Expression of Solidarity with Somali Compatriots
By Gezahegn Engda
What prompted me to write this piece is a recent statement on Facebook by Somali compatriots titled “Response of Somali Activists, Scholars and Community Leaders of DDS and Dire Dawa to the Statement issued by OLF and OFC”.
To me Dire Dawa evokes cosmopolitanism. Where else in Ethiopia can one find a place in which multitudes hailing from diverse identity backgrounds – religious, linguistic, ethnic, citizenship – comingle and create a thriving community where everyone is welcomed and feels at home?! Dire Dawa is Ethiopia writ large and at its best. No wonder when I read the Statement by Somali compatriots I was alarmed and shuddered. In their statement Somali compatriots expressed concern about the undermining of the rights of Somali people in Dire Dawa and about the safety and rights of Somali people in Somali territories bordering the Oromia regional state.
The current Abily-led so-called Prosperity regime, essentially EPRDF Version 2, has taken the divisive and hegemonic policy of Meles a step further. And it is unfortunate that his regime is, their statements to the contrary notwithstanding, enjoying tacit support from OLF and OFC!
Both EPRDF Versions, Melese’s Version 1 and Abiy’s Version 2, share one common ideological root which specializes in: deepening divides, creating rifts and demolishing all that is good and wholesome, all the social capital and ties our forefathers built which holds us together. Over three decades, both EPRDF versions have created and perpetuate social rifts among co-existing communities (stoking hostilities among religious and ethnic communities); created demographic shifts and dislocation (war induced internal displacement; eviction and ethnic cleansing in the guise of demolishing “corridor”, “green” development); promoted spatial segregation (prohibiting targeted ethnic communities’ freedom of movement to and from urban centers such as Addis Ababa); entrenches political hegemony of one ethnic group (e.g. total control of the military and security by Oromos); promotes historical revisionism (undermining or otherwise manipulating our collective history shared by ALL Ethiopians); spearheads rampant corruption, nepotism and mismanagement of the economy (e.g. currency devaluation without any preparation and mitigation measures to relieve the intolerable rampant inflation; bribery to get a semblance of public service); creating instability and inducing wars within regional states (e.g. the ongoing interminable military campaign against the Fano in the Amhara region); making diversionary unprincipled political alliances with neighboring countries one day only to throw them away the next day; etc.
All the above is to underscore one message: Abiy’s EPRDF Version 2 is unravelling no matter how tacitly or explicitly he is supported by the likes of OLF and OFC! Unless all honest and brave Ethiopians psychologically and politically disown the legacy of EPRDF we have no hope. What our Somali compatriots have flagged about what is ongoing in Dire Dawa is a metaphor of what is awaiting Ethiopia. As they say, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee! We do not have much time left to save ourselves from the potential war-of-all-against-all ethnic politics as pursued by the two successive regimes has left us with. We need to surgically remove this cancer from the Ethiopian body politic once and for all. It is in this spirit I express solidarity with the Statement of our Somali compatriots.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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