BY SOLOMON WASSIHUN
To the delight of Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia and to the dismay of the traitors and enemies of Ethiopia, the law enforcement operation in Tigray ,that had been feared to be a prelude to regional war, has already come to a swift conclusion.
The resounding success of the concerted military, diplomatic, security as well as media maneuverings involved in the law enforcement operations would undoubtedly bring about far-reaching significant transformations in the Ethiopian political and economic landscape.
The noticeable symbolic change in the landscape is the irrevocable termination of TPLF, a prominent political and military power that had been destabilizing and creating havoc in the nation’s politics and the politics of the horn as well.
Now that the curtain has fallen on TPLF, the Tigray people can breathe a sigh of relief for the first time after almost a half-century of subjugation under the continued iron fist and corrupt police-state rule of the Derg and TPLF.
The departure of TPLF also spells putting a lid on the seemingly endless strings of violence that have been flashing in various corners of the nation, claiming numerous innocent civilians along with the destruction of properties.
There had been cases where foreign nationals, let alone citizens, were victims of the barbaric terrorist acts of the thugs sponsored and trained by TPLF. Now that the TPLF is gone for good, we have a concrete reason to expect the prevalence of peace across the nation and unimpeded movement of labor and capital in the entire country towards expediting the realization of the government’s mission of achieving prosperous Ethiopia.
The TPLF business empire, which many economic experts believe to have been built by looting and embezzling the country’s financial system and bending rules and regulations to their favors, has been posing major impediments to the realization of free and fair business practices in the nation.
Several dynamic private business organizations were sabotaged into bankruptcy by the then TPLF led government. Now that this mafia styled lawless political force is neutralized, the country would be a level ground for fair business competition and a more attractive, reliable, and preferable place entrepreneurs choose to invest in.
While the majority of people in the Tigray region still languishes in abject poverty wherein such basic amenities like running water are considered as luxury, their mafia leaders have been enjoying a life of western standard affluence. They have built numerous multi-story buildings in Addis Ababa, bought mansions in Europe and the Americas.
Their children attend prestigious private schools and colleges in the West. Along with their cliques and in illicit trade and financial flows that enabled them to hoard huge amounts of money in their offshore accounts.
It is believed that the remittance income of Ethiopia has been growing over the past few years now, and increasingly exceeds the earnings of the country from the export of goods. The hard currency earnings being outbalanced by the huge size of the import bill, Ethiopia has been suffering from chronic macroeconomic imbalances that led to the delay of infrastructure projects delays, and inadequate import of basics such as food items and medicine. This in turn propels the inflation rate, making the life of the majority poor increasingly difficult.
Against the backdrop of this dire economic condition, TPLF has been operating worldwide illicit money transfer networks diverting a huge flow of foreign currency from the finance system into their offshore accounts. The TPLF money transfer network lures the Ethiopian Diaspora by offering a slightly better exchange rate that exceeds the legal exchange rate only by a few cents.
As one senior government official recently commented the amount of hard currency in remittance snatched away by TPLFa money transfer networks is believed to be larger than that of legal financial institutions.
I guess, that may partly explain why the Premier dubbed TPLF, during the early days of the military operation, as “the Greedy Junta”. But I feel the term that better connotes the overall nature of TPLF is the “The barbaric gang of Thugs”, given the atrocious crimes they committed against their compatriots, their shameless treachery, their absolute disregard for the rule of law, and their uncivilized way of settling differences as well as their alien outlooks which is a far cry from the noble norms and culture of the society they originated from.
Apart from indulging themselves in extravagant life, the TPLF use the money they illegally accumulated to finance other thugs in other parts of the country that are intent on destabilizing Ethiopia, lobby the international media outlets and influential personalities to work against Ethiopia and build on their security apparatus to effectively diffuse any possible threat of upheaval of the people.
Last year, during the time before the decision by the government to post phone the sixth general elections, there was a widespread fear among the populace, fueled by wild rumors that anti-peace forces including TPLF were plotting nationwide civil unrest in the wake of the election.
Many people still think the development of the unforeseen situation [the global COVID-19] that led to the postponement of the general elections to the next European year, was a divine intervention that saved the country from possible civil war.
With the demise of TPLF, Ethiopians are now optimistic that the general election that is due to be held in a few months would be peaceful, free, fair, democratic, and generally acceptable by citizens and the international community.
Therefore, the erasure of TPLF from the political landscape has multifaceted positive significant outcomes that would continue to unfold for all of us to see for ourselves. It is like blowing up an obsolete apartment building before it damages the lives, properties, and livelihood of its residents and the surrounding neighbors.
TPLF had bombed its way into power, and now it has been bombed out of existence to the delight of Ethiopians around the globe longing for the prevalence of peace, prosperity, and justice in their homeland.
Following the mammoth task of bringing TPLF to the ground like an old building, another equally challenging task surely must follow: clearing the rubbles, sorting out the recyclables burying the trashes into the landfill. Likewise, law enforcement officials are now clearing out the remnants of TPLF sympathizers posing resistance, disarm the illegally armed and return them to their former civilian life and thereby reinforcing the peace and stability of Tigray.
Side by side with the clearing of ‘the rubbles’, works are underway in Tigray to establish provisional local administration councils at all organizational levels with the full participation of the people. Provision of humanitarian supplies like food and medicines, as well as maintenance of utility services are the other priority tasks that are being successfully executed Roads, bridges, and airports public properties vandalized by the retreating army of TPLF will be maintained, and surely Tigray will soon be back to normalcy as if nothing happened.
But what does the future holds for the surviving TPLF leaders? Well, Nothing, but a spot at the defendant’s table in a Federal Court, if not in the International Court of Justice! Weeks has already passed since TPLF’s political death has been announced. Its leaders that were once untouchables, that were walking on red carpets and booking VIP charter flights, and making the headline news have now sunk into oblivion.
Like classic despotic dictators, they send thousands of innocent young under-age Tigrayans to meet their death, preaching it is an honor to die fighting for a cause. But when it is their turn, they forget their vows of honorable death and of dying like a man; instead, they run way in underground tunnels to be hunted down like a mad dog. What a shame!
The Ethiopian herald December 13/2020
