In this first part of the interview, President Isaias elaborated recent developments and trends in the region from Eritrea’s perspectives and policy stance.
In the first part of the interview with Eri-Tv and Radio Dimtsi Hafash, President Isaias Afwerki elaborated the recent developments in the region from Eritrea’s perspective policy stance.
President Isaias acknowledged the historic and bold initiative of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed for fully accepting the EEBC ruling and initiating reform of policy of institutionalized ethnic polarization of Ethiopia.
President Isaias also underlined and expressed respect to the unparalleled resilience of the Eritrean people which was essential in precipitating and securing the new positive climate of regional peace.
President Isaias further alluded to the antics and obstructionist stance of the bankrupt clique bent on rolling back the peace process, including full restitution of Eritrean sovereignty in Badme as provided by key pillars of the peace agreement and the reform in Ethiopia.
As regards to Sudan, President Isaias underlined that the demise of the now defunct regime which was sponsoring fundamentalist extremism will have dividends to the Sudan and as a while although the challenges to the Transition remains substantial.
President Isaias further explained on Eritrea’s 11-point policy stance on the structured framework of security and developmental cooperation of the Red Sea littoral states in this vital international maritime route.
The second part of the interview of President Isaias will continue tomorrow, 9 February at 8:00 PM local time.
President Isaias underlined and paid homage to the unparalleled resilience of the Eritrean people which was pivotal in precipitating and securing the new positive climate of regional peace
President Isaias paid tribute to the historic & bold stance of @AbiyAhmedAli in fully accepting the FINAL&BINDING #Eritrea#Ethiopia Boundary Commission's ruling & initiating reform of policy of ethnic polarization that #TPLF junta institutionalized in Ethiopia. #PIAinterview2020https://t.co/g6OufM285N
On February 7, Eritrean state television broadcast a Tigrinya interview of with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki where he criticized at length the polarization of Ethiopians along ethnic lines and the consequences it entails over Eritrea and the Horn of Africa region. Below are the unofficial translated excerpts.
The reason why this area is immersed in unceasing conflict is because of the direct interference of external forces. The enduring bloodshed in parts of the Horn of Africa is the upshot of substantial impact of these hostile powers.
After the completion of the Cold War, we had not carefully understood the dramatic repercussions of the war. The dangerous after-effects of the war have caused internal threats in Ethiopia. The present-day ethnic federalism was not single handedly promoted by the narrow clique [= the TPLF]. External powers have played their fair share in establishing such a system for their benefit when Ethiopia became free from the military regime in 1991.
Within Ethiopia, the advantage of ethnic federalism is not vitally essential for all Ethiopians other than for some narrow cliques. That was why the regime of narrow cliques of Ethiopia lacks considerable recognition from its inception. If we delve into the causes of the imminent underlying current unrest in Ethiopia, the leading root of this strife is ethnic federalism, though the narrow clique has named ethnic federalism saying ‘right to self-administration, secession, blah-blah’.
Ethnic-centered administration has severely damaged Ethiopia. The system has empowered deliberate ethnic schisms among the peoples of Ethiopia. It is impossible to have an appropriate process of nation-building once you have institutionalized ethnic schism on the authority of pretentious federalism. Taking everything into account, the system of ethnic federalism applied in Ethiopia for the past 20 years and more by the narrow clique is bankrupted now. In our language it is called ‘game over’. And Ethiopians have said ‘enough’.
Following the uncompromising opposition, Abiy has taken an outstanding and brave decision of embracing a new multi-faceted political reform in Ethiopia. He managed to reform the previous state of play which Ethiopia had faced for years.
It was not unforeseen for us. The narrow clique has worked to create inherent animosity between the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia. Surprisingly, the narrow clique that caused enormous harm to the peoples of Ethio-Eritrea has not the sanity of Ethiopianism, despite the fact that it caused irreparable damage on behalf of Ethiopians to the people of Eritrea. Have you examined this scenario thoughtfully?
The politics, approach, and objectives of this narrow clique are disastrous.
And now, disgracefully, this narrow clique is saying that if Abiy’s rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia is rewarding, where is the peace on the ground?
Even though we have made a rapprochement, Badme and its surroundings are still occupied by Ethiopia. This is happening because the narrow clique, which administers the region, is impeding execution of the decision of the border commission as a tactic for its survival.
The situation in Badme is becoming worse and worse ever more. Do you understand why we choose to be tolerant? It is because the narrow clique is exploiting the enduring political unrest in the country. Who is assigning land in Badme presently? Why are many houses erecting in Badme? What are the valid laws to distribute the land in Badme, while they are calling for reconciliation with Eritrea?
So, all these disruptive actions of the narrow clique are anti-peace and reconciliation. The narrow clique is taking advantage of the current precarious situation in Ethiopia, the mess of ethnic federalism. This is happening because the narrow clique, along with its bankrupt politics of ethnic federalism, is working against the reform. Consequently, this narrow clique has galvanized extreme confrontation against the uncompleted reform in all directions against Abiy Ahmed.
All in all, the narrow clique is applying full force to invalidate the endeavors of the rapprochement and it has intended essentially to overturn the overall achievements of the ongoing reform in Ethiopia.
With regards to Eritrea, the narrow clique is ploughing a siege mentality in the people, saying you have been encircled in all corners.
As it is remembered, they devised the policy of immigration to weaken Eritrea. There are different sorts of challenges in Ethiopia. For that reason, this narrow clique is carrying out all sorts of tussles with the purpose of hampering healthy relationship between both nations.
That is not scary though. What matters most is the internal conditions of Ethiopia.
Abiy has taken the courageous decision of introducing reform. But, what is he going to do in the end? Once Abiy has achieved his initial objective, we don’t believe everything is solved until we see the last results. We are not saying this because we are extremely genius or anything else. However, our historic experience tells us so.
How are we going to achieve lasting results? How are we going to bring sustainable peace and cooperation? Peace comes through real work. Peace prevails through genuine solidarity. This is not the issue of border conflict. That is not our challenge. There are other external powers who are jointly working with the narrow clique of Ethiopia to hurt Eritrea. If we fail to frame a strong foundation for the enduring reform in Ethiopia, we can be victims of political turmoil stemming from Ethiopia. We don’t want to fully interfere in deciphering the poisons of ethnic federalism. That is their internal issue. However, we won’t be silent until it victimizes Eritrea and that is why we are working together with Abiy Ahmed.
We need not say everything is going to be solved in view of the present reform as we would be politically naive and gullible. We know that apart from the conflict-ridden interest of the internal narrow cliques, external forces are working hard to disrupt the situation. We will seriously scrutinize their engagements. All these forces are partaking in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. Nonetheless, the most dangerous political threat is the precarious internal unsteadiness of Ethiopia. It is easy to spread hatred. But it is difficult to bring peace by neutralizing hatred.
Ethnic polarization has reached in its peak. It won’t be easily cured by means of a single remedy. We need not to discern it as an ordinary conflict. New scenarios are emerging every time. These ultimatums are altering their characteristics constantly.
Yet, our cooperation and solidarity won’t be troubled, rather it is increasingly hardening. We may encounter some daunting actions; yet we won’t change our relationship with Ethiopia.
One of the contested matters in Ethiopia presently is the issue of election. This is according to the traditional culture of politics. This is not a worthy issue by itself. It will hinder the attention of the government on the other important issues of the country, if the disagreement on matters of election becomes more to the fore. There are many actors in this election. If we need genuine political transformation, we should consider the issues properly. There are experienced international institutions knowledgeable in research. These institutions are analyzing the situation poorly, exploiting the situation.
We can defend ourselves for any potential conflict coming out from Ethiopia. However, Ethiopia is a big nation. It has its own significant role in our region.
All internal political powers are propagating very shallow judgement. When you say, ‘I am federalist’, what is federalism? When you say ‘I am unionist’, what is unionist? I am highlighting the difficulties of the situation. We can alleviate the bad consequences of ethnic federalism if we study the problem properly.
Q : Dear President, after the new leadership came to power in Ethiopia, it appears the former political structure is fundamentally reforming. Taking into consideration all these emerging scenarios, along with the signed rapprochement, what are their influence on Eritrea and our region according to your perspective?
In our history, the nation causing the main threat for Eritrea is Ethiopia. We have direct interests Ethiopia. We are not saying we will interfere in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. That is not the point. However, the condition of Ethiopia is directly of concern to us. We forecasted the existing scenario of Ethiopia.
I was invited to participate in the conference of 1992 where the current system of ethnic federalism was considered to be implemented. The present-day enduring strife among tribes of Ethiopia was embedded back in that time. It has institutionally evolved for almost 30 years.
We have advised the narrow cliques, forecasting this sort of ethnic polarization. I have had the chance to look at the system of ethnic federalism before anyone was allowed to study it. I have read it twice and I was asked to give my recommendations. For the sake of secession, you should not make the society into an ethnically polarized community. I warned them not to implement such a system.
We haven’t any border problem. We don’t demarcate the borders. We have already inherited the demarcated borders. There were external forces who have encouraged the narrow clique to divide and rule Ethiopia through ethnic federalism. The people of Ethiopia were not part of the war against us. It was the interest of the narrow clique. This narrow ethnic polarization has only one way in the end. That end is devastation.
There are many elites who define this scenario, saying it is the rights of nations, nationalities and peoples. And then these elites deceive the people for their political benefit. As I have said in 1994, how are you going to accommodate the challenges of the current ethnic federalism? It is not possible to continue while you are creating a rift in communities. You cannot even walk through all these narrow positions.
We can look at situations of Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, and others. These nations are living through ethnic polarization. Where are they right now? All are engulfed in civil war. Ethiopia is not different from any nation of the world. That excuse of ‘we are the country of nation nationalities and peoples’ won’t work at all.
We are advising Ethiopians to follow the best path for nation building. This is not because we fear any force coming out from Ethiopia. We can defend ourselves efficiently. I don’t want to suggest this way or that way. The people should select the right way. The people are the last victims. The key problematic force inside Ethiopia presently is the clique of ethnic politics.
Q : Dear President, how do you analyze the role of the people in protecting Eritrea within these three generations and what will be its impacts in the future?
Pertaining to struggle of people of Eritrea, I am always amazed by the firm doggedness of the people although I am part of the struggle for decades. I sometime even ask myself will other people be able to carry such a burden and ultimately triumph.
The forte of our people is to triumph due to its unrelenting struggle. After the Second World War, Eritrea was considered as a main target. To control Eritrea, the powers devised to divide and rule the people of Eritrea. The people have crossed that precarious time and then the civil war, the challenge, has helped our people to figure out the political dynamics. We have learned a lot of experience from our previous challenges.
If we compare with our surroundings, we are all equal people. But, we should ask why all these burdens and challenges against the people of Eritrea. However, the people have defeated all its challenges. This culture of gallantry should be preserved. This is the grace of our nation.
Ethiopia on Thursday passed a law punishing “hate speech” and “disinformation” with hefty fines and long jail terms, despite fears by rights groups it undermines gains in free speech.
Nearly 300 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, with 23 votes against and two abstentions.
The new law defines hate speech as rhetoric that fuels discrimination “against individuals or groups based on their nationality, ethnic and religious affiliation, sex or disabilities.”
Penalties for disseminating such speech include fines of up to 100,000 Ethiopian birr ($3,100 / 2,870 euros) and prison terms of up to two years.
But when hate speech or “disinformation” results in “an attack on individuals or groups”, jail terms can stretch to five years.
Lawmakers said there was a need to legislate against hate speech, because it has been partly blamed for rising ethnic violence.
Tensions are expected to rise ahead of landmark elections due in August.
“This, however, should not in any way affect people’s right to express their opinions,” said Adhana Haile, a member of parliament from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
“We also have to make sure this bill won’t be applied with the wrong motives, against individuals with different ideas and perspectives,” Adhana said.
That view echoes concerns by foreign experts, who criticised a draft bill in December.
“The draft’s excessive vagueness means that officials at the federal and regional level would have practically unbounded discretion to determine whom to investigate and prosecute,” David Kaye, the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression, said in December.
Kaye said that the draft version of the hate speech law could “exacerbate ethnic tension, which may in turn fuel further violence”.
The law passed Thursday appeared to be largely unchanged from the draft Kaye criticised.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) also warned in December that the law could be used to target people who share content on social media or private messaging apps.
“Ethiopia should be removing legal provisions that restrict free expression, not adding more vague provisions that risk stifling critical public debate on important issues,” HRW’s Laetitia Bader said at the time.
Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been praised for reforms hoped to foster a more open political and media environment.
But domestic critics accuse him of authoritarian tendencies, including locking up political opponents.
TPLF members in the Federal Parliament have now become a true opposition to Prosperity Party. (the new ruling party) Today, they opposed the adoption of the new anti hate speech law, apparently taking a pro human rights stance. Strange times! #Ethiopia
To begin with, there are no ‘border disputes’ between Ethiopia and Eritrea any more as the issue was resolved through arbitration a decade ago. Remaining was TPLF’s unconditional cooperation with the Federal gov’t in the troop withdrawal process from all sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme. Remember, the horse always comes before the cart.
Make no mistake. No matter how the TPLF would love to delay the implementation of the border ruling, at the end of the day, Eritrea will regain what is hers anyway. So why need to waste everyone’s time, particularly, opportunities of peace and development to the poor and desperate people of Tigray?
The Chair of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) Dr. Deberetsion Geberemichael said his administration is ready to resolve the border dispute with neighboring Eritrea based on international laws and relevant provisions.
Briefing journalists in connection with the 45th founding anniversary of TPLF, Debretsion stressed the need for leaders of Tigray, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to come to a negotiating table to resolve the border issue and work for ensure real peace among their peoples.
Debretsion who is also Deputy President of the Tigray state accused Addis Ababa of disrupting the peace process and failing to facilitate conditions to resolve Ethio-Eritrea border disputes.
The deputy president’s remark comes after Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki recently accused TPLF of creating hurdles to resolve the unsettled border issues with Ethiopia.
Debretsion did not comment on if his government is willing to give away Badme town and surrounding areas to Eritrea as per the decision of the Ethio-Eritrea boundary commission back in 2000.
“The situations in the disputed Badme town and surrounding areas became worse particularly after the diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea were restored in mid-2018,” said the Eritrean President in an interview broadcast on Eritrea TV.
“We want the border and other unsettled issues resolved based on international law and relevant provisions. The border issues with Eritrea need to be handled by the federal government. The regional government, as a member of a federal government, is committed to negotiations between the two governments and international decisions are implemented,” Debretsion said.
According to the TPLF leader, the regional government wants the border issue to get a lasting solution but no effort was made to start negotiations on the border and other unsettled issues.
Before Ethiopia announced its acceptance of the decision by the border commission, commonly known as the Algiers Agreement, it raised questions regarding the interpretation of the agreement and pointed out challenges that would confront its actual implementation on the ground.
It is not known if TPLF will raise the same concerns now. The Algiers Agreement was widely condemned in Tigray when it was announced. Many felt betrayed for not being represented well during the arbitration process. The TPLF backed away, in part, due to the massive backlash it faced in the state at that time.
Some now question whether both the central government and the regional government are on a strong negotiating ground. The central government has many issues on its plate. The TPLF is currently in the middle of its toughest period since its creation, one that threatens its very survival. The Badme issue may look small in comparison to these leaders, according to critics.
Despite repeated effort by the TPLF to reconcile, the Eritrean leader has been very critical and dismissal of the TPLF, especially since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power. On many occasions, he did not hide his wish to see the TPLF defunct. Last week, he accused the TPLF of being the source of the ethnic conflicts Ethiopia is facing today.
Speaking about existing situations in the country, Debretsion said the economic situation of Ethiopia is going down the drain and, if unchecked, it will pose a serious problem on the livelihood of its people. In a recent discussion with MPs, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia’s economy has gained momentum and created over 1.2 million new jobs since he took office in April 2018.
Debretsion said the forthcoming elections are a crucial step to resolve the existing political crisis and determine the fate of the nation.
He said TPLF is preparing to compete in forthcoming elections and called for other political parties operating in the Tigray state to do the same. He said TPLF is ready to support the political parties and widen the democratic space. This is different from what he declared last month during the emergency congress of the organization.
Earlier in January 2020, the TPLF chair, Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael had said those who are not in line with TPLF decisions will be considered as traitors and will be dealt with accordingly. He said, “you are either with us or against us.” “Our campaign will start against them, the traitors,” he added at that time.
The Algiers Agreement – signed as ‘Final and Binding’
“We must contribute, to the extent that we can, to the positive changes that occur in Ethiopia. We should not be mere strangers to what might transpire in Ethiopia.” – President Isaias
It is to be remembered that on 7th and 9th of February 2020, National media outlets, Eri- Tv and Dimtsi Hafash Radio Programme, have conducted exclusive interview with His Excellency President Isaias Afwerki on range of subjects focusing both on regional and domestic issues. Excerpts of the first part of the interview follow:
Q : Since the mid of 2018, political developments in our region have unfolded in a new and distinct trajectory. In this regard, one of the events is the comprehensive agreement of peace and friendship signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia in Asmara on July 9 2018 after 20 years of state of hostility and war and that contains five pillars. What is the progress achieved so far in the implementation of the main pillars of the agreement?
One can, of course, easily appreciate the event in its own merit; without the underlying context. In this sense, the Peace Agreement was signed in mid-2018 resulting in the establishment of bilateral ties of friendship. However, it would be more appropriate to look at the event within a broader framework to better gauge its future trajectory. This will require critical assessment of what transpired in the paste.
From our perspective, the vital issue is what was the justification for the unwarranted hostilities levelled against three generations of our people in the past 80 years of our history? And, does this constitute the end of the hostilities?
Leaving aside the unwarranted hostilities that exacted heavy sacrifices in those long decades, what were the justifications for renewed hostilities in the last 20 years in particular? This is again a continuation of the political tools imposed in order to serve the global and regional strategic interests of external powers.
As it happened, surrogate forces in our region, and particularly in Ethiopia, exacerbated and prolonged the hostilities through flimsy pretexts. These entailed a spiral of bloodshed; entrenched animosity and incessant crises bedeviling our region.
Narrowing the prism to the last 20 years, what were the causes of the border war? Did the conflict in Badme arise from previous similar history of hostility? Was it driven by other disputes or causes? In retrospect, it is clear that this was concocted and imposed, as it was the case in previous times, to advance external strategic interests.
The people of Eritrea were denied their inalienable national right – although it shared the same history as other nations formed through colonialism – and compelled to undergo through a long path of struggle due to the decision of external powers. We were compelled to tread a long journey and pay heavy sacrifices to ascertain our liberation. The banality of the justifications for imposing these tribulations on our people was perhaps more apparent when the new era was ushered in after the end of the Cold War. In a nutshell, very narrow and destructive mind set – i.e. appeasement of overriding external interests – fomented a long war that entailed huge human losses, material destruction and opportunity cost.
Ultimately, the resilience and steadfastness of the Eritrean people became the deterrent factor. In Ethiopia too, the agenda of hostility represented the interests of a narrow clique only and did not reflect the wishes of the Ethiopian people at large. The destructive acts of local actors compounded by external interests resulted in the long conflicts with disastrous consequences. This is the backdrop of the peace agreement of June 2018; which can be summed up as an outcome of the relentless struggle of the Eritrean people as well as rejection of the agenda of war in Ethiopia.
In terms of the political dynamics in Ethiopia, the policies pursued by the narrow agenda – in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War – has entailed the worst damage. The policy enunciated in the name of self-determination of nationalities etc. has triggered an intractable crisis of vertical polarization of the society.
Cultural diversity is a process that ushers in a more congenial climate of affiliation and cohesion as post-colonial States embark on nation-building. To reverse this trend and foment polarization in society, especially on the basis of narrow ethnicity, poses an immense danger. This is what we see in Ethiopia today.
It may not have been properly discerned at its incipient stage. But ultimately, it has incurred huge damage to society – notwithstanding the various seemingly innocuous justifications given to it. This goes beyond instigation of war and conflict to instil mistrust and hatred among society. It is a blight and destroys a country. Once the malaise is contracted, it has no simple antidote.
Compared to previous experiences in the course of nation-building process in Ethiopia, the misguided policies of the narrow clique [TPLF] are the worst in terms of their impact on the political development of Ethiopia. To add insult to an injury, these policies lasted long as they were complicated by external interests and interventions.
With regard to allowing self-determination and secession of ethnic groups in Ethiopia, these misguided policies caused considerable vertical polarization and social cleavages in the country. This has negatively impacted the nation-building process in Ethiopia; regardless of their magnitude, cumulatively acquired previous experiences and efforts have been almost reversed due to the said policies.
Nothing is as consequentially destructive in the nation-building process of a state as instilling a climate of systemic mistrust, suspicion and hostility among different segments of a society. Such a situation has become systemic and institutionalized in Ethiopia and it is timely to address and mitigate this challenge.
This poignant reality had to come to an end. Ultimately, people should say “Enough”. From our perspective, it is “Game Over”. For the people and political leaders in Ethiopia, the option is to say “Enough! as it is impossible to continue in this manner”.
The initiative Dr. Abiy took should be seen in this context. This was a truly bold measure and reflected prevailing sentiments. It was precipitated by the rejection of the people and country at large to the policy of ethnic polarization. This requires taking important measures. I personally believe it was brave of him. To say: “I will change the prevalent situation… I will take remedial measures” is not easy. We all remember the euphoria when the statement was first announced.
The fact is the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia were not comfortable with the animosity created under spurious pretexts; particularly by a group which was not keen on fostering Ethiopian unity in the first place and that set out to create cleavages among them. This reality warranted decisive action at a historical juncture. And the bold decision was executed and merits profound appreciation.
This does not mean that all the problems have been resolved fully. Indeed, if we look at what has transpired in the past year and half, the matter has not come to closure. Because, this represented bankruptcy to the narrow clique and its courtiers. The ideologies, policies and manifestos pursued by the small clique in the past twenty years, were ultimately pulverized by the developments that unfolded in Eritrea and also in Ethiopia. Their political intentions and aspirations were once and for all terminated.
This failure induced a mindset of yet more desperation and bankruptcy. Abiy’s position envisages, in essence, a lofty objective of peace and friendship with Eritrea. This was a source of inspiration to the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia; because of accumulated experiences.
On the other hand, what were the plans and schemes woven by the bankrupt clique over this period? And what has been implemented in terms of the Peace and Friendship Agreement?
We can look at the border issue. The situation in Badme and the surrounding areas has been aggravated in the past months since the first announcement by Abiy. Sovereign Eritrean territories that were invaded should have been re-instituted following the legal decision. This has not been done. Why? Because the bankrupt clique wanted to use Badme both as a card of intimidation and for bargaining chip. Without going into specific details, the situation in Badme has worsened.
We cannot refrain from engagement because our sovereign territories have not been restored. We can address this in due time. What is cardinal now is to consolidate the new climate which will benefit both peoples. The border war that was created without any justification in the first place, and the politics and ideologies that contributed to its intensification, have come to an end now. So there is no reason for undue preoccupation. Since we have to look ahead, the option was to be engaged in a concretive spirit.
How many new houses are being built in Badme? What is number of new land allotments? Who are the beneficiaries? On what legal grounds? These questions will amplify the difficult situation that obtains in Ethiopia at the present time. The policy of ethnic polarization is fraught with balkanization of the country. What was the ideology that underpinned the formation and status of the ethnic regions? Was there a central government that guaranteed national sovereignty?
The narrow clique resorted to reactive tactics as its policy of institutionalized ethnicity foundered. This translated into frustrating the policy of goodwill and peace enunciated in the past year and half. Because they could accept failure of their misguided policy, the alternative was to pursue another agenda of subversion. To weaken the forces of reform thus became a priority.
The events unfolding in Ethiopia these days corroborate these facts. Moreover, the narrow clique conjures up a situation of “hostage and siege from the north and the south” in its pursuit of a hostile agenda against Eritrea. There are additional attempts to compound the situation in Badme and the border areas and thereby make ultimate resolution impossible.
Creating division among the Eritrean people is another tool they continue to pursue to advance their 20-year old policy of weakening Eritrea. Human trafficking was taken as a convenient instrument; this was done both through Sudan and Ethiopia. Acts of establishing “refugee camps”, in collision with UNHCR to attain carefully-woven schemes of draining Eritrean man-power, have surged. Hiring local spies and collaborators in order to create “opposition” based on ethnic and clan affiliation is another tool in their arsenal; specially because there is involvement from other external powers.
Furthermore, the narrow clique has been engaged in misinformation in order to hinder good-ties between Eritrea and Ethiopia and both peoples. This is accompanied by instilling “siege mentality” in its constituency in order to instigate war and conflict. We are not perturbed by these situations. What is of more concern, is the development that may unfold in Ethiopia. The question at hand is whether or not the process of change can proceed smoothly without impediments.
This was evident from the beginning. The magnitude of the challenges is indeed apparent to anyone who has gone through similar experiences. Abiy has taken a bold initiative. Sustainability of the initiative for peace and friendship is an uphill undertaking that will require huge efforts. We had no illusions that all would be smooth simply because the decision was taken out of political goodwill. This was not due to foresight but gleaned from long experience.
We will not dwell on the clique’s misdemeanour in Badme and other secondary matters. We must strengthen the positive developments that can occur in Ethiopia. This is not an option.
It is what we have learned from history. There is no need to cry over spilled milk. We must deepen our relationship with Ethiopia in order to ensure that the prevailing reality, with all its challenges, develops in a positive direction. In our policy of constructive engagement, our efforts must focus on the larger picture and not be diverted by smaller matters. These objectives will not be attained in year or two.
Enduring peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia and restoration of normalcy will require vigorous efforts. Peace is not Mana that will come down from heavens. The crucial issue is consolidation of peace which will require conducive environment through relentless effort. We have indeed funnelled our endeavors in the past 18 month on the most critical parameters. The challenges I have outlined before will continue.
We cannot be oblivious to the fact that this narrow clique has external supporters. Essentially because it is itself a surrogate of these forces. We have not attached undue importance to the subversive acts of this clique in the past months and our primary focus has remained on consolidating the climate of peace. We cannot overestimate the results achieved. But the choice was appropriate from the outset. The current positive development represents, by any yardstick, a big opportunity. All of the problems have not been resolved as yet; but we have taken several measures to bolster the climate of cooperation.
The recent meetings and Summits were, and will be, prompted by these considerations. Unless we create a robust platform, the ideals will not be achieved in one stretch. The issue is not our internal situation. The fact is developments in Ethiopia in the past 30 years were grave indeed. It may not involve us directly.
We may argue, in the abstract, that this is a matter that concerns them alone and it is up to them to deal with it. But ultimately, this is an issue that requires our collaboration.
We should not always be victims of political developments that unfold in Ethiopia. We do not need to confront a loose and bankrupt clique. But we must contribute, to the extent that we can, to the positive changes that occur in Ethiopia. We should not be mere strangers to what might transpire in Ethiopia.
President Isaias’ latest interview seems to have ruffled a few feathers, judging by the reaction of some, just like the saying that goes, “if you throw a stone into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that got hit.”
BY YAFET ZEREOU
The interview conducted by President Isaias Afwerki on Friday 7th February 2020 seems to have ruffled a few feathers, judging by the reaction of some. I am reminded of the saying, “if you throw a stone into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that got hit”.
I can understand the TPLF getting all flustered by the interview and trying its utmost to cover the message of the interview by launching personal attacks on the President, after all the interview made it quite clear that the TPLF has no positive role to play in the region’s politics.
But, what did the President say? The President gave a summary of the last year and half since the signing of the historical peace agreement with the Ethiopian government led by Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
In his summary he pointed out that under the prevailing circumstances, Dr. Abiy’s decision to seek peace with Eritrea was a challenging one, requiring great courage on the part of the new Ethiopian leader.
President Isaias outlined that Eritrea did not approach the matter with unrealistic expectations but was nonetheless willing to give peace a chance, now that an Ethiopian leader with a genuine desire to seek peace had come.
The signing of the peace deal and the official cessation of hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia on 9th July 2018 was just the beginning of the journey on a very long and difficult road, elaborated the President. It is because there was a glimmer of hope for peace, that Eritrea, chose to set aside—for the time being— the issue of Badme. An issue that will no doubt be resolved in due time.
"The fact is the peoples of #Eritrea and #Ethiopia were not comfortable with the animosity created under spurious pretexts; particularly by a group which was not keen on fostering Ethiopian unity in the first place …"
The decision on the part of Eritrea to engage with Dr. Abiy of Ethiopia, showed the desire for peace of the Eritrean leadership and its farsightedness in agreeing to focus on major issues rather be bogged down.
The Eritrean leadership together with its new partners in the Ethiopian government, managed to successfully avoid the trap set by the TPLF, neutralizing its poison.
"PM Abiy has taken a bold initiative. Sustainability of the initiative for peace and friendship is an uphill undertaking that will require huge efforts." #Eritrea#Ethiopiahttps://t.co/4xppcNjORy
When the President stated that the TPLF was hindering the return of Badme, some —like the BBC— misconstrued his statement to mean that the TPLF was still a power to reckon with. However, the reality on the ground could not be different. The way the TPLF is blocking the return of Badme is by using civilians as human shields. It is to be remembered that it was civilians that blocked the Ethiopian army convoy, not armed TPLF forces. Had armed TPLF forces tried to block the Ethiopian army, they would simply have been swept aside, but the TPLF—not for the first time— tried to get the Ethiopian army to open fire on Tigrayan civilians.
In the late 80s, it successfully got the Ethiopian army to commit a massacre in the village of Hawzen, but unfortunately for the TPLF, and fortunately for the innocent civilians— the Ethiopian army had learnt form its past experience.
President Isaias Afwerki
The President’s lofty idea of bringing about a peaceful and prosperous region was lost in the noisy chatter of the TPLF and its paid mercenaries. Any thinking person would have understood the underlining message of the interview and any person who has the goodwill of the people of the Horn of Africa and beyond would have agreed with the message.
When I see elements in the media trying to trash the interview, without giving a reason as to why they disagree and which points of the interview they found disagreeable, I am reminded of the saying—”do not put your pearls before swine, lest they trample it”.
When Dr. Abiy came to power, he tried his utmost to accommodate the TPLF but they were unable to change their ways choosing to undermine him and the work he was doing to bring about a lasting peace in the region.
In his interview, the President made it quite clear that there was no point trying to compromise with the TPLF. The TPLF, as an organisation, cannot work for a peaceful neighborhood, it is an organisation that needs strife and conflict to survive. It cannot afford to let go of Badme and for peace to prevail between Eritrea and Ethiopia because it would be the first victim of the peace as its people hold it accountable for the lost years and lives.
The reason that the TPLF is trying its utmost to derail the peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia, is because once peace prevails, the focus will be on its own failures.
Ethiopians will be asking “why nearly 200 thousand of their country men lost their lives on land that is not theirs.” Even it tried to wriggle out of being responsible for the 1998-2000 border war, it cannot absolve itself for the failure to implement the final and binding Border commission of 2002.
The manner and ease at which Dr. Abiy managed to accept the Algiers Agreement without any preconditions has shown the entire World that the biggest obstacle to peace was the TPLF. It is in appreciation of this that the World Community presented Dr. Abiy with the highest accolade – a Nobel Prize.
"Creating division among the Eritrean people is another tool [TPLF] continue to pursue to advance its 20-year old policy of weakening #Eritrea. Human trafficking … acts of establishing “refugee camps”, in collision with #UNHCR to …drain Eritrean man-power"
The President rightfully pointed out that politics based on ethnicity is a recipe for disaster, reminiscent of the Tower of Babel. Politics is about ideology, ideas and concepts which change in the course of time. No doubt that there must be equality between all people regardless of ethnicity, gender, age etc.
"Nothing is as consequentially destructive in the nation-building process of a state as instilling a climate of systemic mistrust, suspicion and hostility among different segments of a society. "
However, trying to group an entire people into one political party based on their ethnicity is simply wrong. Take for example an Oromo peasant farmer. The farmer will no doubt share culture and language with an Oromo business man, but in terms of policies about his livelihood and the challenges he faces, he would probably have more in common with another peasant farmer from another ethnic group.
For example, if the business man was into buying agricultural products, it is obvious that he would want to do so at the lowest price possible, whereas the farmer will naturally want to sell at the highest price. The two may share the same linguistic language, but they will certainly not be speaking the same language when it comes to business. The business man will have the same concern as other businessmen regardless of their ethnicity and the worker the same, the farmer the same. Therefore, politics should transcend ethnicity and be based on common need and aims.
Some had seen the offer of the President to help Ethiopia during this difficult transition period as a desire on his part to interfere in the internal politics of Ethiopia, despite saying that Eritrea’s concern did not give it licence to intervene.
His offer for help should have been seen as a key step in ensuring peace and stability in the region. Take for example the Ethiopian army stationed on the border with the two countries, which is cut off from the rest of the country by the TPLF. Had Eritrea been hostile to the government of Dr. Abiy, this army would have been at the mercy of the TPLF. With the TPLF at loggerheads with Dr. Abiy’s government, it might have tried to block supply lines to the Ethiopian army on the border to cause unrest, or force it to go on a rampage to cause death amongst the civilian population.
"We may argue, in the abstract, that this is a matter that concerns them [Ethiopians] alone and it is up to them to deal with it. But ultimately, this is an issue that requires our collaboration."#Ethiopia#Eritreahttps://t.co/4xppcNjORy
As mentioned above, this has been done before and its not beyond the realms of probability. At the moment, this scenario is not possible because, if push comes to shove, the Ethiopian army can be supplied by either the Eritrean government or the Ethiopian government via Eritrea. This is just a simple example of Eritrea offering help and I would be hard pressed to find a person who would think that providing water and food to the Ethiopian army, as ‘interfering in the internal politics’ of Ethiopia.
In conclusion, the said interview President Isaias clearly shows that he is a man with a vision to bring about peace and prosperity, not only to Eritrea but the entire region. As they say, the camel marches on while the dogs bark.
Disgraced TPLF staged what seems to be its last anniversary celebrations in Tigray regional capital Mekelle, an event highlighted by rising tensions with the federal gov’t and neighboring Eritrea.
The political party that dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades staged massive anniversary celebrations Wednesday that highlighted rising tensions with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and neighboring Eritrea.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led the overthrow of the Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam in the early 1990s and controlled the ruling coalition that took over.
But the party’s influence plummeted after Abiy assumed office in 2018 — an ascent fuelled by several years of anti-government protests reflecting widespread frustration with the coalition’s rule.
Last year, the TPLF refused to go along with Abiy’s plan to merge the coalition into a single political party, meaning it is now effectively in the opposition.
In Tigray, the northernmost of nine regions in a country administratively divided along ethnic lines, the party is firmly in control.
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of supporters filled the streets of the regional capital, Mekele, for a military-style parade of local and regional security forces.
The event marked the 45th anniversary of the party’s founding in 1975.
Participants shouted fight songs and marched in the formation of maps of both Tigray and Ethiopia.
In a speech, TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael accused Abiy of downplaying the TPLF’s achievements in a bid to consolidate power.
But he said Ethiopians supported the old coalition and respected the TPLF’s legacy.
“The sickness is in the leadership and not the people,” he said.
Yemane Amha, a 44-year-old former TPLF fighter, told AFP that this year’s anniversary came at a “critical time” for the party. [Admin: notice that a 44-yo man can not be a ‘former TPLF fighter unless he has joined the struggle at the age of around 10]
“I, and probably most Tigrayans, believe we’re at a juncture where we can move forward tolerating our differences or where the federal government will continue trying to impose its will on the Tigrayan people and beyond.”
A ‘common threat’
The TPLF was in charge during the 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea that killed tens of thousands of people.
Abiy won the Nobel peace prize last year for reaching out to Eritrea to end the two-decade stalemate between the two countries.
Yet the peace process remains stalled, with border crossings closed and no visible progress on demarcating the border, much of which abuts Tigray.
Persistent animosity between Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and the TPLF has been on display recently.
In an interview that aired on Eritrean state television earlier this month, Isaias accused the TPLF — which he referred to as “the narrow clique” — of sabotaging both the peace process and Abiy’s reform agenda.
Messages displayed on the street carnival such as this one has one meaning: “even our dogs are armed” … LOL
Fissehatsion Gebremichael, a civil servant who lives in Mekele, said the TPLF anniversary celebrations were bigger than usual in an apparent form of resistance to what he called the “marginalization” of Tigrayans.
“People have come together against what they see as a common threat,” he said.
“Many Tigrayans believe there’s an organised conspiracy between the ruling forces here and foreign forces against the region.”
He dismissed the possibility of outright conflict, but said tensions were likely to rise further ahead of elections planned for August 29.
‘’Either denounce the hate speech of leaders against Tigray people or announce Tigray as an independent state as your (law makers from Tigray) term is ending!’’
* Chairman of TPLF, Debretsion said today in Mekelle amidst 45 anniversary of the party. #Ethiopia
“Political developments in Ethiopia affects Eritrea directly. So we need to closely monitor the situation and make our views known to avoid damages later. It is with this perspective that we should strive to make modest contributions.”
It is to be remembered that on 7 and 9 February 2020, National media outlets, Eri- Tv and Dimtsi Hafash Radio Program, have conducted exclusive interview with His Excellency President Isaias Afwerki on range of subjects focusing both on regional and domestic issues.
Excerpts of the second part of the interview follow:
Q : There have been fundamentally positive developments in our region since mid-2018 with respect to the relations between different states of the region. The ‘Asmara joint declaration of peace and friendship’, signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia, is just one major example. How is the progress towards achieving the goals of this agreement, which has five basic pillars, assessed?
President Isaias: Surely, Abiy has taken a bold and positive decision. In the circumstances, what is our obligation and response? What are our options and capabilities? How do we see the internal situation in Ethiopia?
The internal situation in Ethiopia is of primary concern particularly in view of its fluidity and with domestic and external forces doggedly trying to reverse the change. The problem warrants prudent and wise approach. After all, it is much easier to drive a wedge and sow discord among the peoples than to foster mutual understanding and nurture a viable and positive environment conducive to cooperation.
We cannot downplay the magnitude of the problem. We have to appraise the situation in all its complexities and devise solutions accordingly. This is what we have pursued in the periodic bilateral consultations that we have carried out so far. We also need to monitor and gauge, on a constant basis, the various subterfuges weaved by hostile forces. They are and will definitely continue to foment internal strife in order to roll back the momentum of change and peace. But this will only augment our resolve; it will not in any way weaken our desire and commitment for constructive engagement. The adverse impact of fomenting ethnic strife and polarization has to be assessed fully. We have to recognize its dilatory impact – the fact that the fruits of the political goodwill that we all cherish may not be achieved in a year or two.
Indeed, we may not have achieved much in the past year and a half. But we have done our utmost in our primary task of eschewing reversal and obstruction of the peace process. We will stay the course until this process, which is still at its incipient stage, is consummated. It is absolutely essential that all these facts are well-known to our people.
Rigorous sensitization programs are vital to increase awareness and prompt our people to shoulder their responsibilities. We have to monitor developments meticulously and these must be explained publicly. There are forces who are especially using social media to distort facts and to spread false information; to stoke tension and strife. We need to fully understand the challenges that we are confronting to become well-equipped to thwart them.
What I have explained in this interview sheds some light on what is at stake. But it will be imperative to follow developments closely; to identify the obstacles that will crop up as well as the tools at our disposal to overcome them. This is essential in our endeavours to strengthen our policy of friendship and cooperation. Our people must also be informed accordingly on a constant basis.
The central point is we will not be derailed by obstacles but continue to work with greater vigour to recoup lost opportunities and redress the devastation inculcated in the past decades.
Q : Mr. President, how do you describe the role and resilience of the Eritrean people in the last three generations and what do you foresee the future will bring?
The resilience of the Eritrean people in the last three decades against external conspiracies, for me, is unimaginable. May be we could see it lightly because we live in it and we are part of it. The hostilities and machinations the Eritrean people have faced, the ordeal they had to go through in the past three decades is simply incomparable. Few other people could summon the requisite reliance to overcome such an ordeal.
The change that has unfolded after 20 years is the result of the dynamics of the spiral of hostilities and the strong resilience of the Eritrean people. We could say withstanding such conspiracies and hostilities is gleaned from experience or accumulated historical events. The Eritrean people, after the Second World War, had to go through all kinds of external hostilities. As iron is steeled in fire, the unity and cohesion of our people emanates from this intense adversity.
After the end of the Second World War, Eritrea was perceived as a country “that would not serve their interests”. The Eritrean people thus became their first target. To this end, the people had to be weakened and divided along religious and ethnic lines. The experience gained during the British colonialism, whose hallmark was fomenting parochial division in society, was not easy. We also had to go through similar political, ethnic and other divisive practices during the armed struggle. The experience gained during the civil war and in the later years was not simple. Those trying times ended up emboldening the people. The tribulations helped the people to easily understand the external plots and conspiracies.
In the final analysis, it is not the size of the population or country that matter. The Eritrean people emerged victorious against a huge army supported by various external powers. The size of the Dergue’s army was reportedly about 400,000. The challenge for the Eritrean people was how to change the asymmetry in the equation to their favour. The experiences they gleaned in the vanquishing various enemy offensives, including the Fenkil Operation, were huge indeed. The atrocities committed against them provoked more resolve and resilience enabling them to ultimately emerge victorious.
Against this backdrop of long history of adversity and struggle, the hostilities and conspiracies the people of Eritrea had to face in the past 20 years is by far the worst. Had the Eritrean people not stood in unison against all these frantic external conspiracies to defend their sovereignty and independence, the positive climate of peace that was ushered in last year would not have occurred.
At the end of the day, the tribute belongs to the people. Political awareness, organization, weapons may be relevant elements. But the determinant factor is resilience. Resilience gleaned in 80 years of determined struggle against incessant hostility by a small people living in a relatively small land with its geopolitical complexities. Solid cohesion, political awareness and resilience were all byproducts of this particular history and experience. These attributes have enabled the Eritrean people to vanquish, again in the last 20/30 years, all schemes of division, fundamentalist extremism and other ploys.
The Eritrean people are not different from their neighbors in the Sudan, Ethiopia or Somalia. But their distinct historical trajectory, the resultant cumulative experience, has enabled them to acquire an embedded culture of resistance and resilience. This culture must be preserved and transferred to posterity. There is no wealth that is more precious, or resources that are bigger, than this cultural attribute that can be invoked to overcome economic, security and other challenges today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Q : Mr. President, with the assumption of power by a new leadership in Ethiopia, it seems that the prevalent State structure is changing radically. Taking into account all possible scenarios, what are the potential consequences and ramifications to Eritrea, the Peace Agreement and the region as a whole?
Needless to stress, our history puts us at a vantage point to better understand how matters will pan out. In this respect, the situation in Ethiopia has inculcated much damage to Eritrea and its people for three generations in our contemporary times. This is also intertwined with the fact that successive regimes in Ethiopia advanced external agendas.
Thus, although we have no wish or business to interfere in sovereign matters of others, the situation in Ethiopia is of direct relevance to us due to the damage that befalls us through no fault of our own.
The dangers posed by ethnic polarization that had become institutionalized in Ethiopia over the past 20/30 years cannot be downplayed. We were well aware of the simmering problem from the outset. I remember, we participated at the Conference in Addis Ababa in 1992. Things were developing contrary to the proposals and advice that we were providing in good faith. Each group was advancing its own ideas and wishes under various pretexts to justify the misguided policy of ethnic fragmentation.
I saw the Ethiopian draft constitution in 1994 before anybody else. I was asked to give my comments on the draft. I was convinced that a constitution that polarizes people along ethnic lines under the pretext of self-determination will not serve the interests of the Ethiopian people. That was the envisaged road-map and they rejected our advice.
The “Federal Democratic Constitution” was subsequently adopted. The end result was polarization of the Ethiopian people along ethnic lines. This should have been avoided from the outset.
The conspiracy against Eritrea emanated from this stance. There was no reason for the border conflict. It was only an ill intended philosophy to divide and rule the country. We were not there when the border was demarcated, we inherited it. There was no reason for conflict.
The principal cause was the agenda of the bankrupt clique that was at the helm of power in Ethiopia. “Elections” were conducted in Ethiopia every five years. These were invariably endorsed and had the blessing of external forces and special interest groups.
The border conflict was unleashed at the behest of external powers. We know in detail how the border war was initiated and conducted. It was not carried out through the internal capacity of Ethiopia alone. We cannot claim that it encompassed the entire Ethiopian people. It was, in essence, the agenda of and instigated by a bankrupt clique.
I am dwelling on this dimension of the border war in order to stress that it was not our choice; that it was not of our making. And its relevance to the current reality is evident. The dangerous political trends that could have been avoided then must be fully appraised to prevent another folly today. In a nutshell, the narrow politics of ethnic polarization – irrespective of seemingly plausible rationalizations of the rights of nationalities etc. – will ultimately foment discord among the various constituents to advance narrow interests to the detriment of larger objective of nation building.
The political dynamics in Ethiopia in the last year and half is characterized by two opposed trends or options: The first category wishes to preserve or even narrow further the politics of ethnic polarization (this is often taunted as more appropriate and democratic); the second choice spearheaded by Dr. Abiy and others is forward looking and wishes to bring change as a panacea to the problems of the past.
We can also look at the neighborhood and draw lessons from what the events that are unfolding in Iraq, Somalia, Sudan etc, with all their specific peculiarities.
And it is not about passing quick judgement or interfering in the sovereign affairs of our neighbours. As I underlined above, political developments in Ethiopia will affect Eritrea. So we need to closely monitor developments and make our views known to avoid damages later. It is with this perspective that we should strive to make modest contributions.
We will of course continue to strengthen our relations and our common objective with those who are promoting the positive trends in Ethiopia. This has nothing to do with personalities. This is the duty and responsibility of both political forces and peoples to stem emergence of warlords and kleptocrats that will plunge the country in a quagmire. The ultimate objective is to ensure enduring peace and stability in Ethiopia. On our part we are ready to make our modest contribution.
The U.S. says Ethiopia must, in the shortest possible time, sign a deal with Egypt and Sudan about a giant dam it is building on the River Nile. Ethiopia refused to do so. What’s next?
“The United States reaffirms its commitment to remain engaged with the three countries until they sign the final agreement” – US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The United States will continue to work with Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan until they sign an accord on a giant Blue Nile hydropower dam, after failing to secure signatures from the three countries this week, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday.
The three countries had expected to sign an agreement in Washington this week on the filling and operation of the $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), but Ethiopia skipped the meeting and only Egypt has initialed the deal thus far.
In a statement released late Friday, Mnuchin said he held separate bilateral talks with key ministers from Egypt and Sudan over the past two days after Ethiopia asked for a delay in what was to be the final round of talks.
It was not immediately clear whether further talks would be scheduled.
Mnuchin said, he looked forward to Ethiopia concluding its internal consultations to allow a signing of the deal “at the earliest possible time”, and stressed that final testing and filling of the dam “should not take place without an agreement.”
“The United States reaffirms its commitment to remain engaged with the three countries until they sign the final agreement,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Ethiopia is building the dam near its border with Sudan on the Blue Nile, which flows into the Nile river – the main water source for Egypt’s population of 100 million.
At last month’s talks in Washington, the nations agreed on a schedule for staged filling of the dam and mitigation mechanisms during dry periods and drought, but said they still needed to finalize details on safety and how to resolve any disputes.
Mnuchin said, the agreement hammered out over the past four months with input from the countries and the World Bank “addresses all issues in a balanced and equitable manner.”
Egypt was ready to sign the agreement and had initialed it, but Ethiopia continued its national consultations, Mnuchin said.
Downstream populations in Sudan and Egypt remained concerned about unfinished work on the safe operation of the dam, he said.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Cairo looked forward to Sudan and Ethiopia following its lead in accepting the agreement and signing it soon.
“It is a fair and balanced agreement that achieves the common interests of the three countries,” Egypt said. It said it “regrets Ethiopia’s unjustified absence from this meeting at this crucial stage of the negotiations.”
President Isaias’ latest interview, once again, stirred TPLF’s establishment as he reiterates his solidarity toward ‘stable, united Ethiopia’
Consistently consistent. The Eritrean people and gov’t harbored neither animosity nor wish instability and disintegration to fall upon Ethiopia. The TPLF are still resentful to this principled stance as it has been the only obstacle to fulfill their agenda of creating an independent “Tigray Republic” by seceding from Ethiopia.
BY TESFAY ARADOM (PhD)
President Isaias Afwerki’s interview with ERI-TV on February, 2020 stirred huge repercussions because his historically consistent resolve to promote social harmony among Ethiopians and political integrity of Ethiopia.
Such a stance has been anathema to the TPLF leadership mainly because it perceives it as a reason for its unfulfilled objective of “Greater Tigray”. For more than two decades, the kleptocratic TPLF leadership dominated the political landscape in Ethiopia through a Federal arrangement, a euphemism for a “divide and rule policy”.
Such a political structure enabled it to monopolize political power and deplete the country’s economic and financial resources. Inevitably, the massive resentment among the population due to the discriminatory and oppressive political and economic conditions, gradually morphed into a sustained popular uprising. In keeping with its tyrannical propensity, the narrow clique continued to take draconian measures including cold-blooded killings, torture and massive imprisonment.
Additionally, with the tacit approval of the West, the commitment of crimes against humanity went on unabated for more than two decades. The narrow TPLF clique was also actively engaged in concocting nefarious pretexts to diplomatically isolate Eritrea and drive a wedge between its people and the government. The unprovoked military invasion in May of 1998 was the culmination of the clique’s aggressive predisposition.
In collusion with other governments in the region, it created a contrived border conflict with Djibouti and left no stone unturned to forge regional alliances such as the Sana Forum and IGAD to further impose a diplomatic isolation on Eritrea. Successive US governments and European nations became complicit in this conspiratorial activity by abusing their respective influences at the UN. The imposition of the illegal and unfair sanctions in 2009 and 2011 through the UNSC and ludicrous accusations of human rights violations through the HRC are reprehensible actions taken by these international organizations.
To further enable the corrupt dictatorial regime, they touted it as a regional anchor, provided it with unfettered diplomatic cover and squandered massive economic support. Such myopic actions, aimed at protecting their economic and diplomatic interests in the region, emboldened the regime to invade neighboring nations and continually threaten Eritrea with regime change.
"Our position is not ambivalent. We strongly believe that the policy of institutionalized ethnicity is toxic & obsolete. In our view, eradication of this malaise will serve the best interests of Ethiopia. Furthermore, Eritrea & the whole region will benefit from this."
As the economic and political conditions in Ethiopia deteriorated, massive social upheavals particularly among the youth ensued and the country was on the verge of experiencing a full-blown social implosion. A catastrophic situation was averted mainly due to Prime Minister Abiy’s contrition with regard to domestic problems and a bold decision in so far as the Eritrea Ethiopia Border Commission’s “final and binding” decision was concerned.
As a result, the kleptocratic clique was rendered totally inconsequential in the new political discourse in Ethiopia. Important contributing factors to the collapse of the TPLF regime were the admirable patience and display of visionary political and diplomatic policy by the Eritrean Government, despite TPLF’s continual military provocations and diplomatic intrigues.
Stripped of its domestic political power and diplomatic influence in the international arena, the clique, in keeping with its past behavior, began devising and financing clandestine activities aimed at undermining the fledgling peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia and scuttle the unprecedented reconciliation effort between the two peoples.
In spite of the protracted oppression and atrocities that the Eritrean people suffered at the hands of successive Ethiopians governments, for the EPLF, the government of Eritrea, and the Eritrean people magnanimity has been a virtue consistently displayed both towards Ethiopia and its people as well as the international community.
Interview with President Isaias Afwerki: Part III-Regional Issues "Inevitable consequence of politicized ethnicity is fragmentation does not stop at large building blocs. It cascades down to clan & sub-clan levels even within 'unitary' ethnic constituency"https://t.co/O4lHyQPzJkpic.twitter.com/Yeel7Jkyeq
The Eritrean people never harbored any animosity towards the people of Ethiopia and neither did they ever wish instability and disintegration to fall upon their country. Historical evidence abounds to illustrate this point.
Since it is beyond the scope of this paper to delve deeply into this issue, suffice to mention EPLF’s policy toward Ethiopian POWs and the humane treatment that the defeated and demoralized Ethiopian soldiers received from the Eritrean civilian population as they tried to frantically escape west to the Sudan and south to Ethiopia.
Additionally, the support that the EPLF and currently the government have been providing to the Ethiopian opposition groups have been clearly predicated upon maintaining the territorial integrity of the country and advancing social harmony among its people.
However, the fact that, for generations, the people of Eritrea have always been keenly tuned to their collective historical experience should be underscored. The continual sweet talk from Mekelle, the capital of Tigray region of Ethiopia, will never hoodwink the people of Eritrea. Its repeated failed attempts to orchestrate regime change, the illegal expulsion of 70,000 innocent Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean descent, the robbery of their financial and material resources, the sadistic atrocities committed against innocent civilians and persistent frantic efforts to bring about international diplomatic isolation on Eritrea will remain permanently etched in their individual and collective memories.
So, this is the historical context within which the recent diatribes in response to PIA’s principled and consistent message, should be interpreted. One hopes that the clarion call from the Honorable President will be heeded to avert a social implosion in Ethiopia and the inevitable dire consequences in the region.
Finally, the hypocritical statements emanating from Mekelle, including the preposterous call for the Eritrean Defense Units to defect to Tigray and the duplicitous claim that Tigray is a safe haven for Eritreans, are nothing else but a clear indication of the paranoia and fatalism that pervade among the TPLF leadership.
What exactly President Isaias has said in his recent interview to upset a section of the Oromo people, including scholars and professionals? Are they lost in translation?
Mr. Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea February 28, 2020
Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned Oromo scholars and professionals, write this letter to you to express our disappointment in your recent position on events in Oromia and Ethiopia as expressed during your February 08, 2020 interview on Eritrean Television. These views reveal perverse readiness to intervene in the internal matters of our country and are hostile towards popular demands to democratize Ethiopia.
Eritrea’s relationship with the Oromo has been mostly positive, peaceful, and complementary. Oromos and Eritreans have shared similar history and politics. Until Eritrea’s independence in 1991, the people of both nations had suffered under successive repressive regimes that ruled Ethiopia and fought on the same side to dismantle the oppressive system. Oromia was home to hundreds of thousands of Eritreans during the reigns of Haile Selassie and Mengistu Hailemariam. Just as many Oromos, if not more, have established unbreakable social ties with Eritreans. Many of the signatories to this letter have Eritrean friends and colleagues, including members of your cabinet.
Onesimos Nesib, a native of Oromia who translated the Christian Bible into the Oromo language, a saint of the American Lutheran Book of Worship, and known to be the pioneer of modern Oromo literature was freed from slavery to attend the Imkullu Swedish Evangelical Mission near Massawa, Eritrea.
Prof. Asmerom Legesse, an Eritrean, has made significant scholarly contributions to the knowledge of the Oromo Gada system as an indigenous socioeconomic and political institution.
Tesfaye GebreAb, an Eritrean writer who was born and raised in Oromia, is loved and admired for his penetrating works on the plight of the Oromo people. His book, YeBurqa Zimita, is a best seller narrating Oromo traditions and political deprivations.
It is these social and individual connections that are once again at stake because of your imprudent and uncalled for stance, as expressed in your recent interview, on a matter that is non-negotiable to the Oromo people. These actions and the social media posts by a prominent member of your cabinet have indeed offended our people.
Eritrea doesn’t object ‘Federalism’ per se.
We are mindful of the rough patches in our longstanding relationship, moments that offer opportunities to reflect upon. In 1991 when Oromia fell under the control of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Eritrea sided with the TPLF attacking Oromo freedom fighters across the country. It was a sad and bitter moment for Oromos, especially given the fact that much was expected from Eritrea that just acquired its freedom from the same oppressive empire after decades of bloody struggle.
Ironically, within just few years, the TPLF also betrayed Eritrea, provoking the infamous war of 1998 in which about 70,000 innocent lives perished from both sides. Eritrea’s political stand of 1991 cost Eritrea tens of thousands of lives, and a portion of Eritrea’s land, which is still occupied by Ethiopia.
For Oromos, Eritrea’s historic mistake of 1991 cemented 27 years of untold misery under TPLF brutal rule. Eritrea later seemed to have admitted its wrongdoing and supported the Oromo struggle against the TPLF regime. Although some may think that the support was too little too late, it was our hope that the renewed understanding would create a lasting peace between Eritrea and the people of Oromia as well as Ethiopia.
In this sense, the support carried great hope with a profound meaning. This indeed is exactly why your recent interview has become quite shocking to many Oromos, once again violating our tenacity of hope.
President Isaias,
Your interview has three points that vividly demonstrate your government’s hostility towards our people:
You dismissed the need for free and fair elections in Ethiopia,
You expressed that ethnic Federalism cannot continue in Ethiopia,
You indicated your government’s apparent readiness to intervene in matters internal to Ethiopia, for a reason that can only be interpreted as a desire to squash popular resistance.
Mr. President,
It should be evident to you and your government that a democratic multinational federation is the minimum bond that permits the existence of Ethiopia as a country, from which your young country stands to gain. Your disregard of this fact becomes a direct expression of a desire for the disintegration of the country. Your open expression of apparent readiness for military intervention is an ostensible declaration of war to once again buttress dictatorship in Ethiopia; a troublesome diplomacy to say the least.
Eritrea is committed to partner with actors who played a major role in bringing change to Ethiopia.
We worry that a destabilized Ethiopia becomes prone to vindictive intervention in internal matters of Eritrea at another time, planting endless cycle of conflicts. Your hostile policy towards Oromia, combined with unhealthy relations with the regional government of Tigray, plants a dangerous seed that could one day grow into a vicious conflict that could engulf the entire region.
Your objection to federalism in Ethiopia also sounds hypocritical, given the fact that as a leader of the Eritrean liberation war, you refused to federate with Ethiopia and led your country’s bloody fight for independence. Such lack of principled stance on a matter pertaining to human freedom and dignity is tantamount to forfeiting the very ideals that validated Eritrea’s independence.
It is hard to imagine that there is a reasonable Eritrean who doesn’t agree with us, that a federated and democratic Ethiopia guarantees peace and stability with Eritrea. After all, it is the Oromo youth, the Qeerroo/Qarree that paid the ultimate sacrifice to bring about the changes that PM Abiy uses to create noble diplomacy with Eritrea.
On this ground, it remains puzzling why your government started promoting hostile policy against our people at a time when Oromo national demand has crystalized as a formidable political force in the country. It defies any logic that when most Ethiopians have encapsulated their dream for Ethiopia’s unity as a component of their rights and collective identity, i.e., federalism, you appear to stand on the contrary. It behooves your government to reveal any conceivable reason why young Eritreans should march to Ethiopia to die or kill for a matter that they can neither stop nor change, to leave another historic scar that may one day backfire precipitously.
Oromo people shouldn’t miss this historic opportunity.
Mr. President,
In closing, we would like to stress the need to nurture relations between our peoples, value opportunities that have arisen to build a lasting peace in the region and learn from history not to repeat costly mistakes of the past. To this end, we call upon you and your government to:
Respect the democratic path that the peoples of Ethiopia have embarked on,
Refrain from blatant acts of intervention that will ultimately harm the people on both sides of the border; and,
Align, should you wish, your political measures to be on the side of the people to foster lasting peace and prosperity for our peoples.
Respectfully,
Signatories (Listed in alphabetical order) – [Contact email: Gareemou@gmail.com]
“Once considered to be among Africa’s most isolated countries, Eritrea’s evolving relationship with regional cooperation could have major implications for stability in the Horn of Africa.”
President Isaias proposes a regional bloc to balance the rising influence of Gulf states on the Red Sea region, notes Professor Harry Verhoeven, convenor of the Oxford University China-Africa Network.
When Eritrea’s president last month hosted the leaders of Ethiopia and Somalia to discuss “regional cooperation,” that initiative drew few global headlines. Still, Eritrea’s move should be noted by policymakers and others working for stability in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.
For years, President Isaias Afwerki’s disdain for multilateral forums such as the African Union, and his strained relations with many governments in the region, have contributed to caricatures of Eritrea as the “North Korea of Africa.”
But his invitation for two neighbors to discuss a new regional bloc reflects an important factor in Eritrea’s foreign policy: its efforts to preserve its independence in a fast-evolving geopolitical environment.
Effectively, Isaias’ proposal is a fine-tuning of Eritrea’s alignments amid the growing influence of Arab Gulf states in Africa and consistent with long-standing efforts to preserve its independence, notes Professor Harry Verhoeven, convenor of the Oxford University China-Africa Network.
Q : Eritrea evolved a reputation as perhaps Africa’s most isolated state. Hasn’t it historically been hostile to regional integration?
Yes and no. Eritrea’s relationship with the idea of regional cooperation has been complex ever since the country gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 following a 30-year war. That same year, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki stunned his African peers when, at a summit of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), he publicly repeated criticisms he had formulated as one of Africa’s most formidable guerrilla commanders: the OAU had utterly failed by closing its eyes to the terror inflicted by Ethiopia’s Soviet-backed military dictatorship (the Derg) and he accused his peers of clinging to power while failing to take any meaningful action to address poverty in Africa.
From that starting point, Eritrea never invested significant resources in continent-wide diplomacy. When the African Union (AU) imposed sanctions on Eritrea in 2009 for supporting al-Shabab extremists in Somalia and seeking to overthrow the Somali government, Eritrea suspended its participation in the organization and denounced the AU as a lapdog of U.S. imperialism and a mechanism for the hegemonic aspirations of Ethiopia, its main rival.
In addition, Eritrea has twice withdrawn from the East African regional bloc—the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Still, Eritrea is not by definition opposed to regional cooperation. In the 1990s, Isaias and his fighters formed the vanguard of the wave of leftist African liberation movements that captured power from the Red Sea to the Cape between 1991 and 1997.
Together with “comrade-leaders” in Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, Isaias dreamed of a “Greater Horn of Africa” of like-minded regimes who could offer an alternative to the much-criticized OAU and jointly develop regional investment opportunities to cement ideological solidarity.
The government in Asmara sent Eritrean troops, spies and diplomats to support wars against the military-Islamist regime in Sudan and the dictatorship of Mobutu Seso Seko in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire). These were concrete sacrifices in blood and treasure made by a fragile, small and newly independent Eritrea to further its preferred form of regional integration.
Q : What might Isaias hope to achieve with this new initiative?
Isaias’ proposal to deepen integration between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia (the so-called “Cushitic Alliance”) is a continuation of efforts he championed in the 1990s to institutionally anchor alliances between governments with a similar political outlook. Just like in the era of the “Greater Horn,” Asmara appears to be proposing new regional norms and understandings of peace and security as well as infrastructure ties to forge a web of partnerships among the participating states.
This said, the disappointments of the past have not been forgotten—most particularly not since the 1998-2000 “war of brothers” with Ethiopia, which ended the dream of the “Greater Horn.” Eritrean diplomacy, especially since that conflict, has been focused on creating space to maneuver and chart a foreign policy independent of Ethiopian hegemony.
For almost 20 years, Isaias sought to undermine the Ethiopian government by supporting its domestic opposition as well as its adversaries in Somalia—policies that contributed to the imposition of international sanctions.
Eritrea also aligned itself with Ethiopia’s rival, Egypt, and by establishing partnerships with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in which Isaias offered security cooperation—notably the use of Eritrea’s Red Sea port of Assab for operations in the Yemen war—in exchange for economic support against Ethiopian pressures. While this diplomatic choreography failed to stop Ethiopia’s regional ascendancy, it achieved the chief objective of keeping Isaias’ government in power.
Last month’s summit signals a change in the pattern of Isaias’ maneuvering, caused by recent geopolitical shifts. The Gulf states’ projection of power in the Horn of Africa and the European refugee crisis have provided Isaias with diplomatic and financial leverage to move from isolation to regional influence.
In addition, the ascension of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed side-lined Isaias’ Ethiopian nemesis, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front [TPLF]. That made it possible for Isaias to cooperate with Abiy in quickly negotiating an end to their countries’ “frozen” war.
While that peace accord was a domestic popular triumph for both leaders, the rapprochement has stalled and the hoped-for “peace dividends”—economic and democratic—have been disappointing. The rise of the younger Abiy in Addis Ababa has allowed Isaias to pose as the region’s elder statesman and—in last month’s summit conference—to proffer his own idea for cooperation in the Horn of Africa; Isaias’ proposal will in fact undercut Ethiopia’s historic ambitions to once again dominate efforts toward greater regional integration.
Q : Other players are moving to establish regional organizations in the Red Sea area, as Saudi Arabia just did in January. What are the implications of the Eritrean initiative in light of those efforts?
Recent efforts to establish new regional bodies, such as the Council of the Arab and African States of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, or to reinvigorate IGAD or the AU in the Horn of Africa, are ambivalent developments from Eritrea’s perspective. Its priority remains the preservation of its flexibility to shift policies and alignments as necessary to defend its independence, squeezed as it is among larger neighbors.
Sudan, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia have all had their own designs for the region, which have rarely accounted for Eritrean interests. As seen from Asmara, multilateral organizations under the control of actors with hegemonic ambitions are therefore potentially dangerous and better subverted or, if need be, boycotted altogether.
Eritrea joined the Red Sea Council at Riyadh’s unrelenting insistence but likely has no intention of letting the body circumscribe its sovereignty. Membership served the useful purpose of confirming the Saudi-Eritrea relationship and of reminding Ethiopia (which, at the insistence of Egypt, was not invited to join the council) that, despite the outward expressions of fraternity between Abiy and Isaias, Eritrea has strategic options that do not require Ethiopia’s consent.
Similarly, Isaias’ move toward a new grouping with Ethiopia and Somalia is useful to remind old foes in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti and Sudan) and the Gulf states that Eritrea has alternative friends and will not accept a role as regional proxy for Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
The growing projection of the Gulf states’ power in the Horn helped Isaias to break out of his isolation. But from the Eritrean perspective, that projection is a trend that requires careful management, rather than further encouragement, and that needs to be assessed in terms of its implications for Eritrea’s autonomy going forward.
———- Dr. Harry Verhoeven is the convenor of the Oxford University China-Africa Network.
In the true sense of the word, Tigray is in a state of war and are likely to go to war any time so long as the TPLF continues to undermine the Federal government and wrongly imputed the Ethiopian people’s silence to weakness and fear.
BY SENNAY ZEMEN
There is no debate on the fact that ethnic politics, which still remains a political minefield in Ethiopia, has ‘flourished’ and reached an all time high during the TPLF era. The partition of the country into ethno-linguistic federal system in a highly institutionalized way is, therefore, the thin end of the wedge; that is, the inconspicuous beginning of the present-day political chaos in Ethiopia.
Despite the fact that the TPLF was ‘chucked out’ of its political seat in humiliation and its political shibboleth or doctrine was thrown away by Ethiopian people, it tried to lift above its weight and make a comeback to power through the strategy of destabilization.
To its dismay, the strategy, which was destined for failure, produced barren results thanks to the Ethiopian people, including religious and community leaders, traditional clan elders, scholars and others, who made great efforts to put out the ethnic flames fanned by the TPLF. Despite this fact, it will never abandon the strategy until it meets a sticky end.
After realizing the fact that there is no hope of coming to power through the destabilization strategy or winning the upcoming 6th general election 2020 in August, the TPLF set out to achieve its long-awaited dream, the Republic, under the pretext of marking the 45th anniversary of the TPLF, yekatit 11 (February, 19). To make good use of the anniversary celebration, it made a lot of preparations with abundant financial resources.
The kitschy celebrations, the first ever of its kind in Tigray, were started almost three months earlier, exactly when the TPLF abjured or ended officially its allegiance to the EPRDF. Having said this, it is not hard to fathom out the motives behind the fanfare of yekatit 11; that is, to pave the ground for its fanciful dream,
#TIGEXIT, which is utterly quixotic.
The old guards of the TPLF have blockaded their minds behind walls of nationalistic egoism and vainglory and become truculent following their removal from power. They schemed to destabilize Ethiopia right from the onset in order to gain an upper hand in the country’s political system. After failing to achieve its desired goals through the strategy, it took the anniversary as a golden opportunity for clearing the way for Plan B. To achieve this end, the TPLF media blew the importance of the commemoration out of proportion for almost three months, during which time it was spreading cheap and hostile propaganda to brainwash the people into backing its
agenda and restore their confidence.
To this effect, it played up history of TPLF armed struggle, sacrifices made by the people, victories won in different battles and the likes. In coordination with this, the TPLF TV was also airing war films, interviews with veteran fighters, battle stories, revolutionary songs and the likes to push ahead with its plan.
In addition to media campaign, the TPLF staged much vaunted mass rallies throughout Tigray, in a war-like mood, to gain support from credulous people for its political agenda. Blinded by hubris, the leaders and their cadres made invective speeches and voiced hateful slogans against the reformist forces on highly acrimonious terms and shameless audacity.
Since chucked out of power in humiliation, the TPLF continues to speak with the devil’s tongue. They don’t say what they mean and mean what they don’t say.
During the events, the TPLF vowed to do everything possible in its power to cloud the people from realizing the truth behind their deceptive goals with bombastic words. The speeches, slogans and revolutionary songs were belligerent in nature and resonated with its agenda.
In short, the mendacious propaganda and hostile activities against the reformist forces have become a political flavor of the day and, indeed, flaunting its arrogance and iron pride.
The TPLF mounted a coordinated campaign of media and mass rally to spread poisonous propaganda and intoxicate the people with deep ethnic hatred/enmity to arouse ethnic feelings and imbue them with narrow nationalistic tendency with cheap lies and innuendos. What is more, it was inciting sentiments of war of the people for an inevitable future development. The event was also a good opportunity for the TPLF to agitate its people against the Prosperity Party (PP) and stir up hatred against them as well as other Ethiopians by virulent hate speech tainted with wrongs of the past history.
During the demonstrations, the TPLF was scoffing at the PP programs and visions with contempt and announced officially that it will never commit to accepting the government-led by the PP in Ethiopia now or in the future.
The mantra at the rallies were many but to name just a few:
‘only the TPLF political program is ideal for Ethiopians; Tigray will not be governed by any political line other than that of the TPLF political belief; we fought against the Dergue and now we are fighting against the Dergue [Prosperity Party]; the people of Tigray fought alone, paid heavy prices to defeat the Dergue; the sacrifice of the people liberated the oppressed ethnic groups from feudal and military rulers; our enemies are envious of our peace and economic development; we are encircled by enemies who are trying to invade Tigray and subjugate its people; frustrate the conspiracy hatched against Tigray and its people and defend it from the reformist forces and Eritrea at all costs; and, follow the footsteps and political line of the Tigray martyrs.’
All these apocryphal tales and empty platitudes can be boiled down to obfuscate the ongoing reform process by deceptive propaganda and sunder Tigray from Ethiopia, which are nothing other than mocking the intelligence of the people.
The TPLF was blowing its own trumpet unashamedly in a way best calculated to satisfy its own vanity. During the mass rallies, it boasted about its military might that toppled the Dergue. It also vaunted its ‘military strength’ by parading its Special Force and mobilizing its militias in a farcical show of force. The crowds imitated war whoops and war dances to scare off the reformist forces and Ethiopians. They were chanting anti-reformist slogans while carrying guns to bluff their ‘enemies.’ They were also gloating over the victory that being won during their armed struggle just to threaten Ethiopians that they would face similar fate in case they tried to
attack Tigray.
They were trying to make the people believe that the same victory would be repeated easily in the fight against their enemies, ignoring the fact that one cannot step into the same river twice. This is to mean that the situation that favored the TPLF to come to power in 1991 has completely changed.
Unlike a fish that wants to live in calm waters, the TPLF wants to live in troubled waters. In other words, the TPLF is determined to make waves in the country as it has been part of its strategy since 2018. It is true that the hostile propaganda and the increasingly aggressive tone of the political discourse of the TPLF leadership has pushed the country into an unknown future and, as a result, Ethiopia is running the risk of going to war more than ever.
TPLF is desperately trying to make its own political crisis an Armageddon between the people of Tigray and the rest of Ethiopians. The crises has nothing to do with the people of Tigray. It has everything to do with the corrupt, criminal political leadership of the TPLF.
“We will fight to the end to defeat our enemies” has become a war cry while are bragging that there is no force on
earth that can stop the TPLF from achieving its goals. Keeping this in mind, Ethiopia stands on the edge of an abyss and unfortunately the prospect for a quick end to the country’s political problem seems bleak. It should be noted that since its removal from power, it has waged a war of nerves on Ethiopian people and especially on reformist forces; now it is to be war in earnest and, as such, belligerent noises are coming out of the TPLF.
In the true sense of the word, Tigray is in a state of war and there is likely to be a war in the country any time soon. The TPLF has tacitly declared war against Ethiopians, forcing them to fight against their will. It has been beating war drums, militarizing its society, displaying military parade, provocative speech, bluffing and alluding that the risk of war is on the horizon. Besides, the vituperative and pugnacious speeches and slogans voiced at the rallies against the reformist forces have become, to borrow a modern phrase, the order of the day.
Indeed, all the military show of force have brought Tigray to war footing and adumbrated its long-held ambition to leave or break away from Ethiopia. But the fact remains that, the TPLF is making a laughingstock of itself by holding the belief that everything would go smoothly according to its wishes.
To further flaunt its ‘opulence’, the TPLF allocated hundreds of millions of birr to organize the grandiose commemoration of yekatit 11. The TPLF prodigal, lavishing the wealth of people on big and lavish celebrations and forums while many of its people are still living in penury, lacking clean water and in many rural areas of Tigray, children are learning under trees or in makeshift schools, is driven by the fact that only through huge economic waste or extravagance can its political goal be achieved.
Others argue that it is dispensing the resources wastefully because the money is mercilessly snatched from the mouths of the poor Ethiopian people. As a result, the lavish expenditure or reckless spending for evil purposes reminds me of an English saying which goes like this: Who cares about the dead fish, except the fisherman.
By no stretch of imagination can one understand why the TPLF organized opening and closing ceremonies for Tigray residents in Addis Abeba. Though it was utterly senseless, they were intentionally held at the heartland of the PP only to show their teeth in front of the PP and their supporters so as to provoke them for confrontation, if nothing else. The celebrations in Addis were overshadowed by chauvinistic mood in its highest form intended to intimidate Ethiopians.
Street carnival in Mekelle. Who will be intimidate by a coward display such as this?
They were insulting the reformist forces and sloganeering emotionally and expressing their opposition and deep hatred to the PP in an uncivilized manner and contemptuous attitude. For sure, they were expecting similar response from Ethiopians. But to no avail. The TPLF wrongly imputed the Ethiopian silence to weakness and fear. In fact, Ethiopians should deserve much appreciation for bearing the calumny languages that the top TPLF representatives have been repeatedly heaping upon the Prime Minister, the PP and their supporters.
The TPLF media and mass rallies staged in Tigray were deliberately gushing eulogies for the TPLF leadership and cultivating adulation for the role they played in defeating the Dergue. Besides, they were trying hard to resonate the names of the executive committee of the TPLF and others in the hearts of every Tigriyans. For example, a big photo of the top leadership was posted on the wall aimed to inspire or establish Enver Hoxha-style cult of personality around them. This kind of political campaign is indeed non-existent in our modern times.
However, when it comes to the TPLF, it might be stemmed from their medieval mindset or are still living
in the past. In addition, freewheeling speeches being delivered by the TPLF leadership, without doubt, typify, if you’ll pardon the expression, their deep-rooted feeling of inferiority. This is to say that during the rallies, one of the top political leaders of the TPLF, Aboy Sebhat Nega with venomous tongue said:
“They [Ethiopians] call you [Tigriyans] stinking beggars; while they give you money or alms, they say “how disgusting or loathing these people are!!”
This indecent, noxious and irresponsible speech from Sebhat was aimed at intentionally stirring up deep hatred against other Ethiopians, was nothing but an affront to the reputation of the Tigray people. The celebration continued unabated for almost three months with so many bells and whistles across Tigray and in Addis Abeba until it finally came to its closure with a great show of pomp and circumstance in stadium of Mekelle on 19 February, 2020 or yekatit 11, 2012.
The TPLF invited the so-called Federalist groups to the ceremony to mislead the credulous people that not
only the TPLF but also other parties are fighting against the PP together with it. During the closing of the anniversary, Dr. Debretsion as per usual made a billingsgate speech in front of 100,000 people and revealed his avaricious ambition without shame in few words.
“Tigray has only two options: to declare an independent Tigray or remove the Prosperity Party by force.”
When he said that “the choice of an independent state is at your hands,” pandemonium reigned in the stadium. In addition, since the TPLF is considering an attack on Eritrea, he called on Eritrean armed forces, to undermine Eritrea’s defense capacity, to escape Eritrea and come to Tigray for a better life. Not only this. The TPLF has been soft-soaping Eritreans to stand along it, which is nothing less than a declaration of war against Eritrea. Indeed, the hawkish politicians are headache for Ethiopian and Eritrean people.
To recap, the TPLF has been flying in the face of the interests of Tigray and Ethiopian people and organized the most ever superfluous celebration so far held in Tigray. The scurrilous speech, reproaching languages, bluffing acts of aggression, provocative activities in words and actions were nothing less than a political hullabaloo. What is more, the iniquitous activities of the TPLF also failed to make a dent in the PP’s commitment to its vision and its supporters’ zeal to achieve the desired goals.
Putting it briefly, the algorithms being used by TPLF to win over the people of Tigray and chill the PP’s and Ethiopians to the marrow, or to bluff them, have failed to produce tangible results nor will they make it in the future.
As the dream of usurping power by illegal (destabilization strategy) or legal means (election) seems remote and the national election is a few months away, the TPLF together with its allies are bend on making a life and death struggle to sabotage the election. It is true that the TPLF will never race for the general election for obvious reasons: First, the election will be conducted ‘under the shadow’ of the ruling party, the avowed enemy of the TPLF. Second, the TPLF knows very well that other than facing humiliation, it will never win the election nor capture enough seats in the government. Third, if it competes in the election, it will legally be abide by the election results. Finally, there is no need to do so as the TPLF has already declared a de facto government in Tigray in the teeth of the Ethiopian constitution.
In spite of the fact that the TPLF is on its death bed, it will not rest from making destructive malignancy together with its allies before and after the election and standing against the wishes of the Ethiopian people until it faces its nemesis.
Finally, the ingrained chauvinism has blinded the TPLF elites from cottoning the facts on the ground and it is unlikely that they will rupture with it. However, the people of Tigray including scholars, religious leaders and others will never be fooled by its political chicanery and entrapped by the #TIGEXIT device; otherwise, escape from it is difficult or next to impossible.
More importantly, the people of Tigray have lived together with other Ethiopians in thick and thin, especially with the Amharas, and, as such, their relationship dates back to more than 3000 years. Though Ethiopians have been sundered ethnically and linguistically by the TPLF, it is preposterous to think that the 45-year old TPLF would damage the strong relationship based on history, religion and culture among them that stretches back to time immemorial.
In conclusion, the TPLF’s supreme act of treachery will remain a blot on Ethiopian history escutcheon for many
generations to come.
Kenya supports Egypt’s “positive stance” on the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), President Uhuru Kenyatta told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in a phone call on Tuesday.
El-Sisi’s spokesman Bassam Rady said the president received a phone call from his Kenyan counterpart in which they exchanged developments on the dam after the collapse of Washington-mediated talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan last month.
Kenyatta described the Egyptian stance as one that comes out of “sincere political will,” according to the Egyptian statement.
Addis Ababa did not attend the last round of US-sponsored talks on the dam in February, citing the need for more time for further domestic consultations.
Only Egypt has initialed the resulting agreement, drafted by the US, on the filling and operation of the dam, with Ethiopia and Sudan both declining to sign it.
Over the past weeks, Egyptian officials have delivered messages on developments related to the GERD to Gulf and European partners, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, France and the European Union, in an attempt to seek support.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry began an African tour this week to garner further support on the matter.
Shoukry made stops in Burundi and South Africa and is set to visit Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Niger and Rwanda.
Ethiopia has confirmed 3 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the total number of those infected to 9; advises traveller from affected countries to 14-day self-quarantine.
Ethiopia has confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus, pushing the total number of those infected to nine. Ethiopian health minister Lia Tadesse in a statement said one of the cases is of an 85-year-old Ethiopian who entered the country on March 2.
The other two cases are of a 44-year-old Japanese national who had been in contact with a previous case with the third case being that of a 39-year-old Austrian who entered the country on March 15.
Dr. Liya Tadesse indicated that while two of the new patients were in stable condition, the 85 year old Ethiopian “has a severe form of illness and under close medical care.”
Ethiopian officials have so far taken 342 samples for COVID-19 testing.
“We are aggressively working on the contact tracing of the confirmed cases and continue to follow the contacts closely,” she said.
While Ethiopia is yet to close of its borders, officials have urged those travelling from countries with COVID-19 reported cases, to self-quarantine for 14 days upon entry.
Ethiopia doing what we should be doing. Coronavirus survives on metal for up to 5 days, and survives airborne for up to 90 minutes. This type of cleaning help stop the virus spreading. pic.twitter.com/1ND723dJvl
Thread: My consistently inconsistent Ethiopia — #COVID19 edition
The recent series of events in the country have shown how consistently in consistent the Ethiopian #COVID19 response has been. I’ll share a few highlights. Buckle up! 1/
— Maji Hailemariam, PhD (@MajiHailemariam) March 20, 2020
Let’s face it. IGAD more or less failed from becoming an effective, impartial and robust regional block. So how does the new tripartite alliance between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia affect IGAD and the interstate relations in the region?
The new regional cooperation between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia come amid a long history of distrust and unresolved boundary disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Djibouti and Eritrea, and Kenya and Somalia. It also comes on the heels of internationally praised rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
In July 2018, neighbours Eritrea and Ethiopia ended their two decades of no war, no peace over the 1998-2000 border dispute war. A few weeks later, Eritrea and Somalia agreed to resume diplomatic relations, ending over a decade of tensions. Since 2006, Somalia has accused Eritrea of supporting the Islamic militant rival group to the transitional government in Mogadishu while Ethiopian troops were supporting the latter.
In September 2018, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia held their first meeting to build comprehensive cooperation, resulting in a joint commitment to build closer political, economic, social and security ties and promote regional peace and security.
Many observers have wondered about the motivation behind this new alliance and its impact on interstate relations in the Horn of and East Africa, and what it means for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body.
What value would a new regional bloc of three states bring to the vast and diverse East African region? And might it add to the complexities and tensions in an already fraught region, or reduce them? What does it mean for interstate relations in the region and for the future of IGAD?
The cooperation could contribute to regional stability in two ways. First, it already represents an improvement of relations among previously conflicting countries. It could also help Eritrea and Ethiopia align their vision on how to resolve Somalia’s conflict. This is critical in the context of the proxy war between the two countries over Somalia’s internal politics.
Second, if managed well the new cooperation could be a vehicle for Eritrea’s return to the IGAD family. Eritrea has stayed away from IGAD since it suspended its participation in 2007, and when it unilaterally decided to return in 2011, IGAD member states did not agree to accept its return. Eritrean leaders have made it clear that it will only rejoin a reformed IGAD, and it is hoped that this new alliance could provide opportunities for this to happen.
So the new cooperation, by virtue of rapprochement among the three, opens the door for IGAD to constructively engage its member states on issues that concern the region. The fact that Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia initiated efforts to mediate the conflict between Djibouti and Eritrea also highlights the bloc’s potential to stabilize the region. The mediation effort hasn’t progressed in addressing the main issues of the border and Djibouti’s missing soldiers, but the normalized relations are nevertheless a positive step.
The new tripartite alliance does, however, pose risks for integration in the Horn of Africa. If the three states concerned aren’t cautious, their agreement could increase distrust between states in the region. Already the lack of communication and consultation with other IGAD heads of state (Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Djibouti, and South Sudan) on the details of the cooperation has raised suspicion that the three states aim to establish another bloc in the region that could rival IGAD.
Apart from general statements about the three countries’ regional security and economic development, their joint communiquéstated that the 2020 joint plan of action included combating common security threats and improving economic ties. Details about what this means and how these goals will be achieved aren’t clear.
IGAD has a robust security sector and counter-terrorism programs and one wonders what new approaches the alliance proposes. Clarifying this is essential. The communiqué mentions ‘terrorism, arms, and human trafficking and drug smuggling’ as examples of common security threats, although such threats in the region are covered by IGAD’s mandate. Sharing these details with IGAD and the rest of its member states builds transparency and trust among the region’s states, avoiding unnecessary speculation and suspicion.
It would also be useful to know why countries like Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda were excluded from the alliance, especially as this is happening amid dampened diplomatic relations and cross-border security tensions, and the maritime boundary dispute between Kenya and Somalia. Other thorny issues for the alliance are the unresolved boundary dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea and tensions between Somalia and Somaliland.
There could be domestic and regional interests for the three countries’ alliance. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is steering a delicate democratic transition at home while building on a firm foundation of a peace deal with Eritrea and seeking greater regional peace and stability. In Somalia, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is set up for a tightly contested election later in the year and needs the support of both Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Many analysts say Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki is behind the new alliance. Some believe the new bloc could be Eritrea’s strategy to establish an alternative intergovernmental arrangement in its move from ‘isolation to regional influence’.
Other regional analysts say the new alliance could be a response to IGAD’s failure to perform as an effective regional bloc. Although it has performed well in brokering regional peace, the continued tension between its members and lack of economic integration shows its underperformance.
This raises the question of how the new alliance will relate to and work with IGAD. The alliance must complement IGAD and avoid overlapping mandates. Competition between the blocs would make regional integration more difficult than it already is. Ethiopia and Somalia should ensure their continued commitment to IGAD and encourage Eritrea to be an active member. This would help minimize the risk of weakening regional cohesion among countries in the Horn.
IGAD should strengthen its ability to serve the diverse interests and get the buy-in of its member states, making it more relevant in the region. IGAD’s reform process, which aims to review and update its structure to ensure a rule-based, effective and predictable organization, must be fast-tracked.
IGAD is already working to become more effective in the region and internationally, starting with the new Executive Secretary’s 100-day plan focusing on reform. What the proposed reform entails is however still unclear.
More than any other time, the Horn requires a strong regionally coherent bloc that articulates and negotiates the interests of its over 282 million citizens. In the face of security threats such as political conflicts, terrorism, drought, and external powers’ interference, the new alliance will only be useful if it complements and strengthens IGAD, rather than creating disharmony with other member states. If well managed, the new alliance could make IGAD stronger.
Selam Tadesse Demissie, Research Officer, Horn Security Analysis Programme, ISS Addis Ababa
The three moments of truth that keep the TPLF Weyane thugs awake all night, every night are coming sooner than later.
BY TECLE ABRAHAM HABTEMICAEL
In TPLF Woyane’s Tigrai, fear, and uncertainty about the future are throwing all Tigra elites helter-skelter scrambling to extricate themselves from the Woyane quagmire. But none of them is dealing with
the critical issues facing the Tigrai region (ክልል). Rather, they are pinning their hope on fomenting crisis and
instability in Ethiopia and Eritrea while at the same time confusing the Tigraians (ተጋሩ).
We are familiar with the Gobbles style propaganda of the digital Woyanei like Tgrai House Media, Awramba, Ethiopian Review, Tigrai Online, etc. We are familiar too with the fake history and identity propagated by mediocre pseudo-intellectuals like Muluwork, Gebrekidan, etc.
We have heard the outright false analysis of desperados like the Tsadkans, Seyes, Sbhat, and Mesfun aimed at boosting their low morale. The recent inauguration of the ‘Tigrai independence party’ by none other than the idiosyncratic “nuclear boy” tells it all. Instead of trying to rectify the source of the quagmire, they are fabricating their own facts and making the situation more uncertain and dangerous for the Tigrai people.
The Woyanes are facing a stark choice and boils down into accepting the mandatory death of the great pipedream ‘Republic Tigrai’ project and live with its repercussion or stick with it and go down to the abyss.
To begin with, the Woyanes have not yet come to terms with their loss of power. But their biggest worry is yet to appear. In their bid to realize their dream of ‘Greater Tigria Republic’, the Woyanes have stolen and annexed land from their national and international neighbors. They stole Wolkait and Kobo from the Amhara, Afar, as well as from Eritrea.
Of course, internally, there is the issue of bad governance and the execution of free and fair elections in the coming critical election. The Woyanes are not keen to face reality and change their mindsets. Instead, they are pursuing the strategy of chaos as their only savior. They are scrambling helter-skelter using the digital media to confuse their populace and leading it to the abyss with a far greater consequence than the Tigrains ever seen.
In this piece, I share my observation on three nightmarish issues the Woyanes have no courage to deal with, without admitting their blunder.
1) The Wolkait and Kobo Issues
In the greater scheme of ‘Greater Tigrai’ project, these two lands were duly incorporated into Tgrai regional administration from the outset following Woyane’s ascension to power. The return of these so-called lost territories was, as it were, one of the causes of Woyanes taking arms. For three decades, the Woyanes have done everything to ensure these lands remain Tigrain.
In Wolkkait in particular, they have successfully changed the demography so much that the Wolkaits are now a minority. Any resistance has been duly repressed and the crises were only simmering underground until the anti-woyane resistance in Oromia and Amharas gained momentum, culminating in the demise of TPLF woyane.
As a matter of fact, the Colonel Zewdu incident was one of the critical moments in the people’s resistance that lead finally to the current reform in Ethiopia. Now the Wolkait and Kobo issues are one of the critical issues the Woyanes have to address to find a just solution to the demand of the people of these two lands.
As things stand now, the Woyanes are not keen on a just and acceptable solution that somehow meets the demand of these two peoples. As far as the Woyane is concerned, the people of these two lands are Tigrains and only the Amhara ‘chauvinists’ are making an issue of these lands. And this externalization of the legitimate demand of these people that makes the issue more dangerous.
According to the Woyanes, the Amharas, or mildly their elites, are in the first place responsible for the lost territories and the marginalization of the Tigrains in general and thereby the struggle lead by Woyane. And of course, the Amharas have no love lost to the Woyanes. For the Amharas, the Wolkait and Kobo issue has now become a noble cause to die for. Dr. Dagnew summed it up during his recent public lecture on the occasion of the Adwa victory day by saying “Wolkait is our Adwa“ for the Amharas.
The federal constitution has a clumsy provision for the resolution of such disputes, which the regional administration (ክልሎች) can manipulate its delivery. The Wolkait and Kobo people have pursued this avenue duly but to no avail. The Tgrai regional administration, true to its ‘Greater Tigrai’project systematically prevented and frustrated due process and to this day the issue is not recognized either by the regional assembly or the house federation.
The Federal government has constituted a council that would help to address these and other similar issues, but TPLF Woyane is adamantly against its existence and its work. In my view, the dispute will further deteriorate and may potentially degenerate into serious crises including armed confrontation.
In the final analysis, the Tigrains will bear the sufferings from the TPLF Woyane scourge. As it is well demonstrated during the road closure and disruption, the Tigains will lose dearly in economic as well as social activities.
2) Coming to Terms With the EEBC Decision
Another land issue that entails the reverse of the ‘Greater Tigrai’ project is the withdrawal of TPLF Woyanes administration and people (ተጋሩ) from sovereign Eritrean lands. To prevent such dreadful moment of truth, the Woyanes have been reneging on their legal obligation to implement the EEBC decision and handover the sovereign Eritrean territories under its occupation for 20+ years.
Imagine for 20 years. For that long was the normal relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia held hostage. Although their public announcement was that they need a dialogue about the physical demarcation, their actual strategy was to undermine the Eritrean government, hoping at best, for a regime change or at the minimum weaken and oblige it to their dialogue trap on their own terms.
The dream scenario was preventing the reverse of the ‘Greater Tigrai’ project by making some sort of land swap or trade-off, especially regarding Badme. That hope is now completely dashed.
The position of the Eritrean government has been all along consistent and wants to see the virtually demarcated border to be placed on the ground and thereby the hand over of its sovereign territories.
That is one of the provisions of the agreement signed between PM Abiy’s government and the Eritrean government. But the Woyane regional administration understandably is not enthusiastic about it and as it is currently in loggerhead with the federal government, any positive movement is not expected until after the coming elections.
But from what can be imputed from the statements of the Head of the regional administration and former Weyane officials, such as Siye, Mesfun, as well as their amateur intellectuals, they are pinning their hope on crisis instigation at best or forcing land swaps at minimum. But that is ‘never going to happen’ and the Ethiopian federal government has all the trump cards to play with, including budget allocation, to force the Woyanes to comply with its demand. Of course, the Woyanes may wish and pray that PM Abiy’s government not winning the necessary majority seats to form a government. But that would not change the obligation of any government in office regarding this matter.
The Woyane’s moment of truth will come sooner than later.
The TPLF Woyane knows they are trapped between a rock and a hard surface. For the Woyanes presiding the complete reversal of the ‘Greater Tigrai’ project is tantamount to admitting their strategic blunder. That is, of course, a humiliation in their eyes. That is why they see crises and possibly war as their best bet avoiding this dreadful choice altogether.
In their recent appearance in various Tigrai connected media outlets, Siye, Mesfun, Tsadkan, etc unashamedly raised the possibility of war between Tigrai and Eritrea without explaining the reason in the wake of well-progressing rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The reality is indeed different, but nevertheless it betrays their sick mind and bad intention. Ethiopia has agreed for the unconditional implementation of the EEBC decision and it will happen whether Woyane likes it or not.
3) The Lack of Democracy and the Coming General Elections
One of the internal critical moment of truth for the Woyanes is the coming general election. Consistent with the reforms undergoing in Ethiopia, one expects the TPLF Woyanes to allow a free and fair election. But that won’t happen. Actually this election can not come at the worst time for Woyane in which its survival is at stake.
Only by winning the regional and federal seats would be in a position to ensure its survival and maneuver its way to deal with the killing issues at his hand. To this effect, it will use all its organizational and propaganda machines at its disposal. It has done for all its time in power and has quite a vicious mindset and cunning
capacity doing it.
The only concern for the Woyanes is the fact that this time it can not do it without a cost. Unlike in all the previous elections, the dynamics of internal Tigrai politics have completely changed. In the previous elections, only one opposition party by the name Arena was in existence. Now there are at least four new opposition parties active in Tigrai.
Assuming their political programs and manifesto represent the plurality of interest in the populace, then it shows the existence of substantial interest for change. Nevertheless, many of these parties including Third Woyane and Baytona have little or no chance of appealing a substantial cross-section of the society.
First of all their program is no different than the Woyanes pipe-dream and has no bearing on the political and socio-economic challenges. And of course, their weak organizational and political resource will constrain their performance. But, Woyane needs these two parties for its theatre of fake elections and no damage is incurred
allowing them some space.
The rest including the Prosperity Party (PP) is already dubbed as Bandas and will be given a hard time making any serious contention. Only the election board can do something about it. But the moment of truth will come when it finally dawns on the average Tigrain that Woyane is the worst thing it happened to them.
We are in the middle of an unprecedented worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus pandemic may buy some time for the TPLF Woyanes facing the moment of truths if the election must be postponed. But the moment of truth will go nowhere and remain to be faced anytime and all the time. I hope the coronavirus and the TPLF Woyane will be dealt with at a minimum cost.
The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was a senior capo for the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) gangster mafia that ruled Ethiopia from 1991-2018.
During that time he served as Health Minister and Foreign Minister, cementing his credentials as a member of the inner circle of what was one of if not the most corrupt, brutal and genocidal regimes to set foot on this planet in the past 30 years.
From 2007 to Ethiopia’s peaceful revolution in 2018, Dr. Tedros was complicit in the TPLF’s crime of genocide against the Somali people of Ogaden with the genocidal blockade of food and medicine to the region.
He was part of expelling the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders from the Ogaden during a series of Cholera outbreaks and in helping deny medicine to the Somali Ogadenians he oversaw the deaths of untold thousands during a series of historical droughts, famines, and epidemics.
Dr. Tedros did not just cover up cholera epidemics, he was complicit in a medicine blockade to those affected.
And this gangster is today the head of the WHO. How the hell did this happen? Deja Vu Anthony Lake, the CIA, and UNICEF?
In 2016, a revolutionary situation was developing in Ethiopia with the TPLF mafia’s days clearly numbered. Dr. Tedros read the writing on the wall and made himself “available” to serve the interests of Pax Americana at the UN.
Being the USA is the major contributor to the WHO, his vetting for its head by the CIA was a must. Having demonstrated suitability for the job by overseeing genocide made him eminently qualified and during the early days of the Trump regime in 2017, he made his move from the sinking ship in Addis Ababa to Switzerland and the fat salaries of the UN.
Today, he finds himself on the hot seat with a 100-year global flu pandemic raging. For almost three years, he remained quiet about the almost total lack of preparation at the WHO for what numerous panels had warned was inevitable, a highly contagious and deadly virus quickly spreading across the world.
Where were the stockpiles of protective supplies the public health professionals called for, repeatedly? Where were the stockpiles of medical equipment? Where were the testing kits the esteemed Doctors urgently spoke of? Where was Dr. Tedros? Holding press conferences expressing the urgency of the matter? Raising a hue and cry about the potential for disaster predicted by his professional colleagues?
Dr. Tedros was missing in action to put it simply, his silence was deafening, just as was his silence when his “comrades” in the once Marxist Leninist Hoxha-ite TPLF mafia in Ethiopia blockaded medicine during a cholera epidemic.
No preparation leads to crisis management and Dr. Tedros Adhanom “admitting mistakes were made” by this failure of leadership in the face of a global crisis. But then what should we expect from someone who made his bones complicit in mass murder in the Ogaden?
Ethiopia is making moves to close down an Eritrea refugee camp and resettle them in camps that are already deemed to be full, despite fears that this could make them more vulnerable to contracting the COVID-19.
Ethiopia plans to shutter a camp for Eritrean refugees and resettle thousands of its inhabitants in other camps that the UN considers already full, an official said, despite concerns, this could make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.
Hitsats (ሕጻጽ) camp is one of four in the northern Tigray region that together house nearly 100,000 people from Eritrea, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, out of more than 170,000 Eritrean refugees nationwide.
In early March, Ethiopian officials informed UNHCR they intended to close Hitsats as part of a consolidation scheme, but it was delayed after Ethiopia confirmed its first COVID-19 cases in mid-March.
Yet preparations for the closure have continued, and Eyob Awoke, deputy director-general of Ethiopia’s Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), told AFP this week that relocations could begin by the end of April.
“We are ready to start. But we cannot start with a big number. We can start with a small number,” Eyob said. “We can even start before the end of this month.”
Hitsats residents will have the option of resettling in one of two other camps or being granted a permit to live and work independently in Ethiopia.
The decision to close Hitsats — which the government says houses 13,022 refugees — is partly linked to funding cuts from UNHCR, Eyob said.
The government also believes it can better serve refugees by consolidating the camps in Tigray, he said.
Ann Encontre, UNHCR’s Ethiopia representative, told AFP that Ethiopia began the year with a 14-percent reduction in funding from the organization but that this would not justify a camp closure.
Moving Hitsats residents to other camps would “definitely” make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, she said.
“The situation in the other two camps — there’s not enough water, there’s not enough sanitation, there are not enough medical and health services,” Encontre said.
“There’s not enough facilities and shelter for an influx as big as that.”
There are 1,600 unaccompanied children in the camp, according to UNHCR.
Ethiopia has so far reported 92 confirmed COVID-19 cases, but none in refugee camps.
If ISS wants to remain a relevant voice in the UN reform process, it needs to clean its own house first.
ISS should not be allowed to use its consultative status to disseminate false and unsubstantiated allegations about Eritrea or any other member state as it will threaten its UN standing as well as integrity and reputation as a reliable think tank.
BY SARA TESFAY
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reports that as the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to develop, it is concerned about scams, negligent business practice, and misinformation.
In a recent UNCTAD article, Pamela Coke Hamilton and Teresa Moreira write:
“… [T]here are pestilences and there are victims”, wrote Albert Camus in the Plague, “and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences.” Today, there are those joining forces with the COVID-19 pandemic…”
That reminded me of something I read a few weeks ago. It was supposed to be an analysis, but it came off as something of an indictment against Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, for making peace, for trying to work for cooperation as opposed to competition, for partnership as opposed to brinksmanship, and most of all, for trying to replace peacelessness in the region with stable peace.
Reading the UNCTAD article about concerns for misinformation, and the adage by Albert Camus, it reminded me of a familiar Amharic saying. It goes something like this, የገበያ ግርግር ለሌባ ይበጃል, loosely translated, it means, the mayhem at the market place, or in this case, the global pestilences, is suitable for thieves and information launderers.
As has been stated many times, the change that swept the Horn region in 2018 is not sitting well with those who were accustomed to calling the shots, feeding the narratives, and steering the agendas. Even in Ethiopia, while there has been a change in the leadership at the government level, remnants of the previous decadent TPLF minority regime still linger. These remnants are found in the various enterprises it established across the country in the last 27 years.
They include pseudo research and academic institutions, and worst in the international think tanks such as the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), which it managed to infiltrate and poison. Today, it seems there are some at ISS that insist on spreading misinformation and mal-information. Pestilences that undermine the credibility and reliability of global reports.
The Pretoria headquartered think tank is familiar to Eritreans as Eritrea has been the subject of its many analysis, articles, and reports in the past 20 years. Others may recognize it for its initiative “Elect the Council”, calling on UN Security Council reform, to “retrieve its legitimacy and relevance”. While it has produced several noteworthy publications, there were many that threatened to blemish its reputation and standing. ISS claims “to build knowledge and skills that secure Africa’s future,” but its publications on the Eritrea Ethiopia conflict, the Horn of Africa, and its regional organizations, have totally missed their mark.
More often than not, analysis produced by ISS interns, researchers, etc. reflected a one-sided anti-Eritrea narrative. A cursory look at its publications on Eritrea shows that a majority of them were authored by Ethiopians, and overwhelmingly by Ethiopian analysts and researchers closely associated with the former TPLF regime in Ethiopia.
The ISS has branch offices outside of South Africa where it is headquartered, and Ethiopia is one of them. Over the years, the Ethiopian branch has disseminated many reports (more like narratives) about Eritrea and its leadership.
So in a way, it is no surprise that it would seek to sneak one in at this time. Institutions like the ISS are relied on to provide independent policy analysis and scholarship, but unfortunately, the ISS’s record on Eritrea remains biased. The injurious TPLF narratives about Eritrea, its people, and leadership, marinated in these institutions remain pervasive.
Today, adding insult to injury, it has produced yet another ignominious report. But today, its regurgitation of past analysis, and outright misrepresentation of the facts, can no longer be ignored, as it is precisely these kinds of erroneous analysis that kept the Horn of Africa on the brink for decades on end.
The long-winded incongruent “analysis” “Is another regional alliance what the Horn needs?” makes much ado about nothing. Not sure what it is trying to say about the “alliance” between Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
The “analysis” is written by Selam Tadesse Demissie, a research officer at the ISS branch in Addis Ababa. A repeat offender when it comes to Eritrea. This one seems to be in defense of the indefensible – the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Without providing any evidence to substantiate her allegations, relying on hearsay and innuendos, Tadesse seems to want to blame Eritrea for IGAD’s failures. Tadesse’s “analysis” begins with this:
“…The new regional cooperation between Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia comes amid a long history of distrust and unresolved boundary disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Djibouti and Eritrea, and Kenya and Somalia…”
One cannot fudge history at whim. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary dispute was been legally resolved when the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission established pursuant to the Algiers Agreements signed by Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2000, delivered its final and binding delimitation and demarcation decisions in 2002 and 2007 respectively.
Whilst the previous TPLF-led regime in Ethiopia rejected the EEBC’s ruling, the new government in Ethiopia, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has said that it will fully abide by Ethiopia’s international commitments under the Algiers Agreements.
The writer ought to know about Ethiopia’s colonial history, not just its annexation and occupation of Eritrea, but the annexation of the Ogaden from Somalia too. The Kenya and Somalia issue is also of a similar colonial-era problem. Issues in the Horn are every intertwined and one cannot cherry-pick and use partial facts at will.
Contrary to what she implies in her introduction, there is “no long history of mistrust”. What existed is ugly machinations to create a wedge between brotherly states in the region by external forces and their lackeys in the region.
Today, the newfound peace has borne new dynamics in the region. Restoring and enhancing the trust and cooperation that is needed to better the lives of all the peoples will take time and conscious work.
Amongst the deluge, Tadesse repeats another false narrative on Eritrea, manufactured by the TPLF regime. How TPLF and its surrogates took advantage of the US’ global war on terror to advance its own myopic agendas in the region is a matter of record. But here is what Tadesse attempts to peddle:
“…Since 2006, Somalia has accused Eritrea of supporting the Islamic militant rival group to the transitional government in Mogadishu while Ethiopian troops were supporting the latter…”
The accusations against Eritrea were manufactured by the TPLF regime in Ethiopia and its handlers. According to the WikiLeaks documents, the story about Eritreans fighting alongside militants in Somali came from the TPLF regime’s “Somalia-watcher” Fiseha Shawel.
TPLF fed erroneous facts to the UN Monitoring Group, to think tanks, to the NGO and media community. Despite the erroneous accusations, and the imposition of a decade long unjust and illegal sanctions, the UN monitoring group were unable to find any evidence to support the allegations against Eritrea.
Suffice it to recall the comments made by H.E. Dumisani Kumalo, South African Ambassador to the United Nations, and Chairman of the U.N. Security Council’s Somalia Sanctions Committee to Reuters on 23 May 2008:
“… corruption in the lawless Horn of Africa country was rampant…” elements” of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) were involved in arms trafficking activities, which have the potential to undermine the peace process…Eighty percent of ammunition available at the Somali arms markets was supplied by TFG and Ethiopian troops…continued presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali territory as a violation of the arms embargo” on Somalia, where warlords, Islamist insurgents, and Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces clash almost daily…The monitoring committee received details of some 25 military flights by Ethiopia into Somalia and knew that Ethiopian troops had brought military equipment into the country to arm “friendly clans… Arms and military hardware are mainly transported to Somalia by boat and airplane, but traffickers also use horses and donkeys, making shipments difficult to track…”
As for Ethiopia “supporting the latter”, that was the biggest policy mistake in the region, a mistake that has had huge ramifications for the region that reverberate until today. It was in violation of UN Resolution 1744 that Ethiopia-under the TPLF regime- that invaded and occupied Somalia in 2006. That invasion resulted in the humanitarian catastrophe that ensued. Millions were displaced from their homes and villages and thousands killed and maimed. The TPLF’s excesses contributed to the peacelessness in the region and the policy failures at IGAD.
“…the issues raised by Eritrea, such as the notion that external forces are manipulating IGAD and that Ethiopia’s intervention in Somalia needs a different approach, deserve attention, if sustainable peace is to be achieved in Somalia in the long term…”
Fortunately, the brotherly relations between Eritrea and Somalia have remained close, despite TPLF’s attempts to create a wedge between them. For 27 years the TPLF, its handlers, and surrogates burnt the midnight oil producing articles, reports, etc. to malign Eritrea and its leadership and silence it. Today, Eritrea’s mature and measured voice resonates, despite the cyber tantrums of the TPLF and its minions.
Tadesse seems to insinuate an ulterior motive when she writes:
“…In September 2018, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia held their first meeting to build comprehensive cooperation, resulting in a joint commitment to build closer political, economic, social, and security ties and promote regional peace and security…Many observers have wondered about the motivation behind this new alliance and its impact on interstate relations in the Horn of and East Africa, and what it means for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body…More than any other time, the Horn requires a strong regionally coherent bloc that articulates and negotiates the interests of its over 282 million citizens. In the face of security threats such as political conflicts, terrorism, drought, and external powers’ interference, the new alliance will only be useful if it complements and strengthens IGAD, rather than creating disharmony with other member states…”
There is absolutely no doubt that the Horn region deserves better than what IGAD has offered in the last 20 years. As for “external powers’ interference”, now that is laughable. IGAD itself allowed and invited external interference in the Horn region. This excerpt from a November 2009 WikiLeaks document says it best:
“…IGAD allows the international community to put an “African face” on efforts to confront issues in the East Africa region. Working under the IGAD banner offers regional legitimacy to international programs…”
Furthermore, it is well within the purview of states to create alliances that better serve the interests of their peoples, and unfortunately, IGAD’s record in the region is rather bleak. It is not the time for IGAD or anyone else to launch assaults at Eritrea, Ethiopia or Somalia for making peace. It is instead, a time for greater retrospection. How can a new alliance weaken an already inept and weak organization?
Tadesse should do less finger-pointing and analyze why IGAD was unable to represent the interests of the “the vast and diverse East African region”, and why IGAD remains ill-equipped to handle “the complexities and tensions in an already fraught region”, or reduce them.
As for its future, it would be very hard for the countries to trust an organization that benefitted from the interstate conflicts and chaos of the past. IGAD brought to question its own credibility, integrity and whatever the countries in the region decide to do to advance their own national interests can never be predicated on IGAD’s existence. After all, if an organization, such as the League of Nations, an international organization with far bigger and wider representation and reach can be abolished…so can IGAD. But it would be dishonest to blame its failures on any new alliance or grouping in the region.
Does IGAD have the tools and the wherewithal to defend the region against external intrusions today? Why was IGAD easily employed by TPLF and its handlers to engineer sanctions against a member state? What were its institutional weaknesses? Why did it’s “security sector and counter-terrorism” programs fail in the region? Why was it not able to prevent crisis in the Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia? Why did it serve as the “African Face” for external powers?
It is well-known that the TPLF regime and its cadres, who controlled most of the IGAD organs, were the main beneficiaries of IGADs projects in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia, and not the people of the region. The people continued to suffer as wrong and inadequate responses to conflicts and extreme humanitarian emergencies were imposed. The TPLF regime’s reckless internal and external policies, its invasion and occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories, and its 2006 invasion and occupation of Somalia contributed to the 27-year long peacelessness that defined the region. At the helm of IGAD, TPLF cadres, bonifide conflict entrepreneurs, created NGOs and funneled funds into their own coffers in name of peacebuilding, mediation, and research. Why didn’t IGAD act to stop the TPLF’s excesses?
On Eritrea, it should be recalled that in December 2009, with IGAD under Ethiopia’s leadership, working in tandem with Susan Rice, the then US Ambassador to the United Nations, engineered the illegal, unjust and unfair sanctions against Eritrea. IGAD delegation met several times with the UN Security Council and presented inaccurate information about Eritrea, its people, and the government.
IGAD was not worried about regional integration and the people’s welfare when it advised the UN Security Council to cut off remittances from the Eritrean Diaspora. IGAD was not worried about regional peace and security when it looked the other way as Ethiopia invaded and occupied Somalia. When Ethiopia refused to accept the final and binding decisions of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission, IGAD remained silent and refused to press Ethiopia to abide by its international obligations.
IGAD, under Ethiopia’s Chairmanship from 2008-2018, became a cash cow for TPLFs schemes in the region- from peacekeeping to mediation. The millions amassed by TPLF cadres serving in the various IGAD organs is an open secret. IGAD’s failures to defend the rights of member states, failure to promote the economic, political interests of its member states contributed to its weakness, and its fledgling credibility and integrity, and undermined the confidence of its members. The revitalization of IGAD should not mean business as usual, maintaining the status quo.
The Horn of Africa needs organizations that address the needs of their peoples and the most pressing issues of peace, stability, and security for all. Failure of IGAD’s inability to achieve its stated policy objectives- vis a vis Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Somalia may render it irrelevant as the region seeks to consolidate the gains it has made thus far.
IGAD violated its own principles on the sovereign equality of all Member States; Non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States; The peaceful settlement of inter- and intra-State conflicts through dialogue; Maintenance of regional peace, stability and security; etc. Revitalization of IGAD means getting rid of its obsolete initiatives and processes and really reforming if it wants to remain relevant in the region.
Despite the many violations against Eritrea and its peoples, Eritrea was prepared to return to IGAD in 2011 and resume its rightful place, but its delegation was denied participation by Ethiopia, whilst the other IGAD members remained mute.
It is quite disingenuous and pretentious to now speak of IGAD as if it were an organization that served the interests of all the peoples in the region. Its record speaks loud and clear and the discord and dysfunction within IGAD cannot be blamed on the “new alliance”, or Eritrea.
At a time when UN member states are working hard to reform the UN, how this organization interacts with think tanks and NGOs will be important. Those most suitable for working in conjunction with the UN and its subsidiaries are those that are transparent, and do not push narrow ideological and political agendas, have the capability to produce substantiated reports that are based on credible sources, and use a single universal standard applied equally to all countries.
Politicized groups with biased agendas are not part of the solution to the problems plaguing the UN today, they are part of the problem. If ISS wants to remain a relevant voice in the UN reform process, it needs to clean its own house first. Continued attacks on a UN member state risks jeopardizing its long-held ECOWOS consultative status. Eritrea’s magnanimity should not be mistaken for weakness.
It is also not clear why ISS would jeopardize its reputation and standing by repeatedly producing inflammatory reports against Eritrea, a UN member state. It will only further undermine its credibility and integrity. Africa’s future cannot be secured by misrepresenting facts and repeating false narratives.
ISS needs to retain its independence to truly be a credible influencer of policy and to be trusted by the UN and other international organizations, as a channel for dialogue. It should stop serving as a mouthpiece for TPLF and its coteries.
ISS should not be allowed to use its consultative status under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to disseminate false and unsubstantiated allegations about Eritrea or any other member state.
The ECOSOC consultative status confers groups such as ISS with significant power and influence including the ability to recommend agenda items and participate at UN meetings, submit written statements to official UN bodies, and provides these agencies forum to share new ideas. Unless ISS addresses problems within its own organization, it will threaten its UN standing, as well as its integrity and reputation as a reliable think tank.
Its ECOSOC consultative status should not be abused to provide remnants of the TPLF regime and its partners in the region, a forum to promote anti-Eritrea agendas masked in the rhetoric of “peace and security”, “war on terrorism”, etc.
A bit of advice for Selam Tadesse Demissie, if she wants to build her credibility as an analyst in the region. She ought to use reliable, verifiable sources, talk directly to the main actors. Eritrea and Somalia have embassies in Addis, and the last time I checked, PM Abiy still leaves in Ethiopia, so no excuses for the lazy “cut and paste” analysis.
Parroting unsubstantiated allegations against African states without adequate knowledge and reference is unacceptable. Undermining others to elevate Ethiopia’s stature in the region is no longer the game in town. Respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, abiding by agreements signed, non-interference in the domestic affairs of states, cooperation, and integration based on mutual respect remains the only way forward.
(@tesfanews) 
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