The Mystery of my Independence

A Poem dedicated to Prof. Asrat Woldeyes

By Zenebe G. Tamirat

In the Horn of Africa where the mountains seem to meet the sky;

Along the shore of the sea that Mosses rolled on: and where the birds fly:

And down there where the obelisks are;

Where the river they call Awash crosses the land of the Afar; And,

Where the waters of the Nile are worshipped by Egyptians

Where the waterfall, they call, “Tis-Abay;”

Dreadfully Roars from its cliff to reach its bed

Where it is no more aggressive but just a friend: And then,

Boiled by the mystery sun that changes it into vapor,

Rises again so high;

There rests Abyssinia;

The country known as, Ethiopia!

The country that the Bible says, “Ethiopia stretches

 its hands, unto God:” And go forward in independence

For thousands and thousands of years,

And there in the midst, not only I,

But every walk of life before me,

Including mother of all mankind, Lucy,

Millions and millions of years ago were born in mystery.

And ever since, except those who left the land, everyone has been free.

Where I was born, everything used to be in a band;

The trees in the jungle stand,

So, thick side by side;

Allowing no passer-by to pass amidst them,

Even the wind could not have passed over,

Had it not whistled the national anthem!

With the wind whistling, leave alone the people,

The lions roar the sound of love,

And the tigers and the hypos, and the elephant dance,

The timid and the wild live in peace & relax,

Like birds of the same feather:

They walk together, they fly together and they eat together;

And when challenged they fight together!

Amazing beings! Amazing land!

So, fascinating, and so thrilling! So, wide and broad,

 A blessed gift of God!

So, now I am aware of the mystery of my independence!

I see! I see! It was the might of this oneness!

The filament of Ethiopian-ness

That threaded us together to enjoy,

The bond that clamped us long, long years ago until I was a little boy!

But later, revolted to forgo and go blind:

To say, “I am Eritrean, I am an Amhara, I am an Oromo, an Afar,

A Somali, a Guragie, a Benshangule: and lost deep in the wood.

Oh! My God aren’t we running wild?

Oh! My God! We have lost those days of Unity,

Brotherhood, fraternity, and sorority!

Can we not make it back once again to enjoy as Ethiopians?

Breaking the sufferance of ethnic-based miserable fragments?

And becoming one, once and only once?

·         (Dedicated to Professor Asrat Woldeyes, on the celebration of his 10^th year of Memorial Day,  May 2009. Professor Asrat is a Martyr who lost his life fighting for the unity of Ethiopia)

·         The poet, Zenebe G. Tamirat is available @ ztamira@yahoo.com

                                                                   ሃገሬ

                 በ ገብረ ክርስቶስ ደስታ

አገሬ ውበት ነው

ለምለምና ነፋስ የሚጫወቱብት

አገሬ ቆላ ነው ደጋ ወይና ደጋ

እዚያ ብርሃን አለ ሌሊቱ ሲነጋ

 አገሬ ተራራ ሸለቆ ረባዳ

አገሬ ጂረት ነው ገደልና ሜዳ

ውሸት ነው በበጋ ጸሃይ አትፋጂም

ክረምቱም አይበርድም ................          

                      ለሙሉው ፎቶው ላይ ያለውን 3 ማእዘን ይጫኑ

ኃይሉ ሻውል አረፉ

የመላው ኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ፓርቲ ፕሬዚዳንት የነበሩት ኢንጅነር ኃይሉ ሻውል ባደረባቸው ሕመም በህክምና ሲረዱ ቆይተው እአአ ኦክቶበር 8 ቀን 20016 ዓ/ም በ80 አመታቸው ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ተለይተዋል። የሞት ፍርድ ተፈርዶባቸው ለአመታት በወያኔ እስር ቤት ሲማቅቁ የነበሩት ኃይሉ ሻውል ይቅርታ እንዲጠይቁ ተገደው ከስር የተለቀቁ ቢሆኑም በንጽህና ጉድለትና በቅዝቃዜው ከታወቀው ከቃሊቲ እስር ቤት ይዘው የወጡት በሽታ ለሞት እንዳደረሳችው ተረጋግጧል። ይህ በሽታ እያሰቃያቸው ቢሆንም ኢንጅነሩ ወያኔንም በሽታውንም እየታገሉ እስክ ምርጫ 2005/2012 ድረስ መኢአድን በፕሬዝዳንትነት ሲመሩ ቆይተዋል።

የተከበሩ ኢንጅነር ኃይሉ ሻውል በአባይ ሸለቆ ጥናት፤ በአውራጎዳና፤ በሼል ኢትዮጵያ፤ በመተሃራ ስኳር ፋብሪካ ከተራ ሰራተኝነት እስከ ሥራ አስካሄያጅነት በደረሰ ደረጃ ያገለገሉ ሲሆን በደርግ ጊዜ የመንግስት እርሻ ሚንስትር በመሆን ሰርተዋል። ክቡርነታቸው የሚኒስትር ማዕረጋቸውን በፈቃዳቸው ከለቀቁ በኋላ በግል ሥራ ዘርፍ ተሰማርተው ሻውል ኮንሰልት የተባለ የአማካሪ ድርጅት በማቋቋም ከአገር አቀፍ እስክ ዓለም አቀፍነት አድርሰው ስፊና ልዩ ልዩ የልማት አገልግሎት እንዲስጥ አብቅተዋል።

በ1983 ዓ/ም በትግሬ ነጻ አውጭ ግንባር የሚመራው መንግስት አማራውን በብሄራዊ ጠላትነት ፈርጆ በመላው አገሪቱ የሚገኘው አማራ ላይ እሳት ሲጭር መላው አማራ “ሞረሽ!” ተብሎ ሲጠራ ኢንጅነር ኃይሉ ሻውል ጥሪውን ተቀብለው ወደ መላው አማራ ድርጅት በመቀላቀል በእሳት አደጋ ስራተኝነት  ሕዝብን ከጥፋት ለማዳን የተጀመረውን ርብርቦሽ በግንባር ቀደምት ነት ከሚመሩት አንዱ ለመሆን በቅተዋል። በፕሮፌሰር አስራት ወ/የስ በሚመራው በመላው አማራ ሕዝብ ድርጅት  ውስጥ በምክትል  ፕሬዝዳንትነትና የውጭ ጉዳይ ሃላፊነት ሲያገለግሉ የቆዩት ኃይሉ ፕሮፌሰር አስራት በወያኔ እስርና ጥቃት ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ሲለዩ በምትካቸው ተመርጠው የመአሕድ ፕሬዝዳንት ሆነዋል። በዚህም ጊዜ በቀኛዝማች ነቅአ ጥበብ ሽምድምድና የደነቆረ አመራር ፈራርሶ የነበረውን መአሕድ በማቃናት የኢንጅነር ኃይሉ አመራር አስተዋጽኦ አድርጓል። ሆኖም ፓርቲው በብሄራዊነት እንዲያገለግል ታስቦ ወደ መላው ኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ፓርቲነት ሲቀየር መአሕድ እንደገና በእነቀኝ አዝማች ነቅአ ጥበብ እጅ በመውደቁና የባሰ ተሽመድምዶ በመቅረቱ፤ የኢንጅነር ኃይሉ አመራር ከአዲስቹ የመአሕድ አመራር ጋር ቅራኔ ከመግባት ይልቅ በመተባበር ቢሰሩ ለአማራው ሕዝብ ትልቅ ተስፋና መከታ ይሆኑ ነበር የሚሉ ወገኖች ተከስተዋል። ቢሆንም መኢአድ ለአማራው ሕዝብ መብት ከመታገል አላቆመም የሚሉ ወገኖችም አልታጡም።

በ1997  ቅንጂት ሲፈጠር መኢአድ በመዋጡ ኢንጅነር ኃይሉ የቅንጂቱ ፕሬዝዳንት ቢሆኑም መሰረታዊ ፓርቲአችን መአሕድ አይፍረስብን  በሚሉ ጥቂት የፓርቲው አባላት ጥርስ ስር መግባታቸው አልቀረም። ይሁን እንጂ ቀደም ሲል ከመአሕድ ቀጥሎም ከመኢአድ አክራሪ አባላት የቀረበበትን ተቃርኖ በማክሽፍ የኢንጅነሩ አመራር እየገስገስ ሄዶ በኢትዮጵያ  ታላቅ ሕዝባዊ ኃይል ሆኖ በመውጣት ወያኔን ያንቀጠቅጥ ጀመር። በአገር ውስጥ ከሱማሌ ክልል ውጭ በስተቀር  ከሞላ ጎደል በሁሉም ክልሎች የተደራጀውና በዓለም ዙሪያ በተቋቋሙት የዲያስፖራ ድጋፍ ሰጭ ድርጅቶች ይረዳ የነበረው ቅንጅት በአብዛኛው የኃይሉ አመራር ውጤት ነው ማለት ይቻላል። ኃይሉ በአገር ውስጥ ከገጠር ወረዳዎች እስከ ክልል ዋና ከተሞች በመጓዝ ስለ ኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ሰበኩ። በአውሮፓ፤ በአሜሪካና በካናዳ በተደጋጋሚ በመዘዋወር አንድነት ኃይል መሆኑን አበክረው አሰታወቁ። የወያኔ አገዛዝም በዘር ላይ የተመሠረተ በመሆኑ አደገኛነቱን አስጠነቀቁ። በዚህም አመራራቸው ብቃታቸውን አረጋገጡ። በርሳቸውም አመራር ቅንጅት የ1997 ብሄራዊ ምርጫ አሸነፈ። ይሁን እንጂ ድሉ የተፈጸመው ዲሞክራሲ በሌለበት አገር በመሆኑ ውጤቱ ድል አድራጊው ወደ እሰር ቤት ድል ተነሽው ወደ ቤተ መንግስት ሆነ። ኃይሉም የዚሁ እውር ፍርድ ሰለባ ሆነው ከነወገኖቻቸውና የፖለቲካ ባልደረባዎቻቸው ጋር የሞት ፍርድ ተፈርዶባቸው ወህኒ ወረዱ።

ከእጅግ አሰልችና እልህ አስጨራሽ ትግልና ሕዝባዊ ውትወታ በኋላ ኃይሉና ባልደረባዎቻቸው ቢፈቱም ወያኔ በመሃላቸው ገብቶ በፈጠረው ልዩነት ቅንጅት ሲፈርሰ ኃይሉ መኢአድን እንደገና አደራጅተው ለ1997ቱ አገር አቀፍ ምርጫ አቀረቡ። ይሁን እንጂ ወያኔ የምርጫ ሥነ ስርአትን በተመለከተ ድርድር ውስጥ አስገብቷቸው የምርጫ ቦርድን ያላስተካከለ ውል በመፈረማቸው ከፖለቲካ ተቀናቃኞቻቸው አያሌ ተቃውሞ ደረሰባቸው። ይልቁንም በዚህ ምርጫ ወያኔ መቶ በ መቶ አሸንፍያለሁ በማለት ክአንድ በስተቀር ካለምንም ሌላ ተቃዋሚ ፓርላማውን በመሙላቱ ኃይሉ እጅግ ተማረው ከኢትዮጵያ ፖለቲካ አመራር ለመውጣት መወሰናቸውን በይፋ አስታወቁ። በፓርቲውም አመራር ተተኪ እስኪገኝ ቆይተው ስልጣናቸውን አስረከቡ።

ኢንጅነር ኃይሉ አልፎ አልፎ አመራራቸው በተቃርኖ (በ controversy)የታጀበ ቢሆንም በታታሪነታቸው፤ በግልጽነታቸውና በደፋርነታቸው የታወቁ መሪ ነበሩ። ለአገራቸው ያበረከቱት ወደር የሌለው  አገልግሎትም ስመ ጥር ኢትዮጵያዊ አድርጓቸዋል። ጥርሱን ካገጠጠ የትግራይ ወያኔ አምባገነን ጋር ያደረጉት ትግል በታሪክ ለትውልድ ሲተላፍ ሕያው ሆኖ ይኖራል። ደወል ለቤተሰቦቻቸው፤ ለወዳጆቻቸውና ለፓርቲያቸው መጽናናትን ትመኛለች።

                                                     

Press Release of the Orome Democratic Front (ODF)

On organization
The Central Committee of the Oromo Democratic Front (ODF) held an historical meeting from July 29 to August 4, 2016. The meeting was held at a time when people from all over Oromia were intensifying their uprising to demand democratic rights and genuine self-government in unison. The meeting recognized that the peaceful political struggle the Oromo people are waging inside the country is entering a new phase, gaining resilience and continuity.

After listening to the organizational report presented by the Executive Committee, the Central Committee thoroughly discussed and reflected on the report. The Central Committee commended the Executive Committee’s effort and performance in implementing policies and carrying out day-to-day operations of the organization. The leadership took note of the strengths and weaknesses confronting the organization. A unified direction and steps were formulated to build on our strengths and also lessons were drawn from our weaknesses.
On Oromo protest
The meeting also assessed the political development in the Oromia region, and other regions, in Ethiopia.  Twenty-five years after it came to power, the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front (EPRDF) neither democratized the country nor tackled developmental challenges facing our people. Massive violations of human rights and the prevalence of abject poverty continued to be features of EPRDF rule. Frustrated by the lack of democratic rights, good governance, and basic services, the protests instigated by the Oromo protest is now evolving into a country-wide mass uprising to demand fundamental democratic change.  Instead of addressing the legitimate demands of the various peoples, the regime chose to savagely attack its own citizens by killing, torturing, and incarcerating thousands of people. These desperate and cruel reactions by the regime against peaceful protesters proved to be futile as the yearning for change ignited in Oromia by the Oromo people is expanding to the other parts of the country, confirming the inevitability of change.
On the Gonder protest
The protest that started nine months ago in Oromia put the Oromo people in the front of the struggle for democratic change in Ethiopia. Now the movement has started to spread throughout the country. This week, a massive and spectacular nonviolent demonstration was held in Gonder. One of the historical significances of the protest in Gonder is the expression of unwavering solidarity with the struggle of the Oromo people and condemning the atrocities perpetrated against the Oromo by the cruel regime run by the EPRDF and dominated by the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), who have perpetrated extreme violations of human rights in the region. The demonstration of solidarity through nonviolent protests not only strengthens our peoples’ unbreakable bond but also speeds up and steers the country-wide movement, kindling the beginning of democratic change to be realized by consigning dictatorship in Ethiopia to dust bin of history. On this occasion, we call upon all the peoples of Ethiopia to defy the divide and rule policy of the regime and stand shoulder to shoulder in their struggle for democratic change and peaceful coexistence.
Call for the formation of Ethiopia-wide alliance
The Central Committee discussed in detail various initiatives the ODF has undertaken to reach out to various Ethiopian opposition groups and leaders. Recognizing that the relationship that has been cultivated with these groups is encouraging, the Central Committee instructed the Executive Committee to further strengthen the ties established in order to work toward the realization of an Ethiopia-wide coalition that can spearhead the nonviolent resistance engulfing the country. The coming together of various opposition groups not only speeds up the struggle by providing the most needed leadership, it also lays down the transition to democracy and peace. The ODF is happy to announce that it is working hard to materialize the Ethiopia-wide alliance and hopes to make public the end result of this effort in the near future. We also call upon all political organizations to be vigilant of the current political development in our country and come together to avoid any gap that the crumbling of the incumbent regime may create. United we will win, divided we will fail. The down fall of the EPRDF regime is certain. The question is not about if, but when. We need to play a constructive role by leading our peoples to democratic change. We cannot squander this opportunity as we have missed many of them in the past.
Call to international communities
The Central Committee calls upon international community to withdraw its financial and military support to the autocratic regime dominated by the TPLF in Ethiopia for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the regime is internally illegitimate, drawing support for its leadership only from external foreign powers rather than internal forces within Ethiopia. The United States and other members of the international community who are fighting extremism are undermining their own democratic values and long term security interests by continuing to support the incumbent regime. The United States is only compromising its long-term security interests by continuing to support an illegitimate and autocratic dictatorship in Ethiopia. Pressure must be put upon the TPLF/EPRDF to heed the demands of the people within the country they seek to rule, and the most effective way to influence the regime is pressure from external influential powers.

Justice and freedom for all!!
The Oromo Democratic Front Central Committee
August 5, 2016

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