Restoring lasting peace and stability atthis temporarily troubled times in this Horn of African country remains to behigh on the agenda of the government. Despite the skirmishes trivial and short – lived nature, Ethiopians are wary of their persistence.
The skirmishes often erupt on the ground and in some cases also as pretexts, of boundary and identity related matters are the most appalling side of their occurrences. No matter how trivial the skirmishes are, including those deliberately manipulated by some culprits; they have been threatening the peace and security the public—while putting the country at risk of collapse.
Even in some cases, they tend to erode the public’s confidence on the capability of the government in maintaining law and order in the country. They are also embarrassing for the government as to why such conflicts after all persist at a time when it is overhauling everything so as to address all sorts of problems, grievances and complaints.
For one thing, such skirmishes should not have happened at all. In any case, now such problems have to be settled and settled down for ever. That is why the government has recently come up with an appropriate mechanism. As a great wisdom of reform measures, the government has pushed for the establishment of what is now known as Administrative Boundaries and Identity Issues Commission.
The Commission is expected to scientifically discern issues related to identity and administrative boundaries and come up with evidence – based solutions so that pertinent bodies would rely on to make appropriate decisions.
While the institution by no means replaces or stands on the ways of other relevant government bodies, the commission’s scientific intervention is expected to play a decisive role in settling down the kind of challenges which otherwise can potentially damage the nation. With such grand objectives, the public’s hopeis now high.Muffling with glossy promises or responding violently to public demands would not be helpful as far as the questions raised are legitimate ones.
Thus, the commission is the right tool to cline up our messes, piled up for years. Before the commission set in action, however, there are certain things to ponder. One decisive factor is ensuring the commission’s independence. The commission’s independence first and fore most can been sured, when commissioners assigned are highly qualified and more importantly clean in their history.
That must be enacted so as to prove their independence and win the trust of the public. Ethnicityriddled situations that lingered on for year’s demands maximum care in this regard. We need to make sure that the commission is not meant to add an insult to the wound orbecome source of other disputes.
Likewise, it is very important to ensure all out support to the commission to discharge its responsibilities. All federal and state administration bodiess hould provide the commission with all the necessary supports it requires to do the job. They need to be clear that after all, the commission’s objective is finding lasting solutions for major causes of instabilities. Likewise, the international community in general and development partners in particular should render supports whenever the commission requires so.
The Ethiopian Herald, December 28/2018
