BY MENGESHA AMARE
Today’s guest column of the paper presents the cross-sectional views of the guest named Andualem Hailu. Born and grown up in Dessie city at a special place called Robit, he attended his primary education at Memihir Akalewold and his secondary education in Hotie Secondary school in the city. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in management and his Masters in Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Bahir Dar University.
He is currently attending education at AAU, School of Law and Governance. He has served his country for close to 16 years. He has drawn a range of experiences from overseas such as United Arab Emirates and China. He was working at decision making status during the past Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). He is a father of two and working in private company at present. He touched upon a number of issues with regard to the current situation in Ethiopia.
Excerpts:
How do you see the law enforcement measure being taken by the federal government?
The law enforcement process is a relevant action except its delay. Every Ethiopian from corner to corner unanimously agreed that the junta members have preached people about hatred and hostility, disintegration and suspicion for years.
Even when we see the economic situation, the junta members and their cliques have been specially empowered following their prime control over the entire economic sector and get it under the hands of some family connection and genealogical ties.
Apart from performing a range of wrong doings, the junta members have rejected the peaceful quest of the government to settle differences through round table dialogue providing them with unlimited patience.
The defense force based in Tigray State was severely attacked and a sophisticated conspiracy was orchestrated on 3rd November, 2020 taking things for granted as they were invited for dinner at night and didn’t suspect that their yearlong compatriots with whom they have stayed in stronghold almost over 21 years together can harm them.
The ill-intended junta’s inhuman action has made all Ethiopians across the nation annoyed and get them committed to wholeheartedly support the pillar of the country—the Defense Force.
The entire society in the country has lucidly understood that the junta members are the prime actors of all the conflicts happened in different parts of the nation. The situation richly portrays the real feature of the TPLF junta.
It is repeatedly heralded that all the conflicts from minor to earthshaking ones are in one way or another sponsored by the junta; even some of the killers and assailants are well recognized in the areas where massacre and killings occurred. What, do you think, is the rationale behind their cooperation with the destructive forces?
The junta organized individuals up to the grassroots level recruiting the youth and special cliques. Not only do they have a fortified chain at home but they have had strong link with a number of individuals even from overseas.
Hence, it is easy for them to coordinate whom they had a friendship in the wrong way perhaps to destabilize the country at the expense of plenty of development undertakings that should have been carried out in Tigray State. Since they have known how and who can be trapped, they have never been given hard time to execute what they have thought of right.
Furthermore, they wouldn’t face any problem in due course of coordinating people especially mercenaries as they have plundered huge amount of money. The junta has provided low income youth luring the latter with the money they have never seen.
All this approach helped them win the confidence of some disloyalties taking their weak side into account. Surprisingly, when we talk about the economic trajectory, every commercial plants were under their control and even money laundering was carried out by them.
They simply employed such a complicated chain and a wealth accumulated at the expense of the mass to foster and attain their ill-equipped mission, but aborted thanks to the Ethiopian defense force with an extraordinary bravery status.
As the junta members are criminal ones, they have made many people their clique providing them with a chance to be exposed to a range of corruption; and the connection has helped them get the actors frightened and order to do wrong taking their corruption immersion as collateral.
Following the network they had established earlier and the amount of money stockpiled for almost 30 years has helped them rotate people around the orbit they mapped.
No matter how huge the destruction of properties and claiming human lives in different places across the nation, what was orchestrated against the Amhara Nationals is an extraordinary one. What do you think is the reason behind their target on the specific tribe?
In their manifesto, when they were at Dedebit and even before, they have put their historic enemy is the Amhara national. I think, they have taken the Derg regime and the reigns prior to it as the sole Amhara oppressive classes. However, they made a mistake as there is no Amhara national that oppressed them, the ruling class perhaps.
The old narrative they have now and then elucidated is a baseless allegation. Labeling the Amhara as enmity has transcended from generation to generation and reached this level, which is a wrong attitude that spoiled the clear mentality of the entire posterity.
This needs to be cleansed as all Tigraways love their country with few exceptions of course. Though the combination of the past regimes consisted of all nations and nationalities, they have never accepted this fact as once they labeled Amhara as enemy of theirs. If truth be told, the Amhara was not in a position to oppress them, but they had given it the wrong picture and coached the generation with the distorted narrations.
From the very beginning, when they were advancing towards the Arat Kilo palace, the Amhara people were paving ways to do so, and they could seize the power due to the relentless support of Amhara, but they threw these nationals after securing authority.
This is the sabotage they have been doing for over 27 years, and the new generation has accepted their irrelevant narration without balancing circumstances. This is a black spot dotted on the history of the country and good relations among nations, nationalities and peoples.
The international media like the Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN had actively and enthusiastically reported as the conflict between the Tigray State and the federal government broke out; but when the Ethiopian Defense Force became triumphant over the TPLF junta, they didn’t utter a word about the success. What is your say on this?
I think, the international media is a market-oriented one and they don’t care about Ethiopian citizens’ displacement, being killed and massacred as well as being victims of a range of barbaric measures.
These media outlets have recurrently reported and came to the forefront about the damages of Africa such as displacement, poverty, civil war, conflict and a number of problems. Surprisingly, they have always made these problems of Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular headlined and criticized as well as vividly revealed. This indicates that they don’t care about the population of the continent.
Though there are exceptions, the majority have run to report problems of the continent such as conflicts, droughts, natural or manmade catastrophes entitled ‘Breaking News’ as by its very nature breaking news grabs the attention of many.
This is common. When the conflict exacerbates, they always report time and again. However, when the clash halts, they automatically stop reporting.
It is really unethical and unprofessional. However, it is not surprising that editors and reporters are not mandated to do so but the institutes are simply not abide by the widely accredited codes of conduct of professional journalism.
In principle, they have to provide listeners, viewers or audiences in general with a progressive report. I think, these media houses are not responsible for citizens of the developing countries. Since the mainstreaming media considers conflicts and disputes as prime sources of generating income, they are incapable of reporting successes.
Everybody follows their news and programs incurring cost and they usually use conflict and disagreements as income generating means. The foreign media outlets, basically, haven’t had special focus on Africa and Ethiopia as they consider the latter non-influential ones.
A clear testimony for this is, there were bodies who tried to interfere in our dignity and existence and try to intimidate us clicking our weak side, being exposed to poverty and backwardness. Obviously, what the betrayal junta committed upon civilians and its sudden attack of the defense force is of immeasurable mess and unforgivable lifelong.
Even the western tried to push Ethiopia to negotiate with bodies that have never had human element. The good thing is the government and the general public absolutely rejected the junta and consolidates cooperation to register further remarkable success.
The TPLF junta well-armed the community and misinformed them with falsehood fabrications saying that the federal government is going to invade them, the Amhara militia is going to attack them and coached them to attack the defense force behind when they flee from the areas. However, the Tigraways acted otherwise and collected the given artilleries and submitted to the defense force. Even the entire society has been informed that TPLF and Tigraways are two sides of a coin and if TPLF is attacked, the general public is attacked. Where does, do you think, society’s stance against the junta come from?
It is obviously, all Tigraway-Ethiopians have never had absolute trust in the junta members for they have seen that no developmental activities are carried out in the state; rather all the budget is pumped to organize militia and special forces to attack their motherland—Ethiopia. The junta members are really true betrayals.
We have lively witnessed that all the Tigray people do not have cemented connection with junta groups instead of having some sort of genealogical series. Surprisingly, they had once showed us stadium-full supporters. However, what they have thought and the reality on the ground are diametrically different.
This clearly portrays that the majority of Tigraways, except some groups who have been benefiting out of the looted national property, have not had a penny from their administration. Here, it is easy to imagine that if the general public expressly opposed their evil acts, assume what would have happened in the state. The case of Mai-Kadra has mirrored this fact; they slaughtered extraordinarily innocent citizens.
Yes, if they massacred innocent individuals for no reason with mere resentment sowed by TPLF, look! What will happen if the society opposes their strategy? Let me cite one thing here, Tigraways are people who are not in a position to table their Ethiopianness on discussion; their rejection of the TPLF propaganda witnesses this fact, indeed. The state population should receive acknowledgement and appreciation.
There are people of the state who are in dilemma and covertly support the junta and pretend that they are workers of the federal government. On the other hand, there are some who fled from Addis Ababa accompanying the junta. This is better than the previous ones of course; at least they do have a mission. What is your say on the ones who are at middle ground?
Of course, there are infiltrators at senior positions of the government who work or spy for the junta to destabilize the country. For instance, Information Network Security Agency (INSA), Defense Force and any other key areas were occupied by individuals from the same tribe and this helped them to well orchestrate the attack on Ethiopia.
Especially, the 85% of INSA key areas were occupied by them and enabled them to jam and leak information. This was done as they have long planned to commit treason upon the defense force and their country.
When the attack on the Northern Command base was committed, the chain of command at the center was highly trapped. The action was powdered and baked with a number of their supporters at various government offices and public sectors.
Those who blindly supported the junta have to be brainwashed with the proper direction and get them active development engines. They have to understand that being liar, betrayal, looter and developing sense of jealousy have swallowed the perpetrators themselves as the end of the day.
They have to know that Ethiopia is always greater than a tribe or small district; they need to be well taught that a country is above everything as the saying goes “A person with no country is a wingless crow.”
Ethiopia has been entangled with the severe repercussions of hatred politics as the junta deliberately preached people to develop rivalry one another. The Oromo was labeled as the enemy of the Amhara, the Sidama as the enemy of the Wolayta etc.. Where do you think this emanates from?
This is really a misleading self-judgment. Since the junta members with a relatively small number of populations compared with the Oromo and Amara nationals consider themselves as inferior ones, if the two great nationals jointly move, they would lose their power.
That is the threat indeed. They think that if people organize, share ideas and develop love and fraternity, they would vanish. That is why they always devised ill-intended mission and artificial conflicts. They even explained that when the reform came, how these two nationals (the Amhara and Oromo) could move in unison; this is due to our weakness.
They are always suffering from inferiority complex and futile attempts. Secondly, using the property they looted when they were at the ultimate power, they built a number of modern houses overseas at the expense of the general public and even they sold ships and airplane.
It is obvious that they could leave no stone unturned not to lose the benefit they secure sucking the blood of the poor.
Anything you would like to add?
No international community can give Ethiopians respect unless they consolidate their unity and fraternity. The reporting of the international media is a living proof for this. They were reporting the conflict in an inflated manner, but they have never had gut to utter a word when the federal government successfully completed mission despite the clash was between sons and daughters of the same country. Pronouncing the spoiled words of the TPLF junta leads nowhere, it fosters entire destruction instead.
We are people of the great nation; we have to give priority to our unity and work hard to defeat poverty and backwardness. The discrepancy based on tribe, language, religion and other destructive moves have been cancerous for us.
We do have a great nation which established League of Nation, AU and even the UN. We are capable of ensuring peace and stability of other counties even.
Mainly, our country has skilled manpower, untapped resource, magnificent and inviting culture, hospitality and cooperation. Though all these values have been eroded by the anti-peace elements of the junta, we can register remarkable change and development with unity, cooperation and other optimistic values. Recognizing that all the wrong deeds, hatred politics and disintegration which have sown for long by the junta have no place hereafter, we can make a difference in all aspects.
The Ethiopian Herald December 12/2020
