted us to do it in order to hinder the possible all-inclusive alliance of the opposition. But, after liberation from colonists, the three wings of the opposition alliance can now either have a consensus on middle ground, that is, for instance, to settle for true ethnic federation, in which neither dismantling mono-national regions nor dismembering our multi-national country is accepted, or they can opt for a public referendum on the three possible outcomes (referendum on union of free peoples, true ethnic federation and unitary country), and then live according to the public verdict.

Now, there iscommon ground for election democracy as Ob Leencoo Lataa said in one of his interviews. Election and competition among multiple parties can only be possible after liberation from the colonists and after having a consensus on the type of political community we want to have (union of free peoples or true ethnic federation or unitary country). I personally believe that the only lasting solution for that cursed and troubled empire will come when Amhara nationalists stop their hitherto nostalgic and patronizing cry for their lost empire and start to concentrate on consolidating their freedom  of Amharaland from Tigrean colonists as well as when Oromo nationalists start to be open for a possible future union of free peoples.

On the day these two big nations start to be on the same page and struggle for same common purpose (decolonization and democratization, including either consensus or referendum on type of future common political community), it will be the ensured end for Tigrean empire. If this is probably not the case, other alternative is continuation of the polarization of Amhara forces and Oromo fronts, so that they continue to be instrumental for domination by the minority Tigrean ruling class and, of course, this might mean for the two big nations to live again under colonial rule for century. But, I hoped that Amhara nationalists slowly, but surely, start to wake up and perceive that they were under Tigrean colony (that they were no more colonizers in the empire) so that they joined anti-colonial struggle of the Oromo and other colonized nations. It should be an end for Amhara nationalists to hide behind the name Ethiopia. Just as the hiding of Tigrean colonists behind the name Ethiopia was not accepted, that of Amhara nationalists is not also be taken at a face value.

Amhara nationalists need to be bold and honest in order to consolidate the liberation of Amhara nation from Tigrean domination. Their hitherto attempts to forge and lead “multinational” parties were only detrimental to themselves. Such parties are open for Tigrean spies to infiltrate easily and to sow a seed of discord so that none of such parties have become strong so far and survived further. A classical example is how the strong CUD has been disintegrated and destroyed by infiltrators within a very short time. That is why Amhara nationalists should take off their mask (the name Ethiopia) and learn to be organized as Amhara, and then honestly forge an alliance with organizations of the Oromo and other nations. Only in this honest way, Amhara democrats can distance themselves from the backward obsolete minded ones hiding behind the name Ethiopia. Such conservatives were used as an instrument to save Tigrean rulers by offering their handshake with the colonists, and by their hyperactive opposition against the opposition as seen among the UDJ factions during the past election campaigns. Where are these obsolete minded backwards now? Are they now satisfied with their saving of Tigrean colonists from the challenge which would have come from strong opposition such as Medrek? Why did they make much noise at time of destabilizing TPLF and keep quiet when the colonists seem to be stable to rule further?

Anyways, the question for all Ethiopians was: can we accept and respect such Amhara nationalists, who do try to distance themselves from obsolete minded feudals (who are still nostalgic about their past colony) in order to push for the anti-colonial struggle of Amhara nation in coordination with the ongoing anti-colonial struggle of the Oromo and other nations? I am personally open to accept such move from Amhara nationalists, and even I would like to encourage such Amhara freedom fighters to join our fight for decolonization which should precede the struggle for democratization of free and liberated nations in Ethiopia. The Amhara were dominated as a nation, similar to the Oromo and others. These nations were dominated as nations, so they should be first liberated as nations. After such national liberation will follow the democratization process in order to bring individual citizens’ freedom and liberty. Without national liberation from such colonization, it was a pipe dream to think about citizens’ individual liberty.

Here, it is important to mention that despite the attempt of some scholars to paint the Amhara colonizer, I would like to say that Amhara nation was one of the colonized nations under the TPLF, but the elites of this nation yet need to wake up and smell the coffee. I hope Professor Daniel and his likes have started to recognize that Oromo nation was under colony since the end of nineteenth century just as Amhara nation was since the end of twentieth century. The position of some nationals in painting Amhara as still colonizer of the Oromo only serves an interest of Tigrean colonists. Are they doing the polarization job of the TPLF intentionally or unintentionally? They should have understood that; it was time for Amhara democrats and Oromo liberators to come together and get rid of Tigrean colonists. This was what they did a year back. I believe that as Oromo people in general are not from Madagascar; Amhara people in general are also not from Yemen as some try to paint. It is possible that few part of Amhara can have gene of the Yemenites just as very few part of the Oromo can be related to Madagascar. But historically, almost sure is that the two nations are part and parcel of Cush, of course, till 1991 Amhara rulers being colonizer and the Oromo being colonized; recently both were colonized, even though most Amhara elites were not awake as quickly as needed.

Last but not least, the move of Amhara democrats and Oromo liberators, including forces of other colonized nations in the empire to forge an all-inclusive alliance against Tigrean fascist rulers, was a nightmare for cadres of the colonists in cyber and real world. They were talking about Beddeno massacre of poor Amhara, accusing OLF as perpetrator; and they were also singing about Cellenqo massacre of Oromo people to curse Minilik of Amhara – the whole maneuver being to hinder the coming together of Amhara and Oromo forces. But Amhara youth have followed an example of Wallelign Mekonnen and fought for freedom of their Amhara nation and for liberation of all oppressed nations in the Tigrean empire, instead of wearing T-shirts with a picture of the feudal king H/Sillasie and instead of singing about “goodness” of the monarchy as they used to do under leadership of the obsolete feudals in their hitherto “multinational” parties. I think the trend, as seen in article of Professor Daniel Kinde and as heard in the rhetoric of some Amhara nationalists, was encouraging. It is better late than never, that is why all Oromians welcomed Amhara nation to the club of colonized nations in the Horn of Africa.

Just one year ago, elites of the two big nations (Amhara and Oromo) cooperated to get rid of the Tigrean hegemonists and they were successful. Now, as the liberal Oromos led by Dr. Abiy started to implement their program and answer the crucial Oromo questions, Amhara elites bergan to cry foul. Are they revealing their colonial mind set just like that of their fore fathers?  Elites of other nations, including the Tegaru are not as such against Oromo’s right on Finfinne. With this position, Amhara elites isolated themselves and showed again their anti-Bilisumma stand. That is why, Oromo republicans started to say: “Amhara elites can not be trusted and we need to cooperate with Tegarus in order to hinder Amhara elites from comeback”. There is always a shift of alliance in the triangular struggle: till 1991 it was Oro-garu against Amhara; since 1991, Oro-mara against Tegaru, and now again the Oro-garu is re-emerging. The third possibility of Ama-garu against the Oromo is unlikely due to the ideological difference and historical griveances between the Amhara and Tegaru elites. Now, it is time for the Oromo liberals to stop their hesitation and be bold enough to answer all questions of the Oromo, for which we sacrificed a lot of precious limbs and lives. Otherwise, the next election time will be a good bye farewell for the liberals and Oromo republicans will be in Caffee Araaraa to do the job. May Waaq open eyes of Oromo liberals, who do have now a choice to be either pro-Oromo or anti-Oromo!

Galatooma!