It is a common question that many pose today: What is going on in Ethiopia today and how did the country reach such ‘boiling point’? What are the major news items or headlines of the day? What do people talk about on a regular and daily basis? And what are the issues that are constantly on the mind of the common person, the concerns of many? It is well known that the country is undergoing an incredibly dynamic period but unfortunately this is not only or not always in the positive sense.
There is also the negative dynamism we see on a daily and regular basis. Many have been hoping that it could be dismissed as a natural part of a process in which societies are forced to live in or pass through. And many similar instances that have happened in other societies in other epochs or scenarios are mentioned not only to justify these above mentioned occurrences, but also to deprive it of its nature in terms of creating anxiety among the population. It is probably intended to serve as a sort of therapy against any potential hopelessness on the way things have been proceeding the past several years, not to mention what had been taking place for decades under everyone’s watch.
Hence, we can agree that there is a belief of a transition underway but such justifications risk to portray the real danger the country may be running into because there are well identifiable and known ‘enemies of the country’ called Ethiopia and for a number of various reasons they work hard to ensure that it breaks up onto pieces! Many are heard arguing these forces may probably not be so many as to pose real danger but they cannot be underestimated or taken so lightly because they have the potential to grow in number (and they have been slowly growing in number ) and they can grow in organisation, belief and means to realize their ‘dream’! They can field various international actors who together with them would work to undermine the country. And it easily links to the geopolitical influence the country can have and the potential role it can assume in the not too distant future!
Clearly, if we try to analyze the political system and establishment we live with, we can observe that it has already undergone a huge transformation in the past three years. From a coalition of four parties it has come to change to one which has included in it seven or so parties organized under a new denomination: Prosperity Party. For many it may not be viewed as substantially different from the old and out fashioned EPRDF as most of the people composing of the party are those who were in places of authority in the expired entity. The argument is that they just changed their clothes; but internally they are essentially the same people.
In this process of transformation many things are changing. Inevitably those who were at the helm of power were deposed in what many subsequently came to label it a ‘bloodless coup’. Of the four parties that were at the helm, TPLF was the one which did not choose to change its name nor structure, basically resisting any reform while the other three not only opted to change their original names with the main intent of changing their views, but also finally merged into the newly formed Prosperity Party dissolving their essence and choosing to adopt a new path, with new policies and outlooks.
It has been repeatedly proposed and presented that the fundamental principles on which EPRDF was made has always been the concept of ‘ethnic federalism’. It has always viewed and focused on the ethnically diverse reality of the country, first and foremost, instead of considering first ‘the country as one important and basic entity’ or unit. And for many, the beginning of the weakness of the principles this party has always used as its raison d’être, as its launching pad lies right here.
For many observers it is right here that the major frailties and limitations of EPRDF are more evident than anywhere else. Focusing on differences rather than the similarities, focusing on the diversity of cultures and languages as a weakness rather than building up on the major strengths and resources the unity of the country can produce and enhance its international stature and influence thus making its voice heard louder and better.
This divisive approach was not fabricated casually but it is a result of a long and diabolic preparation and study that took years. It has been supported by so many enemies of the country. The theoreticians of this outlook has been at positions of authority and power for too long and all the policies and directives that emanated from this philosophy have been incurring all the damages of the world to our mentality as a nation, to the stature of a country as strong and independent. And the eventual plans have been to break up the country into pieces and make them very weak and aid dependent or aid seeking nations, at the mercy of the nearest archrivals or enemies of the country!
What has been sowed for ages is now nearing its ‘harvest time’. Every bit of tension and rivalry that we experience on a daily basis, not only on the various media both conventional and social media, but also on the international scene as well is a direct result of a prolonged and well organized campaign of disinformation and false narratives.
Clearly, this party has been fully and uninterruptedly engaged in this campaign and there was no choice but to do away with it if we wanted to make or adopt a change of direction. It is here that the EPRDF, led primarily by TPLF did everything it could to realize its destructive scheme and it is here that it was destined to fail.
Dividing hence the country into ethnically demarcated areas has been the starting point of their venomous plan which eventually was made to be part of the supreme law of the land! It consecrated the principle of ethnic federalism, based on ethnic group and language as the cornerstone of the country’s existence and despite the alarms flagged by many concerned patriotic bodies and individuals, the mentality of ‘the winner takes it all’ principle, the EPRDF fresh from a self guaranteed power in the wake of the disintegration of the military government that had ruled over the nation for seventeen years, allowed and facilitated it to rush to impose this venomous mentality into the laws of the country. By the day it was slowly but relentlessly introduced into the society through the school systems, the various associations of communities etc selling it as the new song the ‘new national anthem’.
Countless propaganda campaigns were carried out to present it as the liberation of all peoples of the country specifically using the phraseology ‘we the nations, nationalities and peoples of this country’ avoiding deliberately the denomination Ethiopia or when it is mentioned it was used on purpose in the pejorative sense. This has created a sense of loss and not wanting to identify with a negative concept. In turn it encouraged to think in the narrow terms of this ethnic group as opposed to that ethnic group etc. as if they belonged to differing countries!
Despite the dangers it could create in the long run, dividing the nation that has always lived in cohabitation without any reference to their ethnic base, the promoters of this mentality have been working hard on this concept and we now see clearly what sort of consequences we experience! ‘Federalism’ was promoted as if it gave freedom to all people of the country that were once oppressed by one ethnic or language or cultural group. Federalism was used to promote the devilish idea of division and animosity among ethnic groups that had always lived in peaceful co-habitation, side by side, hammering out differences if and when they arose or transpired and never was there the idea of one nation or nationality imposing itself on others except that politicians have abused people using their influence and power.
It was clear that it was the system in which lack of democratic culture was experienced that caused all the suffering of people and not the fact of belonging to this group or that group! Instead, every effort was exerted to portray the problems of the country towards one direction, one chosen cultural and linguistic group! And going against it would have solved every problem!
For three decades an entire generation was trained to think in terms of separate states, in terms of language groups, and in the process a kind of self isolation began to develop among communities. A feeling of alienation was made to crop up in some communities when they may have found themselves as ‘minorities’ in a certain area. They were encouraged to leave from those areas and they were made to feel unease there.
The new mentality dictated that only the people of that specific area are entitled to be leaders or sit in places of authority despite the fact that they were born and brought up there and lived with their families. Such mental attitude created an opportunity for certain unscrupulous people to come to power only because they belonged to a certain language or ethnic origin and not merit of a democratic electoral system! That is where the basis for the current havoc has been laid and that is when the beginning of the end of our national feeling was initiated.
All those who spoke another language were treated as if they had come from an alien land. TPLF which was behind such philosophy tried to sell this idea as the basis of ‘the right to self determination’ of all peoples. Systematic undermining of the nation Ethiopia was carried out and every kind of denigrating propaganda was carried out as a matter of policy.
The entire narrative of the fundamentals of the nation was put under discussion. A state of doubt was thrown against the idea of one country and everything that stood for Ethiopia was systematically underrated or denigrated and dismissed as supporters of oppression of peoples! This was the kind of venom that has been sown for years! And who wonders then when the results are the current escalation of all forms of inter ethnic strifes? Who is puzzled by the way people view others and accuse them of any quantity of problems abounding in each community? Who is surprised by hostilities that have the basis the identity of individuals as opposed to the locality in which they live?
At a time when the world is one big village and there are millions of people of Ethiopian origin living and enjoying every right wherever they have chosen to go and live, and abiding the local laws where they live they continue to enjoy every right without discrimination, our prophets of self determination propagate the idea of discrimination among communities on the basis of identity here in Ethiopia and promote hatred and distrust among communities.
And yet the world has come a long way to being ‘one big village’ and we continuously witness the migration and mixing up of people of various races and language and cultural groups without forgetting that we are all one big human family and we are all destined to share the bounties and scarcities of nature equally. At a time when we see millions of our citizens are living in the US, Europe, Canada and elsewhere with full citizenship rights and duties, here in our own land we have adopted a system that intends to be based on discrimination on the basis of identity! And that is what the EPRDF system thrived upon and tried to perpetuate its reign over Ethiopians! And that is where the origin of the current disgusting attacks on innocent communities has been carried out and scores have been sacrificed.
We have created and developed homemade devils who intoxicated with this devilish philosophy are ready to implement what is nothing else than ‘ethnic cleansing’ which is against nature and against every human principle! The communal life of Ethiopia was attacked from its fundamentals totally denying the fact that Ethiopians have lived for centuries together on one land despite their differences in language and creed. Above all they had demonstrated such value when repeated attacks were carried out against their territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Invasions against Ethiopia took place many times but citizens, patriots rallied together setting aside their internal differences and fought alongside one another. Adwa in 1896 is one example; the May 5, 1941 Victory over fascist occupation is another one. Patriots inflicted heavy defeats against these invading alien forces. And yet these Ethiopians were people of various cultures, languages and beliefs. This did not matter when alien forces came to deprive them of their identity, freedom and dignity.
What the ethnic based federation tried to do was to divide the nation into small weak pieces so that it could very easily be controlled by a few individuals and their families and clans! At the same time the narrative was that these people were exploited and oppressed by one group of people and hence it created a sense of rivalry and rebellion distrust among the various nationalities trying to ruin the age old trust and harmony that existed against people of different cultural background that had resulted in inter-clan inter-ethnic marriages.
In fact, there are millions of Ethiopians who cannot trace their origin to one single ethnic group and this must present a major stumbling block to the philosophers of ethnic purity and federalism. And that is where it has failed miserably and will never succeed. Something against nature is always bound to fail, no wonder. But whatever horrific attacks and conflicts we experience on a daily basis now is definitely a result of the policies that we followed for decades! Where else? We are reaping what we have been sowing. It must be time that we learn from such sad reality and devise a new Ethiopia for the future generation as well.
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald May 6/2021
