BY ADDISALEM MULAT
Many unanimously agree that the current challenges facing the country emanate from fabricated narratives, legendary records, adjuratory procedures as well as distorted chronicles. The issue of the constitutions is presumed to be a problem as well.
The Ethiopian Press Agency had a short stay with Dr. Almaw Kifile History and Law instructor at Kotebe Metropolitan University. He has touched upon a wide spectrum of issues revolving around law and politics. Excerpts:
Is there anything that can interweave law and history?
According to my way of thinking, history is something that echoes one’s political, economic, and social interactions of the past. As it is impossible to write down the whole kit and caboodle from top to down regarding history, we have made others understand the whole thing in a way that is possible to be twisted in the direction they prefer.
I have the nerve to say the law is part of history that has been passing down to from generation to generation. It becomes apparent that history tells us about the past in addition to mirroring in black and white what was done in the past. In a similar vein, history helps us understand the nitty-gritty of today’s issues and creates a better future.
Nobody denies the fact that unless one knows about yesterday, they cannot comprehend the present day and plan for tomorrow. Yesterday is today’s wisdom.
Days went by are knowledge, identity, and information. Likewise, the law is embedded in the history of the recent past. That is why we say law and history are intertwined, and are two faces of the same coin.
But in this day and age, as everything is changed, everyone is emphasizing politics giving the cold shoulder to social and economic sectors on a number of occasions.
In the same way, history and law embarked on going away separately and directing attention to politics. On top of that writing history based on facts, research, and knowledge got underway getting off track at an alarming rate.
It is undeniable fact that Ethiopian history has been written by the Addis Ababa University and Ethiopian Research since the 1960s. For the sake of truth, they have played a major role in lifting up the country more than anything under the world skies. However, in the current climate, history is turning out to be the cause of conflicts every once in a while.
Generally speaking, Ethiopian history could be divided into three categories: The first was written by traveling missionaries who were simply writing whatever they sought after devoid of knowing the culture and language of the people they live with.
The second one was written by people who knew about emperors, and people whom they knew closely. However, their goal was to come to power, but not familiarizing the general public with science.
Against this background, they embarked on producing stories that they could not understand for themselves.
The third type was written by inexperienced and novice writers who know the inside out of writing history like the palm of their hands. But they do not know what problem their works may cause, and what might people benefit from their works.
In such a manner, the intended target has not been achieved yet. On the basis thereof, we ended up producing an uninformed generation.
As Ethiopia’s history focuses on the northern parts of the country and does not draw attention to others, we could not attain the anticipated goal. Most of their works concentrate on monarchs and their governing system.
Furthermore, other key elements of the nation’s history including the rule of law have been wiped out at the speed of light. On the grounds of this, politics has overrun the whole lot and left Ethiopia and its people ignorant of their history.
As most of Ethiopian history of the 1960s was written in English, most people did not have the access to know their history of the country. In such a way, the population at large has exposure to history books written by activists and politicians. They are not able to know the real history of the country.
Over the past twenty-seven years, Ethiopian history is made not to be given at schools. History books have been banned. In consideration of the foregoing, the generation has been made not to know Ethiopian history.
There is a strong argument that the generation is unable to know about Ethiopian history as historians failed to reach an agreement. What do you make of this claim?
To understand something very well, it is very important to know our society, family, lifestyle, economy, religion, education, politics, and things of that sort.
The historians’ agreements also hinge upon the aforementioned reality on the ground.
For the sake of truth, there is consensus on major issues in the midst of them, but the difference is the way how they put them into words. The prevailing problem is intervention every once in a while.
Properly speaking, politics, economic pressures, foreign sponsors, and things of that sort have made history not to be written appropriately.
Much in the same way, a campaign made by foreign countries to spoil and distort the real history of the country is the other major quandary. To the surprise of everyone, their evil acts go as far as sponsoring people who write stories by distorting the real history of the country.
As a country, we do not have a foreign friend in view of the fact that the whole lot is embedded with conspiracy politics. I have the nerve to say, Ethiopia’s post-Adwa struggle is beyond compare and matchless.
Ethiopia’s victory over Italy could not help foreigners achieve the desired goal as they wished. The situation led them to serious impediments and deprivation.
As they failed to achieve the sought after target, they were determinedly getting themselves involved over things that can pour cold water on the prosperity of the country. They push beyond their limits to dismantle Ethiopia from time to time.
Apart from producing history in a way that can trigger conflict amid the various Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia, they train different historians by funding scholarships.
In the present moment, based on the aforesaid veracity on the ground, the generation is not in touch with reality. They place emphasis on foreign countries and do not believe in what they are told to do so.
In actual fact, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) have played a political game in distorting every single thing. They take the lead against this backdrop.
When history is distorted, national values end up missing the envisioned target without a shred of a doubt.
That is why the concept of flags, money, and festivals are getting devalued every once in a while, and everyone without exception has been creating their flags in every nook and cranny of the country. They are clan oriented and do not care about others clan.
What role does history play in nation-building?
I would go so far as to say, politics has washed off the national identity on the grounds that every Tom, Dick, and Harry was attaching importance to politics more than the economy and other related aspects.
In the same way, history provides an insight into how people lived in the past in terms of politics, law, economics, science, technology, and whatnot. In more concrete terms, history prepares the best for one’s life. However as the place of the historian and the politician has been changed, we have been devoid of true history. Slowly and surely, the rights and practices of non-compliance have been putting into effect.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the various Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia were living in harmony and peace. But nowadays, everything is missing the wished-for target every now and then.
The country has lost the sense of working together, growing together, and sustaining the nation. On those grounds, the federal and state constitutions came to be discriminatory.
The TPLF junta officials worked for nearly three decades in breaking the strong bond of the nation and managed to produce one generation magnificently.
What is your take on the distortion of Ethiopian politics by TPLF?
At the outset, the TPLF junta officials managed to come up with two conflicting ideas. They were attaching due emphasis to revolutionary democracy every once in a while.
Speaking of which, dismantling Ethiopia was their priority. They were as well giving priority to forming new politics and building a new country.
It is abundantly clear that there is no patriotic generation without national values. Following the TPLF juntas twenty-seven years of divisive journey, people set in motion bringing to the fore ethnicity giving the cold shoulder to the bigger picture of the country as a whole.
Whenever something happens, all citizens fight for their motherland putting their differences aside. Sad as it may sound, the TPLF junta officials had made an effort to spoil the mentality of the people of Ethiopia not to call the name ‘Ethiopia.’
Worse even, nobody was given the green light to call Ethiopia. Among other things, they were persistently planning how and when to sow the seeds of discord and hatred amid Ethiopians.
Even though things have been improving over the past two years, the desired target has not been fully attained. For instance, the structure of regions, zones, and Woredas has not been changed. Reasoning from this fact, the regional states of the country have turned out to be stronger, but not the central government.
In the same way, I should like to say, the government of Ethiopia is facing problems taking into account the TPLF junta officials’ evil acts. The thing is some officials have been working in various parts of the country and have close contact with the juntas.
As Leaders, teachers, and students working in various higher learning institutions of the country have been hired by the TPLF junta officials, they have made the teaching-learning process not to be carried out as it should be.
What is your reflection on the justice system of the country?
The first thing that everyone needs to understand is the fact that there is no absolute justice in the world because the law takes sides with the bully, the financier, the official, the tyrant.
Sadly, these bodies became successful without going anywhere. They have appreciation for winning a certain case, but not the truth.
In clear terms, there is a problem regarding Ethiopian legal institutions. They as well lack neutrality and do not pass verdict based on convincing evidence. They are governed by officials.
Unless an independent political party is established, it is likely to be a servant of the authorities. To date, no institution has been established to serve the people and the truth.
Hopes are rising to see independent institutions in future, perhaps, as there are indicators to do so.
The Ethiopian Herald 13 February 2021
