- Wages active participation
ADDIS ABABA-The Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia (ECFE) expressed readiness to support the implementation of the National Dialogue Commission that is believed to address the long-held and contentious issues.
ECFE President Pastor Tsadiku Abdo told journalists yesterday that the church has been contributing its share in the reconciliation process and supporting efforts that have been made to resolve contentious issues through actively participating in the National Dialogue process.
“We have been supportingthe National Dialogue since its inception and we have been actively taking part in the preliminary discussions. We encourage what the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission is doing everywhere in the country, that is to bring sustainable peace and reconciliation.”
PastorTsadiku further highlighted that the commission’s inclusion of all religions is the instrument to ensure the dialogue’s inclusivity and to advance its importance to lasting peace. “If the religious institutions properly implement our homework, the commission will get fruitful results in its endeavors. Even if there is different thinking, behavior and attitude in one family, the people of Ethiopia need to reach a consensus on issues of national importance.”
He added, “The way we interpret the past should be realistic and unbiased since the connotation we give for the past affects today’s Ethiopia unless reconciliation, justice and conflict resolution is achieved. Conflict should stop here not to destroy the nation’s image and to start a new journey by forgetting all bad things that happened in the past.”
Beyond the National Dialogue, the coming into force of transitional justice is also a viable measure at this time but these two should not be utilized for propaganda purposes and they should stand for truth and reconciliation and to be translated into tangible results. “We have to learn a lot from history since it helps us to omit the bad and sustain the good,” the president emphasized.
BY MISGANAWASNAKE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 3 MAY 2024
