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WHAT ETHIOPIANS NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND AND ACT UPON From
The Pages Of My Forthcoming Book* At this turning point in their
history, it is very important for Ethiopians to understand
and acknowledge that they were
deliberately confused and misinformed about their past by successive
Amhara and Tigrian rulers of Ethiopia, the leaders of the Orthodox
Church and their ideologues.1 Ethiopians should also be aware
that they were deceived into believing, and to be inordinately proud,
that Ethiopia is the only un-colonized (and the oldest) kingdom in
Africa. They were deceived into thinking that it has a glorious past
of three thousand years of history, which can be traced back to the ancient Kingdom of Axum.2 Similarly,
Ethiopians were also made to believe and glorify the Abyssinian monarchs
as the direct descendants of the tribes of the Lion of Judah and as
rulers chosen by God. They were
also misled to believe literally the legend that Emperor Haile Selassie
was the elect of God, the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah and
the 237th successive monarch of a dynasty established by the sex-relationship
between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.3 Hence,
the understanding of Ethiopians of themselves, of their past, the history of
the people neighboring Ethiopia, and their relationship with Ethiopia,
is based on a fallacious construction of the past. In turn the Ethiopians’ distorted understanding
of the Ethiopian and Eritrean past has created within the Abyssinian
Ethiopian society at large and its ruling class, unhealthy nationalist
emotions, feudal greed and obsession with Eritrea. This false understanding
of their past has also created an archaic anti-democratic belief within
the Ethiopian society that the Abyssinian Ethiopians are destined
to rule over all others in the Horn of Africa.4 As a result of these misguided
teachings, the people of Ethiopia
remain the victims of false ideas and ideologies. Consequently, the
expansionist Amhara and Tigrian rulers have used the common folk as
cannon fodder and minesweepers in the recurring bloody and agonizing
conflicts unleashed against Eritrea and Somalia.5 Ethiopia
remains not only a conflict and famine and disease-ridden country,
but also the most underdeveloped in the world measured by all the
indexes of development. Indeed, Ethiopia today has become dependent
on recurrent emergency relief aid and handouts from the international
community to feed its people as if it was a helpless nation. Is this
not a great shame in a country, which boasts of having three thousand
years of independent existence? It is the duty of those Ethiopians
who believe in democracy today to make a clean break with the accumulated
lies of the past and embrace courageously historical and political
realities. The sooner Ethiopians do so, the better for themselves
and for their immediate neighbours. In doing so, Ethiopians will be
able to settle an account with their illusory past and build the future
on the basis of reality. However, for strange reasons, Ethiopians
are still stuck in their illusory past. Hence,
Ethiopians are still living in confusion and creating confusion for
their immediate neighbours, especially Eritrea and Somalia.5a THE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE
PRESENT CONFUSION At present Ethiopia is still
beset by a number of violent and non-violent conflicts of both a separatist
and communal nature. The major internal
conflicts currently besetting TPLF/EPRDF managed Ethiopia are generated
by and are the consequences of the collapse
of the rule of law. Dictatorship under the disguise of the so-called
revolutionary-democracy also undermines the rule of law. Policies
of ethnic federalism have been devised as a form of divide
and rule and guarantee the continuous dominance of Ethiopian politics
by the TPLF/EPRDF. Multiparty elections (in name only) have been introduced
to impress foreign donors. TPLF/EPRDF’s adamant refusal to accept
the Oromo and Ogadenian peoples rights and the right of other oppressed
nations and nationalities to self-determination further undermines
the rule of law as does its contemptuous refusal to abide by and accept
the outcome of the May 2005 Ethiopian election. The rule of law is
mocked by the imprisonment of its political opponents and journalists
without trial and by its continuing gross human rights abuses and
its resort to military force to resolve the ongoing conflicts bedeviling
Ethiopia. 6 WHAT THE TPLF/EPRDF GOVERNMENT
NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND It is thus high time now for
the TPLF/EPRDF government to understand
that the most effective means of ensuring Ethiopian territorial integrity,
internal peace and long-term stability is to seek a sustainable resolution
of each conflict by addressing the grievances of the parties involved
rather than blaming Eritrea for every problem which confronts Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is so suspicious of tiny Eritrea that it would blame it even
for the droughts. TPLF/EPRDF Ethiopia is also spending huge
military budget at the expense of civilian projects in order to enhance
its purported internal and external security concerns. Subsequently,
conflict-ridden Ethiopia is deterring the much needed foreign investment
and tourism and making Ethiopian economic growth and recovery impossible.
Similarly, the engagement
of the Ethiopian armed forces in prolonged internal and external conflicts
in all parts of the country, including with Eritrea and Somalia, will
also set in motion the process of Ethiopian disintegration. Indeed,
unless the TPLF/EPRDF government undertakes the urgently needed appropriate
measures to reverse the trends, the most severe consequence of Ethiopia’s
ongoing unresolved internal and external conflicts will culminate
in the separation of one or several of the provinces experiencing
protracted independence movements. THE ONLY REALISTIC WAY FORWARD However, much to the chagrin of the
people of Eritrea, the international community has dismally failed
to fulfill its obligations. As a result, the Eritrean people are condemned
to live in a cold war situation. And unless the cold war, which is
designed to wear-down Eritrea 8, is brought quickly to an end and
mutually reassuring peace and stability restored, war between Eritrea
and Ethiopia will be inevitable. Another war with Eritrea will bring
in its wake massive population dislocations and sufferings in a scale
unseen in the history of the region. If a new war is allowed to break
out between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the governments of the US and Ethiopia
will be held squarely responsible for whatever happens to Eritrea
and its people.9 The sponsors and guarantors
of the Ethiopian-Eritrean peace deal of December 12, 2000 (i.e., the
US, the European Union, the United Nations and the OAU) and all other
concerned parties must act now and do everything possible in their
powers to stop the pending war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. And the
only way to stop the pending war with a happy ending is to enforce
the April 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission’s Decision without
any further delay. -----------------------------------------
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