Travel Guide | April 3, 2003 COMMENTARY Now The Ball Is In The Court of The Ethiopian People By Girmai Giday and Fitsum Giday April 3, 2003 When they gave Assab to Eritrea, they told us “the ports are free,” but Eritrea lived extracting a merciless revenue from Ethiopians. When we told them Assab was not free, they told us “Assab is Eritrean.” When they murdered General Hayalom Araia, they shed more tears than the mother of the slain general, and went an extra mile, and put up a small statue at Adi Nebri’ed. When our victory was imminent over the Eritrean invaders, they declared the war was over because Eritrea was incapacitated forever, having accepted all of Ethiopia’s demands. But here they come back from The Hague via Algiers, to tell us “Badme is gone, and blame the Boundary Commission.” This way goes on the legacy of being ruled by disguised enemy agents, and the choice for Ethiopians is either to accept slavery and shut our mouths up, or deal decisively with the entrenched enemy for a life worthy of living.” Will our “leaders” try to fool us again? As it is their occupation, they will try, try again till the end of their life. But this time, the Ethiopian public looks like it has caught the culprits red-handed. They have not lost their hope though, and they have rolled out a large carpet that would cover the stage from Addis Ababa to the ill-fated communities bordering Eritrea. Once the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission made its ruling known for the second time on March 31st, that even the small town of Badme is an undisputed Eritrean territory, a series of broken statements from the functionaries of Meles Zenawi are being issued on a daily basis. The first false alarm came when Associated Press (AP) writer Abebe Andualem was summoned by an anonymous official (observers believe that official is Foreign Ministry’s Yemane Kidane (Jamaica), a Shaebia infiltrator who has lived as a top Ethiopian government and TPLF official), who spoke on condition of anonymity and said: “Ethiopia has rejected the EEBC’s decision.” His statement has no validity whatsoever because the Border Commission recognizes no anonymous speakers as Ethiopia’s official government representatives. The hidden official also goes on lying to the reporter: “Discussions between the commission and ‘other relevant bodies’ are underway to resolve the inconsistency,” but AP warns that the official has “declined to identify those bodies.” The UN News Network – IRIN – is also routed from talking to any government official in Addis Ababa to Mekelle, where the Tigrai people would be the first feared to rise up against those who have lived under the banner of TPLF while carrying out Eritrean missions. IRIN talks to Tigrai region president Tsegai Berhe and Abadi Zemo, two Meles Zenawi loyalists, who said the “the local population might not accept the decision.” While the problem is a national crisis, Tsegai relegates the entire Algiers fiasco into a local issue of Badme where local people would not accept the decision, clearly stated by EEBC that the “final and binding ruling” would even divide local communities,” and a ruling long approved by none other than Meles Zenawi. We may see more dramas being staged by Meles Zenawi loyalists from Seyoum Mesfin to Solomon Enquai, from Tekeda Alemu to Dawit Yohannes, who would go on beyond shedding crocodile tears, sparking even local clashes along the Badme front, in such a way that their action infuriates the United Nations, who would threaten Ethiopia with punitive measures, and “our leaders” would use such excuses to warn us that Ethiopia was violating an international law, and there was no alternative for the poor country than respecting what has been decided by the “international community.” All this would be done to divert our attention from acting for the removal of the ruling group to blaming the boundary commission, while sapping the energies of the Ethiopian people from rising up against the enemy entrenched in Addis Ababa. But now, it looks time is up; no amount of deceit and treachery would fool our people. The ball is clearly in the court of the Ethiopian people: either we’ve to live by fooling ourselves that we are being ruled by genuine Ethiopians and accept slavery, or face the reality and consequences that we are being ruled by disguised Eritrean agents, and put up a brave fight worthy of living an honorable life. Launched in 2001 to freely serve the news and information needs of the “Blameless Ethiopians.” Write to us at [email protected]. We are pleased to say Ethiomedia.com is your premier news and views site. © COPYRIGHT 2003 Ethiomedia.com Good bye Badme, at least for now! “Division within EPRDF”