Borkena
Toronto – Apart from bloody conflicts, Ethiopia has been living in a political crisis for several years now primarily because of the ethnic nationalism.
Yet, the Prime Minister’s seemingly reckless speech he recently made at the Ethiopian parliament is triggering a potentially explosive resentment from ethnic Somalia.
He pulled Dire Dawa issues as an example while attempting to explain the Wolkait issue over which the TPLF is threatening another round of war against the Amhara region.
However, his example did not have just distorted information but it appears to be a politically incorrect statement.
“Dire Dawa was under the Oromia region in the constitution. It is the EPRF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front – EPRDF) that put the city under the Federal government, and made the arrangement for the Somali’s and Oromo’s to administer it in turn. But that is not in the constitution. That brought about peace,” he remarked during his latest parliamentary appearance.
The remark seems to have embittered ethnic Somalis. There is no evidence if the sentiment is shared across the great proportion of ethnic Somalis.
What is known at this point is that there was an event organized at Sharaf Hotel in Dire Dawa. It appears to be organized by ethnic Somali elders in the city, politicians and activists.
“I have never heard before – or seen written anywhere – that Dire Dawa belongs to the Oromo. From what I have heard from our elders, what I know is that Dire Dawa is Issa nd Gurgura,” a young man said in a video footage from the event which was shared on social media.
He added that “Dire Dawa has never been the Oromo region or administration.”
This young man whose name was not immediately disclosed thinks that the Prime Minister should apologize for it. He thinks that it was under the TPLF/EPRDF that the Oromos were privileged to administer the city in turns.
The gentle man who was speaking in the presence of ethnic Somali elders asserts that the Oromo’s used to come to the city only for selling milk and eggs, implying that “they are not native to Dire Dawa.”
“His words about Dire Dawa are Oromo’s, maybe he saw that in his dream.” The young man added.
Based on an Ethiopian Media Services report, it appears that radical ethnic Oromo nationalists are indulging in a narrative that is prone to anger ethnic Somalis further. They are even asserting ownership of Jigjiga town, which is the seat of the Somali regional administration. The view is attributed to Oromia Media Network coverage. The matter has the potential to spiral up.
There had been instances of intense ethnic conflict between the Oromos and the Somalis since a little before after Abiy Ahmed took power. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Oromos were reportedly displaced from the Somali region. The Oromia region reportedly exploited the situation to stir demographic changes in urban centers including in cities like Adama (Nazret). However, this was not independently verified.
At the time of this writing, the office of the Prime Minister has not remarked on the development over his Dire Dawa status remark. The Prime Minister himself has not shared an update on his social media page.
Emerging news on social media with unverified video footage report that government forces attempted to arrest the young man in Dire Dawa. However, people in the city took to the street and foiled the attempt to arrest him.
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From ethnicity point of view the entire country seems to have become a field of deadly explosive dynamite. You have to be extremely careful treading through such landscape with your words and actions. Dire Da2a has been a poster child for harmonious living. Until the coming of the old Chemin de Fer(Ethio-Francis Railway, Dire Dawa was just a stopover for centuries former caravan trail. Planners of the railway project found it to be the right place for refueling and maintenance. That started the flood of people coming into the new station looking for work and business opportunities. The surrounding area was inhabited by Somalis, Oromos and Afars were not too far from the new settlement. The head of Gurgura clan had his seat very close the new railway station. It instantly became a town of residents of diverse ethnic background. Since its founding until 1991, Dire Dawa was never claimed as their sole property by any ethnic residents. Children grew up learning and speaking Amharic, Oromiffaa, Somali and some more. To say Dire Dawa was administered by Oromos is not right. OPDO might have tried but after a bloody conflict the plan was scrapped. But it was a city that produced wold class artists such as Ali Birra singing in Oromiffaa and Sudanese. Then there was a Somali artist I remember her name as ‘Bahsane’ who was a pioneer in modern Somali music. I remember listening to her beautiful voice on the Ethiopian national radio during my teenage years on a shortwave radio from my residence across the Bab-el-Mandab. She later moved to Mogadishu when Somalia gained its independence and she became a regional phenomenon. She was discovered in Dire Dawa. It was continuously vibrant city because residents had chosen to live in harmony. Without the railway and Djibouti, it might have been just another temporary waterhole.
I can name a few other railway stations between Dire and Awash and tell you who was the dominant ethnic group in the 1950’s thru the 1960’s in those small towns such as Afdem aka Aware But that has changed since then and must be left to the museums.
In my humble opinion, both the Prime Minister and the young man should revisit their remarks for the sake of peace, stability and harmonious living because doing so is in our centuries old noble values. If Dire Dawa goes belly up due to violent ethnic conflict, so will the entire country and that should never be anyone’s wishes.