I write this broad opinions, facts and insights based on the circumstances that I encountered in my living experiences and observations of what most of our people who live in the diaspora and back home encounter daily and must do to change.
Ethiopia, the second most populous nation, with eighty ethnic groups, in Africa, better known as the land of “famine”, rather than depicting its oldest, world’s, 3000 years history such as religion, monolithic rock-hewn churches, home to the beginning of early human evolution- homo erectus aka Dinknesh (Lucy), place where coffee bean originated, the top leading coffee and honey producing country in Africa, home to the largest livestock population in Africa and, extraordinarily, second to famine, famous for producing first not only Ethiopian, but African and Olympic famous record breaking gold medal Athletes.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,CHRON,ETH,,469f3887a,0.html
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,CHRON,ETH,,469f3887a,0.html
Who would forget Bikila, Wolde, Yifter, Tulu, Roba, Gebrselassie, Bekele and many more from the new generations? Marathoner Abebe Bikila, 1932-73, won in Rome, 1960, by running barefoot and establishing himself as bigger than life being the first African, Ethiopian, World and Olympic record breaker. He continued his winning form in Tokyo, 1964 this time wearing shoes and only to be denied his third medal in Mexico four years later hampered by injury.
It seems to me that the world is so embarrassed to recognise and mediate Ethiopian Coffee and the rest of history. Everywhere I go, I see Brazilian, Colombian, Jamaica Blue Coffee, and very little Media attention is given to its original producer. According to reports made currently, Ethiopia stands behind India, as the world’s seventh largest producer of coffee, led by Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico and India. That’s all politics which needs another commentary and I don’t intend to detail it here.
Although my country is, regrettably remembered, entered into Guinness World Records, for its periodic droughts, famines and poorest country, heroically, never been colonised and Africa’s oldest independent country, apart from five years occupation, 1936-41, by Italian fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, where our gallant patriot forefathers ferociously spear-fought against the Fiat machine and defended our country from the scramble for Africa expedition by member of the “Axis of Evil” leader.
I recently attended one of the first wonderful Ethiopian conferences, which brought old friends and new fellow Ethiopians together, in Melbourne organised by peace loving democracy for Ethiopia support groups by inviting the solidarity movement’s leader and human right’s advocate, Mr Obang Metho, currently residing in Canada, who travels around the world and addresses Ethiopians for change and unity.
I would like to express my deep sincere thanks to Obang Metho, the leader of solidarity movement for new Ethiopia, for his recent visit to his first and foremost meeting in Melbourne, establishing solidarity movement, and all the solidarity team members for going above the call of duty to take care of humanity.
My sincere appreciation also goes to the organisers for their share of contribution, to invite Obang to a historic and wonderful gathering in Melbourne, to achieve a change necessary in order to create a new Ethiopia.
I believe the core principle of Solidarity, “humanity before ethnicity” and “no one is free until all are free”, is the most fundamental motivating force and worthy of cause to change for the better.
The meeting which took place on Sunday 17, July 2011, one hour later than scheduled time of two o’clock in the afternoon probably to wait for more people who are late to fulfil their personal commitments and to avoid late comers from distracting the discourse.
It was a very interesting meeting with Obang introducing the purpose of solidarity movement and his visions for new Ethiopia. The energy he exuded at the meeting was enticing and amiable. He continued his strong encouraging dialogue for the individuals to change one-self before everything else and to make connections with each other without having to wait for another meeting or celebrations to take place.
He said, “when this meeting is over everyone should go home and make that phone call to friends or someone you’ve not but should have called for so long”. He used both Amharic and English intermittently to get his messages across diverse Ethiopian participants well and truly understood. I was so surprised that after living overseas for a very long time he still managed to speak Amharic.
I have spent more than half of my life abroad and I, understandably, struggle to continuously speak in Amharic without using English in between or rather, unfortunately, speak in a language I feel comfortable and comprehensible to all without chopping up the intended messages between two languages. That’s where “use it or lose it” healthy warning comes in for those of us who have lived away from “Home” or don’t use our ethnic languages at home and should not expect to articulate at public meetings and communicate with friends we barely or frequently meet. Frankly, I confess that’s how I lost my mother tongue not using for so long.
Putting that aside, language was not a barrier to the meeting which was civilly attended, more or less, everyone took their liberty and choice to speak in English language deemed easy for them. It was understood and everyone was forgiven which is very hard to give speeches for those who have lived abroad for very long time and for those born, raised and grownup in a foreign country.
Soon after a little over an hour, the meeting was adjourned for a short break for individuals to get to meet Obang and a chance to say hello to their long-time friends whom they’ve not seen for a long time. I certainly, did plenty of that thanks to the organisers, again. It was reassuring to see the old and the new (friends) where, even though it’s been a long time since we last met, all was not lost; lots of excuses, apologies and forgiveness’ were bestowed.
Although, I personally wrote to Obang to commend about his strong determination for new Ethiopia and wished him nothing but triumph in his persistent endeavour, I was so delighted to have an opportunity meeting him in person, reminding him that it was me who wrote to him, and thanking him about his mainstream efforts and his continuing emails until this day. He was so gracious and his encouragement was to never give up in the face of adversity and to continue no matter what.
Then after a lot of mingling, getting to meet old friends and new ones, we got back to discussions and question times. The discussion was very interesting and exposing. It was an honest united effort with extremely good different questions and comments shared from Oromia, Tigray, Anuaki, Ogadeni and Amhara Ethiopian patrons all carrying an olive branch in one hand and hoping a sunny day in a divided Diaspora Ethiopian community and in our country. The questions and comments were so constructive, heart-warming and unifying; they received applauds from the audience.
Some of the questions reflected from Oromo, Ogadeni and Tigray participants were, alike, how we are going to come together as one when the past grievances are buried and still people are denied their democratic rights; tortured and murdered and no one has taken responsibility and apologetic about the atrocities?
My question to everyone’s conscience is, also, What(differences) really have we achieved since the successive fallouts of Imperial rulers and last government in terms of our administration structure, loyalty and distinction among the law makers, judges and administrators, economic policies, transparency, nepotism, corruption, enforcement to be party member and respect for rule of law with the exception of tapering the gap of unity creating more divisions among the already stigmatised and marginalised ethnic groups ?
An Anuaki, brother, shared his deep and thoughtful opinions and strong assessments of the past and present despotic and acrimonious governance in Ethiopia and encouraged everyone to stand with the principle of the solidarity movement.
Eventually, all good things must come to an end; I must say, the meeting was a success to start a journey of thousand miles and finished after exhausting everyone at past seven pm and I headed home exhausted but refreshed.
Please, read more of Mr Obang’s Address to Ethiopians in Melbourne: http://www.solidaritymovement.org/110726Mr%20ObangAddressInMelbourneAustralia.php
If there was something (I felt) missing from the meeting, I don’t know if they have been approached or invited to attend to this meeting of all Ethiopians, our Oromo, Harari, Tigray and other communities of Ethiopian (origin) nationalities participation except for few individuals.
Oromos constitute more than half of the country’s population and the rest of ethnics that live in it, why have these communities not been invited or involved in the discussions?
http://www.gadaa.com/aboutOromo.html and more of the Oromo chronology and the emergence of Ethiopian regimes: http://www.gadaa.com/regimes.html
Please, forgive me and don’t get me wrong for that, if any attempts have been made and, even, if not this should be corrected for future important meetings of this magnitude. I am not pointing finger at anyone, but nothing of this nature was mentioned in the welcoming introduction either who was invited or apologies from such and such for not attending.
My point is we need to form alliances with each other and work together in good faith for the common benefits of many ethnicities but one Ethiopia. If you want to create peace with a friend you fought with, you also have to make sure that his partner is included in the peace process. This might sound strange traditionally and written in English, I am sure we have our own sayings with equal value. We need to move out of our old one sided purely self-serving negative habits and embrace all in a new way for new ideas and new solutions to create new Ethiopia.
We, the Diaspora Ethiopians pitifully had to cope with the problem of human rights violation of implicit racism in our adopted countries and this in turn resonating among Ethiopians, (including back home) as a result of Meles’s ethnic federalism, creating ethnic based discrimination, mistrust, sectarianism and alienation leaving the people with feelings of hopelessness and rejection.
No one likes to be discriminted or ostracised and blamed for not doing their share. Being excluded or ostracized is an invisible form of bullying that doesn't leave bruises, and therefore we often underestimate its impact. Ostracising or marginalising may not leave external scars, but it can cause emotional pain that often is deeper and lasts longer than physical injury.
Being excluded is painful because it threatens fundamental human needs, such as belonging and self-esteem. When a person is ostracized, becomes less helpful and more aggressive to others in general, he feels this social injury and resort to coping- trying harder and resignation- total alienation if not succeeded. I know how many racially assimilated Ethiopians feel about this lifelong discomfort lost in between two worlds. Let’s correct it now and leave that as our past dilemma.
My message is loud and honest, as starter, remember, we should never, ever discriminate or subjugate or put a barricade against a person because of his race, age, religion, status, dossier, political stance, language, and whatsoever.
Above all, I am very thankful to Obang for being able to point out clearly and boldly the truth concerning the past and current political situations as well as elaborating the rather healthy way forward without forgetting both, but learning from them.
Personally, I am grateful especially to compliment brother, Obang, for his truly selfless act in demonstrating the highest degree of professionalism, respect, politeness, empathy and excellent service in helping others particularly all the time and energy he put-in to, attend meetings, write open letters to lobby concerned individuals and organizations about the land grab, human right violations, the continuing devastation of famine in our country and help rescue Ethiopian refugees around the world such as in Mexico, Japan and Switzerland.
I fully support and pledge solidarity’s principles for being a beacon of not only dawn for New Ethiopia, but also an emissary for democracy, human rights and reconciliation.
Thank you for your dedicated service to our community and for your tireless advocacy to bring justice, peace and freedom in our country and around the world, especially for your calm and professional response to the massacred fellow Ethiopian, Anuaks, Ogadenis and others elsewhere, and those who have escaped the torture. We pay our condolences due to our fellow Ethiopians and families who have lost their loved ones and tribute to those who have lost their lives that their sacrifices wouldn’t be forgotten.
His compassion, professionalism and expertise in dealing with these conditions were immensely treasured. The stress of going through situations like that away from home is certainly unbearable. But it is comforting to know that the solidarity movement stands for all of us and a good reason to hope for a virtuous outcome and the level of communication he provides utterly priceless.
It is my hope that Obang recognizes how much his work is appreciated and what it means to us all. I was so delighted, to have an opportunity, meeting and thanking him in person.
I also want to express my sincere thanks to all Ethiopians who took part by sacrificing their family time to come to that great experience to meet and listen to a humanely accomplished fellow Ethiopian I greatly admire.
Before we question social issues, economical flaws, and lack of law, disengagement, we must question our understanding of democracy and freedom. Without law, there could be no freedom, and without freedom, there is no democracy. In a true democracy, it is our choice to take part, elect and remove whomever we choose at any given time that is the foundation and the effect of a basic rule of law.
Rather than badmouthing, denigrating, naming, shaming and blaming each other about what happened in the past, every political groups should bring to the table all the positive political ideology, spiritual and sociocultural diverse nation building concepts be it from the Oromo, Tigray, Ogaden, Afar, South, North, East and West regions and enrich and embrace the designated positive efforts to bring good governance and sustainable development that will create the new Ethiopia for all Ethiopians whose fate and well-being are tied to each other.
No more one ethnic’s absolute power, absolute dictatorship, absolute corruption, absolute wealth for them and absolute poverty and misery for the nation. That is why the rest of Ethiopian ethnic groups feel insulted, exploited and underprivileged and are seeking genuine pluralistic contextual democratic solidarity that would give freedom and equality.
All ruling elites, former and present should stop crying and worrying directly and indirectly about their lost power, money and high life based on exploiting others and material resources.
The truth might hurt and expose you to all kinds of prejudices against you, but it can’t be buried for so long. “There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie”, Cornel West.
I have, like many Ethiopians, a deep rooted family generations of multiple ethnicities. If you think this is on the contrary, I wish to be convinced and proven wrong but not before the differing evidences are put on the table.
If we aspire to have a new Ethiopia, our plan must not be to create a utopian society, but rather a country where the people, first and foremost, are free to attend, free to express their individual identity, free to speak, free to respect, free to disagree, free to debate, free to share, free to change, free to exchange, free to remain, free as they are, free to argue and free to free their minds.
We cannot invite the people to be part of the meeting, development and growth of the nation, if they were never included in the constructing plans. Respect and appreciation of the individual must also become part of communal social interaction. Simply, we must view every individual and tribe as part of the “we” of tomorrow. We must begin to respect one another, listen to one other, and help each other.
It’s an Ethiopian Saying, “poured water couldn't be picked-up” (የፈሰሰ ውሃ አይታፈስም). Our reformation must not be about erasing the past, rewriting what has been done but rather by learning from the past to build a prosperous future. Let’s not dwell on the past mistakes and certainly not wish to do things the same way. Time has changed so do some of us. It’s time to forgive, reconcile and live in harmony.
Let us not forget, it took the current administration fifteen years to put an end to what previous governments had put in place and five years to destroy what little normality was left in their method of governance.
We must first revolutionize our thinking and reform our attitudes towards one another as Ethiopians.
We must first revolutionize our thinking and reform our attitudes towards one another as Ethiopians.
I see the anger and urgency for change in most of the Diaspora community. Do not get me wrong; I am as angry, as furious, and as ready for change as any one of you my brothers and sisters. But we must not speak carelessly and instigate rebellion without proactively evaluating the sacrifices and outcomes for each individual and our country. Asking for unity is simply a question; actually uniting is progress towards a solution. Let us begin to lookout for one another so that the new generation is not wasted in the name of hatred and divisiveness.
One of the key reasons why dictators remain in power is the fragmentation of the opposition parties, society across ethnic, religious, ideological, and professional lines. The current regime practices open discrimination and publicly promotes communal hostility. Dictators are most dangerous at the end of their rule. They will do whatever it takes without any concern for consequences and such actions will have serious long-term costs particularly in fragile multinational states like Ethiopia.
A prolonged conflict could lead to a stalemate and power vacuum where neither side controls large part of the country making it vulnerable to opportunistic infiltrators. Nonviolent discipline is the key to the alliance’s ability to manage conflicts and create a feasible government for all people. It is possible to overcome these provisional challenges by expanding knowledge about nonviolent tactics and through careful planning. Our approach must be carefully designed not to repeat the errors of our past.
There are more political parties disagreeing on a lot of topics, ongoing power struggle within parties, e.g. the fall of Kinijit (CUD) and the like, but as opposition parties try to recover from what was a crushing loss individually and collectively, many are coming together on one subject, of the election results. With divide and destroy regime’s methods, all opposition parties are not countered with unifying strategies and tactics.
It's an old Ethiopian proverb; "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion" (ድር ቢያብር አንበሳ ያስር).
We need to take action toward strengthening multi-party systems and all the ethnic opposition parties must co-operate on policies they create while trying to oppose legitimacy of the governing system.
Our political history tells us that all Ethiopian collective activities past and present, from King Solomon descendants to Imperial rulers to Derg to the current reigning regime to ethnic political parties to, even, Diaspora communities, use the same but sterilized despotic system of governance and leadership they have learned and grownup with. That’s why a comprehensive social change is essential before everything else.
We may belong to different ethnic groups, born, raised, learned our family’s traditional values and spoken languages, but, we must remember, we all speak one universal language of freedom, justice and democracy.
Our diversity, Ethnic identity or language must never be used to divide and weaken our voices by anybody, political organizations, party, government representatives and civic community. No one should be limited because of his or her ethnic identity from participation in the political, economic, cultural, and social life of his people and country.
Remember an old saying; if you cook ‘Doro watt’ stew in the same pot again and again without washing the dish, not only tastes the same, dreadful, unpalatable and waste of all the collected ingredients being created, it could make you sick and even kill you. The same principle applies; no matter how good your created policies are, if you try to put it in the same mind without having clear conscience, it will disintegrate, become corrupt and eventually an oppressive rule. Excuse me, my fellow Ethiopians; don’t blame yourself and Meles for we all came from the same tree (line of tyranny) that grew bad apple.
All forms of western-intended governance have led Ethiopia into a structure of power where a few people control everything. Western political ideals will never work in Ethiopia, unless altered to work for Ethiopia by Ethiopians. All political and social structures must be constructed according to the present-day social conditions of the nation. The morals must also allow for adaptability, for progress and change, which will certainly come with future generations.
I am talking about the state of young people, culturally unprotected children, with no safe berths, no cultural armour to protect themselves while navigating the terrors and traumas of daily life. Young people need a cohesive community to mentor them so they can look death in the face and deal with disease, anxiety, and hopelessness. Our youths of the nation need skill and education to build-up ideological and social reformation to discern and learn how their ancestors coexisted in harmony in the past, why we live a better or fragmented communal life at present and sustain a safe frame of mind to improve social equality among diverse Ethiopians in the future.
It is not inventors or thinkers that Ethiopia lacks. It is lack of opportunity and freedom of expression, crippling us generation after generation. One compulsory condition for creating a competent government and improving the society in terms of skills, knowledge, and expertise is, of course, education that ensembles Ethiopians and give people the freedom to ask questions and be heard by the system. It is easier to convince the uneducated and the poor to resort to violence and extremism because they are unable to ask questions and convene intellectually. An educated society will use democratic means to take back their freedom. We must endorse an action-backed, result-oriented system. We must begin the conversation with the word WE to include the people of the entire nation and not just a few who belong to a certain tribe, group, or background or rank and file.
Generally ethnic sentiment or identity politics is extremely stubborn as it is driven by emotional rather than rational considerations. Ethnic nationalism is especially sensitive to feelings of subjugation or grievances. It is very easy to fan the flames of ethnic nationalism even based on sheer rumor or propaganda. Such developments, when coupled with conflicts of interest among the elite groups, will make recourse to nationalistic appeal even more attractive. This is clearly evident among the members that constitute the EPRDF coalition who usually engage in fierce confrontation over federal to regional budget subsidy allocation sessions disputing is so common when parliament convenes every year to ratify annual budget proposals. But the problem is more severe than that.
If one can recall even in the past and current government structured decision making along ethnic lines, if there is a dominant ethnic group in it, there will always be the perception that the dominant group is right favoring its own ethnic territory, regardless of the factual foundation of such decisions to benefit all or not. Even when the alleged relatively better economic activities are not based on explicit favoritism, others will use it as evidence of exploitation to agitate and mobilize their own resentful ethnic groups. In the case of Ethiopia, the all-around accusations directed at Tigray illustrate the severity of this problem. Regardless of whether or not such accusations are true, the mere existence of such perception kills any sense of solidarity among its citizens, who instead become preoccupied with bitter feelings of envy and rivalry.
Certainly Meles Zenawi alone is not the root of all evils in Ethiopia, Far from it. We have plenty of them among other ethnic groups including the Amhara, the Oromo, the Somali, the Tigray, etc. An OLF activist who vows to stamp out the “children of invaders” from the Oromo region or an Amhara loyalist who dreams to impose his language on every other ethnic group are both as destructive as Meles Zenawi himself. It takes a simple principle to bring harmony in our nation. Can anyone remember the ethical and moral sermon of all religious conviction; do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.
Subsequently, it must be understood that all-encompassing social transformation is brought about by people we look well beyond ethnic loyalty or even racial barriers (think of Mandela) or our own new generation messiah Obang and who have profound commitment to the promotion and protection of human dignity regardless of their provincial, religious or linguistic background. Genuine transformers are those who lead their subjects by example. The elite can be the light or the darkness of their society depending on how they behave or act in accomplishing certain stated objectives and goals.
When our leaders and politicians shake hands with respect and genuine smile, we will return to the true Ethiopian tradition where tolerance, love and mutual respect are the norm. You do not create a healthy society simply because you have an excellent constitution or simply because ethics is taught as a subject at schools and universities. In stressing the decisive influence of his predecessors on his great scientific achievements, Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” Where are our academic, political and religious giants on whose shoulders the current and future generations could stand with pride?
Ethiopia’s famine today is a famine allowed of food shortage as much as it is a famine endured of a lack of democracy and good governance. Ethiopians are famished for democracy, hungry of human rights, thirsty for the rule of law, achy for accountability of those in power and yearn to breathe free from the yoke grip of dictatorship. But after two decades of one man, one party rule, we do not even see the ghost of democracy on Ethiopia’s dry landscape.
What we really need today is not vengeance or vendetta for our past lack of knowledge (evil deeds), but personal transformation, reconciliation, forgiveness and unity to create and cultivate new Ethiopia to grow good apple for everyone. “Be the change you want to see in the world", Mahatma Gandhi. 
Our differences in subculture and religion must be the foundation for change that will bring us together and strengthen us to become a united Ethiopia. That’s why when the masses rise up united and ask questions, the leaders flee their country.
LET’S CHANGE TOGETHER!!!
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