Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
Ghirmai Zemichael
“You can never make the same mistake twice because the second time you make it, it’s not a mistake, it’s a choice” goes the saying.
The people of Tigrai have been on the receiving end of TPLF’s over three decades of gross humanitarian violations as well as its poverty-inducing land and socioeconomic policy.
Hence, when TPLF reached its end of rope at the federal stage, many Tigraians became hopeful that the party that overstayed its welcome would be off their back for good. And the warm welcome bestowed on you during your first visit to Mekelle as Prime Minister Elect was proof of this very fact.
However, as it’s to be recalled, TPLF leaders – who can never live without power and prestige – used all their arsenal of tactics to stay the course thereby cling to power: fleeing to Tigrai; spreading victimhood propaganda; building a regional army and barricades; preparing for war and, lastly, attacking Ethiopian national defense force bases in Tigrai.
To that end, instead of exploring possible strategies and taking all the time needed to hunt down the political as well as military leaders involved, your government embarked on a perceived quick fix of collective punishment by collaborating with Tigrai’s archenemy, Shabia. And this led to atrocities of the worst kind including mass killings, rape, displacement, using hunger as a weapon of war, illnesses due to disruption of health services, economic damage, power line and infrastructure destruction, etc. As a result, many Tigraians – including the firmest critics and opponents of TPLF – were compelled to raise arms under the leadership of the party they despised.
Sure enough, this resulted in a bloody war; the loss of hundreds of thousands of human lives on both sides; economic crisis, and a national discord.
Sadly, nearly three years after relative peace was given a chance, the TPLF old guard – that essentially can’t live without power and with tremendous fear of peacetime accountability – once again has turned to beating the war drums and preparing for another war. In doing so, TPLF has unquestionably demonstrated that it cannot negotiate in good faith thus it’s never to be counted on as a peace partner.
Now, the question is, is your government going to take the same, ineffective, disastrous action of group punishment or has it learned its lesson to selectively and precisely single out the warmongers for punishment. After all, Ethiopia is not in short supply of military technology that enables target acquisition with minimum collateral damage. If you choose the latter, it would indeed be a long dream of justice come true and a new beginning for many Tegaru including me.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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