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Ten years from now, if historians were
asked to look back and name five key events that shaped Ethiopian
political landscape over the last three decades, they would have to
acknowledge: i) The fall of the Derg. ii) The ascension to power of
the TPLF helped by Eritreans. iii) The war between Eritrea and
Ethiopia. iv) The 2005 Election v) Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa
Conference on Good Governance, Peace, Security and development. Not
many would dispute the significance of the first four. However, the
last one will get the most resistance-understandably, because it is
speculative. Why was Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa Conference on
Good Governance, Peace, Security and Development significant for the
future of Ethiopia?
No matter how one chooses to look at it, Ethiopia is at crossroads.
How things will unfold in Ethiopia in the next five years is any one’s
guess. However, all the indicators seem to provide ample warning that,
unless Ethiopia makes a drastic change, as Mr. Yussuf Kalib during the
conference stated, “What is taking place in Somalia will be a Child’s
play.”
There are some clear signs that indicate the likelihood that things
can turn rather ugly. On the 13th of April 2010, the Bureau of
Consular Affairs, The State Department alerted U.S. citizens of the
risks of travel to Ethiopia. It warned travelers that, “extremists
from Somalia and the heavy military buildup along Ethiopia’s northern
border pose risks to safety and security, particularly along
Ethiopia’s borders and in the Somali region. In southern Ethiopia
along the Kenyan border, banditry and incidents involving ethnic
conflicts are also common. Travelers should exercise caution when
traveling to any remote area of the country, including the borders
with Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan. Ethiopian security forces do
not have a widespread presence in those regions.”
Ethiopian troops are spread so thin that it is becoming evidently
clear that the tentacles of the TPLF are debilitated to the point that
the State Department is openly expressing concern. Ethiopia is like an
active-volcano that is bubbling up ready to erupt at any moment. There
is ongoing war with Somalia, active rebellion in the Ogaden and unrest
in the South and Gambella. The unresolved border issue with Eritrea
and the dynamic situation with the Sudan could turn against the TPLF
regime in a big way. In addition, a volatile political situation
throughout the heartland is bubbling up. Moreover, there are rebel
groups such as EPPF, OLF and TPDM operating throughout Ethiopia ready
to take over.
On April 24, 2010, The Reporter, a pro TPLF newspaper reported, “Armed
bandits who carry out ambushes in the woods nearby Dabat as well as
Debark and Wogera, small neighboring towns within a radius of 40 to
100kms from the northeast Ethiopian town of Gondar, are becoming a
threat to the security of the localities and travelers crossing these
village towns, it was learnt. According to the unnamed government
official, the security situation outside these small towns has been
worsening at an alarming rate with armed bandits [a usual metaphor for
freedom fighters] wreaking havoc outside these village towns.”
This urgency is what compelled some wise and concerned Ethiopians to
act and act now. The conference was a sign of imminent change. It is a
sign that Ethiopians are desperate to find ways and means that can
help unite their fractured country. It is a sign that Ethiopians want
to find common grounds that unite them. It is a sign that they want to
find a platform for all to come together. It is a clear indication
that they want to find issues that they can agree-on. They understand
it is time to do it now or else. They also know that they cannot work
with the TPLF regime.
It is with this picture on the background that Ethiopian intellectuals,
opinion makers, concerned individuals, political leaders, humanitarian
organizations, advocacy groups, representatives of ethnic and regional
communities decided to come together. This urgency is what motivated
Ethiopians to invite representatives from various international
organizations, individuals and stakeholders to come and address
Ethiopian related matters. It is the reason why, for the first time,
Ethiopians invited Eritreans to address them. Ethiopians invited two
Eritreans and, I felt honored to have been on the side of the esteemed
Dr. Berhe HabteGiorghis representing the Eritrean point of view.
The Eritrean message was simple and principled. It is a message of
peace for all of Ethiopia. It is a call to cooperate for the future
good of the people of Ethiopia and the region. It is a call for
actions against the TPLF. It is a call for a new thinking and
attitudes. It is an urgent call on all Ethiopians and the people of
the region to refocus on what is important for the mothers and kids
who suffered needlessly for decades due to political and military
upheavals in the area. It is a call to refocus on rebuilding our
communities, infrastructures and reservoirs. It is a call to work on
the bread-and-butter issues, education and health for the people of
Ethiopia and the region.
While my expectations were limited, I was hopeful that we can
take-away something worthwhile from such a conference. However, I was
weary because I did not know what to expect. I came early to listen to
some of the speakers ahead of our program and I was pleasantly
surprised by their focus. They focused on the TPLF. In fact, if I am
to describe it. I would have to paraphrase a statement from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the TPLF, {The Diaspora opposition held
a gathering in Washington D.C. The conference, entitled "Conference of
Good Governance, Peace, Security and Sustainable Development in the
Horn of Africa ", was almost exclusively focused on TPLF. Any other
country was mentioned tangentially and only in context of criticizing
TPLF. Indeed, the only agenda of the organizers was to dethrone the
TPLF.} That in a nutshell was the spirit of the gathering.
The Panel
Initially, the panel was to address Ethiopia and Eritrea. However due
to shortage of time, they collapsed a forum that was to address Horn
of Africa related matters into our panel. Therefore, instead of the
planned four presenters, we doubled and cut the time for presentation
in half. That meant that we had to adjust our speeches and left with
little time to address some of the notorious statements made by two
hostile panelists. These two were very inhospitable, notorious and
seemed intent on derailing the Eritrean Message of peace. They were
the true advocates of hate and the warmongering that perpetuates the
hostility between the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia in the past.
However, we remained focused and conveyed the Eritrean message. The
message was that Eritreans are ready to cooperate and to start working
together with some basic common understanding. Dr. Berhe articulated
clearly, to continue on the old path would not bear fruit and
explained, hostile comments will only ruffle Eritrean feathers and rub
them the wrong way. My message focused on the new relation between
Eritreans and Ethiopians in the Diaspora, and how to develop it in
order to benefit both peoples.
We went with clear understanding of the types of challenges we were
likely to face and prepared to face it and we did. The only way I can
describe the environment is, as surreal. The audience was curious,
attentive and hospitable. However, it is difficult to gauge the
feeling and clearly, there were some that were suspicious of our
presence. The audience had limited opportunity to ask questions and
they directed it mainly at us. The underlined tones of the questions
were that Eritrea wants to destabilize Ethiopia. There was also a
question from an individual who lived in the border area in the past.
He claimed that Eritrea is denying Ethiopians access to Ethiopians in
the border. We refuted the assertion that Eritrea wants to destabilize
Ethiopia and clarified that our purpose is to help establish people to
people relationship in the Diaspora and that peace can only come when
individuals make a personal commitment to peace and cooperation. To
the Ethiopian from the border, we explained that Eritrea is an
independent country and if he wanted to visit Eritrea he needed to go
through the proper authorities and obtain a permit. Dr. Berhe
explained to claim that Ethiopia deserves this or that from Eritrea is
basically preparing the people for war and that is not the way to
achieve peace.
The Key
This was a useful and necessary exercise. It is about time that we
broke ice and discovered each other. Through the opportunity the
conference provided, we discovered that intellectuals have a role to
play and that role needs to be constructive. For long, Ethiopian
opinion makers have found comfort on old arguments and led their
people to hostile directions. Many failed to recognize what Eritrea is
all about and basically dismissed the people of Eritrea to the
detriment of the people on the region. However, after decades of
hostility there is a mutual interest on rebuilding the connection.
The key is, even with all these challenges, we were rewarded beyond
our expectations because the conference released a declaration that
stated, “We encourage the continuation of the relationship that has
recently been started by scholars from Eritrea and Ethiopia, and hope
that such conversations would lead to new beginning, which will be
mutually beneficial to the brotherly peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Everyone knows that Eritrea and Ethiopia are invariably linked by
history, religion, culture, economy, and security. It is thus costly
and wasteful for both to maintain the status quo.” End quote. This is
significant on many fronts. For the first time, Ethiopians have made a
commitment to work with and not against the people of Eritrea on
record. Most importantly, it gave all participants a green light to
work with the people of Eritrea openly. This is a major shift on
attitude and a positive development.
What this means to the last Dynasty of Ethiopia
With the election fast approaching, Meles found it appropriate to send
a group of his celebrity politicians called Medrek to the United
States. Their aim was to give appearance of as if there is a
legitimate opposition party in Ethiopia, to boost the confidence of
their constituency and most importantly, to counter the messages of
the conference in DC. They wanted to control the news-cycle and take
over the messages. They wanted to infuse wedge issues such as Assab to
keep the Diaspora fractured. In an effort to steal the message of the
new relation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Ghebru Asrat was saying
that he is ready to work with Eritreans and promised to get back Assab
“Legally”!. By the same token, Siye Abraha was openly asserting a
claim to Assab. Moreover, the TPLF went the distance to discredit the
conference and, after the conference tried to undermine the success of
the conference but failed.
The problem for the TPLF is that Ethiopians are fed-up with their
antiques and have moved on a different direction in comprehensive ways.
Ethiopians approached the conference with a great deal of
sensitivities and practical understanding of the issues and
participants. They solicited participation from all the stakeholders.
And for the most part they have succeeded. What this shows is that
Ethiopians are ready to move away from ethnocentric rules and that
they are ready to govern a country where all have voices with a
legitimate role in ruling the country. They showed willingness to
cooperate with each other with one aim, to get rid of the ethnocentric
junta and received tremendous support. They also encouraged
participation from other countries in the region.
Concluding Remarks
This was a remarkable undertaking for all those who participated and
the organizers. Ethiopians needed it desperately and it took place in
the most critical moment in the history of Ethiopia. This is a new
beginning and needs to be encouraged and it must succeed because
failure means goodbye to Ethiopia. Ethiopians have learned valuable
lessons from this event and I am sure they are itching to build up on
the success. The feedback was extremely positive from both sides. It
showed that people are hungry for more. Therefore, it is high time
that people take ownership of the issue and make personal initiatives
to encourage this positive development. However, they should not be
complacent because time is running out.
For those who participated as audience and presenters it was obviously
tense, unpredictable and occasionally gut wrenching. However, after
all that was said and done, we have moved the ball a lot further and
faster than we expected. What we are witnessing is history in the
making by the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia in Diaspora. How we stand
at this moment will decide how we will be, at least in the near future.
Eritreans and Ethiopians need to seize on the momentum and build on
this new relation to further the cause for the mothers and kids that
are suffering needlessly. We are destined to live together forever.
Therefore, we need to start taking the baby steps towards a better
future that is based on mutual respect and understanding.
Kudos for the organizers for a job well done!
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