Evaluating Three Decades of Ethiopian Resistance, its Challenges, Achievements and Failures: Perspectives for Political and Leadership Change, Maru Gubena - 14 April 2009.
Almost all relatively professional institutions or political organizations see an evaluation – or a brief presentation of policy-related activities or past experience – as a healthy and even vitally important part of both growth and development, whether this involves the general public or individuals who are involved and interested in the organization’s activities. Both large and medium-sized organizations see an evaluation or such a report as tools of understanding, cooperation, integrity, confidence building and a source of motivation for active members and financial contributors. More importantly, it is from an evaluation of outcomes and results, whether intended or unintended, that we draw lessons, learn, and correct or redirect policies and policy-related projects. In some extreme cases, however, and depending on the nature and size of the organization, an evaluation can stimulate or force a leader or leaders to revisit the original vision – the very foundation upon which the organization has been constructed – to see if it can be adjusted and whether the existence of the organization can be maintained.
Whether the policy makers or leadership of a political grouping or organization will begin an evaluation depends a great deal upon the organizational structures and strength that are present. Other more specific factors are also potentially important determinants: the attitude or frame of mind of the leadership, the amount of confidence the leadership has in the functioning of their organization, and, most importantly, the overall capacity of the organization in terms of finance, professional manpower and the amount of output. The production of an evaluation or review of an activity and its release to a given section of the society depends as well upon what can be called “push factors,” which help to stimulate this activity. For example, to what extent do the registered and financially contributing members to the organization or political grouping expect this? Are they interested – do they perhaps even demand to know – the achievements, challenges or failures of the organization they belong to and support? Other factors among the many that can be cited as push factors are governmental and/or non-governmental funding institutions that are entitled to request or even demand that the organization present the overall results of its activities to them and perhaps also to the larger public. Leaders of political parties in economically and politically stable societies, who are often interested in knowing the extent of legitimacy and support they are accorded by the people, do present their evaluations of ups and downs to their members from time to time, often face to face in a huge publicly organized gatherings in the presence of the media so that the general public can participate and form an opinion about the political party – for example, the degree of concern it shows for the wellbeing of the society and how this is demonstrated by its previous engagements and future programmes.
What about the case of the Ethiopian resistance? What do we, as part of its public and as political consumers, know about the historical records of the Ethiopian resistance, and more specifically, about its achievements, challenges and failures? What do we actually know about the complex sources and causes that have been responsible for the failures of repeated efforts made by certain sections of Ethiopian society in attempts to change and shape the socio-economic and political landscape of Ethiopian society? What do we know about what has happened to Ethiopians in general, whose history is said to be so rich and complex and which in the past has been wisely crafted by those who tirelessly and selflessly contributed to it? What do we know about exactly what has gone wrong with the people of Ethiopia, whose forefathers are said to have lived united within bonds of harmony, feared and respected by both friends and enemies? Indeed, as has been expressed in one of my previous articles, Sharing the Sources of my Anxiety, it is not just this author who is troubled; today a good number of Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia bother themselves continuously with the same questions – about what has gone wrong with the so called “modern day” Ethiopians, whose forefathers had both the skills and capacity to negotiate and settle both internal and external differences – issues that matter so much to themselves, their country and people – and who managed to maintain the security of their people and the territorial integrity of their country for centuries? Finally, how do we evaluate the achievements, if any, the challenges and failures of the past thirty or more years of Ethiopian resistance, and come to a relatively clear conclusion, when there is little or no study material or written evaluations and reports?
Also, considering the perspectives for political and leadership change in our country, and given the increasing challenges that face the Ethiopian resistance in this post-Election period – an election held prior to restructuring and reorganization of major institutions of the people, which led to the loss of so many lives and the jailing of elected Ethiopian leaders, and which has come to be seen as the origin of persistent internal feuds and divisions among the opposition parties – does peaceful resistance have a future in Ethiopian politics? (For a more detailed discussion, see the article: The May 2005 Election was Held without Restructuring that is Indispensable for a Free and Fair Election Process, and without Preparing the Ground for Political and Leadership Change.) And given the persistent reluctance of Ethiopians to produce, or even to give space to, political role models with vision, do we seriously believe that the current Ethiopian opposition political parties, especially those in the Diaspora, can reorganize themselves and begin to play an effective role in an effort to galvanize the will, moods and feelings of Ethiopians and help to stimulate the re-emergence of an Ethiopian resistance, now fashioned with rationally constructed mechanisms and wisely crafted bonds of unity? Do they have the means and capacity? How come we tend to believe with such conviction that the Ethiopia resistance can be reshaped and strengthened by the Ethiopian Diaspora, becoming an organization that can succeed in bringing the desired political and leadership changes in our country, while the very foundation – the people, the members of the community – are so divided and hostile to one another, living in communities where sectarianism and parochialism are the norms, the main way that politics play out in Diaspora communities? Isn’t it because of the prevailing chronic sectarianism and parochialism that a disproportionately high number of the Ethiopian Diaspora, and intellectuals in particular, remain reluctant to devote themselves to enthusiastic participation in and leadership of the Ethiopian resistance? Why is it that we are so reluctant, even allergic, to first getting our own house in order, fighting to remove the factors that divide us, democratizing our own frames of mind, developing mechanisms helpful in confidence building among ourselves, building a single, solidly founded Ethiopian Diaspora House that represents and reflects the entire face of the Ethiopian Diaspora and is supported with professional manpower and dependable financial capacity, before engaging in other projects that are beyond our cultural orientations and behaviours? What are the really essential actions we need to carry out – to help ourselves come back to our senses, and to be helpful to ourselves and our people at home?
Further, a good number of Ethiopians hope and expect that the entire population of Ethiopia will soon rise up against the current repressive regime in Addis Ababa. But an important question is: has there ever been a people’s uprising in the history of Ethiopia/Africa? One in which a seated regime has been overthrown simply due to a people’s uprising? If the people can be expected to rise up in Ethiopia, wasn’t the 16th of May 2005, the day Meles Zenawi ordered the suspension of the vote counting for some weeks (presumably with the aim of snatching the election in its entirety), declared a state of emergency, banned demonstrations including any public gatherings, assumed direct command of the security forces, and replaced, the most appropriate day for a people’s uprising and resistance? Why was there no uprising on this very important day?
Also, as has been observed, some compatriots often speak about armed struggle as a means of achieving their intended goals. But given the end of the Cold War, is armed struggle a feasible way to change a seated and highly militarized Ethiopian/African regime? Since the End of the Cold War, has there been an African country where a change of leadership has occurred by means of a war waged by rebel groups, especially a nation state where the majority of the people have little or no confidence in each other, where individual, family or group interests and short-term outcomes are the order of the day? If not, why then, why on earth do we think this can be achieved, especially by means of the small, unprofessional, disorganized, scattered confrontations in which we tend to engage – confrontations that cause more suffering to our people, but never scare or hurt the intended targets?
Due to the absence of standard but critically important documents – such as data on the formation and cessation of our resistance movements or political parties, lists of names including their founders, those who have been actively involved and those who have made financial contributions, the strategies employed by the leadership and the organizational structures in general, even if these were hazy – any attempt to evaluate the brief general history of the Ethiopian resistance, or even to embark on discourse about it, is an extremely difficult and indeed tricky business. It would nevertheless be important to revisit the historical conditions that provided fertile ground for the rise of Ethiopian resistance, and to cite the cardinal foundations, and to explore at least some of the factors and actors that may have been responsible for the heavy clouds that surround the Ethiopian resistance today. The responses I will give to these complex and lengthy questions and the review of the brief history of the Ethiopian resistance, its achievements, challenges and failures, will therefore be largely based upon my own personal perspectives; day-to-day observations; practical experiences; interactions with and participation in a variety of political and social gatherings; speeches and interviews of Ethiopian political figures and historians; magazine and newspaper clippings, including press releases from Ethiopian political parties; and sporadically held discussions with actively involved Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia.
A brief Summary of the Historical Foundations of the Ethiopian Resistance
A shared desire for freedom and democracy, and an understanding of the possibilities, has not yet developed among many of the people of Ethiopia, or even among those who believe in the need for political and leadership change. However, for over three decades now a good number of Ethiopians have been making every possible effort towards political and leadership change and, at least ideally, encouraging democracy to take root in our country and giving the people an opportunity to test and share its fruits. The observed interest in freedom and democracy is despite the relative political stability that existed soon after the Second World War, and despite the love and respect Ethiopians had for each other, and the confidence they had in themselves. It is additionally true that remarkably healthy socio economic relations and political ties with both the East and West Block countries marked the three decades preceding the 1974 Ethiopian revolution. As various experts in Africa’s political history have often stated, Ethiopia, as a founding member of the League of Nations –now the United Nations – has played an active, substantial role in settling political crisis among and within nation states, and in searching for world peace. According to the historical evidence, Ethiopia’s role and contribution to the process of African decolonization of countries alone has been huge. Indeed, Ethiopia was a center for training and meetings among African freedom fighters and liberators. Throughout the tense and bitter period of struggle to free Africa from the shackles of European colonialism that commenced soon after the Second World War, Ethiopia, the only country in the entire continent with centuries of independence and self rule, was an indispensable house of shelter for world diplomats and negotiators when interchanges were being held between the newly emerging African leaders and representatives of European powers.
Due to Ethiopia’s contribution to global peacemaking and its substantial role in the process of decolonizing African nations as they became independent of the European major powers of the time, Britain and France, Ethiopia and Ethiopians enjoyed the unlimited love and respect of the international community; there was little or no need of visas for Ethiopians to travel to certain European and Middle Eastern countries. Famine in Ethiopia was just a periodic event, a matter of national concern and a collective responsibility of its people. In addition, the number of Ethiopians living in exile numbered only in tens, not in the millions that are undeniably the reality today. The terms “asylum,” “refugee” and “exile” were known only to a few well educated, politically oriented intellectual Ethiopians whose frame of mind was affected by ideas, ideologies and goals related to political, economic and leadership change for Ethiopia. Today, however, these words are well known even to rural Ethiopian children and rural Ethiopian grandmothers and grandfathers, since these phenomena have become indispensable as ways to escape repression, poverty and disease.
Despite the relative economic and political stability that followed the end of the Second World War, the profound confidence Ethiopians had in themselves, and the love and respect of all African countries as well as the international community at large that were being enjoyed by Ethiopia and Ethiopians, the needs and demands of Ethiopian urban populations for political and leadership transition began to manifest itself as early as the 1950s. The December 1960 military coup d’etat launched by the Officers of the Imperial Guard, led by their Commander, Lt. General Mengistu Newaye, and his brother, Girmame Newaye, was an example. Although the attempted coup, nostalgically remembered and referred to as the “December 1960 coup d’etat,” was quickly put down by forces loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie, it left a residue that continued to smoulder in the minds and hearts of certain sections of Ethiopian society, becoming an additional contributor to the eventual collapse of the Emperor Haile Selassie’s government and the foundation of the 1974 Ethiopian revolution.
A retrospective understanding of the factors contributing to the astonishing disintegration of the government of Emperor Haile Selassie would help us to place our situation today in a historical context. However, apart from some immediate family members of the Emperor and those who were fortunate enough to attend the final parliamentary session held on February 27 or 28, 1974 (no exact date of resignation is known), almost no one – probably 99 percent or more of all Ethiopians – knows the exact reasons behind the resignation of Prime Minister Aklilu Habte-Wold’s cabinet. Yet it is this resignation that helped to embolden the members of the Military Committee and their supporters to make further demands and foment actions that led to the subsequent structural crisis within Ethiopian society. Further, as there had never been widespread demands by Ethiopians for an immediate end to Haile Selassie’s regime, the often-heard assumption that the removal of the aging and internationally respected Emperor from power was due to a dramatic uprising of Ethiopians is unfounded. “The political tensions and crises that existed from January to the very day of Aklilu Habte-Wold’s cabinet resignation were nothing compared to the persistent and quite explosive political challenges, combined with armed confrontations – often with deadly results – that have faced and tested the unelected leadership of the TPLF since its arrival in May 1991.” (Maru Gubena, 8 July 2006.)
In logical terms, one would argue that the downfall of Haile Selassie’s government was due to a combination of known and unknown factors; his age too may have made it difficult to deal adequately with the immediate causes, such as the new education policy (known as the “Sector Review”), the 1973-74 drought in Wollo province and the international oil crisis, which affected some sections of the Ethiopian Economy. The other factor that has been cited as an important element was the complete miscalculation (or ignorance) by the Ethiopian’s as a whole about the impact of the crisis itself. Had the Emperor knew that time was working against his government, himself, his family and his people, he would probably have acted vigorously in taking the required measures, for which he still had the power and tools, the support, love and respect both inside Ethiopia and internationally. As this was the first such experience in the history of the country, no one – the former Ministers, other government officials, the Emperor himself or Ethiopians at large – expected that the crisis would move so rapidly or go as far as we have witnessed. Nevertheless, is believed that the Emperor was repeatedly requested, even implored by his generals and immediate family members to take measures to avert the disintegration of his government and the subsequent long-term crisis for the country. But for reasons unknown, and which we probably will never know, he did nothing. As a result, and despite the ardent desire of the people for a democratic system and democratically elected leadership, power was hijacked by resentful, untrained and inexperienced military officers who had neither the vision nor the personal charisma to lead a nation state.
Restrictive political conditions were in place before the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie, and these deteriorated exceptionally in the period that followed, the ruthless regime of the Dergue. Organizational and strategic errors made by the then opposition groups and other unexplainable factors exacerbated these conditions. As a result, the people’s resistance under the leadership of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), upon which Ethiopians had firmly laid their hopes and expectations for peaceful political and leadership transition, for a future process of democratization for their country, and for the development of free and democratic institutions, did not last long as a leader of the people’s struggle. The lifespan of EPRP and its meaningful role in Ethiopian politics – and in working towards the dreams of Ethiopians – was short-lived, not only because of the deadly divisions and hostilities between EPRP and MEISON (the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement) – a collaborator with the Dergue, but also due to the lack of multifaceted skills among the young EPRP leadership, who were not experienced in crafting viable, durable political and organizational strategies, including well-thought out tactics for armed resistance. The exceptionally restrictive political and security conditions probably made it impossible for the young EPRP leadership to involve individuals who were highly experienced in the necessary organizational and political fields, and to explore, discuss and debate relevant issues in relative freedom. If that had been possible, workable, durable military strategies and political programmes might have been produced. Instead, every meeting that was attempted had to take place in complete secrecy and often in darkness, in private houses or in the rooms of individual activists, and could only involve those prepared to risk their lives and their families. The military and trained manpower capacity of the “urban military wing” that had been organized to provide immediate, direct protection to individual activists, the leadership of EPRP and its meeting places was far too limited to directly or indirectly challenge the actions or the consequences of the actions of the Dergue, or to confront its complex military power. Given these two problems, it seems likely that the strategies constructed to resist MEISON and the Dergue regime on two fronts – urban and rural – were not well thought out and coordinated. Moreover, the underground urban operations being carried out by EPRP urban units in the major and medium-sized cities of Ethiopia had direct and immediate repercussions on its rural forces and on the leadership of the EPRP as a whole; these had not been foreseen before the urban military activities began. I would also insist on arguing that it was the urban confrontation that enabled the Dergue regime not only to locate and eradicate those EPRP urban unit activists, members of the Urban Defence Committee, the founders or organizers of the urban units, and anyone associated with them, but also, by using information gained from those the regime held and tortured inhumanly and horrendously, the Dergue was able to hunt down and eliminate the top EPRP leadership throughout the rest of Ethiopia.
A good number of Ethiopians who were involved in the resistance, or even those who are simply concerned about the short lifespan of EPRP, will probably continue to be bothered and to ask themselves questions. For example: how did rebel groups such as the EPLF and TPLF survive the heavy-handed measures undertaken by the regime of Mengistu Hailemariam against those opposed to his rule, and eventually succeed in deposing his entire regime, while the EPRP – whose resistance had been embraced by the majority of politically active Ethiopians – did not succeed even in prolonging its struggle? The explanation given above, strategic errors such as the “war on two fronts,” is one logical reason; this contributed to the rapid weakening in the position of the organization. Above all else, however, it was the adoption or incorporation of the political programme of the EPRP – land reform and the establishment of a socialist Ethiopia by the military regime into its own political and economic policy programmes – that created insurmountable internal feuds and conflicts between EPRP activists and its political and military leadership, and was responsible for accelerating the untimely disintegration of the EPRP as a political organization.
Consequently, less than three years after snatching away the people’s struggle for political and leadership change, the Dergue applied its ruthless measures to annihilate its opposition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), its supporters and anyone suspected of being a sympathizer. This heavy handed, cruel and divisive nature of the Dergue regime dashed the hopes and expectations Ethiopians once had for their themselves and their country; even today their long-standing pride, and the confidence they had in themselves and in each other, remains difficult to restore. Consequently, both the country and the people have remained undemocratic and divided. Ever since the time of the Dergue it has been difficult to achieve the reorganization that would allow the establishment of an effective and transparent political process – one that functions democratically and with integrity – that is supported by a good number of Ethiopians, and to see this take root in Ethiopian society. For the same reasons, it is difficult, if not impossible, to speak of the existence of a democratically organized and professionally functioning Ethiopian resistance since the end of 1970s. The only visible resistance that faced the military regime came from the two rebel groups, the TPLF and EPLF; even though undemocratic, they eventually managed to oust the dictatorial regime of Mengistu Hailemariam in May 1991.
Even given this history and the short period of time that Kinijit had been in existence – and although many technical arrangements among the parties making up the Kinijit coalition had not been worked out before it participated in the May 2005 parliamentary election – many Ethiopians saw Kinijit as a first in the history of Ethiopia: a political party that was relatively democratic, professionally organized, and showed many other hopeful signs, including a highly talented and experienced leadership (See The Changing Face of Kinijit.) This is not to deny the many sincere attempts that have been made by other individuals to establish and lead political parties. I am simply saying that factors related to the culturally framed attitudes, behaviours and visions of those who have established opposition political parties have limited or entirely blocked the possible roles and contributions – which otherwise could have been immeasurably important – of potentially resourceful, knowledgeable and intellectually skilled Ethiopians with many-sided organizational and leadership experience and talents. Instead these political groupings remained remote. Not only were they far from their intended target groups, but also they were less than visible to the society. Part of the problem has been the limited or non-existent possibilities for openness within the organizational structures and policy designs in any of the political parties, whether their aims were narrow or broad; this also depends largely upon the visions and desires, including the democratic or undemocratic attitudes and behaviours, of the founding individuals or leaders and the ways their policies are framed. It is also worthwhile to point out that the spontaneous rise and sudden fall – even disappearance – of a substantial number of these ineffective Ethiopian opposition parties has been due not only to culturally linked elements such as rigidity, arrogance and self-centeredness; other factors have been a lack of involvement, interest and understanding, a limited knowledge of the fundamentals of political and organizational principles and the need for modern organizational structures in political parties, including the components and mechanisms that are required if political parties are to gain ground and become widespread, with permanent acceptance by and support from the target groups and societies.
Concluding Remarks
In conclusion, one would not be wrong to argue that the fruits of the Ethiopian resistance tasted by a large majority of Ethiopians over the past three or more decades have been bitter. Ethiopians have also been and still are forced to face concurrent tragedies. And, since the 1974 Ethiopian revolution, the face of Ethiopia’s political and economic maps – including the many components that have shaped the new Ethiopian culture and molded the attitudes and behaviours of Ethiopians – have changed dramatically, and in a fashion that has persisted and become difficult either to redirect or to redress. The decades following those periods also saw the beginning of deterioration in the respect outsiders once had for Ethiopia and Ethiopians, to the point where Ethiopians are no longer welcome at ports of entry for a good number of nations that have built rational, solid economic structures and relatively reliable political stability.
Looking at the perspective for political and leadership change in our country, I would certainly not hesitate to point out that the ball has been and is still in our hands, in the hands of all Ethiopians; there is still the potential for us to make up our minds and come together in an effort to heal our deep-seated socio-political fractures and help redirect Ethiopia’s current position both in Ethiopia and within the international community. This seems, at least to me, a question of waiting to see what we want; whether we will be willing to come back to our senses and be prepared to restore, not just our feelings of Ethiopianess and belonging to one another, but also the shattered components of Ethiopia’s culture and the pride of its people. Again, it is my strong conviction that if we, collectively, are to play a meaningful role in helping to clear away the huge clouds surrounding our country and people, to create mechanisms conducive to moving our country from the status of a beggar society to one of self-reliance, this role will be conditioned by, and perhaps depend largely upon, our willingness to fight against the bad and ugly sides of our own culture – but also upon our readiness to engage in the cultivation and development of democratic institutions, confidence building, self-education and self-democratization efforts.
Readers who wish to contact the author can reach me at info@pada.nl
● The title and text above provide a brief summary of a larger academic research project and was produced in mid summer 2007, when both the actual climate in the western world and the political temperature within the Ethiopian Diaspora community were too hot, either to engage in the much desired work or to interact positively and freely with our politically active Diaspora compatriots. Consequently, even though the issues discussed in this article are educational and highly relevant to the current issues and discussions, it was not widely published when it was originally written and did not receive the attention the article deserves. Now, as more opportunities seem to have been created, I feel fortunate to be able to once again present this summary to my readers.
April 14th, 2009 at 7:16 am
The 18 years under the tribal rule of Meles Zenawi are proving disastrous for Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Meles Zenawi`s politics of hatred and marginalization is fueling resentment and leading the vast majority to acts of vengeance and violence.Famine and poverty are spreading like wildfire through out the country and genocide is becoming imminent in the country. An awkward political system aiming at ensuring ethnic supremacy and favoritism is facing increasing rejection and resistance.
Meles Zenawi and his cadres`cake or foreign aid is shrinking and the tribal chief may end up losing control sooner or later. My recent encounter and chats with some weyanne ethnic supremacists tell me that Meles Zenawi and his followes are still harbouring hatred and treating other Ethiopians as their inferior subjects. They look confident of keeping their illegitimate power and pillaged wealth for ever. They maintain and arrogantly say that no Ethiopian force can challenge Meles Zenawi and his rule must be taken for granted. Their overconfidence and demeaning comes out of the disarray and weakness in the Ethiopian opposition.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Half of the text in your article, “Ethiopia at Cry and Embedded Calamity” is mine
Dear Firdu Yitayew, and all Ethiopian website editors
Thank you for sending me your paper, “Ethiopia at Cry and Embedded Calamity” prior to publishing it on various Ethiopian websites.
In fact a few hours after I received your article with just eleven words e-mail message yesterday, I did my best to go through it and had hoped that you would come back to me before posting it and discuss with me about why you needed to incorporate a substantial amount of my text from my previously posted articles in your paper, without acknowledging and mentioning my name and without receiving my permission as the original author of the text.
It should be clear that half of the paragraph in page one section, Ethiopia at Cry and Embedded Calamity, has been copied from my article. The entire paragraph text in page three paragraph three is also mine. The three paragraphs of your last page, including the final paragraph from which the first introductory paragraph text in cursive is quoted, are also mine.
It is regrettable and even outrageous that while trying to add your voice to and express yourself about the dishonesty and the incalculable crimes and damages being inflicted on our people by the unelected and self-installed dictators, you are committing a pure plagiarism on a bright day light. This is indeed most unfortunate and most embarrassing. Very sad!
I would therefore kindly, but in the most strongest possible terms, like to request you and Ethiopian website editors either to acknowledge that the incorporated paragraphs are not yours but mine, or remove in their entirety.
Yours sincerely,
Maru Gubena
April 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Maru’s style of politics is blaming the victim. I wonder why this guy is allowed to ruin us. His primary objective is dissecting the personality of Ethiopians and by so doing uplift the justified role of tplf as an oppressive government. Maru’s conclusion is - because we are bad we deserve to be treated badly. It is well known that the lack of fair and free political game as well as the lack of funds has hindered the formation of strong opposition party. Opposition parties in Ethiopia work under great pressure and difficulty. They deserve to be honored and respected for what they are doing. They are fighting an evil regime that is so rich and armed to its teeth.
It is clear that when the ruling despot prevented NGO not to receive money from abroad and teach people about democracy the calculation is: 1) Ethiopians are poor and hence could not afford to fund opposition parties; 2) government has the power and ability to harass (those Ethiopians at home) that fund opposition parties. The end result is continued dominance of tplf. If Maru is really sincere it is here where he has to do research and write. Blaming the victim is not really intellectual virtue. Ethiopia’s primary problem is the tribalist dictator starting from the days of the king to the present. Even the so called progressive student movement was led underneath by these tribalists. Ethiopian students were unknowingly propagating the agenda of these tribalists. They effectively used the seemingly progressive pan-Ethiopian student movement to weaken the king since it was impossible to overthrow the king by woyanies alone. Maru, though we are not pure, we are good people to get good governance. Our problems are the tribalists who cannot come to federal power under democracy by their very own formula of ethnic federalism.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The resistance has produced visionary leaders like the African statesman, Meles Zenawi. The leadership and political skills of Meles Zenawi have earned him a great deal of admiration and resepct in the west and the rest of the world. There was a time when even Dr. Birhanu Nega, one of the leaders of genbot7 spoke about the exceptional qualities of our stellar Meles Zenawi. Dr. Birhanu was attracted to go back to Ethiopia convinced of the promising situation which is created in Ethiopia by the wise and unparelleled leadership of Meles Zenawi. So the resistance is not in vain as some Amhara doomsday tellers like Dr. Maru Gubena are trying to present as in his this and other articles. The Amharas see only dark spots in the brightness that is shining over the whole country. Time is proving our visionary leader Meles Zenawi because he has always taught us about the meanness and wickedness of the Amharas and their hostility towards the people of Tigray.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Thanks to the outstanding leadership of Meles Zenawi and TPLF, Ethiopia is developing fast and registering the highest rate of growth in the world.
Even the current global crisis is not affecting the growth of the country since the economic plans and policies of the country are based on and guided by the novel economic ideas and theories Meles Zenawi has developed. These new economic theories are expected to end poverty and famine in the whole world. We are proud of Meles Zenawi because he has succeeded in coming up with new ideas in all areas including the military. It was his military ideas and tactics which led to the destruction of the Amhara army of the derge and the defeat of Shabia.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
You moron!wedi Desta,you do not even know what you want to say.I know you are not matured as politician, you
must have to wake up and learn more civilization from the world be before you open your empty mouth . it`s shame on you your toking like yemeles chen gered(shermta) be a man,think like a human bing and look your people be for the darkest days coming to you and your poor family !!!
April 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Three decades of resistance means Ethiopia was colonized and has been resisting an occupation by a foreign force. You should rather say 3 and more decades of struggle to rect a democratic and just social system / government.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Poor Gebru Hadera,
You are immersed in inferiority complex- resentment against Amhara (which contributed to present day Ethiopia together with all other language groups), worshiping individual (which Ethiopia is full of better talented people than your boss). You are an idiot to exalt one crooked guy who even killed your freedom fighters including Kinfe, Muse, Awalom for power mongering while in your context there were so many “patriots” of Tigray liberation and Eritrea cessation who brought this thug to power. So, you are stupid in politics and better shut up! Stop reducing the prevalent opposition against your repressive bosses to single Amhara population and stop deception every one knows your duplicity.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Stupid Gebru, I wonder how you dare to insult an entire population of Amharas. Please at least be careful in your choice of words although you have resentment against Amhara…!You are perpetrating conflict and INTERHAMWE in the land of harmony and togetherness!
April 14th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Here we are again.
Why did we fail in the last 3- 4 decades, Mr Maru?
Multi- party organizations like EPRP were used as instrument to facilitate TPLF/ EPLF agenda. Many innocent students followed these organizations by deception and utopia. They caused more damage to Ethiopia and Ethiopians than TPLF/EPLF did. Their fight with Derg paved the way for TPLF/EPLF.
Maru failed to understand the damage that is already done by Derg and TPLF/EPLF on Ethiopian patriotism. The majority of Ethiopian who truly believe in Ethiopia are not with us any more. The Tigreans who truly believe in Ethiopia buried alive in Tigray. The majority of amhara intellectuals are destroyed by Derg. The remaining few were systematically eliminated by TPLF. Those foot solders that fought for Ethiopia were turned into beggary over night by TPLF
Melse once said “we not only killed them physically but also we killed them psychologically. They will never rise up again”. Indeed, 18 years Melese rule fractured Ethiopia, in my view, beyond repair. It is hard to pick up the pieces and put them back again. Few individuals are working day and night to achieve this impossible task. Maru should encourage these individuals rather than nullifying their effort if Ethiopia is in his mind.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Dear Maru,
Don’t get discourage by seemingly impossible task changing Melese regime through armed struggle. I honestly believe Melese regime survival is not because of its strength/ mass support but the command of chain he has under his grip. This chain will fall apart once it encounter strong resistance.
Who do you think lend hand for Meles on the” judgment” day? Tigreans can be grouped politically into three. 1. Siye group (which I believe the silent majority) 2. Melse group (tiny minority who got rich through corruption). 3. Others (majority with mixed blood).
I don’t think those rich corrupt individuals will salvage Melese when difficult time comes.
It is clear that war is the most devastating and no one wants to get into it. Unfortunately; TPLF put us in this situation. The momentum is tilting in the direction of Ethiopian disintegration as each day pass under TPLF. You can imagine the bloodshed that accompany and follow our break up. We should not let history repeat itself. OLF, ONLF are growing as we speak. They need equal partner for either relative peaceful break up or live together as equal beneficiary from our unity.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:07 am
egzzzzzzzzioooo
When I try to read Maru’s articles I feel like words gone wild and scream in the wilderness. The length of statements without new paragraphs makes me traveling through a humid desert causing discomfort and distaste. His long sentences makes the words drunk and gone crazy…they are meaningless…sorry i never read more than two lines in a paragraph here and there. Maru, keep on screeching.
April 15th, 2009 at 2:41 am
This another type of solidarity movement both of which are non comital interms of political movement both of which have defined objectives with no strategies to accomplish those objectives. Both of them talk about the past grievances of the past. Both of them are shy to commit themselves to one party or another, although both of their papers apeal to few of the major websites. Yet I heard obang Metho commending W/t Birtukan as potential african leader in that interview, and at another he was mobilizing his solidarity movent to rally for W/t Bitukan release, although he is non-aligned to any political party.
Both of this authors may join heads in the reconciliation process of the fractured diaspora population along ethnic lines since TPLF and political factions during the dergue to bring about a change in the alignment of the diaspora among TPLF, the hardliners and the moderates. When said and done that process will help Ethiopians to Ethiopiawinet befor Ethnicity, where the majority end up in the camp of the hardliners, fitting into a normal distribution curve. That will be a major achievement of the reconciliation process, rather than what is presented here as a historical perspective of resistances/uprisings, although not presented in a chronogial order of the last three decades as notes from a diary.
Your essay is hardly evaluation but rather a perspective. Evaluation is one of the highest form of reasoning performed with a scale or rubric. I do not see any of that in this text, except whining about past pitfalls.
Last but not least your essay has brought up to their feet the die hard TPLF supporters, with Amahara bashing as a collateral damage for the last 18 years and they do not represent the majority of Tigreans.
April 15th, 2009 at 2:56 am
The greedy and inconsiderate cadres and supporters of the butcher Meles Zenawi are no more than simple lying machines like their paymaster.
What Ethiopia has experienced under Meles Zenawi is spreading poverty,famine, ethnic cleansing and killings and loss of territory. The followers and sypporters of the tribal chief are enriching themselves with ill gotten and robbed resources. Meles Zenawi is in control of a business empire which he has acquired illegally through using his illegitimate absolute political power. Meles Zenawi and Co. have built a kleptocracy
which is sucking the blood and eating the soul of the country. The tens of billions of dollars the western countries have invested in the ethnic dictatorship of Meles Zenawi have not improved the lots of the vast majority of Ethiopians. The education and health sectors of the country are crubmling and students are leaving schools or graduating from thee universities without gaining knowledge.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Is this man posting the copy of his Msc thesis?. It is a very long article full of contradictory ideas and very tiresom to read. Someone told me that Maru do not hold a Phd.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:55 am
The Amhara is hypocrite that only knows to say Zeraf! The Amhara talks a lot. The Amhara is happy with the little they achieve. What the Amhara was not able to achieve in centuries, we the people of Tigray showed results in less than two decades. Look at the major cities in the country. They are being modernized. Look at the communication means. Main roads are built everywhere. Look at the international trade. The country is making profits. What else do you want to prove? Seeing is believing. Go and see for yourselves. Or surf into the Internet and observe what is going on.
Look what is going on here - even when trying to forge for a government in exile the Amhara are fighting in words and destroying each other from the start. The Amhara are court people born to argue and not to work. All they know is blaming and spreading hate. The chance the Amhara would ever dream of coming to power is a closed chapter. As they are egoistic they would never ever come together to achieve any thing effective. We need to teach them the hard reality the hard way. We need nationalities to be proud of their nation, their languages and their resources. Call it whatever, we like to live together only when the Amhara learns to respect others and apologize for its centuries old domination.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Mr. Maru,
Each time you come up with an article, I find it too long, too boring and tiresome to understand what you want to tell us. Please don’t west our time with your long and endless stories. Stop arguing with you and fighting left and right by gluing yourself to the Internet. Sira Yefeta Menekuse Kobun Keddo Yisefal. Take a pause and think what solutions you may bring to the country you seem to have concern. Don’t just write none stop and keep us board with tasteless talks. Be precise and put the points of your message in clear language.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Leave alone the young Ethiopians in diaspora, those of us who have some memory or knowledge of the Derg and its aftermath are completely bored by lengthy scripts you post these days. What is the end result of all such lengthy and boaring attempt. It is said: GUNCH MALFAT! So forget about evaluating. Find some other solution how to mend or bend the ethnic divisions that have flourished everywhere. Write short, clear and precise. Long paragraphes are not attractive anymore.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Kibrom! Here we go again, this TPLF cadres expressing their inferiority complex, hatred, and fear over Amahara, when Amaharas along with other Tigreans as Ethiopians, excluding the bandits were saying Zeraf! against invaders and liberation movements. Now the Amaharas along with the other ethnic groups are saying Zeraf! to save the country from disintegration or for the the unity of the country (one flag( untainted), one language (with other languages, being secondary in the localities) and one country of federated states) as a positive force of integral calculus, with peace, territorial integrity and sovereignity of Ethiopia.
The Eritreans should collaborate with this positive force to librate themselves from their dictatorial regime as are the Ethiopians engaged in a peaceful and armed struggle from within Ethiopia to oust ethnic dictatorship, along with its entrenched system of exploitation of the nation resources by TPLF and TPLF affilated enterprizes and terror over the population through its security apparatus.
If you are bothered with Amahara dominance you should also bother with ethnic dictatorship, with economic, political strangle hold of the country by TPLF and TPLF affiliated enterprizes.
April 15th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Why is the Amhara so much fixated on number one? Always saying one country, one leader, one language, one people? The Amhara talk too much of unity while they are not even able to become a united force within the Amhara itself. They preach what is not working for them. If unity is their goal, then they should unite and come as a united force. We see this with all kinds of organization formed by Amharas thus far. They talk much about unity but they are the 1st to break-up forces trying to unite. Meles Zenawi has given them a serious homework when he said: MENGEDUN CHERK YADIRGILACHIHU! Ever since 1991 we don’t see any challenging force except making war of cyber words behind the Internet.
Maru Gubena is such a case who has the time and the opportunity to dump on us tones or articles filled with war of words whithout telling us where he stands in this drama all together. Gubena dare to tell us where you belong?
April 15th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Aba Biya asks: “Why is the Amhara so much fixated on number one?” Because we believe in one country, one people, one nation, indivisible under God. That is why. But we seem lost into oblivion pushed away unjustifiably by TPLF. Although I don’t know; and I don’t buy the purpose or the role Maru Gobena is playing as self-designated evaluator, I can see the serious situation we are all in at the moment. OK, Maru Gobena has no scale of measuring the key feature of major events that took during the last three decades that he talks much about. Nor does he make any clear comparative analysis to arrive at his “evaluation”. Simply he writes stories spoken in oral tradition without supportive facts and figures or citation of works produced on major events. Nor does he dare to blame the TPLF. Rather he blames every individual Ethiopian for unfounded reasons. At the end he washes his hands of the evil deeds that took place in any one or more of the three decades as though he was the innocent on looker on events. Gobena Maru jumbles and lumps-up everything in his story telling in a straight jacket of blaming everyone as irresponsible. Worse of all, his conclusive remarks take us to no where; with no credible solutions for the current problems we face. His article is simply putting together oral tradition talked in hash-hash and by proxy; without citing any credible literature written on most of the issues he raises. So Aba biya, please don’t blame the victim Amhara good for nothing. And don’t forget: ‘Ethiopia stretches her arms unto God.’
April 16th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Selam Molla,
Reading your message, one gets the impression that you are simply an angry and a deeply resented person. Additionally, you seemed to engage, knowingly or unknowingly, with creating confusions among participants of this forum. For your information, Ethiopian websites are not designed to serve either the interests of researchers or to study Ethiopia’s political history based upon primary research or secondary survey based on given data or supportive literatures. But this is simply a discussion forum. Everyone is expected to contribute articles that simply highlight the issues and problems of our country based on his/her views, experiences and visions. Besides that, you appeared to be unwilling to make some efforts to read the entire text in the article. I did! Perhaps you are deliberately skipping some of the pages, including the footnote paragraph given at the end of the last page, which says that:
“The title and text above provide a brief summary of a larger academic research project and was produced in mid summer 2007, when both the actual climate in the western world and the political temperature within the Ethiopian Diaspora community were too hot, either to engage in the much desired work or to interact positively and freely with our politically active Diaspora compatriots. Consequently, even though the issues discussed in this article are educational and highly relevant to the current issues and discussions, it was not widely published when it was originally written and did not receive the attention the article deserves. Now, as more opportunities seem to have been created, I feel fortunate to be able to once again present this summary to my readers.”
It is also interesting to ask, if you would be so kind to respond, which authors of which posted articles on Ethiopian and Ethiopian related websites have you seen or read based upon a given research or study materials or historical data? When, Where and from which website and year, month and date? You are simply a poor guy or woman, jealous and full of unhealed wounds and pains.
Also, what do you mean exactly when you said, “Nor does he dare to blame the TPLF?” What do you mean? How do you know the author does not blame the TPLF regime? Since when are you participating in this forum and in Ethiopian political discussions in general? Have you had a chance, the time and interest to read over 40 of previously posted articles of the author? What would be then the reason, in your view, why the author of the above article has been charged three time by the TPLF cadres? Why? Didn’t you read the text message posted last week?
Finally, it is extremely destructive to jump or rush into conclusions without having the required information in hand. You shouldn’t do such things anymore, sir! Please do your best to try heal your deep-seated resentments and deeply wounded feelings by simply being honest, first to yourself, and then to others.
Thank you, sir!
April 16th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Here it is the text from last week which the guy wrote in reaction to Alem’s text message.
April 8th, 2009 at 19:44 | #13
Reply | Quote
Selam dear Alem,
This is just to thank you for taking time to react to the article posted above. I normally don’t respond to individual reader’s reactions. In your case, however, I feel compelled to do so because I feel, with conviction, that you wrote your text with little or no information in hand, even though a quick Internet search would have supplied it.
For your information, I am in fact among, if not the first of, the founders of the Association of Ethiopians in the country where I live. I am also quite reasonably well known for my involvement in issues and problems of asylum seekers and refugees and the Ethiopian/African Diaspora in general, and of course also with respect to the problems and politics of our country. It is actually very strange that you have not even read my article which though it was written almost ten years ago was posted on Abugida, this same website, on the 31st of March 2009. Perhaps you are one of the newcomers, the direct victims of Meles’ regime, and that may be the reason that you lack information.
Apart from my studies and work, I have been entirely engaged over the past 25 years in resisting the repressive nature of dictators, including the regimes of Meles Zenawi, Mengistu Hailemariam and the former Apartheid regime of South Africa, by all means. This has included participation in various demonstrations, writing petitions and other letters, presenting papers in conferences, organizing conferences and seminars and giving interviews (by the way, you can also learn about my experiences and visions for the future during my interview this coming Saturday, the 11th of April in the VEDR paltalk room). I am criticizing the opposition groups and Diaspora activists because I strongly believe that we cannot achieve the desired goals by organizing isolated demonstrations or working in our individual circles and small groups.
Finally, let me just say to you in case you are one of the huge number of my compatriots who are able to go regularly to our country for any purpose, including buying houses or land and doing business under the rule of the Meles regime that you say you dislike. As I have been charged, not once but three times, including 1995, 1999 and in November 2005 under the file name of “Hailu Shawel” (see list of Ethiopians being tried in absentia), I cannot do these things, and will never, never be able to land on Ethiopian soil as long as the inhuman regime of Meles Zenawi rules my country.
Nevertheless, I thank you again for your time and interest!
Maru Gubena
April 16th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Fikru,
You said: “Reading your message, one gets the impression that you are simply an angry and a deeply resented person. Additionally, you seemed to engage, knowingly or unknowingly, with creating confusions among participants of this forum.”
(1) That is your impression. I have no resentment. Angry, I’m. Because we are wasting time when much is yet to be done in light of getting our imprisoned sister Birtukan Mideksa out of TPLF jail; save our nation from being destroyed by tribal despots; and most of all, create a united front in DiYou shouldn’t do such things anymore, sir! Please do your best to try heal your deep-seated resentments and deeply wounded feelings by simply being honest, first to yourself, and then to others. aspora rather than dividing ourselves onethnic line. If you have the cure for these you are most welcome.
(2) I’m not creating confusions among participants of this forum. Rather we are many who are a bit bored and not able to get the head or the tail of what Maru Gubena is trying to send as his clear message. Suffice to ask you read comments from various readers here in above.
(3) Objectively, all I tried to briefly explain are once again the following:
(a) Maru seems skilled in blaming the victim in blasphemy; and ridiculing the Diaspora Ethiopians as wretched of the earth. Putting himself above all, as an omni-potent and all knowing; he keeps on dissecting Ethiopian personalities for their malicious behaviors; himself also caught-up in confusion not knowing and identifying the woods for the forest. He even utters as distancing himself from the very people he feels he is concerned about and whom he suddenly discovered as bad Ethiopian personalities. Read this: “I normally don’t respond to individual reader’s reactions”. Also read his previous articles.
(b) Maru considers Ethiopians in Diaspora as deserving to be treated badly for the bad culture and attitudes we manifested thus far through time.
(c) Maru’s lengthy write-up is hardly an evaluation as evaluation is a form of reasoning performed with a scale, a set of rules or instructions to measure and compare between episodes. I do not see any of that in his text; except buzzing about past troubles and struggles which we know of already. He better gives his article another title as it does not deserve to be labeled as “evaluation”.
(d) The most troubling in the whole lot is he never arrives at any clear set of solutions. He admittedly writes: “The title and text above provide a brief summary of a larger academic research project and was produced in mid summer 2007…” At the same time you responded to me stating: “For your information, Ethiopian websites are not designed to serve either the interests of researchers or to study Ethiopia’s political history based upon primary research or secondary survey based on given data or supportive literatures. But this is simply a discussion forum”.
So what is our take after being astonished with lengthy articles each time he brings his condensed article from his previous research thesis to this forum? Is it not contradicting with what you wrote to me and what he wrote as his introductory message? Research or not research - that is the question you need to answer.
Fikru, why act like my class-room leader (YEKIFIL ALEKA) that we left long time ago; and swivel your ring-finger at this fair and free world on me stating: “You shouldn’t do such things anymore, sir! Please do your best to try heal your deep-seated resentments and deeply wounded feelings by simply being honest, first to yourself, and then to others.” Now that you respond on Maru’s behalf, I expect you to clarify the above points to readers benefit in this forum. Maru can also intervene and better respond to his own work than to distance him when the real thing is under discussion. Thanks to EMF, we are all free to discuss matters directly. Why discuss them by proxy?
April 16th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Fikru,
You said: “Reading your message, one gets the impression that you are simply an angry and a deeply resented person. Additionally, you seemed to engage, knowingly or unknowingly, with creating confusions among participants of this forum.”
(1) That is your impression. I have no resentment. Angry, I’m. Because we are wasting time when much is yet to be done in light of getting our imprisoned sister Birtukan Mideksa out of TPLF jail; save our nation from being destroyed by tribal despots; and most of all, create a united front in Diaspora rather than dividing ourselves on ethnic line. If you have the cure for these you are most welcome.
(2) I’m not creating confusions among participants of this forum. Rather we are many who are a bit bored and not able to get the head or the tail of what Maru Gubena is trying to send as his clear message. Suffice to ask you read comments from various readers here in above.
(3) Objectively, all I tried to briefly explain are once again the following:
(a) Maru seems skilled in blaming the victim in blasphemy; and ridiculing the Diaspora Ethiopians as wretched of the earth. Putting himself above all, as an omni-potent and all knowing; he keeps on dissecting Ethiopian personalities for their malicious behaviors; himself also caught-up in confusion not knowing and identifying the woods for the forest. He even utters as distancing himself from the very people he feels he is concerned about and whom he suddenly discovered as bad Ethiopian personalities. Read this: “I normally don’t respond to individual reader’s reactions”. Also read his previous articles.
(b) Maru considers Ethiopians in Diaspora as deserving to be treated badly for the bad culture and attitudes we manifested thus far through time.
(c) Maru’s lengthy write-up is hardly an evaluation as evaluation is a form of reasoning performed with a scale, a set of rules or instructions to measure and compare between episodes. I do not see any of that in his text; except buzzing about past troubles and struggles which we know of already. He better gives his article another title as it does not deserve to be labeled as “evaluation”.
(d) The most troubling in the whole lot is he never arrives at any clear set of solutions. He admittedly writes: “The title and text above provide a brief summary of a larger academic research project and was produced in mid summer 2007…” At the same time you responded to me stating: “For your information, Ethiopian websites are not designed to serve either the interests of researchers or to study Ethiopia’s political history based upon primary research or secondary survey based on given data or supportive literatures. But this is simply a discussion forum”.
So what is our take after being astonished with lengthy articles each time he brings his condensed article from his previous research thesis to this forum? Is it not contradicting with what you wrote to me and what he wrote as his introductory message? Research or not research - that is the question you need to answer.
Fikru, why act like my class-room leader (YEKIFIL ALEKA) that we left long time ago; and swivel your ring-finger at this fair and free world on me stating: “You shouldn’t do such things anymore, sir! Please do your best to try heal your deep-seated resentments and deeply wounded feelings by simply being honest, first to yourself, and then to others.” Now that you respond on Maru’s behalf, I expect you to clarify the above points to readers benefit in this forum. Maru can also intervene and better respond to his own work than to distance him when the real thing is under discussion. Thanks to EMF, we are all free to discuss matters directly. Why discuss them by proxy?
April 16th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Gudena,
The decades of resistance were not without reason. the resistance continues and will persist against what you call the Amhara-Tigrai hegemony.
While “time” was supposed to educate and to enlighten these Amhara and Tigrai folks; blinded by economic and political greed, the Amhara and Tigrai could not or would not learn or change. “Time”, the relentless teacher, has given up on the Amhara and Tigrai and both are doomed to face the wrath of “time”. I mean the Amhara and Tigrai are doomed to face the wrath of the rest of Ethiopia for the rest of Ethiopians are saying “enough is enough” and they are up in arms to reclaim their dignity and their pride. In an era of equality, justice, individual rights, and freedom from colonialism and mental slavery, be it is a must that the rest of Ethiopians have to rise and they have already risen to break the backbone of these age-old Amhara-Tigrai bloodsuckers and merciless killers once and forever.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Yes, you are absolutely right, guys! It is indeed extremely difficult for us, for Ethiopians with no reading habits and cultures, and who in fact prefer just to talk and talk, to read such a long and extremely exhausting long article. Very tiring! I personally don’t even like to watch westerners reading books, magazines, newspapers and whatever reading materials they are reading and see in their hands while sitting or standing in the train, in the bus and even in the plane. This very stupid of them. They even continue reading while they are with people – with their family. No, I cannot stand them. I just want a change in my county and I don’t think there is a need of reading for that. We only need to drive out the TPLF from Ethiopia. Then we are all free at ones and forever. That is what I want, guys!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Leave alone the youth generation Ethiopians in Diaspora, those of us who were there when the Derg was messing up in Ethiopia are completely exhausted and bored by such lengthy scripts continuously posted these days by Maru Gobegna and his likes. I think these guys are writing all the junks hallucinated while taking MERUWANA in the drug-free Holland. Why don’t Maru find some other solutions on how to bring peaceful transition inside Ethiopia than talking too much? An action at hand is worth thousands of words bubbled for nothing – it reminds us of the Amharic saying: “Wore Bibeza Bahiya Aychanim”.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:00 am
TERFASSA NO NEED TO RESPOND FOR YOUR COMMENT COS YOU ARE LIVING IN YOUR OWN WORLD THANKS GOD YOU AND YOUR LIKES ARE VERY FEW AND WITH NO CHANCE AS LONG AS ETHIOPIAN AMHARAS OROMOS GURAGES TIGRES SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF ETHIOPIA WILL EAT YOUR RESISTANCE AND THROW IT LIKE A WASTE
April 18th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Having gone through Maru Gubena’s article the following are the points I drew from it:
1. The writer Maru Gubena makes sweeping and generalized statements without giving bases for what he calls the 3 decades evaluation. Furthermore, his article goes back to the 1950s, 1960s, 1970, and to the present. This contradicts to what the article is titled to assess, i.e., 3-decades.
2. The article gives the impression as though it is intended to provoke and ferment more divisions among the already divided Diaspora.
3. The article aggravates hate between ethnic groups by galvanizing negative issues of the past for which we are not responsible. Look at what people comment right here.
4. Maru Gubena defuses his sweeping generalization without demarcating among those who side with the people of Ethiopia, those who side with the TPLF, and those who work hand and gloves with EPLF to push Issayas Afewoki’s divisive agenda.
The problem with Maru Gubena is he thinks he is the center of the struggle; the potential leader that understood well and own the struggle as opposed to all others we know of thus far. Here is his biggest mistake. We need to shift away from such populist thinking and try to find the remedy to our central problem through lessons learned from past mistakes and not repeat the same good old populist preaching by the day.