ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

መሪሕነት ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንዲሞከራስን ፍትሕን ብሓፈሻ፡ ውልቀ-መላኺ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ ድማ ብፍላይ፡ ተበዲልና እምበር በዲልና ዘይወጾም መራሕቲ ኢዮም። ስለዝዀኑ ድማ፡ ይቕሬታ ክሓቱ ወይ ሕድገታት ክገብሩ ባህርያቶም ኣየፍቅደሎምን ኢዩ። ጌጋኻ ከይኣረምካ፡ ካብ ቂምን ቅርሕንትን ዝተበገሰ ተጻይ መልሲ እንዳሃብካ ሃገር ምምራሕ ስለዘይከኣል ከኣ፡ እንሆ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ብስእነት ሰላምን ሰናይ ምሕደራን ንእልቢ ዘይብሉ ጸገማት ተቓሊዖም ይርከቡ። ብኻልእ ኣገላልጻ፡ ዕጫ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ድኽነት፡ ሕማም፡ ድንቍርና፡ ህውከትን ስደትን ኰይኑ ኣሎ።

ነዚ ሓቂ’ዚ ንምሽፋንን ዕምሪ ስልጣኑ ንምንዋሕን ኢዩ እምበኣር ውልቀ-መላኺ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ፡ ብድሆታትን ዕድላትን ዝብል ቃላት ኣብ ነፍስወከፍ ዓመት እናደጋገመ ንህዝቢ ከደናግር ክፍትን ዝጸንሐን ዘሎን።  ብዓይኒ ሓቂ እንተርኢናዮ ግን፡ እዚ ስርዓት’ዚ ብብድሆታት ዝቝዝም ንዝተፈጥሩ ዕድላት ድማ ብኸንቱ ዘባኽን ስርዓት ኢዩ።

ናጽነት ኤርትራ ብ1991 ምስ ተረጋገጸ፡ ንብድሆታት  ህንጻ ሃገር ንምስዓር ዘኽእሉ ብዙሓት ዕድላት ኢዮም ተኸሲቶም ነይሮም። ተቓወምቲ ውድባት ኤርትራ፡ ንግዝያዊ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ተቐቢሎም፡ ከም ተቓወምቲ ብናጽነት ክዋስኡ ዘኽእሎም ዘተ ንምግባር ቅሩብነቶም ዝገለጽሉ እዋን’ዩ ነይሩ። መራሕቲ ኤርትራ፡ ኢትዮጵያን ኡጋንዳን ናይ ሓድሽ ወለዶ መራሕቲ ተባሂሎም ኣህጕራዊ ማሕበረ-ሰብ ብሓፈሻ፡ መንግስቲ ኣመሪካ ከኣ ብፍላይ ክድግፎም ድልዊ ነይሩ። ዓለም ብዓለማ ብኢትዮጵይ ጀሚርካ፡ ናጽንትን ልዑላውነትን ናይ ኤርትራ ተቐቢላ፡ ምስ ኤርትራ ሓቢራ ክትሰርሕ ኤምባሲታት ኣብ ኤርትራ ከፊታ። ጣልያን፡ መገዲ ባቡር ኤርትራ ባዕለይ ክሰርሖ ኢላ ተመባጺዓ። ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት፡ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ናብ ሃገሮም ተመሊሶም ንኽጣየሱ ዘድሊ ሓገዛት ክገብር ወሲኑ። ኣብ ግዳም ዝነብሩ ኤርትራውያን ከኣ፡ ነታ ዘላቶም ዓቕሚ ኣብ ህንጸት ሃገሮም ከውዕሉ፡ ብሓብር ድዮም ወይስ በብውልቆም ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ መዳያት ገንዘቦም ከዋፍሩ ክጓየዩ ዝተራእይሉ ወቕቲ’ዩ ነይሩ።

ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኣስመራ ግን፡ ነዚ ዕድላት’ዚ ብምሉኡ ኣባኺኑ’ዩ ናብ ብድሆታት ቀይርዎ። ናጽነት ኤርትራ ምስ ተረጋገጸ፡ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ ኣብ ዝሃቦ መግለጺ፡ ምስ ዲፕሎማስያዊ ዕዮ ዘይሳነ፡ ንውድብ ሓድነት ኣፍሪቃን ንዅሎም መራሕቲ ኣፍሪቃን  ብምቍንጻብን ብምጽራፍን ኢዩ ፈሊምዎ። ንጣልያን ውን ከምኡ እቲ ገንዘብ ኣብ ኢድና እንተዘይሃብኩምና ይትረፈና ዝብል መልሲ ሂቡ፡ ብጕልበት ኤርትራውያን ነቲ መገዲ ባቡር ዘመናዊ ንምግባር ዘይኰነስ፡ ነቲ ዝነበረ ንምጽጋን ክንደይ ግዜን ገንዘብን ከጥፍኣሉ መሪጹ። ንወኪል ኤምባሲታት ሕብረት ኣውሮጳ ኣባሪሩ፤ ስደተኛታት ከይምለሱ፡ ምስኦም ተሓኤን ዕላማታቱን ክምለሱ ኢዮም ካብ ዝብል ስግኣት ናይ መምለሲኦም ገንዘብ ደኣ ሃቡኒ እምበር፡ ከመይ ከምዝምለሱስ ባዕለይ ኢየ ዝፈልጦ ብምባል ነቲ ተበግሶ ኣምከኖ። ኤርትራውያን ኣውፈርቲ ድማ፡ ንገሊኦም ፕሮጀክትታቶም ሰሪቑ፡ ኣብ ግብሪ ክውዕል ዘየኽእል ምስምስ፡ ንኣብነት ፋብሪካ ክገብር እንተበሉ ሓይሊ ኤለክትሪክ ኣብ ዘይርከቦ ቦታ ክተኽልዎ ወይ ድማ እዚ ፕሮጀክት’ዚ ድሮ ብኻልኦት ቀሪቡ ኣሎ ኢሉ ከምክኖን ቦንድ’ዶ ናይ ገዛውቲ ፕርጀክት’ዶ እናበለ ሃብቶም፡ ገንዘቦምን ጕልበቶምን ክዝርፍ ኢዩ ተራእዩ። እትረፍ’ዶ ኣውፈርቲ ካብ ወጻኢ ናብ ኤርትራ ክኣትዉ። እቶም ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝነበሩ ውሕዳት ሰብ ርእሰ-ማል ሃገሮም ራሕሪሖም ክወጹን፡ ሃብቶም ኣብ ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃ ከዋፍርዎን ተራእዮም።

እቲ ጸይቂ ስራሕ ኣብ’ዚ ጥራሕ ተደሪቱ’ውን ኣይተረፈን። ምስ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት የመን፡ ሱዳን፡ ኢትዮጵያን ጅቡትን ውግእ ብምብራዕ ንዞናና ናብ ዘይርጉእን ናይ ውግእን ወረ ውግእን ዞና ቀይርዎ። ከም ውጽኢቱ ድማ፡ ብምልዮናት ዝቝጸሩ ነበርቲ ናይ’ዘን ሃገራት ኣደዳ ሞት፡ ስንክልና፡ ምፍንቓልን ስደትን ኰይኖም። እታ እንኮ ዝነበረትና ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተዓጽያ፡ ብወተሃደራት ዝካየድ ኣብያተ-ትምህርትን ኮለጃትን ተተኪኣ። በዚ ኣገባብ’ዚ፡ ኤርትራ፡ ዝነበራ ዕድላት ኵሉ ባኺኑ፡ ስማን መልክዓን ተደዊኑ፡ ዜጋታታ ኣደዳ ማእሰርቲ፡ መጭወይቲ ቅንጸላን ስደትን ኰይኖም። ዋላ እቶም ነቲ ውልቀ-መላኺ ናብ ስልጣን ዘምጽእዎ ተጋደልትን መራሕቲ ብጾቱን ከይተረፉ ካብ’ዚ ዕጫ’ዚ ኣይደሓኑን። ብሓጺሩ፡ ኤርትራ ናብ ዓባይ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ኢያ ተቐይራ። ነዚ ናይ ቤት ማእሰርቲ መነባብሮ ድማ፡ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ሰላም ኣሎ፡ ከም ድላይካ ከይሰጋእካ ክትዛወር ትኽእል እናበለ ክንየተሉ ይስማዕ ኢዩ። እወ፡ ኣብ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ዘረባ የለ፡ ተቓውሞ የለ፡ መሰል የለ፡ ባእሲ የለ፡ በቶም ዝሕልውኻ ወተሃደራት ዝወሃበካ ትእዛዛት እናፈጸምካ ኢኻ ትነብር። ነዚ’ዩ ሰላም ሰፊኑ ኢሉ ክምክሓሉ ዝስማዕ።

ሕጂ ብዛዕባ ኣየናይ ዕድል ኢዩ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ክዛረብ ዝፍትን ዘሎ ብዙሕ ብሩህ ኣይኰነን። እንታይ ከይረገጣ ዝተረፈቶ ጩራ ብርሃን ኣልያ ኰይና ኢያ ዕድላት ኣሎ ክብለና ዝፍትን ዘሎ። እዛ ምስ ቀዳማይ ሚንስተር ኢትዮጵያ ኣብዪ ኣሕመድን ምስ ብስዑዲ ዓረብ ዝምራሕ ልፍንትን ገይረያ ኢሉ ዝዛረበላ ዘሎ ምሕዝነት እንተዀይና፡ ሰላምን ልምዓትን ንምምጻእ ዘይኰነስ ንህውሓት ንምቕርቃርን ንልዑላውነት ኤርትራ ኣብ ዋጋ ዕዳጋ ብምእታው ጐብለልን ናይ’ቲ ከባቢ ንምዃን እንተዘይኰይኑ ካልእ ዝርአ ወይ ዝጭበጥ ዕላማ ኣይርኣናላን። ቅድሚ ሕጂ እውን ንኤርትራ ዝሓወሰት ኢትዮጵያ ክመርሕ ስለዝደለየ ኢዩ ንክልቲኡ ኣህዛብ ኣብ ውግእ ዝነቖተን ፍልልይ ምስ ወያነ ዝተኸስተን።

ኣብ ህልው ኵነታት ኤርትራን ኣብ ምዕባለታት ከባቢናን፤ ከምኡ’ውን ኣብ ዕድላትን ብድሆታትን መደባት ስራሕ 2020 ብዝብል ኣርእስቲ፡ ሓጐስ ገብረሂወት (ክሻ)፡ ዑስማን ሳልሕ፡ ኣልኣሚን መሓመድ ስዒድ፡ ኣብርሃ ክሳን ወለንኪኤል ኣብርሃን ዝርከብዎ ዝለዓለ  ተላኣኣኺ ጕጅለ ኢሳያስ፡ ምስ ላዕለዎት ኣዘዝቲ ሰራዊትን ላዕለዎት መራሕቲ ማሕበራትን ትካላትን ዘካድዎ ዘለዉ ሰሚናራት፡ ነቲ ምስ ዶር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ ዝተበጽሐ ዘይንጹር ውዕላትን ስዒቡ ኣብ ዝተገብረ ብጽሖታት ክልቲኦም መራሕቲ ናብ ክልቲአን ሃገራት፡ ካብ መራሕ ሃገር ዘይትጽበዮ ኢሳያስ ዘስምዖ ናይ ጥልመት መደረ ንምክሕሓስን ንሱ ዘስዓቦ ህዝባዊ ቁጠዐን ንምዝሓልን ዝዓለመ ኢዩ። ስለ’ዚ ከኣ’ዮም ንመንእሰያትና ብሓድሽ ተክኖሎጂ ኣዕጢቕና ኣንጻር እዞም ኣዕነውቲ ሶሽያል ሚድያ ከነዋፍሮም ኣሎና ክብሉ ዝተሰምዑ።

እቲ ተወሲኹ ተባሂሉ ዝተዘርበሉ ደሞዝ ከኣ፡ ብመሰረት ኣብ 2016 ዝተገብረ ናይ ደሞዝ ምምሕያሽ እሞ ኣብ 2018 ኣብ ግብሪ ዝውዓለ ዝብሃል፡ እቲ ዝተሓተ ደሞዝ 1800 ናቕፋ ክኸውን ተወሲኑ ክነሱስ፡ ገለ ግን 500 ናቕፋ ይውሃቦም ምንባሩ’ዩ ኢሳያስ ጠቒሱ። ነዚ ድማ ንሱ ከምዘይፈልጦ ዝነበረ ኰይኑ ቀሪቡ። እቶም ነዚ ዝገበሩ ታሕተዎት ሰበ-ስልጣን ምንባሮም ኣሚቱ ወይ ምስ ናይ ቀረባ መራሕቶም ኣባኢሱ፡ ሕጂ ናይ ክልተ ዓመት በብ1300 ንወርሒ ተሓሲቡ ክኽፈሎም ከምዝወሰነ ገሊጹ። እዚ’ዩ ተወሲኹ ተባሂሉ ክግለጽ ዝሰማዕናዮ። ካልእ ዝሰማዕናዮ ወሰኽ ኣይነበረን። ነቶም ኣብ 2020 ክጅመር ተባሂሉ ተታሒዙ ዘሎ መደብ ስራሕ ኢሎም ሕቶኦም ከቕርብሉ ዝፈተኑ ጋዜጠኛታት ክግስጽ ከሎ ድማ፡ ኣብ 2020 ዘይኰነስ ኣብ 2021 ኢዩ ዝጅምር ክብል ተሰሚዑ። ብሓጺሩ ኣብ 2020 ዝዀነ ይኹን ክግበር ዝተመደበ ምምሕያሽ የለን። ን2021 እንተዀይኑ ድኣ ሽዑ እታ ርሕቕቲ ትመስል ዓመት ምስ መጸት  ዘይመርከብናሉ። ካብ ንዓመታ ደርሆስ፡ ሎምዘበን እንቋቍሖ’ዶ ኣይምሓሸን።

Saturday, 21 March 2020 17:45

Radio Dimtsi Harnnet Sweden 21.03.2020

Written by

Putting the spotlight on defending the sovereignty of Eritrea By PetrosTesfagiorgis First let me congratulate the brotherly/sisterly people of Tigray and their vanguard TPLF for celebrating the 45 years anniversary of the beginning of their armed

Putting the spotlight on defending the sovereignty of Eritrea

By PetrosTesfagiorgis

First let me congratulate the brotherly/sisterly people of Tigray and their vanguard TPLF for celebrating the 45 years anniversary of the beginning of their armed struggle.  The TPLF defeated  the military Junta (the Dergue)  led by of Colonel Mengustu Hailemariam and brought to an ended the Ethiopian feudal Empire that was built on the total power of the Amhara ruling class over other nationalities.  This victory heralded a new era of self-rule and equality to the oppressed nationalities in Ethiopia. Although other liberation movements such as EPRP, OLF, Sidama Liberation Front, the Ogaden National Liberation Front, Hailu Fida’s MEISON and the Eritrean Liberation Front  contributed a lot to the downfall of the Dergue, it was the combined military offensive of EPLF and TPLF that finally defeated the heavily armed regime in Ethiopia.

As I started to write my article I listened to interviews by Haregu Keleta of ERENA with some Eritreans regarding the speech Dr Debrezion gave during the celebration of their 45 years anniversary.  Dr Debrezion expressed, not for the first time, his unreserved welcome to the Eritrean refugees in Tigray. This time he mentioned the Eritrean army saying “this is your home.”    One commentator said this statement is a call to the Eritrean army to surrender. He expressed that the TPLF has an evil design on Eritrea. His narrative can be taken that Tigray is no friend of the people of Eritrea. All these nonsense talk is out of context. The reality on the ground is different. We should not cheat ourselves; members of the Eritreans army do cross the border to Ethiopia and the Sudan as refugees. And to this day they continue to do so. They don’t need Dr Debresion to tell them to come to Ethiopia. It is an insult to their intelligence.  They are just running away from a brutal regime.

We have some Eritreans suffering from a sense of loss and fail to acknowledge the help the Tigreans are rendering to the Eritrean refugees. In their time of darkness they treat them with kindness.  But the show is polluted by bad language against TPLF/Tigray. This remark is unnecessary and is offending   Eritreans living in the border areas with Tigray.  The world has watched when both Eritreans and Tigreans   expressed their joy and happiness as they warmly greet each other when the border was opened after 20 years. Although it was for a short time only, Eritreans have benefitted from buying commodities at a much cheaper price to that in Eritrea. Witnessing this rendezvous the Just seekers in Diaspora who are talking from their comfort zone should realize that the Eritreans living in the border area have much greater stake in peace more than the rest of us. And they will oppose such anti-peace statements. A group of people from Senafe area did that on the social media. In addition peace and friendship between the two neighborly people could be a bridge for peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia in total. In building peace it is the language of peace that must prevail.

On the other hand in the interview there were rational voices such as that of Elen Tesfagiorgis from Yiakle Washington and Temesgen Kahsai – who took the words of Dr Debretzion as genuine.   Temesgen Kahsai is a mature nationalist journalist by any standard and has shown competence in assessing the present situation. On the other hand, it is an advantage for Tigray to be friends with Eritrea. They don’t want to be encircled by PFDJ.  People speculate that the recent visit of Dr Abiy and the Minister of Defense Lemma Megersa to Asmara was about Tigray.  TPLF has become an obstacle to replace the Federal system by Prosperity party the brain child of Dr Abiy Ahmed. It is therefore a question of mutual survival.

Genuine cordial relationship between Sovereign Eritrea and Tigray region of Ethiopia would contribute to the stability of Ethiopia. It is a bridge to   reach to the rest of Ethiopia. (More on part 2).

In this moment in time putting the spotlight on defending the sovereignty of Eritrea is the priority.

As the geopolitics of the horn changes, we Eritreans must move with it harnessing our energies and ways of thinking to ensure the sovereignty of Eritrea. Isaias is working in slow motion to give away Eritrea to Dr Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia. The people of Eritrea did not get peace divided. Eritrean prisoners of conscience are not released, indefinite national service, slave labor and other forms of human rights violations continue unabated. On the contrary Isaias and Abiy have become allies in the unholy mission to kill the Eritrean sovereignty and to crash the TPLF. The TPLF is spearheading the fight to defend the federal system.  In his address to the people of Eritrea on 7/02/20 Isaias declared he will support   Dr Abiy in his bid to abolish the federal system? This is a betrayal of the revolution in Ethiopia championed by the Haile Sellasie University progressive students union in Addis Ababa in the end of 60th and early 70th. The revolution was anti-imperialism, anti colonialism and anti-feudalism. Feudalism is the system that perpetuates oppression of nationalities in Ethiopia. This gave rise to the right of self-determination including secession.  That is why Oromo professionals mostly doctors sent strongly worded letter condemning Isaias talk against the Federal System.  Many Ethiopian social media have spoken out against Isaias and also have broken their silence of the gross human rights violations in Eritrea. The outspoken politician Ledetu Ayalew   and Jewar Mohammed – who runs the powerful Oromia Media Network (OMN) that played a leading role in the Oromo youth (Kero) uprising were among many political analysts who condemned Isaias and reminded him to take his hands off TPLF.  Ledetu said unequivocally the case of TPLF is an Ethiopian case and not Eritrea. Isaias is reckless who can go to war easily. For him the life of the people of Eritrea does not matter.

We Eritreans need peace more than any others because it is the lack of peace or the excuse of it that is ruining our country and destroying the fabric of the Eritrean society.  Peace does not come by itself we have to build brick by brick. We should not live in the past. Peace is about forgiveness and reconciliation. However we have to express our kind of peace that honors our sovereignty and protects the wellbeing of the people of Eritrea.  We are becoming too reactive to what has been said about Eritrea by Ethiopians.   We have to be pro-active and put on the table our terms of peace clearly. One of the terms is to honor the sovereignty of Eritrea.  This is the responsibility of organized bodies representing the justice seekers.  In this case professional people or   Think Tank bodies can be assigned to package the terms in a professional way.

In this extremely challenging period we need an ally and it is the TPLF. In spite of the avoidable Ethio-Eritrean destructive war of 1998 and the deportation of thousands of Eritreans from Ethiopia, the TPLF has never doubted the sovereignty of Eritrea.  And we know if Abiy and Isaias managed to defeat the TPLF then the Eritrean sovereignty will be at risk. Tamrat Negara said “we have to thank Isaias for making Eritrea weak” It is easy to invade Eritrea today; you can do it as you brush your teeth”. General Tzadkan said “it is a matter of time before the Port of Assab is owned by Ethiopia”.   This is not a mere wishful thinking, many Ethiopians wanted it badly. However, we have to differentiate between independent individuals and   Government spokespeople.

In conclusion let me express my Congratulations to the Eritrean Women in London celebrating the international women day. It brings back the fighting spirit of women during the long years of armed struggle.   It is profoundly   inspirational and successful. Women are ethically sensitive less likely to be corrupt. Once they rise up they could do wonders they are the nucleus of the Eritrean society.

The End:  Laluta continua.

Source=https://assenna.com/putting-the-spotlight-on-defending-the-sovereignty-of-eritrea/

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እምነቱ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህግዲፍ ካብ ዝስሕብ ነዊሕ ግዜ ኮይኑ እዩ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከምዚ ዓይነት ውዱእ መርገጽ ክሕዝ ዝተገደደሉ ምኽንያት ሰፊሕ ዝርዝር ዘለዎ ኮይኑ፡ ቀንዲ ሕመረቱ፡ ህግዲፍ ኣብ ዝወዓሎ ዘይሓድር፡ ቃሉ ዘየኽብርን ሕድሪ ሰማእታት ዝጠልምን ብምዃኑ እዩ።

ህግዲፍ ቃል ዝኣተወሎም እሞ ዝጠለሞም መብጸዓታት ካብ ምዝርዛር “ዋላ ሓንቲ ዘኽበሮ ቃል የለን” ኢልካ ምድምዳም ከም ዝቐልል ርዱእ እዩ። ምናልባት ሓደሓደ መዘኻኸሪ ንምጥቃስ ዝኣክል፡ ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ፡ ንኤርትራ ኣብ ቁጠባ ከም ሲንጋፖር ከዕብያ እየ ኢሉ ኣብ ጥራይ ጐልጐል ተጃሂሩ። ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት 18 ኣዋርሕ ከም ዝኸውን ተጠሊዑ ኣዊጁ። ዘመናውን ምዕቡል ሕርሻ ከተኣታቱ እየ እንዳበለ፡ ናይ ክንደይ ሓረስቶት ስቡሕ መሬት መንዚዑ። ኣብ ገማግም ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ናጻ ገንዘባዊ ዞና ከተኣታቱ እየ ኢሉ። ሕገመንግስታዊ ስርዓት ከተኣታቱ እየ ኢሉ ኢሉ ከብቅዕ፡ ነቲ ሓደ ሰነድ ከባኽን፡ ንምንዳፍ ሓድሽ ሕገመንግስታዊ ሰነድ ዘይትግበር ቃል ኣትዩ። በመሰረት ዓለም ለኻዊ ናይ መወዳእታን ቀያድን ውሳነ ኮሚሽ ዶብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን፡ ወሰን ክጥርር እየ ኢሉ ከምዘይፈከረ፡ ሎሚ ቃሉ ዓጺፉን መብጸዓኡ ጠሊሙን፡ ነዚ ዛዕባዚ ንዘልዕሉ ወገናት “ዘረግቲ ሰላም ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን እዮም” ኢሉ ይውንጅሎምን የፈራርሖምን ኣሎ። ቦንድ ግዝኡ እሞ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ መስርሒ ኣባይቲ ዝኸውን መሬት ክትወስዱ ኢኹም ኢልዎም ከብቅዕ፡ ዝጠለሞም ኣብ ወጻኢ ዝነብሩ ንህግዲፍ ኣሚኖም ማይ ሓቚኖም ዝተረፉን ዘቑረምርሙ ዘለዉን ኤርትራውያን ብዙሓት እዮም። ጉዳይ ግዱድ ክፍሊት 2% ከኣ ኩልና ዘይንዝንገዖ  ዘይምኽኑይ ራስያ እዩ።

ሎሚ ንኤርትራና ክንዕዘባ እንከለና፡ ክልተ ሻብ ተራእያ፡ ግዳይ ጥልመት ናይዚ ኣቐዲሙ ዝተጠቕሰ መብጸዓታት ህግዲፍ ኮይና ከምዘላ ምርዳእ ዘጸገም ኣይኮነን። ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ናብ ባርነት ዝማዕበለን ሓደ ካብ ጠንቅታት ስደት ዝኾነን መውዳእታ ዘየብሉ ግዱድ ዕስክርና ህያው ኣሎ፡ ቁጠባዊ ውድቀት ኤርትራ ከምዚ እዩ ኢልካ ክትገልጾ ኣብ ዘጸግም፡ ኣዝዩ  ዝተሓተ ደረጃ ተነቚቱ ኣሎ፡ ፍልሰት ኤርትራዊ ሓደ ካብ ናይ ዓለምና ናይ ስግኣት ዛዕባታት እዩ፡ ከም መርኣያ ብኩራት ኩሉ መንግስታዊ ትካላት ስልጣን ኣብ ኢድ ሓደ ውልቀ-መላኺ ወዲቑ፡ ዝኣመሰሉ ተርእዮታት ሳዕሪሮም ከም ዘለዉ ኢና እንርዳእ። ህግዲፍ ሕሉፍ ሓሊፉ ነዚ ጥልመታቱ ኣዝዩ ብዘራጉድ ደረጃ ንኤርትራዊ ልኡላውነት ኣብ ሓደጋ ናብ ምውዳቕ ይመጣጠር ኣሎ። እዚ ሕዱር ሕልሙን ናይ ነዊሕ ግዜ ጉርሕን ሸርሕን እምበር፡ ናይ ግርህነት ከምዘይኮነ ብዙሓት ይምስክሩ ኣለዉ።

ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ነዚ መርዛም ናይ ጥልመት ተግባራቱ ከቃምም ነዊሕ ግዜ ወሲድሉ። እዚ ዘለናሉ ኣብ ቅድሚኡ ብዙሓት በዳህቲ ፈተነታት ዘለዉዎ፡ ግዜዚ ንህግዲፍ ዝባኸነ ኣይኮነን፡ ምኽንያቱ ንሱ ህዝቢ እንዳደሃኸ፡ ነቲ ግዜ ዝደልዮ እዩ ክሰርሓሉ ጸኒሑ። ነቶም ኤርትራ ልኡላዊት፡ ብልጽግቲ፡ ሰላማዊት፡ ፍትሓዊትን ዲሞክራስያዊትን ክትከውን እንብህግን ምእንታኡ እንቃለስ ዘለናን ግና ዝባኸነ ግዜ እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ኣንጻር ህግዲፍ ተቓሊስና ከነድመዓሉ ዝግበኣና ዝነበረ ግዜ ክነሱ፡  ውጽኢት ቃልስና ትሕቲ ትጽቢትና ብምዃኑ። ሎሚ ነዚ ህግዲፍ ብሓሶትን ጥልመትን ክዕንድረሉ ዝጸንሐ ግዜ እንመሃረሉ እምበር፡ ንድሕሪት ኣይንመልሶን ኢና። ኣብ መጻኢ ተመሳሳሊ ግዜ ከይነባኽን ግና ክንሰርሕ ይግበኣና። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እውን ወዮ መዕንደሪ ጥልመት ህግዲፍ ኮይኑስ፡ ከምቲ “ክሰርቀኒ ዝረኣኹዎስ ክመልሰለይ ኣይኣምኖን” ዝበሃል፡ ድሕሪ ሕጂ ብናይ ህግዲፍ ዘይትግበር መብጸዓ ክዕሸውዩ ዝብል ግምት የብልናን።

እዚ እተጠቕሰ ህግዲፍ ዓይንና እንዳረኣየ እዝንና እንዳሰመዐ ክፍጽሞ ዝጸንሐ ጥልመት እዩ። ካብዚ ዝኸፍእ ተሓቢኡ ክፍጽሞ ዝጸንሐን ዘሎን ገበናትን ውዲታትን እውን ኣሎ። ኣብ ገማግም ቀይሕ ባሕሪ፡ ነቲ ሓደ ወተሃደራዊ መደበር ክኸፍት፡ ነቲ ካልእ ስዉር ወተሃደራዊ መዕለሚ ክፈቅድ፡ ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ንናይ ግዳም ሓይሊ ባሕሪ መደበር ክምድምድ ትንዕምንዕ ዝብሎ ዘሎ ምስቲ ዝተጠቕሰ ናይ ጥልመት ዝርዝር ዝድመር እዩ። ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ከኣ ወተሃደራዊ መራክብ ግብጺ ኣብ ደሴት ዳህላክ ብፍላይ ከኣ ኖራ ኣብ እትበሃል ቦታ ክዕርዳ እየ፡ ዝብል ብዝተፈላለያ ማዕከናት ዜና ክነፍስ ንሰምዕ ኣለና። ኣብዚ ኣብ መንጎ ኢትዮጵያን ግብጽን ብዛዕባ ዓብይ ሓጽቢ ኣግእዞ ኢትዮጵያ ምውጣጥ ኣብ ዝተባለሓሉ፡ ናይዚ ጉዳይ ትርጉም እንታይ ምዃኑ ምርድኡ ዘጸግም ኣይኮነን። ዋላኳ ነቲ ናይ ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቅን ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ዶ/ር ኣብይ ኣሕመድን ተሪር ሽኻል ዘየብሉ ወኻዕካዕ ርእዮም “ኢሳያስ ነዝስ ኣይውዕሎን ግዲ” ዝብል ግምት እንተለዎም፡ ወይለኦም ደኣ ነቶም ንዓኡ ዝኣመኑ እምበር፡ ንኢሳያስስ ናብ ዝያዳ ዘኽስበካ ጽግዕ ምባል ዘሕንኾ ኣይኮነን።

ኩሉቲ ኢሳያስ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ኤርትራ ኣንጻር ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ሱዳን፡ የመን፡ ጅቡትን ኢትዮጵያን ክጽሕትሮ ዝጸንሐ ውግእን ህውከትን መንቀሊኡ እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝሳዕረረ በደል እዩ። ሕጂ ከኣ ነቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ከዘውትሮ ዝጸንሐ ጥልመት ኣብ ልዕሊ ካለኦት ዘይፍጽመሉ ምኽንያት የለን። ብፍላይ ከኣ ነቲ ኢሳያስ ኣብዚ ቀረባ ዓመታት ንኢራን ዝሸምጠጠ ሸምጢጡ ጠንጢንዋ፡ ኣብ ቅድሚ መንግስታት ስዑድዓረብን ኤምረትን ጭርኡ ክዘርግ ንዝተዓዘበ ኣካል እዚ ዝስማዕ ዘሎ ኣብ ከባቢ ኖራ ምስውስው ምባል ክሕደሶ ኣይክእልን እዩ። ኮታ ጠመተ ኣዒንቲ ኢሳያስ ኩሉ ግዜ ናብ ርትዕን ፍትሕን ዘይኮና ናብ ጁባኻ እንዳመልኡን መዳልያ እንዳሃቡን ዕድመ ስልጣን  ዘናውሑልካ ኣካላት እዩ። ድሕሪ እዚ ከኣ ከምቲ “ዝበለዐት ከብዲ” ወይ “ዝሃበ ይልእኽ” ዝበሃል፡ ቆላሕታኡ ንፋስ ናይቶም መዳልያን ዶላርን ዝህብዎ ነገስታት ምኽታል እዩ። ስለዚ ትማሊ ዝሸምጠጠ ሸምጢጡ ንኢራንን ንካለኦትን ሕቖኡ ዝሃበ ሰብኣይ፡ ሎሚ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ እንተደገሞ፡ ነቶም ዘይፈልጥዎ እንድዒ፡ ንዓና ግና ኣይክሕደሰናን እዩ። እቲ ጥልመቱ ኣብቲ መበቆሉ ኤርትራ እንተዘይተማሕዩ ከኣ ግዜን ኩነታትን እንዳመረጸ ናብ ደገ ምግንፋሉ ዘይተርፍ እዩ። እቶም ኢሳያስ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራኳ ከምዘይኮኖ እንዳረኣዩን እንዳሰምዑን፡ “ሰብ ረኺብና” ኢሎም መኻይዲ ክኾኖም ዝሓርይዎ ከኣ የወኣዮም።

እምበር እቲ ቀንዲ ቁምነገር፡ ምርዳእኳ ባዕሉ ይረዶ እንድዩ፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ “ህግዲፍ ዝኣመነን ማይ ዝሓቖነን ኩሉ ሓደ” ምዃኑ በዚ ኣጋጣሚ ንምዝኽኻሩ’ዩ።

Thursday, 19 March 2020 23:10

Radio Dimtsi Harnnet Kassel 19.03.2020

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ርእሰ ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

“ጕባኤና ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ ኣካል ጭቁን ህዝቢ ምዃኑ ገምጊሙ። እቲ ዝበዝሐ ንሃገሩ ራሕሪሑ ንስደት ዘምርሕ ዘሎ ኤርትራዊ ካብ’ዚ ትካል’ዚ ዘምለጠ ምዃኑ ድማ መርኣያ ናይ’ዚ ሓቂ’ዚ ኢዩ። ስለዚ ረብሓኡ ምስ ለውጢ እምበር ምስ ጭቆና ከምዘይኮነ ብምግንዛብ፡ ንህዝቡን ንነብሱን ካብ’ዚ ኣሰቃቒ መነባብሮ ንምንጋፍ ኣብ ጐድኒ ህዝቡ ደው ኢሉ ንምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግዲፍ ከወግድ ጸዊዑ።”  (ካብ ፖለቲካዊ ውሳነታት 3ይን ሓድነታውን ጉባአ፡ ሰዲህኤ)

ሎሚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ኣርዑት ሓጺን ህግዲፍ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኩልና ኤርትራውያን ዝተጻዕነ እዩ። ነዚ ኣርዑት ሓጺን ብቃልሲ ሴርካ ናጻ ናይ ምውጻእ ሓላፍነት እውን ናይ ኩልና ዕማም እምበር፡ ሓደ ተዕዛባይ ኮይኑ ናይቲ ካልእ ጻዕሪ ዝጽበየሉ መስርሕ ኣይኮነን። እዚ ንምዝኽኻር ዝጥቀስ እምበር ነቲ ሓቢሩ ብተመኩሮ ጽንኩር ቃልሲ ፈሊሑ ዝገረረ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከም ሓድሽ ዝንገሮ ኣይኮነን።

እዚ ክበሃል እንከሎ ግና ብዝተፈላለዩ ምኽንያታት ብጽሒታትና ኣብ ምዕዋትዚ ተተሓሒዝናዮ ዘለና ቃልሲ ብመልክዕ ክፈላለ ይኽእል። ብኣተሃላልዋና ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራን ዘለናን ኣብ ወጻኢ እንነብርን፡ ብዕድመና መንእሰያትን ዓበይትን፡ ብጾታ ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ደቂ ተባዕትዮን፡ ብዝተዋፈርናሉ ዕማምን ክእለትን ኣባል ሰራዊትን ሲቪልን ካልእ ከምኡ ዝኣመሰለ ክንበሃል እንከለና፡ መን ኣበየናይን ብኸመይን የድምዕ ብመልክዕ ክፈላለ ከም ዝኽእል ርዱእ እዩ። ናይ ኩልና ናይ ቃልሲ ኣበርክቶ ግና ሸቶኡ ሓደ ወጻዕትን ናይ ወጽዓ ኣተሓሳስባን ኣወጊድካ ኣብ ራህዋ ንምብጻሕ ናብ ሓደ ናይ ዓወት ፈለግ ዝፈስስ እዩ።

ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ: ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ወጽዓኡ ፍጊዕ ኢልዎ፡ ኣብቲ ዝለዓለ ደረጃ ምብጽሑ ተረዲኡ፡ ብፍርሒ ተዋሒጡ መህደሚ ከናዲ ሃንደፍደፍ ይብል ከምዘሎ ንዕዘቦ ኣለና። እዚ ህግዲፍ ፈትዩ ዝኣተዎ ዘሎ ናይ ድሮ ውድቀቱ ምዕራፍ ዘይኮነ፡ ውጽኢት ቃልሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራን  ናይ ለውጢ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታቱን እዩ። ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት ዝተኻየደ ናይ ላዕለዎት መራሕቲ ህግዲፍ ናይ ኣኼባ ሸበድበድ ተዓዚብናዮ ኣለና። ካብ ዕላማታት ናይዚ ኣኼባታት ነቲ ዓለም ብዓለማ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ  ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ መድረኻት ክትዛረብ እንከላ፡ “ዋላኳ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ሓድሽ ናይ ሰላም ዝመስል ኣንፈት እንተተኸፍተ፡ እቲ ነዚ ተኸቲሉ ኣብ ኤርትራ ክመጽእ ትጽቢት ዝተገብረሉ ለውጢ ግና ፈጺሙ ኣይተራእየን” ትብሎ ዘሎ እንዳሓደረ ዘጨንቖን ዝውጥሮን ዘሎ ቅኑዕ ገምጋም ንምኽዋል ይመስል። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ እቲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ “ሎምስ ግዲ ኣብ ልኡላዊት ኤርትራ ራህዋ፡ ሰላምን ምኽባር ሰብኣውን ዲሞክራስያውን መሰል እንዳተጸበና ነታ ህይወት ብዙሓት ጀጋኑ ዝተኸፍላ ሃገር እውን ከጥፍእዋ እዮም” ብዝብል ዝገልጾ ዘሎ ረዚን ስኽፍታ ናይ ምሕባእ ዕላማ ዘለዎ ምዃኑ እውን ምግማቱ ዘጸግም ኣይኮነን።

ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ካልእ ምርጫ ስለ ዘየብሉ ከምዚ ዓይነት ኣተሓባባእ ክጻወት እንተፈተነ ዘተዓዛዝብ እምበር ዘገርም ኣይኮነን። እንተ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ሎሚ እውን በዚ መደንዘዚ ተግባራት ህግዲፍ ክጥበር  እሞ ካብዚ ዘለዎ ናይ ቃልሲ መስርሕ ንድሕሪት ተመሊሱ መዕንደሪ ወጽዓ ናይቲ ጉጅለ ክኸውን ማለት ዘበት እዩ። ነቲ  ሓዊ ናይ ምጥፋእ ኣኼባታት ዝውሃቦ ዘሎ ገብረ መልሲ  እውን ነዚ ዘመልክት እምበር ከምቲ ህግዲፍ ክኾነሉ ዝሓሰቦ ኣይኮነን።  

ኣብ ከምዚ ሎሚ ሃገርናን ህዝብናን ዝሓልፍዎ ዘለዉ ኩነታትን ናይ ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ዳምዳምን፡ ኩልና ኣበርክቶና ኣብ ቃልሲ ከነሕይልን ኣብ ተዳሎ ክንከውንን ናይ ግድን እዩ። ዝያዳ ኩሉ ከኣ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ፡ ዝያዳ እቲ ካልእ ሕብረተሰብ ኤርትራ፡ ብወጽዓ ህግዲፍ ዝተበደለን ኩሉ ዕድላቱ ዘጥፈአን ብምዃኑ፡ ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ዝተወደበ፡ ተራኺብካ ብጉዳይ ህዝቢ ናይ ምልዛብ ዝያዳ ዕድል ዘለዎን ናይ ምግዳድ ዓቕሚ ዘለዎ ዕጥቂ ዝውንን ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ሓላፍነቱ ከም ዝዛይድ ይዝንገዖ እዩ ዝብል ሻቕሎትኳ እንተዘየብልና ከምቲ “ኣብ ልዕሊ ልብኻ እንተዝምዕዱኻ፡ ኣብ ርእሲቲ ዘለካ እንተዝውስኹኻ” ዝበሃል ከነዘኻኽሮ ኣድላይ እዩ።

ስለዚ ድማ እዩ 3ይን ሓድነታውን ጉባአ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ ውሳነታቱ፡ “ጕባኤና ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ ኣካል ጭቁን ህዝቢ ምዃኑ ገምጊሙ። እቲ ዝበዝሐ ንሃገሩ ራሕሪሑ ንስደት ዘምርሕ ዘሎ ኤርትራዊ ካብ’ዚ ትካል’ዚ ዘምለጠ ምዃኑ ድማ መርኣያ ናይ’ዚ ሓቂ’ዚ ኢዩ። ስለዚ ረብሓኡ ምስ ለውጢ እምበር ምስ ጭቆና ከምዘይኮነ ብምግንዛብ፡ ንህዝቡን ንነብሱን ካብ’ዚ ኣሰቃቒ መነባብሮ ንምንጋፍ ኣብ ጐድኒ ህዝቡ ደው ኢሉ ንምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግዲፍ ከወግድ ጸዊዑ።”  ዝብል ቁምነገር ዘስፈረ።

 ኣብዚ ወሳኒ እዋን ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ንህዝቡ “ኣነ ኣብ ጐነኻ ኣለኹ” ክብሎ እምበር፡ “እንታይ ኢና እሞ እንገብሮ፡ እዚ ሰብኣይ እንታይ እዩ ዝገብር ዘሎ” እንዳበለ ከዕዘምዝም  ኣየምሕረሉን እዩ። ምናልባት ስቓዩን ስቓይ ህዝቡን ዘንጊዑን ሰሓብ በቒሊ ላዕለዎት ኣዘዝቲ ዝኸውን እንተልዩ እሞ ከኣ መሬት ምስ ወገሓ ጣዕሳኡ ኣይክወጸሉን እዩ።

ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ዘርእዮ ዘሎ ዕግርግርን ኣብ ዘዘይምልከተካ ጉዳያት ጨብረቕረቕን ናይ ሓያልነቱ መርኣያ ዘይኮነ ናይ ዓቕሊ ጽበቱ ምልክት ምዃኑ ክዝንጋዕ የብሉን። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ከኣ ምስቲ ሓደ እንዳተመሓዘወ ምስቲ ካልእ እንዳ ተፋትሐ፡ ከብቲ ዓቕሉ ኣጽቢብሉ ዘሎ ቀንዲ ኤርትራዊ ዛዕባ ንምህዳም፡ ሎሚ እውን ከም ኣመሉ ናይ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ቀዳምነት ዘይኮነ ህውከትን ዕግርግርን ካብ ምጽሕታር ድሕር ከምዘይብል ካብ ተመኩሮና ክንመሃሮ ዝግበኣና እዩ። ናይዚ ዘይቅዱስ ማእለማ ቀዳማይ ግዳይ ከኣ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ እዩ ክኸውን። ስለዚ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ መዕገሲ ወልፊ ውግን ህውከትን ህግዲፍ ቅድሚ ምዃኑ፡ ብንጹር “ኣነ ምስ ህዝበይ እየ” ዝብል መርገጹ ከነጽር ይጥለብ ኣሎ። እዚ ድምጺ ሰራዊት ኣብ ዝስመዓሉ፡ እቲ ወሳኒ ሓይሊ ህዝቢ ኣብ ጐኑ ከም ዝስለፍ  ክተኣማመን ይግበኦ። ናይ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ርእዩ ከምዘይረኣየ ምጽቃጥ ግና፡ ንሃገርናን ህዝብናን ካብዚ ዘለዉዎ ናብ ዝኸፈአ’ውን ክወስድ ከም ዝኽእል  ምስትብሃል ኣገዳስን እዋናውን እዩ።

  • 12 March 2020

People gather for the rally of Ethiopia's new Prime Minister in Ambo, about 120km west of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 11, 2018 Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Abiy Ahmed drew a huge crowd when he visited Ambo city in his first week in office

Under Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed, the city of Ambo has turned from being a symbol of freedom into a symbol of repression, as the security forces try to curb the growth of ethnically inspired rebel and opposition groups that threaten his "coming together" vision.

Ambo, which has a large student population because of its university, was at the centre of mass protests that saw Mr Abiy rise to power in April 2018 with a promise to end decades of authoritarian rule in a nation with more than 100 million people belonging to at least 80 ethnic groups.

Getty Images
Ambo is where we are going to build the statue of our liberty, our New York"
Abiy Ahmed
Ethiopia's prime minister
Presentational white space

Most of Ambo's residents are Oromos - and the protests were largely driven by anger that despite being Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, they were marginalised from political and economic power, with no Oromo ever serving as prime minister.

Acknowledging Ambo's role in bringing about change during a visit to the city within days of becoming the first Oromo to hold the prime minister's post, Mr Abiy said: "Ambo is where we are going to build the statue of our liberty, our New York."

At a fund-raising event in February 2019, the prime minister sold his watch for 5m birr (about $155,000, £120,000) to kick-start development in the city.

It was a further indication of the huge political significance he attached to Ambo, traditionally regarded as a stronghold of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a former rebel group which laid down arms following peace talks with Mr Abiy.

People fill the road after the rally of Ethiopia's new Prime Minister in Ambo, about 120km west of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 11, 2018 Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Students were at the forefront of demands for change

But a year later, there are few signs of development in Ambo, which is about 100km (60 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa. Instead, residents are once again complaining of a return of police brutality, with young men being randomly beaten up or detained as they go about their daily lives.

'I was lucky'

I witnessed some of this during a visit to Ambo.

In one instance about six policemen forced two young men to kneel in front of pedestrians, before kicking them and hitting them with sticks.

In another instance, two young men were forcibly taken to a police station. Their elbows were tied behind their backs. One of them pleaded, in vain, with the officers to untie him.

No-one dared to intervene for fear that the police would assault them too.

Bekele
BBC
I saw policemen walk around with scissors, giving haircuts to young men perceived to have long hair or afros"
Bekele Atoma
BBC journalist
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The policemen were from the regional force - and their numbers were swelled last Sunday when hundreds more graduated, raising fears that the crackdown will intensify ahead of the general election slated for August. That is the first time that Mr Abiy will face the voters since the ruling coalition chose him as prime minister to order to quell the nationwide protests.

I also saw policemen walking around Ambo with scissors, giving haircuts on the spot to young men whom they perceive to have long hair or afros.

They considered my hair to be an afro but I was lucky - they let me off with a warning to chop it off myself, which I did not do as I was going to leave Ambo in two days' time.

'I was unable to access the internet'

Police just assume that men with such looks are troublemakers and supporters of rebel leader Kumsa Diriba, who they see as a major threat to western Oromia's stability and Mr Abiy's vision of forcing a new sense of national unity, known as "coming together" .

Kumsaa Diriba Image copyrightSocial mediaImage caption Rebel commander Kumsa Diriba refuses to make peace with the government

Having spurned Mr Abiy's peace overtures in 2018, Mr Kumsa, who is also known as Jaal Maro, is continuing to push for the "liberation" of Oromia from his forest hideout in the remote west.

He split from the OLF, the biggest Oromo rebel group, after it decided to turn into a political party, taking with him an unspecified number of fighters under his command.

The government suspects that Mr Kumsa's rebels have infiltrated Ambo, and were responsible for the bomb blast at a pro-Abiy rally held last month to show that the prime minister still commands significant support in the city.

The rebels, via their supporters and anonymous accounts, have also been slowly gaining a profile on social media in an attempt to raise discontent against the government, especially through the circulation of the names of victims of alleged brutality by the security forces.

The government's attempt to keep a lid on dissent has led to frequent internet shutdowns in much of western Oromia since January, and in some areas people cannot even make or receive phone calls. This is despite the fact that Mr Abiy has promised to liberalise the telecom sector and end the monopoly of state-owned Ethio Telecom.

Presentational grey line

Read more about Ethiopia:

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In an interview with BBC Afaan Oromoo, the deputy chief of staff of Ethiopia's Defence Force, Gen Berhanu Jula, hinted that the shutdowns were linked to military operations to dismantle camps under Mr Kumsa's control, while a senior official of Mr Abiy's newly formed Prosperity Party (PP), Taye Dendea, denied that innocent people were victims of the security force operation.

"The government has no reason to target civilians, we care about our people more than anyone else," Mr Taye told BBC Afaan Oromoo.

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In Ambo, I was unable to access the internet over my mobile phone throughout my three-week stay. On the two occasions I went to an internet cafe, it had poor broadband connection and I had to wait for a long time before I could check my emails and social media accounts.

Residents suspect that apart from government concerns about the rebels, the shutdowns are intended to limit political campaigning and starve young people of news ahead of the general election.

Residents point out that Jawar Mohammed - who is probably the most prominent and controversial Ethiopian social media activist - is now also making life difficult for the prime minister.

Jawar Mohammed (C), a member of the Oromo ethnic group who has been a public critic of Abiy, addresses supporters that had gathered outside his home in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa after he accused security forces of trying to orchestrate an attack against him October 24, 2019 Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Social media activist Jawar Mohammed has joined an opposition party

When exiled in the US, Mr Jawar used Facebook effectively to get Oromos on to the streets to rise against the former government.

Having returned to Ethiopia after Mr Abiy took power, he briefly became a supporter of the prime minister but is now a fierce opponent.

Nobel laureate booed

Mr Jawar put out a video on Facebook soon after Mr Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October, accusing the government of trying to remove his guards from his home in Addis Ababa as part of a ploy to orchestrate an attack on him.

Despite government denials of any such plan, Mr Jawar's supporters staged protests against Mr Abiy in parts of Oromia - in one instance, burning copies of the prime minister's newly published book, which outlines his "coming together" vision.

When Mr Abiy subsequently visited Ambo for a meeting with selected guests in a hotel, pro-Jawar youths staged a protest and booed the prime minister, who had been awarded the Nobel prize for his "decisive initiative" to end the border conflict with Eritrea, and for the "important reforms" he had initiated in Ethiopia with a pledge to "strengthen democracy".

Abiy Ahmed
Getty Images
Key facts: Abiy Ahmed
  • Bornto a Muslim father and a Christian mother on 15 August 1976

  • Joinedthe armed struggle against the Marxist Derg regime in 1990

  • Served as a UN peacekeeper in Rwanda in 1995

  • Enteredpolitics in 2010

  • Becameprime minister in 2018

  • Wonthe Nobel Peace Prize in 2019

Source: BBC
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Mr Jawar has joined the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), which has formed an alliance with the OLF and the Oromo National Party (ONP) to contest the election on what is expected to be a strong ethno-nationalist ticket.

In Oromia, it is likely to pose the biggest electoral challenge to Mr Abiy's PP, which was launched in December after a merger of eight of the nine regional parties which make up Ethiopia's ruling coalition.

Mr Abiy hopes that the PP will foster national unity and keep ethnic nationalism in check.

Chart showing the ethnic make-up of Ethiopia

But he has taken a huge risk as the mass protests that propelled him to power were not just about political freedom - but also about the right of each group to express their ethnic identities more freely and to have greater autonomy for their regions.

So, as far as ethno-nationalists in Ambo and elsewhere in Oromia are concerned, Mr Abiy has sold out.

Worrying for the Nobel laureate, Defence Minister Lemma Megersa, a fellow Oromo with political clout, also expressed doubts about the PP's formation in November, though party officials say he and Mr Abiy have been ironing out their differences since then.

"The merger is not right and timely, as we are in transition, we are on borrowed time. Dissolving the regional party to which the public entrusted their demands is betraying them," Mr Lemma said at the time.

For Mr Abiy's supporters, he offers the best hope of getting Ethiopia's myriad ethnic groups to work together, and avoid the country's disintegration.

They are confident that he will demonstrate his popularity by leading the PP to victory in the election, though its legitimacy is bound to be questioned if the crackdown in Ambo continues.

Source=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51657291

March 16, 2020 News

Source: Arab Weekly

Cairo traditionally dismissed the idea of overseas regional bases owing to political sensitivities but has been investing in a new strategy to bolster its maritime power.
Sunday 15/03/2020
A handout released by the Egyptian Presidency on January 9, 2018, shows Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C-L) welcoming the Eritrean President (C-R) Isaias Afwerki at the presidential palace in Cairo. (AFP)
A handout released by the Egyptian Presidency on January 9, 2018, shows Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C-L) welcoming the Eritrean President (C-R) Isaias Afwerki at the presidential palace in Cairo. (AFP)

There have been unconfirmed reports that Egypt may be moving close to an agreement with Eritrea, with which ties have been warming in recent years, to host a new Egyptian naval base on Nora island.

Cairo traditionally dismissed the idea of overseas regional bases owing to political sensitivities but has been investing in a new strategy to bolster its maritime power.

Nora Island Map

The reports suggest an agreement between Cairo and Asmara over an Egyptian deployment to Nora, an island on Dakhla Peninsula off the Eritrean coast. Egypt is believed to have a contingent of forces in Sawa, Eritrea, stationed at an Arab base reportedly secured by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for a 30-year period.

Eritrea’s location at the southern entrance of the Red Sea gives it a growing strategic value. Rising international interest and competition in and around the Red Sea, with the Bab el Mandeb choke point to its south and the Suez Canal to its north, generated a renewed effort by Cairo and Riyadh to coordinate on the region’s maritime security architecture.

In January, Saudi efforts to build a new Red Sea bloc moved forward when representatives from eight countries signed a charter to establish the Council of Arab and African States bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

For Egypt, this development comes as part of a multipronged strategy to restore its influence and take on a greater security role in the region — particularly within the maritime sphere.

Egypt has seen new risks emerge with Yemen’s implosion, instability in Libya and earlier with maritime piracy off the Horn of Africa. Cairo’s policies are being driven by a new military build-up in the wider region that has featured a growing footprint for Iran and Turkey.

Turkey, which in December concluded a maritime border delimitation agreement with Libya, has its largest overseas military base in Somalia and secured a long-term lease for Suakin port from Sudan two years ago. More recently, massive gas finds in the Eastern Mediterranean raised tensions as Ankara lays claim to resources off the coast of Cyprus.

Egypt has agreements with Israel and Cyprus for the supply of natural gas by ship and via pipelines from their offshore fields, which it processes and re-exports from gas liquefaction stations in Idku and Damietta.

Last year, Egypt convened the East Mediterranean Gas Forum with the participation of Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Israel and the Palestinian territories in a bid to establish regional cooperation for the region’s expanding gas market.

Geological surveys suggesting potential gas reservoirs under the Red Sea’s seabed could signal an added maritime security significance for the basin beyond freedom of navigation.

In response to the region’s evolving security dynamics, Cairo has been investing in a major modernisation of its ageing, largely Soviet-era naval fleet to reassert itself as a true blue-water navy. In 2016, Cairo added two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to its fleet to serve as command centres for the Egyptian Navy’s newly created North and South fleets.

Cairo added a FREMM multipurpose frigate and is said to be finalising the purchase of two more from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. Earlier, it concluded orders for six German-made MEKO A-200 frigates, four Gowind-class corvettes, three of which are to be built in Alexandria, and is awaiting delivery of 20 Falaj 2-class patrol boats.

Egypt has also been developing strategically positioned joint bases in Gargoub, on its north-western coast near the border with Libya, in Ras Banas on its south-eastern coast overlooking the Red Sea and at Port Said, close to the Suez Canal.

Increasing strategic premiums attached to overseas bases could well mean Cairo may soon need to revise its traditional policy on the issue and consider developing a strategic presence that enables extended power projection capability through arrangements with partners such as Eritrea.

Eritrea’s growing alignment with Egypt is, however, causing concerns with Ethiopia and Sudan. Cairo and Addis Ababa have been locked in a dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the continent’s biggest hydroelectric dam being constructed on the Nile River’s main tributary that could threaten Egypt’s water security.

Sudan, which backs GERD, has had complicated ties with Cairo and an unresolved dispute over the Egyptian-controlled Halayeb Triangle, which is near Egypt’s new Ras Banas base.

On the other hand, Ethiopia has been landlocked and without a coastline since Eritrea seceded from it in 1993 following a violent conflict that has killed more than 80,000.

Ethiopia and Eritrea technically remain at war and last witnessed major clashes in 2016. Having built one of Africa’s most capable air and ground forces, Addis Ababa’s confessed desire to reconstitute a naval capability to protect its interests at sea is giving rise to anxiety in Eritrea.

Sudan and Ethiopia have formed a joint military operation along their border whereas Sudan dispatched thousands of troops to its border with Eritrea in response to Egypt’s reported troop deployment to the country three years ago.

Egypt dismisses any intent to interfere in Ethiopia and Sudan as conspiratorial and “fake news.” Despite resolving key disagreements related to GERD with Ethiopia earlier this year when Washington hosted talks that involved the World Bank, symptoms of mistrust between the African neighbours linger.

As Egypt assumes an enhanced regional maritime security role, its future strategy may well need to feature deeper engagement on military matters with security partners such as Eritrea but it will also have to contend with the same traditional rivalries that opened up space in the region for an international military build-up in the first place.