ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰደህኤ
መራሕቲ ካቶሊካዊት ቤተ ክርስትያን ኤርትራ ብ25 ጉንበት 2014 ካብ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ኦሪት ዘፍጥረት 4፡9 ተመርኲሶም “ሓውኻ ኣበይ ኣሎ?” ኣሎ ዝብል ኣርእስቲ ሂቦም፡ መንፈሳውን ስጋውን ስምዒታት ህዝብና ኣገናዚቦም፡ ዝምድና ፖለቲካን ሃይማኖትን ኣብ ግምት ኣእትዮም ዘቕረብዎ መሳጢ መጽናዕታዊ ናይ ጸዋዒት ጽሑፍ ናይ ብዙሓት ቀልቢ ስሒቡ ከም ዝነበረ ንዝክሮ ኢና። ብዙሓት ነቲ ኩለመዳያዊ ጽሑፍ ዘንበቡ ወገናት ብዛዕባ ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ ድምጾም ክስማዕ ይግበኦ ዝበልዎም ኤርትራዊ ኣካላት ሕቶታት ኣቕሪቦም እዮም። “ምሁራትናኸ ኣበይ ኣለዉ?” ዝበሉ ነይሮም። ሕቶኦም ናብ ኤርትራውያን መናእሰያትን ወተሃደራትን ዘቕረቡ እውን ነይሮም። ከም ናይዚ ሕቶታት’ዚ መልሲ “ኣብዚ ኣለኹ ወይ ከምዚ እገብር ኣለኹ” ዝብል ሓቀኛ ተስፋ ዘሕድር መልሲ ዝሃበ ግና ክሳብ ሕጂ ዳርጋ የለን።
“ኤርትራ ብዓባያኸ ኣበይ ኣላ?” ዝብል ሕቶ ከነቕርብ እንከለና፡ ብዛዕባቲ ኤርትራ ትግለጸሉ ግኡዝ ባህርያት ማለት፡ ስፍሓታ፡ ታሪኻ፡ ተመኩሮ ቃልሳ ምእንቲ ነጻነታን ክብራን፡ ብዛዕባ ተፈጥሮኣዊ ሃብታ፡ ብዛዕባ ጀኦግራፊያዊ መልክዓ፡ ብዛዕባ ማያታን ገማግም ባሕራን፡ ወይውን ብዙሕነት ክሊመኣ ጥራይ ኣይኮናን ንሓትት ዘለና። ቀንዲ ብዛዕባቲ ብዘይብእኡ ምልኣት ዘይህልዋ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኢና ንሓትት ዘለና። ምኽንያቱ ኤርትራ ብዘይህዝባ፡ ህዝባ ድማ ብዘይብኣኣ ዝተነጻጸለ ህልውና ስለ ዘየብሎም። ህዝባ ክንብል እንከለና ሃይማኖት፡ ዓሌት፡ ቋንቋ፡ ቦታዊ ኣቀማምጣን ናይ ቃልሲ ድሕረባይታን ሻቢቡና ዝተወሰነ ኩርናዕ ቆንጢርና ዘይኮነስ መላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ማለትና ምዃኑ ከይንዝንግዕ ሓደራ። ምኽንይቱ ሓደ ካብቲ ናይ ብዙሕነትና መምዘኒ ንበይኑ ተወሲዱ መርኣያ መላእ ህዝብና ክኸውን ስለ ዘይክእል። ስለዚ “ኤርትራ ብዓባያ ማለት ኩለንተነኣ ምስ ህዝባ” ማለትና እዩ።
“ኤርትራ ብዓባያኸ ኣበይ ኣላ?” ነዚ ሕቶ’ዚ ኣብ ምምላስ “ፍጹማዊ ሓደ ዓይነት” ዝበሃል እኳ ተዘየለ፡ መልስና ኣብ ብዓይኒ ዝረአ ብግብሪ ዝድህሰስ ስለ ዝምርኮስ ብዙሕ ፍልልይ ኣይህልወናን እዩ ዝብል እምነት ኣለና። ሎሚ ኤርትራ ጥምየት፡ ዕርቃን፡ ስእነት ሕክምና ወሲኽካ ኩሉ ማሕበራዊ ጸገማት ኣብ ዝዓንደረሉ፡ ብኩራት ሰላም፡ መወዳእታ ዘየብሉ ማእሰርትን ዕስክርናን፡ ዜጋታት ናብ ፍርዲ ኣብ ዘይቀርብሉ፡ ናይ መሰል ሕቶ ኣቕሪብካ መልሲ ኣብ ዘይትረኽበሉ ዘይኮነስ ክትሓትት እውን ኣብ ዘይትኽእለሉ ናይ ፍትሒ ብኩራት ኣብ ዝሳዕረረሉ፡ ዝመርሓካ ኣካልን ትምረሓሉ ሕግን ኣብ ዘይትፈልጠሉ፡ ሕገ መንግስቲ ኣብ ዘየብሉ፡ ኣብ መንጎ ህዝብን መራሕቲ ኢና በሃልቲ ኣካላት ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ሓጺናዊ ደረት ኣብ ዝተነብረሉ፡ ሃሰስ ኢልካውን ደሞክራስያዊ ኣሰር ኣብ ዘይትርእየሉ ንጹል ኩነታት እያ እትርከብ ዘላ ዝብል መልሲ ከም ዘረዳድኣና ርግጸኛታት ኢና። እዚ ንኤርትራ ብዝምልከት ናይ ዝለዓሉ ሕቶታት መልሲ ካብ ዝኸውን ዝያዳ 20 ዓመታት ሓሊፉ እዩ። እዚ ሕቶ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ክለዓል እንከሎ ከዓ እዚ ኣቐዲሙ ዝተጠቕሰ መልስታት መሊሱ ሓፊሱ፡ ኤርትራ ብሓፈሻ ዜጋታታ ብፍላይ ድማ መንእሰያታ ከም መግለጺ ጽልኦም ኣብ ልዕሊጉጅለ ህግደፍ ናብ ስደት ዝውሕዝሉ ዘለዉ ደረጃ ስለ ዝተበጽሐ፡ ኩሉ ካልእ ተሪፉስ “ኣብ ናይ ምህላውን ዘይምህላውን ቀራና መንገዲ እያ ዘላ” ዝብል ሓረግ መልሲ ኣብ ዝኾነሉ ደረጃ ኢና በጺሕና ዘለና። “የለን ኤርትራ ድሕሪ ሕጂ ከም ሃገር ናይ ምቕጻል ዕድላ ጸምልዩ እዩ” ክብሉ ትንዕምንዕ ዝብሉ ወገናት’ውን ይቀላቐሉ ኣለዉ። ነዞም ከምዚ ዓይነት ስግኣት ዝሓደሮም፡ ወገናት ኣብነት ኮይንካ፡ ካብዚ ስግኣቶም ዘውጽእ መንገዲ ቃልሲ ምርኣዮም እምበር “ኣፍኩም ከልቢ ይሽነሉ” ምባሎም እኹል ኣይኮነን።
ብዛዕባ’ዚ ኤርትራ ዘላትሉ ኩነታት ኣይኮነንዶ ኤርትራዊ፡ ኤርትራዊ ዘይኮነ እሞ ኤርትራ ዘላቶ ኩነታት ዝተረድአ ፍትሓዊ እንተኾይኑ ዘይሰክፍ ኣሎ ምባል የጸግም። ናይ’ቲ ስኽፍታ ቀንዲ ምረትን ላህመትን ግና ኣብ እንግደዓና፡ እንግደዓ ኤርትራውያን እዩ ክዓርፍ ዝግበኦ። እሞ እቲ ኩነታት ከምኡ’ዶ ኣሎ? ንዝብል ግና ነነብስና ንሕከኽ። ኣብ ጽምዋ ኮይና ከዓ ንሕሰብ። ሎሚ ኣብ ዘዘለናዮ ኩርነዓት ዓለም ብዛዕባ ሃገርና እንሰምዖ ወረ ኣግራባ ይበርስ ኣሎ፡ ሓመዳ ይብሕጎጕ ኣሎ፡ እንስሳ ዘቤታ ይሃልቃ ኣለዋ፡ ታሪኻዊ ውርሻታታ ይዓኑ ኣሎ … ወዘተ ዝብል ጥራይ ኣይኮነን። እዚ ዕንወታት ከጋጥም እንከሎ’ውን ዘየሻቕል ኣይኮነን። ግና ካብዚታት ዝዓቢ ምስ ናይ ህዝብና ብፍላይ ድማ መንእሰያትና ዝተሓሓዙ፡ ወዲ እገለ ካብ ዓዲ ወጺኡ ኣብ ከምዚ ዝበሃል መደበር ስደተኛታት ኮይኑ ርድኡኒ ይብል ኣሎ፡ ካብ ሱዳን ናብ ሊቢያ ክሰግሩ እንከለዉ ክንድዚ ኤትራውያን ኣብቲ ምድረበዳ ሞይቶም፡ ክንድዚ ኣሕዋት ካብ ሓደ ቤተሰብ ኣብ ዶብ ተቐቲሎም ኣስከሬኖም ብኣራዊት ተበሊዑ፡ ብዓብይኡ ድማ ክንድዚ ኤርትራውያን ዝርከብዎም ስደተኛታት ኣብ ባሕሪ መዲትራንያን ጥሒሎም ዝብሉ ዜናታት ኢና ዕረ እንዳጠዓመና ንሰምዕ ዘለና። ሎሚ ንኤርትራዊ “ወዲ እገለ ዘመድካ ተምርዕዩ፡ ወሊዱ፡ ኣብ ትምህርቲ ተመሪቑ” ዝብል ዜናታት ምስማዕ ነውሪ ኣብ ዝኾነሉ ሕማቕ መድረኽ ኢና ንርከብ ዘለና። ኤርትራዊ ህልውና ከዓ ብኽንድ’ዚ ደረጃ እዩ ዝፈሓቝ ዘሎ። እቲ ኩነታት ከምኡ ኢሉ እንተቐጺሉ ድማ ሳዕቤኑ ናይ ኤርትራ ምጽምላው ዘይኮነስ መሊእካ ምሕቃቅ ከስዕብ ከም ዝኽእል ምጥቃሱ እንተዘየሕፊሩና እንስሕቶ ኣይኮነን።
“ኤርትራ ብዓባያኸ ኣበይ ኣላ?” ንዝብል ሕቶ ዝወሃብ መልሲ “ኤርትራ ህልውነኣ ኣኸቲሙ እዩ” ዝብል ከይከውን ንሰግኣሉ ዘለና ኩነታት፡ ከምዚ ቀሊል ሕማም ክሕዘና እንከሎ “ባዕሉ ክገድፈና እዩ” ኢልና እንጽበዮ’ሞ ዝገድፈና፡ ባዕሉ ዝፍወስ ሕማም ኣይኮነን። ናይ ግድን ናይቶም በዚ ኩነታት እንስከፍን ሓላፍነት እንስከምን ኤርትራውያን ብፍላይ፡ብሓፈሻ ድማ ናይ ኩሎም እቶም በዚ ኣጋጢሙና ዘሎ ጸገም ዝሻቐሉ ወገናት ናይ ቃልሲ ኣእዳው እንተዘይተዘርጊሕሉ ባዕሉ ዝሓዊ ኣይኮነን። እንደጋና ከነዘኻኽሮ እንደሊ ናይቶም ካብ ርሑቕ ይኹን ካብ ቀረባ፡ እንተ ብጉርሒ ወይ ብገርሂ ኣንጻር ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣብ እንገብሮ ቃልሲ ኣብ ጐንና ክስለፉ እንጽበዮም ዘይኤርትራውያን ወገናት ኣበርክቶ መመላእታ ኮይኑ፡ እቲ ወሳኒ ናትና ናይቶም ኣብ ለውጢ ረብሓ ስለ ዘለና ንምዕዋቱ ንቃለስ ዘለና ኤርትራውያን ኣበርክቶ እዩ። እቲ ካብ ዘይኤርትራውያን እንረኽቦ ኩለመዳያዊ ሓገዝን ምትብባዕን እውን ምስቲ ካብ ውሽጥና ዝፍጠር ዓቕሚ ክብ ለጠቕ ዝብል እምበር፡ ንሕና ሰብ ዋኒን ክነስና፡ ኣብ መሰረታዊ ዘይኮነ ፖለቲካዊ ምኩርባብ እንዳወዓልና “ኣጆኹም” ዝብል ድምጺ ከስምዑና ክንጽበ ኣይግባእን። እንተተጸበና እውን ደሃይ ኣይክንረክብን ኢና።
ሓቂ እዩ፡ ሎሚ በቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብና ዝወርድ ዘሎን ንኤርትራ ብዓባያ ኣብ ሓደጋ ኣውዲቓዋ ዘሎን ተረኽቦ ዘይሓዝን ኤርትራዊ የለን። በቲ ተስፋ ቆሪጹ ዓዱ ገዲፉ ሃጽ ኢሉ ዝስደድ ዘሎ መንእሰይ ዘይሻቐል’ውን የለን። እዚ ሻቕሎትና “ካብ ክሳድ ንላዕሊ” ዘይኮነስ ናይ ብሓቂ ሻቕሎት ዝኸውን ግና፡ ነቲ ዘሻቕል ናብ ራህዋ ንምቕያር ብዘለና ግብራዊ ተወፋይነት እዩ። ነዚ መሰረታዊ ንኤርትራ ብዓባያ ናይ ምድሓን ዕማም፡ ድሕሪ ውድባዊ፡ ሰልፋዊ፡ ማሕበራዊ፡ ብሄራዊ፡ ኣውራጃዊ ወይ ውልቃዊ ክብሪ ንሰርዖ እንተ ኮይንና ግና፡ እቲ እነስመዖ ናይ ሻቕሎት ቃል ናይ ሓሶት፡ እቲ ነፍስሶ ንብዓት ድማ ናይ ሓርገጽ ምዃኑ ኣይንስሓት። ንምረሓሉ መትከላትን ፖሊሲታትን፡ ደሞክራስያዊ፡ ህዝባዊ፡ ሰላማውን ልምዓታውን ባህርያቱ ሓልዩ ከም ዝቕረጽ ምግባሩ ኣድላይን መሰረታውን እዩ። ግን ድማ ህልውነኣ ኣብ ዘየረጋገጸት ኤርትራ ብዓባያ ዝሕፈሶ ምህርቲ ከም ዘይህሉ ኣይንዘንግዕ። ምናልባት እውን ናይቲ ዘሪእካ እተፍርየሉ መሬት ልምዓታዊ ጠባይ ኣብ ግምት ከየእተኻ እቶት ዘኻዕብት ዘርኢ ከም ምምራጽ ይምሰል ይኸውን። ስለዚ ኢና እምበኣር ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ ክንሓስብ እንከለና ንኤርትራ ብዓባያ ኣብ ቅድሚት ንስረዓያ ንብል ዘለና። በዚ ኣጋጣሚ፡ እቲ ንኤርትራ ብዓባያ ናይ ምድሓን ሓላፍነት ነቶም ዝስደዱ ዘለዉ መንእሰያት እውን ከም ዝምልከቶም ክዝንጋዕ የብሉን። እኳ ደኣ ግደኦም መሪሕ እዩ።
ቅድሚ ሒደት ዓመታት ጸገም ኤርትራ፡ ብኩራት ደሞክራስን ሰብኣውን መሰላትን ሳዕቤናቱን ጥራይ ይመስለና ነይሩ ይኸውን። ሎሚ ግና ግዜ ምስ በለዐን ግፍዕታት ጉጅለ ህግደፍ መሊኡ ምስ ፈሰሰን፡ እዚ ብኩራት ደሞክራስን ኩሉ ዓይነት ምግሃስ መሰላትን ንህልውና ኤርትራ ናብ ዘስግእ ዓብይ ሕማም ማዕቢሉ ንርእዮ ኣለና። እቲ ብኣና ክካየድ ዝግበኦ ናይ ቃልሲ ባህርያት እውን ብመንጽር እዚ እንዳኸፈአ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ፖለቲካዊ ኩነታት እዩ ክመዓራረን ዳግማይ ክዋደድን ዝግበኦ። ከምኡ እንተዘይ ጌርና ግና ጉዳይና “እግርን ከበሮን በበይኑ” ከም ዝበሃል ክኸውን እዩ። ኣብ ከምዚ ሒዝናዮ ዘለና ቃልሲ፡ ነቲ ናብ ዓዲ ዘእቱ መንገዲ ቃልሲ እንተስሒትካዮ፡ ድኻምካን ጻዕርኻን መኻን ካብ ምዃን ሓሊፉ ውጽኢት ዘይብሉ ባዶሽ ናይ ምዃን ዕድሉ ሰፊሕ እዩ። ኣብ ከም እዚ ኣብ ቅድሜና ተገቲሩ ዘሎ ግዜ ዘይህብ ሓላፍነታዊ፡ ኤርትራ ብዓባያ ናይ ምድሓን ቃልሲ፡ ብቑዕ ኮይንካ ምቕራብ ቀሊል ከም ዘይኮነ ተመኩሮና ኣርእዩና እዩ። እዚ ማለት ግና ከምቲ “ካብ ልቢ እንተሓዚንካ ንብዓት ኣይኣብን” ዝበሃል፡ ዘይከኣል ኣይኮነ’ሞ ኩሉ ጉዳያትና ብመጽር ኤርትራ ብዓባያ ክንቃንዮ መድረኽ ይሓተና ኣሎ።
16 መጋቢት 2015
ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ
እዚ ሽልማት'ዚ ካብ 2007 ዓ.ም ኣትሒዙ ንብሉጻት መራሕቲ ኣፍሪቃ ብሞ ኢብራሂም እተባህለ ሱዳናዊ በዓል ጸጋ ክውሃብ ዝጸንሐ ሽልማት ኢዩ። ዕላማ ናይ'ዚ ሽልማት'ዚ ኣፍሪቃውያን መራሕቲ ንምዕባለን ብልጽግናን ህዝቦምን ሃገሮምን ክሰርሑን ውሑልል ምሕደራ ከተኣታትዉን፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ንቅዋም ተገዛእቲ ክዀኑ ንምትብባዕ ኢዩ።
ትካል ሽልማት ሞ ኢብራሂም፡ ንፕረሲደንት ሂፊከፑኔ ፖሃምባ (Hifikepunye Pohamba)፡ ሃገራዊ ሓድነት ኣብ ምድልዳልን ዕርቂ ኣብ ምስፋንን መስርሕ ዲሞክራሲ ኣብ ምዕሟቕን ማሕበራውን ቍጠባዊ ምዕባለታት ኣብ ምርግጋጽን ዝተጻወቶ ግደ ኣብነታዊ ኢዩ ነይሩ ክብል ንኢድዎ። ኣብኡ ብምምርኳስ ድማ፡ ንፕረሲደንት ፖሃምባ ናይ 2014 ዓም ሽልማት ትካል ሞ ኢብራሂም ሂብዎ።
ናሚብያ ኣብ ትሕቲ ምሕደራ ፕረሲደንት ፖሃምባ፡ ውሕሉል ምሕደራ፡ ርግኣት፡ ኣሳታፊ ዲሞክራሲ ዝሰፈናን ሓያልን ናጻን ፕረስ ትውንንን ንሰብኣዊ መሰላት ተኽብርን ሃገር ኰይና ኢያ ተገሊጻ።
ኣብ ርእስ'ዚ፡ እቲ ሽልማት ነቶም ብህዝባዊ ምርጫ ዝመጹ መራሕትን ግዜኦም ምስ ኣኸለ ድማ ብፍቓዶም ስልጣኖም ንዝሰዓረ ፓርቲ ወይ መራሒ ዘረክቡን ኢዩ ዝውሃብ። በዚ መሰረት ፕረሲደንት ፖሃምባ፡ ንሃገሩ 2 ግዜ ተመሪጹ ድሕሪ ምግልጋል፡ ንሳልሳይ ግዜ ክወዳደር ቅዋም ስለዘየፍቅደሉ፡ ብቕዋም ሃገሩ ተገዚኡ ስልጣን ምርካቡ ሓደ ካብ'ቲ ዘሸለሞ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ኢዩ ነይሩ።
እቲ ሽልማት ኣብ 10 ዓመታት ዝኽፈል 5 ሚልዮን ዶላርን ኣብ ነፍስወከፍ ዓመት ክሳብ ብህይወቱ ዘሎ ድማ 200 ሽሕ ዶላርን ዘጠቓለለ ኢዩ።
ቅድም ክብል ሽልማት ሞ ኢብራሂም ዝተቐበሉ መራሕቲ ኣፍሪቃ ፕረሲደንት ዮዋኪም ቺሳኖ ናይ ሞዛምቢክ (2007)፣ ፈስቱስ ሞጋየ፡ ናይ ቦትስዋና መራሒ (2008)፣ ፐድሮ ፒረስ፡ ፕረሲደንት ናይ ከይፕ ቨርደ (2011) ከምኡ'ውን ፕረሲደንት ማንደላ ኢዮም። ኣብ 2009፡ 2010፡ 2012ን 2013ን ነዚ ሽልማት'ዚ ዝበቅዕ መራሒ ኣይተረኸበን።
በዚ ኣጋጣሚ'ዚ ንሃገርና ብመንጽር ናሚብያን መራሒኣን ክንርእያ ከለና፡ ኣብ ክልተ ጫፋት ናይ'ቲ መለክዒ ኢና ከነቐምጣ እንኽእል። ብኻልእ ኣገላልጻ ኤርትራን ናሚብያን፡ ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስን ፕረሲደንት ፖሃምባን ጽርዲ ኢዮም፡ ዘራኽብ እውን የብሎምን።
ኣብ ትሕቲ ምሕደራ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፡ ኤርትራ፡ ሓድነትን ጽንዓትን ህዝባ እናማህመነ ዝኸደላ፣ ሃገራዊ ዕርቂ ይኹን ስኒት ዝተነፍጋ፣ ህዝባ ብፍላይ ድማ መንእሰያት ንስደት ዝውሕዙላ፣ ቅዋም፡ ናጻ ፕረስ፡ ፓርትታትን ምርጫታትን ዘይብላ፡ ብልሽውና ዝነገሰላ ሃገር ኢያ ኰይና ዘላ።
ባህርያት ክልቲኦም መራሕቲ ክንርኢ ከለና ከኣ፡ ፕረሲደንት ፖሃምባ፡ ኣዝዩ ትሑትን ምቕሉልን ስለዝዀነ፡ ስሙ ውን ብዙሕ ኣይፍለጥን ኢዩ። ብኣንጻሩ ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ፡ ኣብ ኵሉ መዳያት ፈሺሉ ክነሱ፡ ንኻልኦት መራሕቲ ከቈናጽብ፣ ንሓያላት መንግስታት ክጸርፍ፣ ብዲሞክራስን ውሑልል ምሕደራን ከሽካዕልል ኢዩ ዝውዕል። ዓለምና ግን፡ ከም ህውከተኛን ጸረ ሰላምን ዝዀነ መራሒ ኢያ ትፈልጦ። ኣብ ርእስ'ዚ፡ ኢሳያስ፡ ከም ኵሉ ዝፈልጥ መራሒ ገይሩ ኢዩ ንነብሱ ዝፈልጣን ምስ ዓለም ድማ ብኸምኡ ከፋልጣን ኢዩ ዝጽዕር። ኢሳያስ፡ ንሚኒስተራቱ ብዛዕባ ምኒስትሪታቶም ክዛረቡ ውን ዕድል ኣይህቦምን ኢዩ። ኵሉ ባዕሉ ኢዩ ዝውድኦ። ብዛዕባ ምርመራ ናይ ጠፈር፡ ብዛዕባ ማዕድናት፡ ብዛዕባ ሕርሻ፡ ብዛዕባ ሕክምና፡ ብዛዕባ ህንጻ ኣባይትን ሓጽብታትን፡ ብዛዕባ ቍጠባ፡ ብዛዕባ ውግእ .....ወዘተ ኪኢላ ናይ ክኢላታት መሲሉ ክርእ ኢዩ ዝፍትን።
ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ ንስልጣኑ ክብል፡ ንቅዋምን መቓለስቲ ብጾቱን ዝሓየረ፣ ንናጽነት ናይ ፕረስ ከም ቍሪ ዝፈርሕ፣ ብዛዕባ ኣሳታፊ ዲሞክራስን ውሕሉል ምሕደራን ንሓንቲ መዓልቲ ውን ትኹን ሓሲቡ ዘይፈልጥ፡ ብዘይካ ዝናኡ ካልእ ዘየገድሶ ዲክታቶር ኢዩ።
ከም'ቲ ኣበው ክምስሉ ከለው ዝብልዎ፡ "ኣነ ዕንጸይቲ ክኣሪ መድረሪና፣ ንሳን ተመን ትሕዝ ቀታሊና"፡ ፕረሲደንት ፖሃምባ ንህዝቡ ዝሓሊን ዝሕሉን ዲሞክራስያዊ መራሒ ክኸውን እንከሎ፤ ኢሳያስ ከኣ፡ ንህዝቡ ዝብትንን ዘጽንትን ዘሎ ዲክታቶር ኢዩ።
March 8: the Dignity and the Status of Eritrean Women
Sunday, 08 March 2015 19:54 Written by EPDP Information OfficeEPDP Editorial
In Eritrea, patriarchal belief sets not only male domination but also defines the relation between women and men in a manner that completely denies the semblance of dignity and status of Eritrean women be it in the family or in the various Eritrean cultural and societal institutions.
March 8, 2015 is an International Women’s Day. It is a day where worldwide women’s accomplishments and voices are heard, celebrated, and reflected. It is also a day celebrated to reflect the long and persistent struggle that worldwide women waged for their equal rights, a struggle that is now over one century old. However, despite over ten decades of struggle, women in many parts of the world have not been able to accomplish much in terms equal rights and freedoms in their respective societies.
Yes, the lives of many women in western democracies have improved a bit over the last many decades, but this is not true in many developing countries, that it in the third world countries. The vast majority of women in third world countries, like in Eritrea, are far behind in the struggle for their equal rights in the spheres of social, economic, and political power.
Eritrean women are among the most marginalized part of society in the world. Denied all political, economic, social and cultural rights, Eritrean women continue to face centuries of inequalities and injustices in their own country. Certainly, the belief of equality and freedom in our society has for centuries remained deeply reflective of men’s interest and views, an oppressive culture that perpetuates inequalities, discrimination, gender violence, and oppression of Eritrean women. Such a belief, which is embedded and institutionalized in the patriarchal culture of our society, provides men the right to dominate the political, social, and economic power of the society while limiting Eritrean women to household roles where they continue to be enslaved by men. In Eritrea, patriarchal belief sets not only male domination but also defines the relation between women and men in a manner that completely denies the semblance of dignity and status of Eritrean women be it in the family or in the various Eritrean cultural and societal institutions.
Although, Eritrean women have participated in the national liberation struggle and contributed their share unseen in the history of other liberation struggles in the world, they are still portrayed and treated as second-class citizens. This is evident by the practices and policies of the kleptocratic regime of Eritrea. It is also true the gender inequality, or the restrictive role and participation of Eritrean women in the Eritrean opposition forces are equally dismal.
However, the issue of Eritrean women goes far deeper than the mere mention of their rights. It is about empowerment, equal roles and participation in democracy; it is about recognizing the dignity and equal status of Eritrean women that makes up half of the Eritrean population.
Therefore, it is crucial to recognize that no sustainable political, social, and economic prosperity is possible in Eritrea without the full participation of Eritrean women. It is within this understanding that both Eritrean men and Eritrean society at large should recognize Eritrean women’s equal rights and freedom as an inalienable rights and a foundation to build a just and democratic society. And this is only possible after we make changes in our thinking and belief – a belief that incessantly violates the rights of Eritrean women on the one hand and justifies the domination of Eritrean male on the other hand.
In whole, our challenges and struggles lie in understanding and challenging both the male dominated political system and the patriarchal entrenchment that undermines and belittles the dignity, status, and role of Eritrean women in our society. Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supports Eritrean women irrespective of their political views to organize themselves in independent associations and networks in order to empower themselves and gain their denied rights. EPDP also supports the establishment of global Eritrean women’s association that brings Eritrean women together and enables them to create a concerted movement and fight for their equal rights, justice and freedom. In a point, EPDP believes women’s equality and freedom as inalienable rights without which we cannot build any sustainable democracy in our country. Therefore, as we celebrate March 8, let us renew our commitments to support Eritrean women in their struggle for equal rights, justice, and democratic freedoms in all spheres of our society by shattering the patriarchal system entrenched in our culture that perpetuates inequality and a culture that sees women in the image of male in our society.
Explaining the Evil Mind that Is Destroying and Burying the Legacy of the EPLF and the Eritrean Dream: Revealing the Nature (Core Values) of Isaias Afeworki
Thursday, 05 March 2015 09:54 Written by EPDP Information OfficeEPDP Editorial
PART II
The point is Eritrean people in a deadly historical mistake entrusted Isais with their public space, their fundamental freedoms, their power of citizenry and sovereignty, and their revolution that they achieved in the decades before independence.
The root causes of all contemporary Eritrean problems are political, inasmuch as the political philosophy of the dictatorial regime of Isaias, which is “equality in poverty”. Just to make it evident, the dictatorial regime in Eritrea is organized to benefit the few in power at the expense of the vast majority of the Eritrean people. In effect, the political power and vast wealth amassed by Isaias and his elites is one that buys the support and loyalty Isaias needs in order to stay in power while depriving the general populace of their basic rights.
One might ask why the regime wants to impoverish the people. Couldn’t it benefit more from the prosperity of the people and the country? The answer is “No”, at least for two reasons:
- Economic institutions that create incentives for economic progress may simultaneously redistribute income and power in such a way that a predatory dictatorship and those that support it may become worse off. Allowing such an economic progress and freedom of institutions that supports it – brings out to the open a conflict between democracy/freedom/equality and dictatorship, which could be instrumental in bringing down the regime of Isaias. For this very reason, the Isaias regime would not allow economic freedom because it threatens its power to the core.
- The nature and characteristics of the dictator at the helm of power in Eritrea is not amenable to reform, let alone to a fundamental change. Thus, in order to bring democracy and all fundamental freedoms in Eritrea, removing the dictatorial regime’s political structure should be the first order of business for the Eritrean people. To that effect, an understanding of the nature and characteristics of the regime and the man at the helm of the power is crucial.
The genesis of the dictatorial regime in Eritrea is closely associated with the nature and characteristics of its architect - Isaias Afeworki. Isaias is a narcissistic and greedy dictator. As a narcissistic leader, Isaias has been and continues to be obsessed with the desire to have an absolute power, as well as a grandiose sense of self-importance or uniqueness of his talent by exaggerating his achievements during the armed struggle and beyond. Not only that but also Isaias is a person who portrays himself as a superhuman who deserves a sense of entitlement in that he wants a special treatment from Eritreans without assuming reciprocal responsibilities – he thinks that he has the right to rule Eritrea without the consent of the Eritrean people as if the country is his own private property. To this end, he established a mythical narrative and fairytale about himself that keeps duping the Eritrean public until now.
Now, majority of Eritreans know that two decades into Isaias’ dictatorship, Eritrean individuals, families, neighborhoods and towns and villages and other traditional institutions (religious groups, educational institutions, hospitals etc) became state-centered; the popular sovereignty of citizens, freedom and liberties, which are the bedrock of democracy are nonexistent. The message here is that Isaias is a prototype of evil dictator that rose to power on the ruins of democracy and freedom, a man who lacks the basic human capability and morality or sympathy to others. And if there is a piece of human trash in our midst, Isaias would be the one. Like many notorious dictators in history, Isaias’ politics of citizenry resides on division, fear, distortion, and demagoguery. And to elaborate some of Isaias’ egocentrism, brutality, disrespect and contempt to the collective wisdom of Eritrean people, here are few examples that the public is familiar with:
- The extrajudicial killings of his close associates during and after the war of liberation period on the pretext of national security and other lies;
- The imprisonment and subsequent disappearances of top government officials such as the G-15 on trumped up charges of treason;
- Condescending comments such as “do the Eritrean people want us to slaughter lambs every Thursday and deliver them to every house” in his scornful reactions to the public complaints about the provision of public service where in reality there was little of it;
- Condescending comments such as “let’s count the number of pregnancies in Asmara and the number of pregnant girls in the National Service” when the public complained about the nonconsensual sex and pregnancies for which young girls were being forcibly raped and impregnated by his army generals and officers;
- Characterizing the 2013 Lampedusa tragedy that claimed over 360 Eritrean children, women and young people as “illegal African migrants” by his state media, which shows the depth of lack of empathy and mockery of Isaias; and
- The utter disregard to the interest of the Eritrean people when Isaias declared in his 2015 New Year interview the 1997 Eritrean constitution as dead before it was even promulgated.
In hindsight, we know Isaias exploited the unique circumstances and the critical juncture that occurred in post independence Eritrea. To put it differently, the fatigue of 30 years of destructive war and the subsequent euphoria of independence let the Eritrean people’s guard down and helped Isaias to lay the foundation of his absolutist and extractive political, economic, and social institutions. Not only that but some also believed that giving the power to Isaias was correct and acceptable as a temporary arrangement. The point is Eritrean people in a deadly historical mistake entrusted Isaias with their public space, their fundamental freedoms, their power of citizenry and sovereignty, and their revolution that they achieved in the decades before independence.
Using such an opportunity - or call it the magnanimity of Eritrean people - Isaias went on consolidating his dictatorial regime by engaging in a scheme of depriving all political rights and atomizing Eritrean society by introducing a series of draconian measures that overtime brought the breakdown of our families and communities, erosion of our cultural values and freedoms, and the destruction of Eritrea’s patriotism, harmony, courage, unity, religious life, and perseverance, which we know such values are the foundation of Eritrean people that helped them withstood all enemies and foreign occupiers, and values that cemented their unity in the last century.
In order to ensure the success and continuity of his dictatorial rule in Eritrea, he pursued a policy of politics of fear and divide-and-rule strategy such as “giving positions as compensations that excluded the civilian workforce from the public life”, “rewarding public positions both civilian and military not on merit, but on the basis of political loyalty; remuneration and entitlements based on cronyism and not on merit, etc. In doing so, the regime accumulated enormous and overarching power through its regime-controlled public space that continues to squeeze and completely suffocate Eritrea’s political and socio-economic space to the extent that the public cannot do anything outside the terms and codes the regime has established. And this has been a major obstacle for any dissent or opposition to organize and flourish inside Eritrea. Under these circumstances, those who can take the risk of acting outside this area are the Diaspora-based individuals and political groups, but they are also weak and divided to the extent that the dictator views them as a nonexistent opposition and if there are, in the eyes of the regime, they are considered as a threat to the country – a claim that the regime is exploiting solely to maintain its political legitimacy in the country.
In sum, we should not underestimate the deceiving power of Isaias. Even now, he can hide his malevolent agenda and deceive well meaning Eritreans. As a malignant narcissist leader, Isaias is adept at charming and manipulating others, camouflaging his malevolent agenda, and even sometimes appearing to be very a normal person. And yet, he is very skilled both at entrancing and putting other’s under his spell. Not only the disdainful interviews that he gives every New Year, but over the past decades, we saw Isaias portraying every trait of a narcissist leader such as lying, creating false propaganda, presenting exaggerated and dubious claims, including using nonexistent foreign threat to the country to instill fear in the minds of his followers/the public as a ‘controlling technique’.
Hence, we should not assume that the people will understand Isaias’ malicious and malevolent behavior and expect them to easily shift loyalty. Chances are that many of his followers may not voice their opposition to his regime and may never exit and shift loyalty to the justice seeking forces (camp). After all, there is the so-called “herding” (just following the flow) that the justice forces need to understand. Thus, as crazy as it is, it is not unnatural for some people to follow the dictator to his grave and perhaps put flowers in his grave, too. Importantly, for many Eritreans the distinction between “a nation, a sate, and a government” is not that clear. For many there is no difference and they consider any “opposition to the government as opposition to or even rejection of the Eritrean Nation and Eritrean State,” which we know this political attitude is to the likening of the dictator. Our role must be to educate the public on the issue of democracy, rule of law, nation, state, and opposition as related to the process of democratization in Eritrea. With this, it is time that we say enough is enough and stop Isaias from destroying and burying the legacy of EPLF and our armed struggle and thedream of our people – a dream of democracy, rule of law, and constitutional governance that is accountable to the people of Eritrea. EPDP says the justice seeking forces need to stop empty boasting and bragging, and should begin “talk the talk and walk the walk” –backing up what we say with concrete action.
Isaias’ Last Ditch to Bury the Legacy of the EPLF: The End of the “Hope” for Constitutional Governance/Political Pluralism and his Resolve to Continue Clique/Personal Rule in Eritrea
Thursday, 26 February 2015 21:37 Written by EPDP Information OfficeEPDP Editorial
Part I
In reality, Isaias is digging the last ditch to bury the legacy of the EPLF/the liberation struggle and with that comes the continuation of denial of Eritrean people their right to have a constitutional political system that upholds the rule of law and respects the fundamental principles of freedom and basic human rights.
The history of modern Eritrea is the history of a long and arduous struggle in search of statehood and national identity. Successive generations of Eritreans waged both peaceful and armed struggle collectively against their common colonial powers (Turks, Egyptians, Italians, British, and Ethiopians). Particularly, organized Eritrean national resistance against colonial rules got momentum during the 1940’s and the 1950’s, which overtime got transformed into an armed national liberation movement in the 1960’s. Thus, after struggling against successive colonial powers for almost 100 years that includes thirty years of bloody armed struggle against the last alien ruler, Ethiopia, Eritrea's de facto independence was realized under the leadership of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) in May 1991 and the birth of the nation was formally legalized, de jure independence, through the April 1993 United Nations monitored referendum, which of course had its drawbacks regarding the representation of sister liberation fronts. However, as we know, independence was not an aim in itself but a means to an end - to have an all-inclusive democratic, political, economic, and social system with solid political and civil institutions. That is, independence was a necessary condition not a sufficient condition for establishing a democratic and prosperous Eritrea.
Indeed, the core objectives and aims of the Eritrean war of liberation were freedom, justice, democracy and economic and social emancipation. In this, it is well-evidenced that throughout our struggle for independence, leading Eritrean figures of the armed struggle constantly made solemn pledges and vows of the importance of the establishment of democracy, rule of law, and a society governed by democratic principles and institutions anchored on a constitutional governance that is accountable to the people in post-independence Eritrea. These pledges also continued during the first few years after de facto independence. The National Charter(adopted by the 3rd congress of EPLF in 1994) and the 1997 Constitutionfor example, pledged the birth/creation of a free, democratic and prosperous Eritrea with a constitutional political system that upholds the rule of law and respects the fundamental principles of freedom and human rights. Again notwithstanding the drawbacks of the constitution making process, the pursuit of these noble objectives, many of them included in the 1997 constitution, was the raison d’être for the Eritrean liberation struggle where generations of Eritreans paid untold sacrifices. Hence, the ultimate legacy of the Eritrean liberation struggle in general and the EPLF (as an organization that led the final phase of the Eritrean struggle to victory) in particular would have been the creation of a constitutional and democratic Eritrean State, which would recognize the legitimacy of a government that derives from the consent of the governed (the people) and that would become sustainable by an active citizenry engagement and participation in the governance of the country. It did not happen.
Because, not long after independence, the process of nation building and the democratization of Eritrea was hijacked by a group of ruthless predatory dictators and subsequently the noble objectives of the liberation struggle were subverted for personal power and aggrandizement of these few unscrupulous predators – by all account antithetical to what Eritrean martyrs and Eritrean people had all along struggled and envisioned for their country, meaning the establishment of popular governance and not a dictatorship. But, what we have now in Eritrea is the latter, which is the rule of dictatorship under one man with unlimited power that rules by decrees. With this, all the pledges and the concrete promises that were made during and after the liberation struggle were betrayed to the core by none other than Isaias and his henchmen elites who are anti democracy, anti diverse views, and anti Eritrean citizens’ sovereignty.
After securing power through the PFDJ Party, which is the nucleus of authoritarianism in Eritrea, this kleptocratic group led by Isaias went on a spree of purging and eliminating pro democracy elements among the ranks of the EPLF first and later against members of the PFDJ. Once Isaias took control of the PFDJ, he changed its structure and character, reduced it to a mere exploitative weapon, and made it a brute Party to suppress all political dissenters and oppositions. And over the past two decades, Isaias frozen public servants and military personnel, tortured opponents, outlawed press freedom, imprisoned and murdered hundreds of pro democracy movement groups who pushed and called for constitution governance in Eritrea, and put hundreds of others in incommunicado and solitary confinements. Needless to say, now two decades later, it seems that Isaias has reached the stage where he thinks he can have a free and smooth ride to his dream land – an Eritrea ruled by a person of his choice to maintain his “legacy”– even if it means that person is from his own clique or from his own family.History shows that some dictators succeeded or attempted in creating family dynasties such as the three generations lineage of the Kim Dynasty of North Korea and the Al-Assad Dynasty of Syria; and other dictators such as Mubarak of Egypt, Gaddafi of Libya, and Ali Abdella Saleh of Yemen - attempted to create a family dynasty but they failed due to popular uprising.
In his 2015 New Year interview, after shelving it for 17 years, Isaias declared his own 1997 constitution as a ‘dead’ document. Not only that, but also he declared that he is planning to draft a new one. Will he draft a new one? What kind of constitution will it be? How will it be different from the 1997 constitution? If at all his hidden drafters produce one, it will be either a document that will allow ONLY One Party System or a NO-Party System of which both these systems pave the way for the continuation of his unholy “legacies” in Eritrea – the dream land of Isaias. In reality, Isaias is digging the last ditch to bury the legacy of the EPLF/the liberation struggle and with that comes the continuation of the denial of Eritrean people their right to have a constitutional political system that upholds the rule of law and respects the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights. Whether or not Isaias will be able to land in his dream land will depend on what the Eritrean people will do. But what is absolutely clear now through his recent interview is that Isaias has admitted that he has in fact been ruling Eritrea without a constitution (without the consent of the Eritrean people) for the last 17 years. For the brainwashed majority followers of the PFDJ, this should be a red flag that Isaias’ regime is illegitimate and that Isaias has neither a right nor a legitimacy to eliminate or declare the 1997 constitution as dead.
But in a reversal of fortune, as if the Eritrean history is not replete with betrayals, the Eritrean people have been betrayed once again by a homegrown predatory dictator. Because of this, almost 24 years after independence, Eritrea does not have a constitution, has had no elections and no contract between the governed and the government. The Isaias regime has failed Eritrea in all its political, educational, cultural and socio-economic policies. Instead, Isaias all along engaged in looting the country’s resources and distributing it to the ruling class and other selective minority groups as a means to maximize the power of his dictatorial regime. The use of the country’s resources as a form of patronage and favoritism is used to placate supporters and punish those who oppose the regime.
The brute fact is instead of establishing governance structures and resources allocation system that allows popular participation, the regime from the outset adopted extractive and exclusionary laws that allow it to capture all the benefits of our independence. As a consequence, many population groups in our country were and are marginalized politically, socially and economically. Ever since its inception, the regime has centralized the production and distribution of resources, established patronage and privileges at the expense of all other elements of the nation’s economy. We know, using this political power, the few in PFDJ have accumulated enormous wealth and resources of the state for themselves. In addition, the state power arrangement does not constrain the powers of the government: it does not guarantee economic freedom; it does not provide mechanisms for peaceful resolution of conflicting interests of various groups within Eritrea; it does not advocate for peaceful coexistence in Eritrea. What we have in Eritrea is a “failed state phenomenon” where the regime neither cares for the majority of the people or for the public good, nor for the people’s right.
Last, with the latest declaration of scrapping the 1997 constitution, Eritrea is being exposed to a bone-deep deficiency of statehood and representative political system, which is a major threat to the country and its people. And this is the final nail in the coffin of all the legacies of EPLF and of the struggle of Eritrean people for democracy and freedom. Where is the anger and fire of ex-EPLF fighters who paid blood and sweat to achieve free Eritrea, but betrayed by Isaias? Our question is, was not the basic precept of the constitutional process to establish rule of law and representative government in Eritrea? Is not it time that we say enough is enough and stop the evil minded Isaias from destroying and burying the legacy of our armed struggle and thedream of our people – a dream of democracy, rule of law, and constitutional governance that is accountable to the people of Eritrea? EPDP says “it is high time that we should” intensify our call upon the Eritrean public in general and all ex-EPLF fighters and supporters in particular to join hands and confront the evil intent and design of Isaias and save the “Eritrean Nation” from descending into political, social, economic and demographic abyss. Understanding the evil mind behind this unfortunate negative trend is relegated to the Part II of this series.
ኣብ ዓይኑ ዘሎ ጕንዲ ገዲፉስ ኣብ ኣዕንቲ ካልኦት ዘሎ በሰር ዝርኢ ስርዓት
Monday, 23 February 2015 22:17 Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ
ብዕብየቱ ኣብ ካልኣይ ደረጃ ዝስራዕ ባንክ HSBC፡ ኣብ ስዊስ ዝርከብ ግላዊ ጨንፈሩ ናይ ገበነኛታትን ብልሽዋት ሰብ ርማልን ሰብ ስልጣንን ገንዘብ ተቐቢሉ ኣብ ስውር ሕሳብ ከቐምጥ ምጽናሑ ዘጋልጽ ሓበሬታ ጋህዲ ድሕሪ ምዃኑ፣ እቲ ባንክ፡ንዝስንዘረሉ ዘሎ ኣህጕራዊ ነቐፌታታት ንምክልኻል ላዕልን ታሕትን ክብል ይርአ ኣሎ። ገለ ካብ'ቲ ገንዘብ ብሕቡራት ሃገራት ናይ ዝተዀነኑ ኣብ ንግዲ ደቂሰባት፡ ንግዲ ኣልማዝን ብልሽውናን ዝተዋፈሩ ዕሉላት ገበነኛታት ምዃኑ ውን ይሕበር ኣሎ።
ናይ'ዚ ባንክ'ዚ ተገልገልቲ ናይ ዓለምና ዓበይቲ መራሕቲ ምዃኖም ውን ናይ ኣደባባይ ምስጢር ኢዩ። ፕረሲደንት ሑስኒ ሙባረክ ናይ ግብጺ፡ ፕረሲደንት ቢን ዓሊ ናይ ቱኒዝያ፡ ፕረሲደንት በሻር ኣልኣሰድ ናይ ስርያ፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ንጉስ መሓመድ 6ይ ናይ ሞሮኮ፡ ናይ ባህረን ንጉስ ሳልማን ቢን ሓምድ ዒሳ ኣልኸሊፋ፡ ናይ ስዑዲ ዓረብ ንጉሳውያን ቤተሰብ ገለ ካብ'ቶም ተጠቐምቲ ናይ'ዚ ባንክ'ዚ ኰይኖም ምጽንሖም ክዝረበሉ ዝጸንሐ ኣርእስቲ ኢዩ።
እቲ ካብ ኵሉ ዘገረመና ግን፡ ካብ'ታ ዝደኸየት ሃገር ኣብ ዓለም እትብሃል ኤርትራ፡ 695.2 ሚልዮን ዶላር ኣብ'ዚ ባንክ'ዚ ተረኽቡ ዝብል ሓበሬታ ምስማዕና ኢዩ። ህዝባ ብኩቦን መግቢ እናተዓደለ፤ ብሕጽረት ማይ፡ መብራህቲ፡ ነዳዲ ትሳቐ ዘላን መንእሰያታ መጻኢ ዕድሎም ጸልሚትዎን ንስደት ዘምርሕላን ግዳይ ነጋዶ ደቂሰብ ዝዀኑላን ሃገር፡ ክንድ'ዚ ዝኣክል ገንዘብ ብስም ውልቀሰባት ተቐሚጡ ምጽናሑ ዘስደምም ኢዩ። ኣብ ደገ ተቐሚጡ ዘሎ ናይ መራሕቲ ኤርትራ ገንዘብ እዚ ጥራሕ ከምዘይከውን ርዱእ ኢዩ። ክሳብ ዕለቱ ኣኺሉ ዝጋለጽ፡ እዚ ተረኺቡ ዘሎ ፈዲሓ ንባህርያት መራሕቲ ስርዓት ኤርትራ ንምርዳእ ዝሕግዝ ኣገዳሲ ተረኽቦ ኢዩ።
ብልሽውና ዘይብላ፡ ዕዳ ዘይብላ፡ ኣብ ርእሳ እትምርኰስ እናተባህለ ብመራሕቲ ኤርትራ ዝዝመር ዝነበሩ መዛሙር፡ ሎሚ ሓሶት ምዃኑ ብዘየማትእ ኣገባብ በሪሁልና ኣሎ። መራሕቲ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ'ቶም ድሕሪ ስዕረት ባዕዳዊ መግዛእቲ ስልጣን ዝጨበጡ ኣፍሪቃውያን መራሕቲ ዝኸፍኡ እንተዘይኰይኖም ካብ'ኦም ዝሕሽሉ ዝዀነ ይኹን ክቐርብ ዝኽእል ጭብጢ የለን።
እዚ ኣብ ስዊዘርላንድ ተቐሚጡ ዝጸንሐ ገንዘብ፡ ናይ መራሕቲ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ 2%፡ ንግዲ ማዕድን፡ ዘይሕጋዊ ንግዲ ብመንግስታዊ ትካላት (09)፡ ንግዲ ደቂ ሰባት፡ ዘይክፈሎ ባርነታዊ ስርሓት ....ወዘተ ዝተረኽበ ኣታዊ ምዃኑ ምግንዛብ ኣይጽግምን ኢዩ። መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ናይ ሓዋላን ኮንትሮባንድን ንጥፈታት ከምዝዋፈር ዘይፈልጥ ኤርትራዊ ዘሎ'ውን ኣይመስለናን። ብቐደሙ ውን፡ መንግስቲ ወናኒ ናይ ንግዳዊ ትካላት እንተደኣኰይኑ፡ ብልሽውና ዘይተርፍ ባህርያቱ ክኸውን ምዃኑ ዝስሓት ኣይኰነን። ኣብ ዓይኑ ዘሎ ጕንዲ ዘይርኢ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ግን፡ ብናይ ካልኦት ሃገራት በሰር ክወራዘ ኢዩ ዝውዕልን ዝሓድርን። እታ "ሓቂ'ያ ትዛረብ ዝብላ ኤሪ ቲቪ ደኣ፡ ነዚ ጽሓይ ዝወቕዖን ዓለም ዝዛረበሉ ዘሎን ሓቂ ስለምንታይ ኢያ ዘይትዛረበሉ? እዚ ከም'ዝን ከይዝረበሉ ብማለት እኳ'ዩ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ንናጽነት ናይ ፕረስ ከም ቍሪ ዝፈርሖን ብዅሉ ዝከኣሎ ኣገባብ ዝዋግኦን።
ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ)፡ ነዚ ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው ኢዩ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ጕባኤኡ ኣብ ዘጽደቖ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮኡ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ምሕደራን ኣጠቓቕማ ማዕድናትን ዝብል ኣርእስቲ፡ ነዚ ዝስዕብ ሓሳብ ዘስፈረ። "...... ሰዲህኤ ማዕድን ንዕቤት ሃገርና ብዝልዓለ ከበርክቱ ካብ ዝኽእሉ ባህሪያዊ ጸጋታት ሃገር ሓደ ምዃኑ ይርዳእ። ብፍላይ ድማ፡ ካብ ፍቓድ ዕደና ምሃብ ጀሚርካ ግሉጽነት ብምትእትታው፡ ብልሽውና ብምውጋድ፡ እቶት ማዕድን ብግቡእ ብምምሕዳር፡ ህዝብና ካብ ድኽነት ክገላገል ይኽእል እዩ ዚብል ቀንዲ ኣምር ሰዲህኤ እዩ። ብፍላይ ተመኩሮ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃ እንተድኣ ተገንዚብና፣ ብሰንኪ ዘይግሉጽነትን ብልሽውናን መራሕቲ ሃገር ማዓድናት ይኹኑ ካልኦት ዕቑራት ጸጋታት ሃገር ጠንቂ ውግእን ደም ምፍሳስን ኮይኖም ጸኒሖምን ኣለዉን። ከምኡ’ውን መለኽቲ ዘለውወን ሃገራት ክሳብ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘለዉ ሃብቲ ሃገር ብሒቶም ይጻወትሉ። ኣብ ዝሃድሙሉ እዋን ከኣ ኣብ ስደቶም ንሕልፈት ዘነባብር፡ ማእለያ ዘይብሉ ገንዘብ ህዝብን ሃገርን ዘሚቶም ይሕክሉ..."።
ስርዓት ኢሳያስ'ውን፡ ክሳብ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘሎ ብጸጋታት ኤርትራ ይጻወት ኣሎ፡ እንተደኣ ካብ ኤርትራ ሃዲሙ ወጺኡ ድማ፡ ነዚ ኣብ ደገ ዘቐመጦ ገንዘብ ናብ ግላዊ ጥቕሙን ንርግኣት ኤርትራ ኣብ ምዝራግን ከውዕሎ ምዃኑ ካብ ዝሓለፉ ተመኵሮታት ናይ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ክንበጽሖ እንኽእል መደምደምታ ኢዩ።
ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ
“ቃልስና ምእንቲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዩ። ቃልስና ተዓዊቱ ዝበሃል ከኣ ናይ ህዝብና ጭንቂ ብራህዋ ምስተደብሰ እዩ። እቲ ናብዚ ዓውትዚ ዘብጸሓና ሓቀኛ ለውጢ ከኣ እቲ ካብቲ ዋና ለውጢ ህዝብና ዝነቅል እዩ ” ዝብሉ ሓረጋት ካብቶም ካብ ነዊሕ ግዜ ጀሚርና መውጽእ ኣፍና ጌርና ክንዝምሮም ዝጸናሕና ሓርጋት እዮም። ሓቅና ከኣ ንሱ እቲ ኣፍ ከለዎ ዝተለጉመ፡ ኢድ ከለዎ ዝተኣስረ፡ ብርሃን እንከሎ ዝጸልመቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ስለ ዝኾነ ክንብጀወሉን ድምጹ ከነስመዓሉን ኢና ምባልና ዘምሕረልና እምበር ዘኽፍኣልና ኣይምኾነን። ኣካል ህዝብና ስለ ዝኾና ናይቲ ህዝብና ብቓልሱ ዘመዝግቦ ጸጋ ተጠቀምቲ ምዃና ኣይንዝንግዖን ኢና። እቲ ካባና ካብ ተቓወምቲ ዝድለ ናይቲ ከስመዖ ዝግብኦ ድምጺ እንከለዎ ልሳኑ ዝተዓጽወ ህዝቢ ልሳን ኮንካ ምብቃዕ እዩ። እዚ ከነማልእ ክሳብ ዘይከኣልና ንቃለስ ኣለና ምባል ኪኖ ድኻም ትርጉም ከም ዘየብሉ ፍጹም ክንስሕቶ ዘይግብኣና እዩ። እቲ ሕቶ እምበኣር ”እቲ ብስሙ እንብሎን እንገብሮን እቲ ናይ ልቡን ትጽቢቱን ድዩ ወይስ ንትጽቢታቱን ሃረርታኡን መዝሚዝና ኢና ጸቢብ ስምዒታትናን ህርፋናን ንነዝሕ ዘለና?” ዝብል እዩ። ዋላ’ኳ በቲ ካብ ልቢ ድዩ ካብ ክሳድ ንላዕሊ “ህዝቢ እዩ ወሳኒ” ዝብል ጭርሖ ብዙሓት ንደዓዓስ እንተኾና፡ ካብቲ ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞና ብስም ህዝቢ ዝቃልሕ ዳንኬራ መብዛሕትኡ ብስምቲ ሎሚ ዘይዛረብ ዘሎ ጽባሕ ግና ምዝራቡ ዘይተርፎ ህዝቢ ዝመሓልን ዝጠሓልን ናቱ ናይቲ ለውጢ ዝጽበ ዘሎ ህዝብና እዩ ክትብሎ ዘጸግመሉ ኩነታት ንዕዘብ ኢና።
ብፍላይ ንእዋናውነትን ቀዳምነታትን ዛዕባታት ብዝምልከት እሞ ከኣ፡ እቲ ጉዳይ ግልብጥሽ እዩ ዝመስል። ሎሚ ህዝብና ውሱናት፡ ሃይማኖቶም፡ ብሄሮም፡ ቋንቋኦም፡ ኣውራጅኦምን ድሕረባይተኦም ኣብ ቃልሲ ምእንቲ ነጻነት፡ ብዘየገድስ ጸረ ደሞክራሲ ባህሪኦም ዘጫነዎም ብዲክታቶር ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዝተጠመቑ፡ ውሱናት ኣካላት እዮም ጸላእተይ እዩ ዝብል ዘሎ።። ብስንኪ እዚ ጸረ ደሞክራሲ ጉጅለ ዕድመ ስልጣኑ ንምንዋሕ ዝፈጠሮ ምፍልላይ እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ እቲ መናብርትናን ጸጋናን እምበር ሓድሽ ዘይኮነ ኩለመዳያዊ ብዙሕነትና ኣይኮነን ጸገምና ይብል ከም ዘሎ ኢና እንርዳእ። ርኢና ከምዘይረኣና ክንሓልፎ እንተዘይኮይና፡ ንዓና ነቶም ቃናኦም ክንልውጡ ዝጽዕሩ ዘለዉ እውን ይጠፍኦም እዩ ኣይንብልን። ምኽንያቱ ኣብኡ እንዲና ዓቢና። ነዚ ብዝሑነትና ዓቂብና እንዲና ቀዳማይ ምዕራፍ ቃልስና ኣዕዊትና። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከምቲ “ህበይሲ ካብቲ ኣብ መቐመጫይ ዘሎ እሾኽ እሞ ቅድም ኣገላግሉኒ፡ ነቲ ዝተረፈስ ኮፍ ምስ በልኩ የርክበሉ” በለት ዝበሃል፡ ናይ ህዝብና ናይ ቀዳምነታት ቀዳምነት ንጉጅለ ህግደፍ ሓጢጥካ ምድርባይ እዩ። እዚ ንሕና ተቓወምቲ እውን ፍልልያትን ስምምዓትን ንስራዕ ክንብል እንከለና እንብሎ’ዩ። እንተኾነ ብተግባር ክንመዝኖ እንከለና ገሌና ካብ ሓይልታት ተቓውሞ ከምቲ እንብሎ ክንከውን ከም ዘይበቓዕና ንርእዮ ዘለና እዩ።
ኣብ ክንዲ ምእንቲ ብሓባር ተጓዒዝና ኣብ ንህዝብናን ሃገርናን ኣብ ዘዕግብ ውጽኢት ምእንቲ ክንበጽሕ ነታ ዝርካባ ተራኽበና ኣውንታዊት መሰማምዒት ነጥቢ፡ ንኣብነት ምውዳቕ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ከነዕብያ ንጽዕር፡ ንሓንሳብ ኣርሒቕና ንቕድሚት ብምቁማት ንሓንሳብ ድማ ኣርሒቕና ንድሕሪት ብምምዕዳው “ኣበይ ኣላ ዘይተሰማምዕ ነጥቢ” ኢልና ሃነፍነፍ ንብል እሞ፡ ነቲ ሓቢርካ ንቕድሚት ንምጉዓዝ ገታኢ ክኸውን ዘይግበኦ ዝነበረ ፍልልይ ኣተዓባቢና ሰማይ ነዕርጎ። ነቲ ፍልልይ ድማ ናብ ጽልኢ ነደይቦ። እቲ ብዛዕባቲ ጀማሪ ሰውራ ሓምድ እድሪስ ዓወተ ቅድሚ ዳርጋ ሰለስተ ዓመታት ዝተፈጥረ ህቦብላ ከም ኣብነት ምውሳድ ዝከኣል እዩ። ከምቲ ወለድና “ምስ ሓመምካ ምሓረኒ እምበር ስለምንታይ ኣሕመምካኒ ኣይበሃል’ዩ” ዝብልዎ፡ ካብ ተፈጥረ፡ “ስለምንታይ ዝፈላሊ ሓሳብ ይፍጠር? ዝብል ሕቶ ከነስተማቕር ኣይኮናን ግዜን ጉልበትን ከነባኽን ዝግበኣና። እቲ ናይ መስተውዓልትን ሓላፍነታውያን ሓላፍነት ክኸውን ዝግብኦ፡ ”ከመይ ጌርና ነቲ ፍልልይ ከነወግዶ ንራታዕ ዘይኮነስ ከመይ ጌርና ንዓኡ ወጊና፡ ነቶም ዘሰማምዑና ንመጻኢና ብኣሉታ ክጸልው ብዘይክእል ኣገባብ መስመር ነትሕዞም’ዩ ክኸውን ዝግብኦ። “ዝገበረኒ ክገብርሲ፡ ዓዲ ነየጋብር” ዝብል ምስላ ወለዲ ምስዚ ኩነታት ከም ዝኸይድ ኣይንስሕቶን ኢና።
ብሰንኪ ኤርትራ ናብ ሓንቲ ዓባይ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ተቐይራ ምህላዋን፡ ናትና ሰርሲርካ ናብ ህዝቢ ክትኣትው ዘይምኽእልን ተደማሚሩ፡ ህዝብና ወጻኢ ካብ ኤርትራ እንታይ ይግበር ከም ዘሎ ብዝምልከት ዓሚቝ ቀጻሊ ሓበሬታ የብሉን ይኸውን። እንተኾነ ናይ ግዜ ብረታዊ ቃልስና ተመኩሮ ተመሊስና እንተ ዳህሲስናዮ፡ እሞ ምስዚ ሎሚ ዘሎ ናይ ቴክኖሎጂ ዕቤት ተተዛሚድናዮ ግና ብውሕዱ፡ ነቲ ዝኾነ ውድብ ድዩ ማሕበር ከምዚ’ዩ ፖለቲካዊ እምነተይ ኣብ መጻኢት ኤርትራ ኢሉ ዘቕርቦ ሓሳብ ዋላ ብጩራ ኣይፈልጦን እዩ ማለት ኣይኮነን። ብሓባር ኮይኑ’ኳ ክቃለሖ ተዘይከኣለ፡ ህዝብና ዋላ በብውልቁ እሞ ድማ ኣብ ገገዝኡ ኮይኑ፡ በቲ ኣውንታና ተስፋ ከም ዝሰኩዕ፡ በቲ ድኽመትና ድማ መዓንጣ ከብዱ ከም ዝሓርር ምግማቱ ዘጸግም ኣይኮነን። ንሕና ክንምልሶም ዝግብኣና ሕቶታት እውን ኣለውዎ። “እንታይ እዩ እቲ ብሓባር ኣንጻር እዚ ስጋና ልሒጹ ዓጽምና ዝቑርጥም ዘሎ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ዘየሰልፎም ዘሎ? ንሕና ንጽበዮም ዘለና ንጉጅለ ህግደፍ ከተኣልዩናሞ፡ ደሓር ዝተረፈ ጉዳይና ኣብ ትሕቲ መትከል እሂንምሂን እናተባሃሃልና ንዓምም ኣንዳበልና፣ ነዚ ሸለል ኢሎም፡ ክብደትን ቀዳምነትን ዘይንህቦ ፍልልያት ክትተዃትኹ ትውዕሉ ስለምንታይ?፡ ኣንቱም ሰባት፡ ዘለናዮ ጸልማት እዩ። ካብዚ ጸልማት መውጽኢ መንገዲባ ሓብሩ? ….” ዝብሉ ሕቶታት ኢዮም። እቲ ህዝብና ዝጽበዮ መልሲ ከኣ ኣብ ጠረጴዛን ወረቐትን ዘኹድድ ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ባይታ ዝረአን እንሀኹ ዝብልን እዩ።
ከምቲ “ርሑቕ ዓድስ መሐሰዊ” ዝበሃል ኩልና ሐሒዝናዮ ንዘለና ፖለቲካዊ ፖሊሲ ንህዝብና ዘዕግቦን ዝቕበሎን ከም ዝኾነ ኢና ንኣምን። ከምዚ ምእማናስ ኣይመጸገም፡ እቲ ህዝቢ ብቕምጡ ርግጸኛ ኮይንካ ምቕራብኳ ዘሰክፍ እንተኾነ፡ እቲ ጸገምስ ነቲ ኣነ ዝኣምነሉ እንተዘይተቐቢልኩም ኣዝማድ ህግደፍ ኢኹም ኢልካ ንነብስኻ ብጹእ ናይ ብጹኣት ጌርካ ከተቕርብ ምምጥጣር ይቀላቐል ምህላዉ’ዩ። እንተኾነ ከምቲ ህዝብና ዋላኳ ብኣካል ረኺቡ ከዛርበና ዕድል እንተዘይረኸበ፡ ብዛዕባኡ እንታይ ክንብል ከም እንውዕል ግና ኣይጠፍኦን እዩ፡ እቶም ናይዚ ጌጋ በሃልቲ’ውን፡ ክዕምጹ እንተዘይደልዮም ከሎ ጌና በቲ ሓደ ወገን እቲ ህዝብና ዝድግፎን ክበሃለሉ ዝደልዮን፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ እቲ ኣይኮነንዶ ናተይ ክብሎ፡ ክዝረብን ክጸሓፍን እንከሎ ዕረ ዝጥዕሞን ዝቃወሞን ኣይፈልጥዎን እዮም ማለት ኣይኮነን። እቲ ካብ ልቢ ህዝብና ንዘይነቅል ሓሳብ፡ “ናይ ህዝቢ ድሌት እዩ” እንዳበልካ ሒዝካዮ ምዃድ፡ ኣብ ውሽጡ ጽባሕ ህዝቢ እንተተቐበሎ ጽቡቕ፡ እንተዘይተቐበሎ ከኣ ነገድዶ ዝብል ተመኩሮ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ዝደግም ብደዐ ከይህልዎ፡ ዘየስግእ ኣይኮነን። ንርእሶም መሪሕን ደሞክራሲያውያንን ውድብ ወይ ምንቅስቓስ ብዝብሉ ቅጽላት ኣመላኺዖም “ህዝብና ዝጠቕሞን ዝጐድኦን ስለ ዘይፈልጥ ንሕና ከምዚ ይሕሸካ ከምዚ እዩ ወጽዓኻ ክንብሎ ናይ ግድን እዩ” ብዝብል ስርንጢጥ ክኣትዉ ዝደልዩ እውን ኣለዉ። እቲ ናይ ደሞክራሲያውነት መለክዒኦም እንተንዝርዝሮ እሞ ድማ መሊሱ ዝያዳ መስደመመና።
እቲ ጉዳይ “ግደ ዓዳላይ ደልዳላይ” ዝዓይነቱ እዩ። እዚ ኣገላልጸኦም ብዛዕባ ግደ ህዝቢ፡ ምስቲ ህግደፍ “ህዝብና ስለ ዘይነቐሐ ከብዱ እንተመሊእካሉ ደሞክራሲ ኣየድልዮን እዩ” ዝብሎ ኣሽካዕላል ዘየሳኒ’ውን ኣይኮነን። ንኣብነት ሓድነት ህዝብን መሬት ኤርትራ ኣጽኒዕካ ምሓዝን ምዕቃብን ኣብ ኩሉ ዝሓለፈ መድረኻት ናይ ሓያልነቱ ምስጢር ምንባሩ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ይፈልጦ እዩ። ካብ ምፍላጥ ሓሊፍሉ፡ ነዚ ሓድነቱ ገጢምሉ፡ ደሪስሉ፡ መዲርሉን ኣዝይምሉን እዩ። ነዚ ዘንጊዕካ፡ ሓድነታ ኣብ ዝተሓለወት ኤርትራ ደሞክራሲ ክትከል ኣይክእል እዩ ናብ ዝብል መደምደምታ ዘምርሕ ዕላል ምስማዕ ዘገርም ኮይኑ ዘሎ እዩ። ኣቦና ሱናባራ መሓመድ ደበና ምስ ዓረፉ፡ ሓደ ብዛዕባኦም ሰፊሕ ኣፍልጦ ዝነበሮም ኤርትራዊ፡ ቃል ሓዘኖም ክገልጹ እንከለዉ፡ መዋቲ ብህይወት እንከለዉ የስምዕዎ ካብ ዝነበሩ ወርቃዊ ቃላት “ንሕና ኤርትራውያን ከም ጸባ ሓንቲ ላምን እቶት ሓንቲ ዓውድን ኢና” ዝበልዋ ጠቒሱ። ካብዚ ወርትግ ዘይሃስስ ላዛ ሓድነት ነቒሉ ህዝብና ሎሚ ብኣካል ረኺቡ ሚዛና ኣብ ዕዙዝዝነት ሓድነት ከነንጽረሉ እንተዝሓተና፡ መልስና እንታይ መኾነ እንድዒ። ካብዚ ናይ ሎሚ ኣተሓሕዛና ሓደ ዓይነት መልሲ ከምዘይንህቦ ግና ንጹር እዩ። ንሕና ኣብ ደገ ኮይና ኪኖ ናይቲ ኣባላቱ ዝኾና ውድብ ወይ ማሕበር ናይ ህዝቢ ውክልና ዘይብልና ክንስና ”ህዝብና ከምዚ’ዩ ዝደሊ ክንብል እንዳወዓልና፡ መስመር ቀይርና “ህዝቢ መጻኢ ዕድሉ ባዕሉ እምበር ካልእ ዝውስነሉ የለን” እንዳበልካ ምምጽራይሲ ምስ ምንታይኮን ይቑጸር። ንሕለየሉ ደኣ ንመላሳይ እምበር እዚ እውን ህዝባዊ ሕቶ ዘየልዕል ኣይኮነን።
ሓደ ግዜ ኣብ ገለ ክፋል ደንበ ተቓውሞና፡ ብዙሓት ኤርትራውያን ብሓባር ስለ ዝተኣከብና ህዝባዊ ውክልና ኣለና ዝብል ዘረባ ከይዱ ሳዕሪሩ ነይሩ። ግዚያዊዶ ናይ ስደት መንግስቲ ክንምስርት ኢና ዝብሉ ወረታትውን ይነፍስ ነይሩ። ደሓር ግና ገለ ህድግለነ ዘለዎም መስተውዓልቲ ግዲ ተረኺቦም፡ ኣዚ ኣበሃህላዚ ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜ ቅሂሙ። ኣብ ክንድኡ፡” ኣይኮነንዶ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንብመላኡስ ንደንበ ተቓውሞ’ውን ኣይንውክልን፡ ውክልናና ነተን ኣብቲ መገባእያ ዝወዓላ ውድባት፡ ማሕበራትን ውልቀሰባት ጥራይ እዩ” ብዝብል ተተኪኡ። ግና “ምእራሙስ ጽቡቕ፡ እቲ ምድንዳንከ እንታይ ኣምጸኦ? ዝብል ናይ ህዝቢ ሕቶ ምልዓሉ’ውን ኣይተረፈን።
15 ለካቲት 2015
‘Two Wrongs do not Make a Right’: We Have Been on this Road Before
Monday, 09 February 2015 20:47 Written by EPDP Information OfficeEPDP Editorial
Lately EPDP has been posting articles on some fundamental and burning issues that are ailing the Eritrean nation in general and the opposition forces in particular. At issue were politics of regionalism and the devastating effect it would have on the overall coexistence and tolerance among our diverse social groups, as well as on our nationalism, nation building, and national integration. And if we do not reject it as a phenomenon against the long collective struggle we waged, it will be a big liability and it might present incalculable social violence and political instability to the country in post PFDJ Eritrea.
Now, some of the responses to our editorials were utter simplifications and crude exaggerations instead of admitting that there is politics of regionalism in the work in the Eritrean politics/opposition. They were evocative and emotional reactions that are far from realistic and genuine debate. The truth is we may not consider politics of regionalism yet a household politics, but it is out there. In fact, it is not only politics of regionalism, but also sub regionalism is another that is spreading like a wild fire in the opposition. And the argument of those responding to our critics is simply to blur the distinction between encountering the reality and dealing with their own subjective personal reading of the subject at hand. As usual, such individuals go beyond reality to give their gullible readers information that is not objective, but by and large a rhetoric narration of the issue being discussed.
There is a name for this in the science of debate or dissemination of information. They call it generalization and assumptions. For example, if you are not a truth seeking writer, you choose to be general, meaning you must avoid being emphatic and detailed, which requires proof and not assumption. And this is a dishonest exercise to the core in an effort to appear you are genuine and objective, but you are not. And few people, especially those who are attached to certain subjects, in our case politics of regionalism, will buy it as a true story simply because the information delivered to them by their mentors does not allow them to navigate beyond the general context given to them. And this is what the regionalists love to do. In essence, it is our region vs. that region; our culture vs. that culture in an effort to appear as if their region is dominated or suppressed by another region.
EPDP understands that a small minority of regionalists celebrates intolerance and harbor deep politics of regionalism and sub regionalism attitudes and politics in our midst through distortion and red herring argument, which is diametrically opposed to the democratic struggle that we are attempting to wage collectively. And we know they cannot engage in critical public discourse on the subject because they know doing so will render them wrong; and this is not the first time Eritrea has seen this. We had it all along in our history with few groups popping up now and then behind politics of regionalism and militating either at the cost of other regions or a desire to be recognized as a distinct entity for a bigger pie in the country.
EPDP sees the danger of politics of regionalism to the wellbeing and existence of Eritrean society. And it does not matter from which direction it is coming, whether it is from the PFDJ or from the regional entrepreneurs in the opposition camp who attempt to exploit the emotion of some on the account of their misplaced personal accounts on the agenda of regionalism. For EPDP and for the majority of Eritreans, both features of regionalism are the same phenomenon that divides and polarizes Eritrean people to the core, impedes national integration, and they must be stopped. In fact, there is little striking difference between the PFDJ politics of regionalism and the regionalist entrepreneurs, in essence the latter does not constitute a challenge to the former but exacerbates the problem to the likening of the former.
EPDP does not dismiss regional grievances that deserve focus. EPDP also recognizes that the main culprit of politics of regionalism is the PFDJ regime. But the few regionalist entrepreneurs have made ‘politics regionalism and sub regionalism’ their central program, a desire to assert their narrow regional politics with the false assertion that they have a unique social and political problem than the rest of the population. However, such justification is a gross misuse of the state of tyranny in Eritrea to validate their claim – that their region (s) is being systematically oppressed by the PFDJ regime and that everyone associated with PFDJ either by region or religion is automatically a culprit, which is a false, dangerous, and meaningless assertion. In some way, their argument seems to be about grievances, but their fight is aimed against other regions rather than the minority regime of PFDJ. The point is instead of engaging in a united struggle under one banner (remove PFDJ and replace it with democratic system), they are blaming other regions by counting them equivalent to the PFDJ while in reality every region in Eritrea is facing the same injustices and grievances. This mentality is not healthy and is not an expression of justice and democracy, as well. It is ironic when the regional entrepreneurs say they stand for freedom and democracy while in reality they are poisoning the fabric of unity and diversity of Eritrean society, which is the core value and strength of our existence.
The full picture is there for all to see: the only entity responsible for the brutality and injustices in Eritrea is the PFDJ regime, not the Eritrean people or some regions. And if our regionalists continue to blame other regions because those regions belong to a larger group (region or religion), it does not mean that they are responsible for the crimes of the PFDJ. The enemy is not other regions; it is the PFDJ regime, and until the regionalists get grasp of it, no progress will be made.
The caveat is this: should the region of Seraye be responsible for the crimes of PFDJ? Should the region of Barka, Hamassen, or Akel Guzay be responsible for the brutality of PFDJ? It is like asking all these regions must apologize for our regionalists for something the regions are not responsible. EPDP says let’s not allow this narrow discourse strangulates the democratic struggle that we are waging against the enemy, the PFDJ regime. The exploitation of regional sentiment to capture self interest, or drawing few gullible into regional tendencies at the end of the day won’t help. It does not have currency in Eritrea proper. The indisputable, rational, and justifiable thing to do is to echo the collective voices of Eritrean people against the PFDJ regime.
ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ወርሒ ጥሪ ናይዚ ሒዝናዮ ዘለና ዓመት ምምሕዳር ኢስያስ ኣፈወርቂ ኣብ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ካብ ሰላሳ ዘይውሕድ ሓድሽ ገዛውቲ ደቂ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ሰዓት ሕሙሽተ ንግሆ ብሆሊከፕተርን ታንክታትን ዝተሰንዩ ኣፍረስቲ ሊኢኹ ከም ዘዕነወ ኣብ ዜናታት ተቛወምቲ ምልኪ ከም ዝተቓለሐ ዝዝከርዩ። ዓዲ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ካብተን ኣብ ከባቢ ማእከላይ ቤት ጽሕፈት ርእሰ መራሒ ጥፍእት እትርከብ ዓዲያ። ምምሕዳር ማዛጋጃ ቤት ኣስመራ ካብ ሱሳታት ከተማ ኣስመራ እናሰፍሐ ኣብ ዝኸደሉ ዝነበረ ጽርግያን መዛናግዒ ቦታታትን ካልኦት ህዝባውያን ትካላትን ድሕሪ ምቕያስ: ደቂ ዓዲ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ንመደብ ህንጻ ኣስመራ ብምኽታል መሬቶም ኣዋሪዶም ገዛውቶም ክሰርሑ መምርሒ ምስ ተዋህበ: ብሰፊሕ ምርድዳእ ዓድን ምምሕዳር ማዛገጃ ቤት ኣስመራን: መሬቶም ብምክፋል ምሉእ ዓቕሚ ዝነበሮም ቪላታት ሕጽረት ገንዘብ ዝነብሮም ከኣ ፍርቁ ሸይጦም ፍርቂ መሬት ብጺሒቶም ሰሪሖም፡፡ እዚ ጽፉፍ ባህሊ ንምቕጻል ድሕሪ ቀጻሊ ዕብየት ከተማ ብ 2005 ኣብ መንጎ ደቂ ዓዲ ብዝተገብረ ውሳኔ ቀጻሊ ምክፍፋል መሬት ብምግባር ኣብ መሬቶም ገዛውቲ ክሰርሑ እብ ዝተዋፈርሉ: ደቂ ዓዲ ኣይኮንኩምን ዝበልዎም 120 ዝኣኽሉ ሰባት ምንባሮም ምስሓሓብ ተፈጢሩስ ፎዝያ ኑርሑሰን ብዝሃበቶ ፍርዲ ክካፈሉ ኪኢሎም። መሪሒነት ህግደፍውን ንዝቐርብዎም ሰባት ብዶላራት ሸይጦም ዝዓደልዎ መሬት ናይዚ ዓዲ ኣሎ።
ኢስያስን መምሪሑኡን ኣብዚ ጠጠው ኣይበለን። ምርድዳእ ምስራሕ ገዛውቲ ደቂ ዓዲ ኣብ ውሳኔ ምስ በጽሐ ዝኾነ ገዛ ኣብ ኣስመራ ንኸይስራሕ ኣውጁ። ምስራሕ ገዛውቲ ብሕቡእ ግን ዋላ ኣብ ጥቓ ቤት ጽሕፈትን መቐመጥን ኣይተ ኢሳይስ ቀጺሉዩ። ገለ ደቂ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ኸኣ ድሕሪ ነዊሕ ትጽቢት ኣብ መሬቶም ከባቢ ቤት ክርስትያን ኪዳነ ምህረት ክሰርሑ ጀሚሮም። መብዛሕትኡ ዝተሰርሐ ገዛውቲ ቆልዑ ብዘለውዎም ስድራ ቤታት ዝተስርሐዩ። ምዕናው ናይዚ ገዛውቲ እምበኣር ክንደይ ስድራ ቤታት ኣብ ጎልጎል ኣጻጢሑ ምህላው ብሩህዩ። እዚዩ እቲ ማሕበራዊ ኲናት ምልካዊ ስርዓት እሳያስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ። ኣብ ምምሕዳር ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዘይተነግረ እምበር ዘይተገብረ የለን።
ብንጹር ድሕሪ ኲናት ዶብ ምስ እትዮጵያ ኲናት ኣብ ልዕሊ መላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራዩ ዝካየድ ዘሎ። ምስዚ ሕጂ ምዕናው ገዛውቲ ህዝቢ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ንዓሰርተታት ኣሽሓት ስድራ ቤታት ኣብ ጥመትን ዘርምዘርሞን ስደትን ዝንቖተ ካልእ ፍጻመ ኸኣ ዝስዕብ ዛንታሎ። ኩሉ ህዝቢ ዝፈልጦ ውጽኢት ኲናት ኢትዮ ኤርትራ ብፍሽለት መሪሒነት ኢሳይስዩ ተዛዚሙ። ስዕረቱ ንምጉልባብ ከኣ ኣብ ምእሳርን ምጭዋይን ጠለብቲ ሕግን ቁዋምን ተዋፊሩ። ፍርሒ ኢሳይስ ብጽላሎቱውን ስለዝኾነ ፍሉይን ኣብ ጽንኩር ቦታን ዝበሎ ከጥፍኦም ነይርዎ። ሳይበርያ ኢስያስ። መእሰሪኦም ንህግደፋዊት ኩባንያ ሰገን ኣብ ሰሎሙና መደበር ሃኒጹ: ዋርሳይ ይከኣሎ ዝብል ወፍሪ ሽፋን ገይሩ: ንሱ ዝሃንደሶ መጀር ጀነራል ገርዝጊሄር ዓንደማርያን ዝመርሖ ብብርጋደር ጀነርል ሚኪኤል ዩውሃንስ- ወዲ ሃንስ ዝምራሕ ኣተግባሪ ሰራዊት: ሓደ ብርገድ ኣብ መግኦ ካልኣይ ብርገድ ኣብ ፍልፍል ሳልሳይ ብርገድ ኣብ ሰሎሙና ብምዕራድ መስራሕ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ዒራዒሮን መገዲ ሰራዊትን ተሃኒጹ። እዚ ስርሒት ኲናት ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኣብ ዝጀመረሉ ቅድሚኡን ባዶ ሰለስተ ሰሜናዊ ባሕሪ መናፈሻ ህዝብን፡ንትሩዝምን ክሕዛእዩ ዝብል ኣእምሮ ህዝቢ ዝኸፋፍል መናፍሕ ተኻይዱ። ምስዚ መስርሕዚ ካብ ቢብዮ ጀሚሩ (ቢብዮ ካብ ውኪ ወሪድካ ዓናጉለ ሓሊፍካ ቀራና ቦታ ንሰመናዊ ምዕራብ ማለት ንፍሾይን ምራራን ንሰሜናዊ ምብራቕ ንሞግኦን ሳቡርን ፍልፍልን ካብኡ ቀጺልካን ዘማሓልፍ ቦታዩ)። መስርሕ ዋርሳይ ይከኣሎ ኣብዚ ቦታታትዚ ቀንዲ ስርሑ ምስጢራዊ ተግባራት ንምክያድ ንህዝቢ ካብ ማሕረሱን ጉሱነቱን ኣዛናቡሉ ዝሕረስ መሬትን: ቡንን ካልን ኣትክልትን ዘራእትን ዝቦቕለሉን ንብረትን ዘመናዊ ገዛውቲ ዒላታትን ኣስተሪናታትን ዝተሃንጸሉ ንመፍረን ማሕረድን ዝኾና እንሳታት ዝፈርያሉ ዓድታት: ካብ ግዜ መግዛእቲ ጥልያን ኣትሒዘን ዝናበራሉ ዝነበራ መሬትዩ። መግኦ: ሳቡር: ፋጌና: ፍልፍል: ሰለሙና: መድሓኒት። ካብ 2004-2005 ኣትሒዙ ኸኣ ገባር ወይ ሓረስቶት ኣብዚ ቦታዚ ተወዝ ከይብሉ ስለ ዝተኸልከለ: ሓረስቶት ኣብኡ ተራእዮም ኣይፈልጡንዮም። ዓበይቲ ኣብ ደንቢኦም ተኾርምዮም ዝውለዱን ዝዓበዩን ዝጥምትዎ መጻኢ ሂወት ዝረኣዮም ናብ ሳዋ ብምዃኑ ንስደት ብምምራሕ ዓድታቶም ይጸንትዩ ዘሎ። ሳዕበን ወፍሪ ምልካውነት ምርጻም ህዝቢ ምስ ምልካውነት ኣብዚ ዝተጠቕሰ ቦታታትን ከባቢኡን ዝተጋህደ ፍጻመዩዚ። ዝያዳ ኣብዚ መስርሕዚ ዝተሃስየ ህዝቢ ወኪዩ።
ቀጻሊ ምፍንቓል ህዝቢ ብህግደፍ ካብ 2007-2008። ፍልፍል ዋና ቤት ጽሕፈት ብሪጋደር ሚኪኤል ዮሃንስያ ነይራ። ሰሎሙና ኣብ ኣገዳሲ መተሓላለፊት ንሰምሃር: ንሳሓልን ንሰንሒትያ። እዚ ኣብዚ ዝጥቀስ ካብ ታሕታይ ፈልሒት ጀሚርካ ንደብረመዓር ንጸጋም ተጸጊዕካ ንፈልሒት ላዕላይ ሓሊፍካ ነስሓቐት ንገብረምሓረን ደይብካ ንገምኒ ዘውጽእ ንየማን ገዲፍካ ንኽሳድ ኣልገና ንጽጋም ተጸጊዕካ ናብ ዊና: ንምድሪ እምባደርሆን ግራት ኣውሊዕን ሓሊፋካ ንርእሲ ዓዲ ትድይብ። እዚ ቦታታትዚ ካብ ርእሲ ዓዲ ብወገን ምዕራቡ ዝዘንብ ማይ ንሸባሕዩ ዝወርድ። ብወገን ምብራቕ ሰፋሕቲ ናይ ሕርሻ ቦታታት ዘለዎ ኮይኑ ግልዕን ባሕሪባራን ዘለዎ ቦታታትዩ። ካብ ዒራዒሮ ንጎድኒ ክሳብ ድርፎ 50 ኪሎመተር ዝኸወንዩ። ካብ ገማግም ዓድታት ንምብራቕ ማለት ካብ ዓዲ ንፋስ: በለዛ: ኳዜን: ዓዜን: ደፈረ: ዛግር: ወኪ ዘሎ ከም ኣብነት ካብ ዓዜን ተበጊስካ ናብ ባሕሪ ባራ ክትወርድ ብግምት 30 ኪሎመተር ይኸውን። ኣብ ከምዚ ጎድንን ቁመትን ዘለዎ ቦታታት ብማሕረስን ጉስነትን ዝናበሩ ዝነበሩ ካብ ዓድታት ዓዲ ቆንጺ: ሃዘጋ: ዓመጺ: ዕናናላይ: ጨዓረሺ: ገረሚ: እምባደርሆ: በለዛ: ዓድንፋስ: መስፍንቶ: ዓድሸኻ ኳንደባ: ደፈረ: ዛግር: ዓዜን: ዓደንጎዳ: ዓዲረጊትን ደቀጥሮስን ዝኣመሰላየን። ካብዘን ዓድታት እዚኤን ክሳብ 30 ሺሕ ዝኸውን ስድራ ቤታት ብመናባብሮ ሕርሻን ጉስነትን ዝናበሩ ነይሮም ክብሃል ይከኣል። ሂወት ዝነበረን እንሳሳ ዜቤት ከብትን ጠለበጊዕን ንመጽዓኛ ዘገልግሉ ኣእዱግን ዝፈርዩሉን ዝራብሑሉን ኮይኑ ንመናባብሮ ሰባት ሂወት ኣብ ምሃብ ዝዓንገለ ቦታታትዩ። እቲ ኲናት ስርዓተ ምልኪ ኣብ መንባብሮ ናይዞም ሰባት ፈጢሪዎ ዘሎ በሰላ መዐቀኒኡ ኣብዚ ብቓላት ክግለጽ ዝከኣል ኣይኮነን። እቲ ስጉምቲ ምስጓጒ ክውሰድ ከሎ ቅልጡፍን ግዜ ዘይህብን ብምንባሩ: እቶም ሓረስቶት ዝነብረኦም ከብትን ጠለበጊዕን ዓርቢ ንዓዶም ኣእትዮም ንጽባሒቱ ኣብ ዕዳጋ ቀዳም ዝሸጡ ብዙሓትዮም ነይሮም፡፡ ኣብ ዓዲ ዝብላዕ መግቢ ኣይነበረን ነተን እንስሳታት፡፡ እዚ ሕሱም ተግባርዚ ብ 2011ዩ ተዛዚሙ፡፡ እዝን ግፋ ንሳዋን ተሓዋዊሱ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ እርባዕተ ዓመታት ካብዘን ዕድታትዚኤን ሃጽ ኢሎም ናብ ወጻኢ ሃገራት ዝተሰዱ መንእሰያት ኣሽሓትዮም፡፡ ገለ ኸኣ መገዲ ተቓውሞ ክሓስቡ ጀሚሮም። ንኣብነት ሸውዓተ መንእስያት ደቂ ዓዜን ንህግደፍ ብሓበረታ ይምግቡዮም ኢሎም ንዝሓሰብዎም ደቂ ዓዶም ብለይቲ ኣብቲ ቀልቀል ተባሂሉ ዝጽዋዕ ገማግም ንዝነበረ ግዛውቶም ኣቃጺሎም ዘራእቶምውን መንቁሶም፡፡ እዚ ሓበረታዚ ዝሰምዐ ምምሕዳር ምልኪ ኮለነል ሓረጎት ፍርዙን ዝመርሖ ሰራዊት መጺኡ ንደቂ ዓዲ ኣኪቡ: ነዞም ከምዚ ዝገበሩ ደቅኹም ኣረክቡኒ እንተዘይኮይኑ ዝወስዶ ስጉምቲ ኣሎ ይብሎም። ዓዲ እዚ ዝብሃል ዘሎ ተግባር መን ከም ዝፈጸሞ ኣይንፈልጥን ኢና፤ ይኹን እምበር ተገይሩ ምህላው ስለ እንፈልጥ ነቶም ንብረቶም ዝጠፍኦም ክንክሕስ ድልዋት ኢና። ኣብ ምንጎ ደቂ ዓዲ ዝተፈጸመ ስለዝኾነ ኸኣ ብምምሕዳር ዓድና ክንፈትሖ ቁሩባት ኢና እኳ እንተበሉ: ዓበይቲ ናይ ጽዕነት መካይን ኣምጺኡ 420 ደቂ ዓዲ ካብኦም 70- 80 ዓመት ዝገበሩ ናብ ምትካልኣቤት ዝበሃል ምብራቕ ካብ ደብሪመዓር ዝርከብ ኣጻምእ ቦታ ከም ዝእሰሩ ገይሩ። ዝብላዕን ዝስተን ኣይነበረን: ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ተዓገስ ተኽለግርጊሽ ዝብሃል ሰብ ይመውት። ኣብ ኣስመራ ዝነብሩ ደቂ ዓዜን ብዝዋጽእዎ መግብን መስትን ከኣዮም ክድሕኑ ዝኸኣሉ። ድሕሪ 40 መዓልቲ ነቶም ኣረግቶት ንዓዶም ክምለሱ ኣፍቂደሙሎም: ዝተርፉ ግን እቶም ገበርቲ ዝበልዎም ረኺቦም ኣብ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ዓዲ ኣቤቶ ምስ ዳጎንዎም ነቶም ብጃምላ ሒዘሞም ዝነበሩ ድሕሪ 6 ወርሒ ለቒቖሞም። ኣብዚ ኩነት ንህግደፍ ኣውራ ዘሻቐሎን ቀረባ መጽናዕቲ ዝገበሩሉን ካብ ሰራዊት ብሕቡእ ኣብቲ ተግባርን ሓሳባትን ከይህሉውዩ ዝነበረ።
ነዚ ዝተባህለ ህዝቢ ዘባሳብስ ተግባር ዝእዝዝ ኢስያስዩ። ላዕለዋይ መራሒ ናይ ኣተግበርቲ መጀር ጀነራል ገረዝጊሄር ዓንደማርያም፡ተወላዲ ኣፍደይዩ ዝነበረ። ኣተግባሪ ምፍንቃል ሓረስቶት ሰመናዊ ባሕሪ ብርጋደር ጀነራል ሚኪኤል የውሃንስ ተወላዲ ዓዲ ንፋስዩ: ኮለንል ሓረጎት ፍርዙን ተወላዲ ኳዜንዩ። እዚ ተጠቒሱ ዘሎ ዓድታትን ዝነብርሉ ዝነበሩ ዝተጠቕሰ ቦታታትን ኣብ ግዜ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ንህዝባዊ ሓይልታት ድሓር ህዝባዊ ግንባር ምስ ኩሉ ዝወርዶ ዝነበረ በደላት መብዛሕቱኡ ንቓልሲ ዘበረከተን ብዓቕሙ ዘገልገለን ልዕሊ ኹሉ ግን ሰላምን ፍትሕን ምዕባለን ክመጽእዩ ኢሉ ዝኣመነዩ ነይሩ። ጠላም መሪሒነት ምልካውነት ኢስያስ ኣፍወርቂ ግን ዋላውን ንዝኣምኖ ኣብ ትሕቲ ፍጹም ምቁጽጻሩ ክረግጾ ንጥመትን ድንቁርናን ሕማምን ማሕበራዊ ምብትታንን ከም መሳርሒ ከዘውትሮ ኢና ንዕዘብ ዘለና። ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ምወዳእታ ዓመትሞ ምልስ ኢልና ንዘክር: ”ዘራእቲ ጽቡቕዩ ነይሩ ኢሉ ኢሳያስ ሽማግለታት ሰባት ክሰርሑ ምርኣየይ” ብምባል ”ዝተኣከብ ቂሚጦ ርእየ: ክኽየድ ግን ኣይኮነን ሒዝናዮ ዘለና መደብ ምልመላዩ ቀዳምነት ዘለዎ: ርግጽዩ ካብ ማይ ሕዳር እንበጣ ሕዳርዩ ዝምረጽ” ከኣ በለና። ነዚ ዕርቃኑ ዝወጸ ጸላእ ሕግን ቁዋምን ንመላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ገምገም ጥፍኣት ኣብጺሒዎ ዘሎ ዕሉል ምልካዊ ስርዓት ብሓደ ዓይኒ ክርእዮዩ ዝግባእ። ፍታውየዩ ዝብሎ ወገን የብሉን። ምሕዝነቱ ምስ ዘይዓግብ ስልጣን ጥራዩ።
ንባራበር።
Issais’ New Year Interview: The Production of More Manipulations and Lies
Wednesday, 28 January 2015 04:44 Written by EPDP Editorial BoardEPDP Editorial
Part 2
The question is not to count the dangers, betrayals, and evils of Issais to our people because we already know those. The question should be why all these dangers and evils of the regime are not setting off a firing revolution and lead to a deep sense of national and united opposition against the regime?
[For Part 1, please click here http://www.harnnet.org/index.php/news-and-editorial/epdp-editorial/item/1289-issais-new-year-interview-production-of-more-manipulations-and-lies-1]
Apart from the constitution talk, Issais also roared a lot of things in his New Year interview,among ofwhich were the so-called development plan for 2015, human resources development, five-year plans…etc. These were all rehashed Issais’ tyrannical policies from last year and the year before, and presented as if they were new. No new thing, unfulfilled promises and declaring further promises that would not be fulfilled, a scheme designed to manipulate Eritrean people into thinking that something good will take place in their lives next year.
For example, when asked…on realizing the objectives associated with making Eritrea a prosperous country…how do you assess our capacity to realize our aspirations? Do we have the human and material resources required to accomplish the tasks ahead? Issais said, “Human and material resources are what you can create. For example, everybody wants to live peacefully. However, peace is not something that is a heaven sent opportunity. Rather, one has to work hard to bring peace. We need to clearly identify the resources required for achieving our objectives. There are different resources such as technology, machinery, different raw materials, etc. However, human resource is the key of all the resources…work culture is also very important for materializing what you aspire (Eritrean Profile, January 14, 2015).
The above response is Issais’ fixative prayer for preserving his power. No matter how evil, atrocious, or deceptive the ends are as long as they justify the means, it is what Issais is doing – recklessly and without hesitation assault Eritrean people to empower his tyrannical power. Think about this: every year, Issais tells Eritrean people that they will be better off next year than the year before. He declares the problems and uncertainties of today will not be repeated next year. He claims that Eritrean people have learned lessons from past year and they would use those experiences to achieve their goals in the coming year. We will overcome them next year…etc. How many next years have Eritrean people gone so far without realizing their dreams - exactly over two decades now and still continuing. Simply put: by using unending promises and running a cynic campaign (usually in the name of Eritrean people), Issais managed to run an absolute system in the country for over two decades.
The fact is Issais can claim prosperity and development, but the reality is Issais is running one of the bloodiest governments on this planet: forced hundreds of thousands of Eritrean youth to exile; destroyed many Eritrean lives; altered Eritrean polities and institutions; eroded the living standard of the people; and committed widespread violation of human rights. Issais has it all, except freedom and democracy. Today, the Eritrean people are suffering from chronic shortages of basic consumer goods, water, electricity and fuel.
When asked … about the mass exodus of Eritrean youth…and if there are any tangible plans regarding their compensation or their future? Issais said, “I don’t want to talk about something that doesn’t exist. Many have been plunged into quagmires in consequence of their actions (motivated by their families and environments) to go somewhere where they would supposedly find riches and change their lives…Generally speaking, those who have gone to these “dream lands” will eventually regret their actions. Many of them mistakenly fled because their desired state of affairs didn’t come overnight in this country…” (Eritrean profile January 10, 2015). The content of the above statement simply recalls Issais’ contemptuous mockery when he said, “they are going for a picnic” in reference to the mass exodus of Eritrean youth few years ago. So, Issais did not shift ground on this; nothing new. He just doubled it down on his crusade to annihilate the Eritrean youth in order to continue his grip on power. Remember that this comment is made against the backdrop where hundreds and thousands of Eritreans are being forced to work in Party and military-owned businesses as unpaid laborers. The reality is that the mass exodus is the result and consequence of this form of forced labor imposed on the Eritrean people for the last two decades by Issaias and his dictatorial regime. The bigger picture here is that the exodus of Eritrean youth represents a major threat to Eritrea’s integrity and continuity as a nation. A country without a young generation has no future.
At this juncture, though, Issais and his cronies can roar as long as they want regarding drafting new constitution, development promises, foreign forces, war hysteria …etc. Eritrean people know the promises are empty and the development plans/projects are nonexistent; the war hysteria is a lie to keep Eritrean people in a state of war. The point is all this barrage of lies can no longer reverse the multitude crisis unfolding in Eritrea although Issais will continue to exploit such lies as a necessary strategy to muzzle and reduce the whole population to slavery. We know Eritrea is now a dilapidated, stagnated, and hungry place, with a life standard plummeting to abyss every day. Maybe this time the era of Issais’ manipulation is coming to an end. Eritrean people seem to be waking up because they are increasingly realizing that the entire edifice of Issais’ politics is based on lies and perpetual manipulations. In fact, we are witnessing Eritrean people slowly detaching if not divorcing their susceptibility to the regime’s unending lies and manipulations. They see it; and they are not buying it anymore. And there is nothing more inspiring than seeing Eritrean people finally searching their souls and beginning to withdraw their support from the PFDJ regime.
At the end, we should ask ourselves what is the lesson we can learn from Issais’ New Year long tirade and menacing interview against our citizens:
- One, Issais is spinning such an endless catalogue of lies and manipulations regarding drafting constitution, development plans, aggression of foreign forces, and others because of the increasing erosion of support base to his regime that began as a result of the crackdown on pro democracy decedents within his leadership and on journalist in 2001. This was reinforcedby the January 2013 (Forto mutiny), followed by the Eritrean Catholic priests (Where is Your Brother), and finally amplified by the excommunication declaration issued by the clergy of the United Eritrean Orthodox monasteries.
- Two, the above revelations are reinforcing Eritrean people’s confidence both in challenging and rejecting the propaganda that the mad dictator has been roaring like a wild animal for years on one hand, and in leading to a collective and united action on the other, all making Issais’ lies and unending promises more and more fragile, especially inside the homeland. We need to understand and exploit such development, and break it open to reveal the danger of Issais’ regime to our country.
- Three, we must understand that the strategy of Issais’ interview is to stifle the evolving internal opposition by conditioning Eritrean people to his own reality – a reality of fear and conformity that he knows would enable him to continue enslaving Eritrean people. Our role should be to deconstruct those realities as they are designed to perpetuate tyranny and submission to the power of Issais.
- Four, there is nothing that scares Issais than the emergence of factions within his own inner circle. We must target such a unity of the inner circle in a manner that amplifies the blunder of Issais and leads to the demise of his system. This is the major task of establishing and nurturing internal opposition.
- Fifth, we should understand that Issais will continue to lie in the face of mass exodus of the Eritrean youth. This is not an ordinary lie; this is a threat to the existence of our country. The message here is that whether ignorance or weakness not shattering such dangerous policy of Issais is strengthening his rule in Eritrea. The sad thing is there is nothing Issais has said or done that we do not know. The problem is every time, we encounter Issais’ speech, we denounce his insanity and we become delusional instead of systematically and collectively challenge it.
- Sixth, now the issue is no more about Issaias and his regime. Issaias’ contempt to the collective wisdom of the Eritrean people is boundless. His disrespect and disregard to the interest of the Eritrean people is deep and profound. His declaration of the 1997 Eritrean Constitution as “dead and nonexistent” is another in a series of blunders that exposed issais’ inner motive and evil intent. The real culprit and enemy are known and it is up to the opposition and the people what to do with it. As the saying goes, ‘snake at your feet, a stick at your hand’ “በትሪኣብኢድካተመንኣብእግርኻ.”
Last, Issais does not care about democracy, constitution, and development in Eritrea. Why should he? After all, being democratic or accepting the sovereign right of Eritrean people denies his power. He is a malignant narcissistic dictator and that is the nature of dictators, conditioning the people to their own reality and fighting for their power until they are booted out from power. The question is not to count the dangers, betrayals, and evils of Issais to our people because we already know those. The question should be why all these dangers and evils of the regime are not setting off a firing revolution and lead to a deep sense of national and united opposition against the regime? Where is our collective action?