In
the East our low lands are as fierce as the warriors they give birth to. There
is no place lower than Afar depression on mother Earth. Lo and behold today it
is considered the birthplace of the Human race. It is here mankind is thought
to have become bipedal.
The
West is where the mighty Nile flows with our water and soil to nurture that
other civilization in the land of the Pharos and the great pyramids. It is also
home to the famous tropical forests of Gambella and every animal life one can
think of. With its lush landscape and colorful people this is where man feels
one with nature.
The
South is where God took his sweet time to create paradise. Who would deny that
after visiting the Rift Valley? The lakes of Langano, Shala and Hawasa, the
caves of Wolayeta, the natural splendor of Arba Minch, the hot springs of Wondo
Genet make a grownup cry with joy. Our creator blessed us with beauty and
wealth when he made our home.
The
South is also where God’s curse has befallen us for all our sins. He sent us
Meles Zenawi to teach us the price of vanity. I am really sorry to write in such a way in this week of Easter. But
truth has to be told. Meles Zenawi is a curse on the land of the Habeshas. Such
venomous hate one might say. I believe I am entitled to that. For twenty years
the regime has rained death and destruction on our land and people. I am not
imaging it. All what I say is verifiable fact and recorded
history. Spare me your tolerance and indignation please. You wouldn’t
think that if you stand in the shoes of the discarded and displaced.
You
see my friend our TPLF leaders grew up isolated and alone in their little
hamlets up north. There was no diversity. To Adwa and vicinity as Gertrude
Stein will say ‘there is no there, there.’ That is why when they conquered our
country they did not know what to do with the South. The diversity confounded
our warriors. They know that they hated the Amhara, they loathed the Oromo,
they were not really concerned about the Afar, the Gambellan, or the Somali but
the South was a foreign land to our northern warriors. That is why when they
created the Bantustans they lumped all the Southerners
into one big bowl and named it ‘Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s
Region.’ What a defangled name is what comes to mind when you hear this twisted
designation.
The
South is where TPLF asserted total control unlike in the other Bantustans. The
South is where Meles Zenawi exercises his renowned divide and rule principles
as an art. TPLF arrived with ready-made political Parties for every Bantustan
they created. Local faces were chosen from the prisoners of war they have
acquired during their struggle. The puppets were already versed in accepting
their TPLF masters as the final word on any and all issues. Thus all the local
boys were assigned a baby sitter or a minder from Adwa. The South has Abate
Kisho a Sidama with Bitew Belay as the real power. Corporal Kuma Demeksa of
Oromia was taken under the wing of Solomon Tsimo and Hilawi Yesuf lorded it over Addisu Legesse in the Amhara Bantustan.
Abate
Kisho was a simple sports teacher from the town of Leku near Yirgalem. He was
not at all ready for prime time and it showed. He even has the audacity to side
with one faction over the other during the TPLF drama. It was pathetic to see
Meles haul his ass to jail with some trumped up charge. The current Foreign
Minster replaced him as the new toy. By 2001 the Sidama people were becoming
hip to this patronizing practice and demanded a certain amount of autonomy or
self-administration as granted by the Constitution. Meles replied with tough
love and sent his Agazi forces to teach them a lesson. Even the US State
Department noted this wanton murder of unarmed protesters in Hawasa. Melese
Marimo the vice president and perpetrator of this crime was rewarded for his
ordering of the massacre by being sent to South Africa as an Ambassador, of
course with the First Secretary a TPLF cadre in charge. That is the normal
operating procedure in all the Embassies.
The
issue percolated and during the election of 2005 the Southerners answered by
siding with CUD (Kinijit) and were able to trounce the regime’s candidates. In
2006 Meles convened a meeting in Hawasa and was able to mollify the locals with
some bizarre actions. The renaming of ‘Southern University’ to ‘Hawasa
University’ was seen as a triumph of Sidama assertiveness. The current puppet
Shiferaw Shigute was crowned as the new face of Southern independence. Abate
Kisho was released from Federal prison and sent back home poor but alive and a
good symbol of what could happen when natives fill their head with funny notion
of being equal.
Of
course the raping and pillage of the south continued unabated. There was no
stone left unturned to cultivate animosity between the different tribes and
keep them at each others throat. The Sidamas were made to compete with the
Wolaitas, the Siltes were divorced from the Gurages, and the Konsos were made
to envy the Derasas etc. etc. The cadres encouraged turmoil and civil war. As
in the rest of our country Southern Ethiopia was full of drama with the TPLF
active in every village fanning the hate flame.
Ethiopianess was discouraged
while allegiance to tribe was glorified. Meles and company have done their
homework in how to create havoc on our country while in their caves. They did
not dream of building hospitals, schools or factories but were busy drawing
maps, creating language barriers and perfecting the Kilil concept. The South
was their dream come true. Our common language was
their first casualty. It was deemed inappropriate. Trained teachers were sent
away to their respective Bantustans and the English alphabet became the
language of the schools in Sidama. Without adequate preparation, without
trained teachers, without books available the Southern children were left to
fend for themselves. It was sad to witness a simple application that has to be
written in one language to be translated to another when it reaches Hawasa the
capital city. The South was made unable to communicate within its own
Bantustan. It was a crime. The TPLF party was the orchestrator of such tragedy.
Shiferaw
Shigute is the Frankenstein monster Meles created. He is the son of Meles
Zenawi. Like his parent he is devoid of empathy and proud of his betrayal of
his people. Look at him closely and you will see Meles – indifferent, arrogant
and know it all. From his expensive Savile raw suit with matching ties to his
air of superiority he is the kind that makes his maker proud. When his own
Party found him guilty of abuse of power and voted to oust him, our fearless
step child thumbed his nose at the assembly and said “I did not do this alone, we shared the money with the wife of the Prime
Minister, Mrs. Azeb Mesfin. If we are going to be accountable, we should both
judged by the law. If we have to return the Birr, we both have to return it”
and stormed out of the meeting. His stepfather reversed the decision of the
assembly. Like father like son! It is Shiferaw Shigute practicing ethnic
cleansing today or rather it is Meles Zenawi using his toy boy that is
displacing our people. It is the concept of Kilil coming home to roost.
Why
am I going thru all this recounting our ugly history is a valid question? It is
because the past is important to avoid making the same mistakes again. We learn
so we don’t repeat that which has not worked. I am not obsessing about the
things that we cannot control but rather I am hoping we learn from it so we can
focus on tomorrow where we have the power to build a better Ethiopia. The do’s and don’ts of today are based on the lesson from the
success and failures of yesterday.
Thus
we learn from human history to see what works and what to avoid. The quest for
liberation and a building a better Ethiopia for all will be accomplished if
based on that principle. Each and every one of us is the building stone for it
to succeed. Some folks were upset because I criticized a few physicians for
their enabling activity regarding building a ‘referral hospital’ in our
country. People feel upset when asked to boycott Ethiopian Airlines or avoid
drinking Woyane beer. We advocate such action not out of hate but precisely
because such form of ‘peaceful resistance’ have proven to work. There was a
time when the West led by Britain and the US tried to justify their investment
in South Africa by claiming they were creating jobs for the poor African
masses. It was not true. They were realizing huge profit from slave labor.
What
did Black South African say about that? Steven Biko, the charismatic young
leader wrote ‘those who professed to worry over Blacks suffering if the economy
deteriorated had missed the point. We’re already suffering’ He often reminded
us ‘those who live in constant fear of being shot, beaten, or detained without
charge, for those whose children already live in abject poverty and near
starvation, an economic downturn is not the major area of concern.’ Nobel
Laureate Albert Lutuli, president of the African National Congress in one of
his speeches said
“The
economic boycott of South Africa will entail undoubted hardship for African. We
do not doubt that. But if it is a method which shortens the day of bloodshed,
the suffering to us will be a price we are willing to pay.”
We
are not saying anything different. Your investment in Meles’s land scheme, your
patronizing Meles’s Airlines, your partying in Alamudi’s hotels, your support
of the so-called hospital is hurting our people. No need to qualify it with
good and bad investment, it all goes to the same pot.
As
some of us are preparing to celebrate Easter let us not forget what it really
means. Easter is Jesus Christ’s victory over death. It is a time of renewal and
rebirth. Let us work for the rebirth of our glorious history. Let us resurrect
the spirit of our forefathers that stood united and were able to hand us a
proud history. Our love for each other our tolerance of the little
imperfections in each of us is what our country needs in this time of
hopelessness and apathy. Happy Easter.
