Teshome M. Borago | Satenaw Columnist
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s US tour now has a website and he said he wants to engage with the diaspora, by having us ask questions. Knowing that the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC is still controlled by TPLF officials, some of us have low expectations.
But Dr. Abiy’s team has a knack for surprising Ethiopians. After all, nobody expected that Abiy and his colleague Lemma Megersa would abandon the usual tribalist Oromo rhetoric and adopt Ethiopianism. When Lemma said “Ethiopiawinet is an addiction” and when Abiy said we live & die as Ethiopians; suddenly Addis Ababa, the urban and all Ethiopian nationalists worldwide fell in love with these two men. Even Oromo politician Bekele Gerba got so annoyed because we embraced Abiy & Lemma, that he started to accuse Ethiopians of hijacking “his” revolution. What Bekele did not know is that there was a VOLCANO of suppressed Ethiopianism waiting to erupt nationwide, since 2005 (when the Kinijit-CUD party last gave us some hope.) Especially for millions of Ethiopians in the urban, not only economic and political freedom, they were NOT even allowed to wave their flag and to be who they are: simply ETHIOPIANS, without choosing some random tribal label. That’s euphoria.
And that brings me to my first question for Abiy….
- When will the regime stop imposing ethnic-federalism on the Ethiopian urban and mixed population?
While people now feel free to express their Ethiopian identity, the institutional and constitutional shackles of tribalism still remain. One of the main reasons why Meles Zenawi excluded Ethiopian nationalists and included OLF & ONLF when writing the present CONSTITUTION was because he knew that nearly half the population rejects his tribal federalism structure. This can not continue.
If Dr. Abiy is serious about MEDEMER, then it is time to finally allow the input of Ethiopians to amend the constitution. We hope Abiy’s MEDEMER is not just to collect money from the Diaspora while our Ethiopian identity is violated by tribalism. We hope Abiy’s MEDEMER does not mean he enjoys the nationwide rallies & our popular support; while Ethiopians are killed in Asosa and Goba for being Ethiopian and not choosing a tribe.
We need tangible and real change on the ground to feel like MEDEMER has benefits and it’s not just a slogan. The best way is for Ethiopian nationalists amend the current constitution, which is solely written by and for ethnic nationalists.
Yes, ethnic federalism is loved by those rural folks, but why don’t they can keep their beliefs to themselves. Like religion, there is no need to impose one’s beliefs on another. While ethnic federalism is admired by the mostly homogeneous rural and tribal communities nationwide; it is the single most destabilizing policy impacting the Ethiopian people in the urban and semi-urban community. From the ethnic cleansing of Welkait, to the killing fields of Asosa, the persecution of Welaytas in Awassa; to the endless Oromo vs Somali wars in Moyale and their border towns….All this madness needs to stop. Welkait is not only Amhara and Addis Ababa is not only Oromo land. They are for all Ethiopians. It is time to stop legalizing the tribal segregation of Ethiopia. We can not have 1st and 2nd class of citizens living in the same place. Recently, we were told that the new Addis Ababa mayor has announced that Oromo farmers will get preferential treatment in Addis Ababa markets, because the city is Finfinne, an Oromo City. This is embarrassing. For almost 30 years, we know some Tigrayan businesses got preferential treatment by importing their products Tax-free. Today, it seems like tribal politics is going to impose a new destructive and backward hierarchical system in every urban centers of Ethiopia.
It is time to Abolish or reform Ethnic federalism before it is too late. #AbolishEthnicFederalism
- Will Dr. Abiy stand for the human rights of outlawed Eritrean evangelicals?
Dr. Abiy reportedly declared that from now on, Ethiopians and Eritreans will be ONE people with TWO countries. Good, that’s beautiful.
But, one of the most ironic and underreported side story of Dr. Abiy’s Asmara visit was the status of thousands of Eritrean evangelicals languishing in prison. If Dr. Abiy was not a famous Ethiopian Prime Minister in Asmara, he would have been just another evangelical inside Eritrea’s prison containers.
We know Abiy’s father is Muslim and he does not like to talk about his wife’s & family’s reported Evangelical faith. That’s understandable. But one does not need to display religious commitment in public, to feel the suffering of people. Just look at the thousands of Eritrean evangelicals refugees living in Addis Ababa.
President Isaias has copied the policy of Mengistu by banning nearly the whole Protestant religion. This is inhumane.
One global sign of true freedom and human rights is when the smallest part of any society, a minority tribe or religion, has as equal rights as the majority.
- What tribe does Dr. Abiy pick during the Ethiopian CENSUS?
One of Dr. Abiy’s famous speeches was his beautiful comments about his mother and what she means to him. Everybody loved his nice words. But one wonders if Abiy still remembers his mother when he fills out his identity on the CENSUS. We also wonder, how Dr. Abiy reconciles his multiethnic identity with his OPDO membership.
Unfortunately, for millions of mixed-Ethiopians like Dr. Abiy, the institutionalization of tribalism has virtually outlawed their identity.
In the past, the Census was not controversial because ethnicity did not shape politics. One’s geographic region used to be more important than tribe. But now, tribal identity politics has nearly destroyed our country. Therefore, it is time to reconsider how we count and define ethnicity.
According to Meles Zenawi, ethnicity is defined only by language or politics; NOT heritage and ancestry. If one speaks Afan Oromo or supports Oromo nationalist politics; then he or she is Oromo; even if that person has non-Oromo ancestors.
This is a recipe for disaster and we need Census Reform in 2020.
The reality is: millions of Amharic speakers in the Ethiopian urban should not be labeled “Amhara” because they are often mixed or have a non-Amhara descent. The same way, millions of people identified as “Oromo” have partial non-Oromo ancestry. All of these people should be simply identified as ETHIOPIANS.
This urgent issue is not only a matter of respecting human rights of Ethiopians; but it will also help solve ethnic conflicts nationwide. Even recently in Goba town of Bale, it was reported that most of the Orthodox “Amharas” killed by the Qeerroo Oromo youth were not even Amharas. (Not that it should matter)
However, the victims were labeled as “Amhara settlers” by the Oromo Qeerroo mob and massacred; because Qeerroo wanted to build a statue of a Muslim Oromo nationalist in the same Goba location where Orthodox Christians celebrated Timket for generations. This is barbaric.
(If we have to revisit history and talk about settlers and migrations; we all know how far back to the 1500s that this discussion will take us. It is a lose-lose scenario for everybody and the cycle of violence will continue.)
If Dr. Abiy really wants to unite Ethiopians and change our dialogue into MEDEMER, then we must have Census Reform that will recognize our mixed ancestries and the complexities of our identity.
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