By Samuel Estefanous
estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
The sight of Eritreans troops marching deep into Ethiopian territory unhindered made me sick to the stomach. It felt like the whole Nation was violated by the sick man of the Horn.
When the Murulee of South Sudan crossed the border and kidnapped Ethiopian kids from Gambella we were mortally offended but on second thought our rage subsided fast considering the pastoralists don’t necessarily respect National borders and our own folks as well got the habit of doing a degree of ‘international trespassing’.
But this one is different. A regular army of a country- albeit yet being in the process of evolving into one-occupied Ethiopian Sovereign territory and it is happening on our watch! I would very much like to know- exactly what did Siad Barre do any different back in the 70s? I mean if anything that war was ‘a native agenda’ born to the sick idea of Somalia irredentism; at least it wasn’t a proxy war.
1-When History repeats itself
There is no need to mince words here. This is an open affront to our honor and pride as a people-we are the people! PP will fade into memory after a few years but the armed incursion we witnessed the day before around Adigrat and Edaga Hamus will stay as a stain on our history for the foreseeable future.
Unlike the war with Somalia, here I could only see colonial Ascaris soldiers in the service of Egypt doing some dirty errands reminiscent of el Duce’s Royal Corps of Eritrean Colonial Troops. Such a curse being an ascaris century in and century out! Now I can understand why most Eritreans are disgusted with the regime.
God knows we can identify with our own nemesis. As Franklin D. Roosevelt had said we could grudgingly accept ‘… so and so is SOB but he is our own SOB alright.’ If you ask me, the worst any person could do to his country is colluding with foreign aggressor and committing the high crime of sedition, however legitimate his Cause to rebel is.
2-Missed out on Gross National Happiness
A couple of decades ago the young king of Bhutan on arrival at New Delhi( making a rare appearance on the international diplomatic scene) was quizzed by a reporter how come the country is hardly known to its neighbors let alone to the world? No one knows its population size, foreign policy or GDP. The confused King reiterated ‘we care little about GDP; we are interested in maximizing Gross National Happiness.’ The catch phrase trended at an astounding rate and was equally picked up by journalists and foreign dignitaries alike.
Afterwards the accidental slip of tongue has become a defining unique attribute of the country and a favorite documentary subject for the likes of PBS, Slice and DW series. What I am trying to say is I care little if ‘yemedemer mengist’ is an accidental phrase getting unintended traction and defining an era or whether it is a refined thinking on political economy as long as it could elevate the People’s sense of belongingness, contentment, economic sense of security and slightly ensure freedom from want and fear.
The way I see it, our collective Gross National Happiness is on tailspin. I really mean it. There is little to look forward to. The lucky few have hijacked the wealth of the Nation by fair or foul means. By fair means…I double it but I will let it stand for a possibility of a handful. Besides, at least the good ones alternate the fair and foul means and pass for the lesser evil. The ugly part of this country-club kinda society of the wealthy elite is the Young and the Bold in their wake will do anything to join the Club.
When I say anything, I mean anything. They are unscrupulous, mean, insatiable, bereft of any sense of morality. They remind me of the peasant in one of FMD classics who slits his bosom friend’s throat to steal the latter’s baptismal gold cross after saying a prayer and crossing himself with devotion.
3-The Hard Currency Bonfire
The Field Marshal has said it all. War consumes resources like no other. War doesn’t just create mourning mothers and widows in black; it induces a sense of utter despair and dampens the spirit of the Nation.
PP was supposed to break the vicious cycle of war. It wasn’t meant to be. Every time a rocket or a missile is launched we are burning hard currency like a meskel bonfire. Being in a constant state of war is sure to make the public wonder ‘what is it the government doing wrong’? Note that I am specifically referring to the civil war. Otherwise the government is obliged to safeguard the territorial integrity of the country against foreign state and non-state actors.
I know the Premier has extended the Olive Branch to the rebels and yes it takes two to tango but the government is expected to go further miles for the good of the Nation and the people. Can you believe it? Forty or forty five odd years ago Mengistu Hailemariam bitterly noted to a Western journalist ‘what breaks my heart is as a Nation we are denied peace, my father knows no peace, neither do I nor my children will ever’.
A decade or two later Ato Meles almost broke down talking about the tragedy of war that had subjected the whole Nation to endless suffering. Three decades later, we are still in the loop flashing meager resources down the drain as if we could afford it tapping into inexhaustible supply. Speaking of mobilization we the people are the ones being squeezed dry to finance the blood sport.
4-Hoping against all the Odds
We cannot do without hope. We wait and hope for better days to come lest we lose the power of the will to stay alive. The government of the FDRE is promising us it is gunning for the big fish to ‘hit the nail on the coffin of corruption’. We trust it implicitly for lack of anything better to settle for.
Does the future look bleak? It looks like it. A system unable to groom a viable and credible opposition is intrinsically flawed, no doubt about that. A political system that has been nurturing a bunch of opponents whose idea of being a voice to the voiceless is competing for a free style roadside irreverent rapping war is the antidote to democracy. Yes, I stand blaming the incumbent for the pathetic state of the opposition.
We, the People, are pinning all our hopes on the possibility of the Constitutional amendment that is going to break us free from the tyranny of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples.
God Bless.
Editor’s Note: Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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