የፍቅር ነገር

እንዲህም አለ:

በእንተ ፍቅር የተራቡ
በእንተ ፍቅር የጠገቡ
ነው ይኼ መከተቡ:

ድሮ...
ለነገ ዕጣ ፋንታ ስኬት
ዘዴ ብልሀት ሲዶለት
ከጂስም* -ከሰራ አከላት
"ልብ' ተግሳጽና ቁጣ ደርሶት
ጭንቅላትን "በሽምደዳ' ለማገዝ
በየቤተ-መጽሐፍቱ ሲዋትት
ልብ እንደ ""ልብ"' ሳይጫወት ፊት ተነስቶ
የአካል-የሕይወት መዘውር እንዳልሆነ ነገር ተዘንግቶ
የመውደድ ቅዋው** ደክሞ ሳስቶ
""ነገ"" አዳምኖ በሳለው ገጽ ፈዞ
በማያውቀው "ነገ" ታዞ
ለማያውቀው"'ነገ"" ተክዞ
ከነማፍቀሩ ተቀብሮ""በነገ"" ተገንዞ
ትንሽ እንኳ ሳይዘከር ተትቶ
ነገ ዛሬ ሆኖ ከዘመን በኍላ ትንሳዔ አግኝቶ
የመውደድ ኃይሉም አገርሽቶ
ቢወድ አንዲት ድማም
የለዛ ባለጠጋ ሀብታም
በግርማዋ ከልብ ተስቦ
ቢፈልግ ሊያወራት ቀርቦ
ሰኔና ሰኞ; "'አንተን አላውቅ; ፍቅርም አልፈልግ"" ተባለ
እንዲህም አለ
መተያየት; መነጋገር ማንን ገደለ?!
የኔ ፍቅር;
የልቤን ጥጋጥግ መሀሉም ሳይቀረው እያተራመሰ
እንጥል የምታህል ትንሽ እንኳ ፍቅር ልቧ ካልደረስ
በኔ 'ሚንቀለቀል የፍቅር ነበልባል ምንም ካልደረሳት
"የሷ ባይሆን ብዬ" አሁን ጠረጠርኩት
እንግዲህ አምላክ ባርኮ ለሌላዋ ይስጣት!!
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~


መፍቻ:
*ጂስም- ሰውነት
**ቅዋው- አቅሙ

(ጊዜያቸውን ላይብራሪ ለላይብራሪ ላቃጠሉ; ለተሸወዱ; ፍቅር ለተራቡም; ፍቅር ለጠገቡም ይሁን)

ሚያዚያ 7, 2001 ዓ.ም

ናፍቆት

ናፍቆት

አሁን እዚህ ሆኘ ከሰው ጋ እያወራሁ
ወሬውን ዘንግቸ እኔ ነጉጃለሁ
"እዚህ ' እና 'አሁኔን ' 'ያ ' እና 'ትላንት ' ነጥቀው
አገር ቤት ወሰዱኝ ድንገት አንከብክበው
እነሱን ገፍትሬ ወደ ""አሁን -እዚህ "" ስመለስ
እንደቀጠለ ነው ወሬው ሳይደፈርስ
እኔም የመንተፍረት የት ሄደ እንዳልባል
ትክ ብየ ማየት ያዳመጥኩ ይመስል
ግን ምን አበረታው "ትላንትን " እንደዚህ
""አሁንን "" ቀምቶ የሚወስደው ከዚህ
እርጂናም ቢጫነው እንደዛሬም ባይሆን
የ 'ትላንት ' ጉልበቱ በናፍቆት ላይ ቢሆን
ትላንትም ቢደክም መች ይተኛል ነገ
እንዲሁ በተራው ሊወስደኝ ፈለገ
እሱ ግን ተሻለ ተስፋ ስላዘለ
የመሆን እድሉ ከትላንት ያየለ
እንደዚያ ከሆነ ትላንትን ቀንሶ
....ዛሬ ላይ መከተም
እሱን እየንኖሩ ነገን ለመተለም

ጥቅምት 2, 2001 ዓመተ ምህረት

ውበት እንደ ካቴና!!

ውበት እንደ ካቴና!!


በተሰጣት እየፈካች; እያማረች
የማይገራ ልብ እንቢተኛ ነብስ ካሰረች
ውበት በርግጥ ካቴናም ነች

እንደ ወፈ ሰማያት
...ህልቆ መሳፍርት
አገር ምድር ሔዋን በሞላበት
ወዳጂ አካል(ልብ) አንደዋዛ ካቴና ገብቶለት
ነብስ ላላት ነብስ ታማኝ እስረኛ ከሆነላት
በርግጥ ውበት ካቴናም ናት

ቢሆንም ግን ልዩ ውብ ናት ልቤም ሰገደላት
... ካላነሳት!!!!!


ድሜጥሮስ ብርቁ
መጋቢት 12, 2001 ዓ.ም, ቶሮንቶ

ዘመነ ጭልፊት

ቀናዒ ልቦና
አስተዋይ ህሊና
ጭልፊት መሪ ሆኖ
ማዕረጉን አጣና ;
ጆቢራም በዛና
ዐይን ባይን ሆነ
ድንገት አዘናግቶ
መሞጭለፍ ሆነና ;
የሰው ልጂ መለያ
ፈጣሪ የሰራው
በራሱ አምሳያ
በጎ ስራ ; ፍቅር ሞቶ ;
እንዳይን ጠፍቶ
እኩይ ግብር ; ጭካኔ
በሰው ልጂ እሳቤ ግዛቱን አስፋፍቶ
የፈጣሪም አምሳል ተረስቶ ;
በሰላም አገር ሳይጠር ; ሳይጠና ቆሪሩ
እኩይ ግብር ; ውሸት ብሶ በፈራሚው ;በባለወንበሩ
ሲያጋፍር ስርቆቱን ሳይነቃነቅ ከመንበሩ
ሕግም ጥላ ሆኖላቸው ሕዝብ ሲመዘብሩ
ጭራሽ በሰረቀዉ ; ለሚሰርቅበትም ማይረጉ
ያገር ልጆች ጠባቂ ወታደር ሲደረጉ
ሌባነቱን እንዲረሱ ሆነው ;ታጥቀው ለሌባ ሲያደገድጉ
""የለም ! ይኼ ሌባ ነው ያሉ "" ሲገደሉ ; ሲወገሩ
በጠራራ ፀሀይ በሐሩሩ
ሌቦች ሲሾሙ ;ሲከበሩ
ምን ሊያሳስት !
ይኼማ ነው ዘመነ ጭልፊት !!
ኤሎሄ ለሚል ኤሎሄ 'ሚልበት ::

ሕብረት ሙሾ ታውርድ
ጎበዝ ግን ይነሳ
እንባዋን በመጥረግ
ዘመኑን ለመናድ
ሞጭላፋ እንዲቀጣ
በሰረቀው ነገር መጀነኑ ቀርቶ
በውል እንዲዋረድ !!

መጋቢት 16, 2001, ዓ . ም
ቶሮንቶ

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የዘመናዊነት ልክፍት

የዘመናዊነት ልክፍት

ጦር ጋሻ ጎራዴ ; እንዲሁም ጾም ጸሎት
በነቂስ ወጥተው የተሰለፉበት
ምድረ አበሻ ተኮልኮሎ የከፈለበት -በደም ; ባጥንት
ጎበዝ እንስት ወጣት አዛውንት የሞተበት ; የሞተለት
ድፍረት ;ቀናዒነት ; ፍቅር ;እምነት ተገምደው የሰሩት
ክቡር ማንነት ; ሌላው አንገት ሲደፋ ዘለግ ያልንበት
የኛም ያሁኖቹ እትብት የተቀበረበት ; ያደግንበት
ክቡር ማንነት ...
አሮጌ ነው ብሎ ""የነቃ "" ግልገል ሲሳለቅበት
ማን ያስረዳኝ ግልገሉን እንዳልነካው ልክፍት ?!!

የተሞተው ለመሬቱ ; ላዛውንቱ ; ለህጣኑ -ላላደገው
ለሴቱ ላሮጊቱ ገና ለሚወለደው
ለሚያምኑት ክርስቶስ ሰውን ለማዳን የሞተው ....እንደማያረጀው
ከገባን ማንነትም የእምነት ያህል ነው ማን ሊያስረጀው ?!
እስቲ ይምጣ አዋቂ አፉን ሞልቶ የሚያብራራ
የፈተነም ካለ ማንነት እንደሚያረጂ በቤተ -ሙከራ
ልክፍት እንጂ የሚሉት ""ዘመናዊነት ""
""ነቅቻለሁ "" የሚለውን ግልገል የሚጫወትበት
በውል ያልተጤነ ""ዘመናዊነት ""
ማንነትን መናቅ ; እራስን መጠየፍ አስታቅፎት
ማንነትህ አሮጌ ነው እያስባለ የሚያስወተውት
የሰውን አሽቃብጦ የራሱን ሲሳሳት
ቢቻል ኖሮ መውሰድ ጠበል ሁለት ሰባት
መሞከር ነበረ ቢሆነው መዳኒት ::

አዲስ ነው የሚለው አብዛኛውን ዓለም ድሮ የጨቆነ
በመሳሪያ ብርታት ረግጦ የገዛ ሕዝብን እያፈነ
ጠመንጃ ደብቆ እጂ አዙር ቢያደርገው
""የነቃው "" ግልገሉ አዲስ አደረገው
ግልገሉ እንደሚለው እንዲህ እንዳሁኑ
ምኞትን ደብቀው አገር ገለው ሊከፉኑ
ጦቢያ እናስልጥን ቢሉ ፈቃድ ስጡን
የውነት የነቃው ያ የድሮ ግልገል ...
ፍርጥም በማለት -እኛ የማንን ጐፈሬ እናበጥራለን ?!
ይልቅ አያያዙን አሳዩን እኛስ ምን ሊያቅተን !

ያኔ ገሸሽ ሲል ላሰልጥናችሁ ባይ
ግልገሉም ሲረዳ መሆኑን ቃል አባይ
በል ዓይንህን ላፈር ወደዚህ እንዳታይ !

አሰልጣኝ ቁርጡን ሲያውቅ ዘራፍ አለ አጓራ
ዘራፍ ባይ አላየ የሚወድ ተራራ
በሌላው ዓለም ሲያይ ወራሪ ሲስፋፋ
አበሻንም ወሮ አንገቱን ሊያስደፋ
በጦር አንበርክኮ አበሻ ምድር ሊስፋፋ !

መድፍ ታጥቆ ቢያየው መች ፈራው አበሻ -ፊት ልፊት ...ገጠመ
ዘራፍ ያለው ጨቋኝ እንኳንም ሊጨቁን እራሱ ወደመ
ያበሻም ማንነት በድል ተሽልሞ
ልዩ ታሪክ ሆነ ዓለም አስገርሞ

በውነት የነቃው የተገለጠለት አላስነካም ያለው
የድሮው ግልገል ነው ማንነቱን ወዶ ለዚያ ሲል የሞተው
ይኼ ልክፍታሙ በሰው የሚኮራው
ራሱን ቸርችሮ ላሰልጣኝ የሸጠው ...በዛ የሚያተርፈው
መንተፍረቱም ቀርቶ ክብር ማንነት ""አሮጌ "" እያለ ሚጠራው
እራሱን የማያውቅ የሆነ በዋል ፈሰስ
ጸሐፊው ይለዋል የማንነት ልክስክስ ::

ጥለት ሆኖ ሳይቸግር ጤፍ ብድር
የማያረጀውን የማንነት ጥሪት አሮጌ እያሉ መደናገር
ማንነትን ሸጦ ባልባሌ ነገር
መቸስ ከወደደ እራሱ ይጋተው ሌላውን አያሳክር !!

ለሚያምኑት ክርስቶስ የሞተው እንደማያረጀው
ማንነትም የእምነት ያህል ነው ማነው የሚያስረጀው ?!


ጥቅምት 11, 2001 ዓመተ ምህረት

የሰፈሩ አዛውንት እና ፍንዳታ (ከሰፈር ትዝታዎች)

ወደ ማታ ሲሆን ሰፈር ሰብሰብ ብለን
ወሬ ስናወራ ግንብ ተደግፈን
አንድ ፍሬ እያለን ምንነቱን ሳናቅ ሴት ለካፊ ሆንን ::

ተሰብስበን ያዪት የሰፈሩ አዛውንት ሀሳብ ቢገባቸው
የምናውካካበት ምክንያት ባይገባቸው
ኧረ እናንተ ልጆች እባካችሁ አጥኑ
ሰዐቱም ጊዜ አይደል መሽቷል እኮ ቀኑ
ፍንዳታው ሲያማርር ያዛውንቱን ምክር
ድምጹን ከፍ አድርጎ መዘርጠጥ ሲጀምር
የመንደሩን አዛውንት ጓደኛው ይመስል
""ይኼ አራጌ ደሞ በጣም ያበዛዋል ""
ገና ከመምጣቴ ደርሶ ይለክፈኛል
"አንተ ምን አገባህ '
'ቦታው ያንተ መሰለህ ?'

መሄድ ተስኗቸው በከዘራ ብርታት እየተራመዱ
የሰፈሩ አዛውንት ልባቸው አልሞተም ...
የኮሪያን እና የኮንጎውን እልህ ሊያወጡት ወደዱ
ዘርጣጩ ሲያበዛው በጣም በስጨት ብለው
ምን የተረገመ አሁን በዚህ ብለው ለማነካካት ነው ::
እናንተ ግን ተባረኩ
እንዳይን በጠፋ እንዳትማረኩ
ብናገር አጥኑ ብላችሁ ልጆቼ ስለሆናችሁ
አስኮላውን ጨርሳችሁ ኮሌጅ በጥሳችሁ
ዲግሪውን ጭናችሁ ለራሳችሁ ለናት ላባታችሁ

እኔማ ምናለብኝ
ዕድሜ አላደኽየኝ
የተጠናቀኩኝ ቀኔ የደረሰ
ልጤ የተራሰ ቀብሬ የተማሰ
አጥኑ ማለቴ መናገሬ ለናንተው
በሉ እስኪ እግዜር ያብጀው ::

ጥቅምት 25, 2001 ዓመተ ምህረት

የረሐብ አድማ !


ቆሽቱ ሲጨስ እርር ሲል
አሳራሪውን ያሳርር ይመስል
ተሜ እንደውም አልበላም ቢል
አሳራሪዎቹ ስለገባቸው
አልበላሙ እንደማይጎዳቸው
ለምደውት ፈለጉና ሊላጡበት
ይሉ ጀመር ተውት አትለምኑት ::

እውነትም ምን አስራበው ?
ምሳ እያለው ቁርስ እያለው
ቅንጨው ዳቦው ሞልቶ በየካፌው
እራቱንም ሳያጣው !
ተሜ ያንማ መች ሳተው ?!

እርር ያለው የተራበው
ባገሩ ላይ በሚሆነው
ወገኑን ሲያየው ሰልስሎ
ያለ ዕድሜው ተጎሳቁሎ
ቀንበር ጠቦት ተመሳኩኖ
ማደሪያ መሬቱ ተሸንሽኖ
እንደሚራብ ስለገባው
ተሜ የካፌውን እንዴት ይብላው ?!

የገበሬው እኗኗሩ
መኳተኑ በባዶ እግሩ
እንደማያርስ ጦም ማደሩ
ያም ሳያንሰው ዱላና እስሩ
ሰቆቃው ስለገባው
ተሜ የካፌውን እንዴት ይብላው ?!

መናገር ዳዳው
ግና ዱላ እስሩ አፈናው ትዝ አለው
ዙሪያውን ሲማትር
ባለክላሽንኮቭ አጋዚ ወታደር
አብሮት ያለው ወሬ ሰላይ የታጠቀ
በግቢው ውስጥ የሸመቀ
ዝም እንዳይል
ለህሊናውስ ምን ይበል ?!

ያን ሲያነሳ ይኼን ሲጥል
ሲብሰከሰክ ሲያሰላስል
የካፌው ወጡ ቀጥኗል
ላይብራሪው መጽሐፍ አንሶታል
መች ተወው መብሰልሰል
የግንባሩን ጸጉር ሲፈትል ሲፈትል
ሲያስታውስ ለካስ አለ የራብ አድማ
ባጋዚ ቆመጥ የማያስደማ ::

እሱም ቢሆን በሰበብ ነው
የወገንን ጉዳይ ማን ሊደፍረው
ባሳራሪው ቋንቋ ያ ፖለቲካ ነው
እሱ ደሞ ወንጀል ነው ላሳራሪው
ማንስ ሊያስወራው
ምን ሊሰራ ጆሮ ጠቢው
የታጠቀ በጊቢው ውስጥ የሸመቀው
የተሻላው የራብ አድማ
በቆመጥ የማያስደማ ::

እስቲ በየት ሀገር
ታይቷል ራብ ሲያስጨፍር
አድማው ሲጀመር
ልክ መራብ እንደሚያጠነክር
ይጀመራል ፉጨት
ግንብ አጥር ላይ መወራጨት ::

ቀረርቶው ሌልኛ በእንግሊዝኛ
ባማርኛ በኦሮምኛ በትግሪኛ
""ጥያቄያችን የዳቦ ነው !""
ዳቦ ሞልቶ በየካፌው

የኮሌጁ አስተዳዳሪ
ባለ ጊዜ የተሾመ ባሳራሪ
ይመጣና ይለፍፋል
ማን ይሰማዋል
ተሜ ፉጨቱን ቀጥሏል ::

እባካችሁ ተማሪዎች ችግሩን ደርሰንበታል
በተቻለ መጠን ባጨር ጊዜ ይቀረፋል
አሁንም ይፋጫል ማን ይሰማዋል
አስተዳዳሪው ተማሮ
ተመለሰ ወደ ቢሮ
ማፈሪያ ነሆለል
ችግሩን ደርሶበት ሞቷል !

በተሜ ቤትማ
የተፈለገው የራብ አድማ
የወገን ብሶት ሊያሰማ
ወኔ እየፈነቀለው
አሳራሪውን መተናነቅ እያሰኘው
ሲያየው ዙሪያው ገደል ቢሆንበት
አሳራሪውን የሚወጋበት
በተገኘው ሊወናጨፍ
የራብ አድማ አውጆ እርፍ !

የራብ አድማ ስሪቱ
መቁረጫው ስለቱ
ሆኖ ወዳራሪው
የበለጠ ጎዳው ::

እዚህ ላይ ነው ክፋቱ
የራብ አድማ ብልሽቱ
አሳራሪ አለመጉዳቱ ::

የሚሻለው ባያደማም የሚያደብነው
ባያሳርርም የሚያምሰው
ድንጋይ መወርወሩ ነው
እስከሚደርስ ማሳረሪያ ጊዜው ::

መስከረም 22 , 2001 ዓመተ ምህረት

የመርካቶ ቸርቻሪ

የመርካቶ ቸርቻሪ


ሸቀጥ አልባ ቸርቻሪ
ድብርት ዱካክ ያናወዘው ዘዋሪ
ተገኘ መርካቶ ኬኔዲ ላይብራሪ
ዱካኩን ሊያባርር
ወሬውን ይዞ ሲያዘዋውር
እነ ቤቲ አዩትና
ጠሩት ...ዳኒ ናና ..ና
ምላሱ ጫፍ ላይ የደረሰውን
የቅምቀማውን የፊልሙን
ወሬ ሊካፈሉት
ዙሪያውን ከበቡት ::
ወሬው እንደተጀመረ
ሁካታው የመርካቶውን መርካቶ ተወዳደረ
ያኔ ጨምጫሚው ቀና ብሎ ገልመጥ
ወግ ጠራቂውም 'አቦ ተወና አርፈህ ተቀመጥ '
አጣራቂዎቹም አብረው ማፍጠጥ
የሁሉም ዐይን ጎረጥረጥ
ጨምጫሚው ቦታ እንዳይቀይር
በጠፋ ወንበር
ዳኒም አጣራቂዎቹም የሚፈልጉት ነገር
ከዚያ ጨምጫሚውም ማጉረምገም
'ሁሉም እኮ አለው የራሱ ዓለም '
ሰው በቃ አይጨመጭምም ?!
ማጉረምረም ...
ፈልጐ ነገር እንደላስቲክ መለጠጥ
ጨምጫሚው በኃይል ጭብጨባውን ቢያቀልጥ
ወዲያው ግልምጫ ሲበዛ
ቢገባቸው ነገሩ እንዳልሆነ የዋዛ
ወሬ ቸርቻሪው ፍትልክ
እነ ቤቲም ቀስ ብለው ሹልክ
የኬኔዲ መርካቶ ቸርቻሪ
ጥናት ትቶ የሚቸረችረው
ወግ እና ጉራ ነው
ለነ ቤቲ ግን ""ሙድ "" አለው ::

መስከረም 22, 2001 ዓመተ ምህረት

ነጻነት ምንድነው? (መጀመሪያ የሞከርኩት ግጥም)

""ነጻነት ምንድነው ?""

ድፍን ቢሆንበት ትርጉሙ ባይገባው
ይጠይቅ ጀመረ ""ነጻነት ምንድን ነው ?""
"'ነጻነት የማን ነው ?""
በስተምዕራብ ያሉት ፊደል የቆጠሩት
..... ሎጂክ ያነበቡት
ትርጉሙን ሊያብራሩ ተረባረቡበት

ሩሶ እንደገባው እንደተረጎመው
የሰው ልጂ ነጻነት ገና ከሙጣው ነው
ሲወለድ ያገኘው አብሮት የመጣ ነው
ከዚያ በኁላ ነው ቀማኛ ያገኘው
እስር ቤት ሳይገባ ሰው የታሰረው
ሩሶም የሚያየው ግለሰብን ሳይሆን
ሕብረተሰብን ነው
ይሁን ትርጉም አለው

ለየቅል ቢሆንም ማርክስም የሚለው
የሩሶ ቢጤ ነው
ዙሪያውን የሚያየው የታሰረ ሰው ነው
ሰንሰለቱን ያየው አንድ መደብ ላይ ነው
እሱም ሀሰት የለው አሁንም ልክ ነው
ፍዳውን የሚያው አፈር የሚበላው
ከወደታች ያለው አብላጫ የሆነው
ማርክስም የሚለው የሰው ነጻነት ነው
ያንን ገለባብጦ ሰንሰለቱን ፈቶ ሳይጫን ሲኖር ነው
ይሔም ትርጉም አለው

ሚል ደሞ የሚለው የሰው ነጻነት ነው
ሌሎችን ሳይነኩ እንዳሻ መሆን ነው
ብዙሀኑን ትቶ ነጠላ ነው ያየው
ምን አይነት ሎጂክ ነው ?

ሌሎችን ረስቶ
አብሮነትን ገፍቶ
ሰለጠነ መስሎት ...
ሲሆን አንቶ ፈንቶ
በግሩ ሲጠቀጥቅ ያብሮነት እሴቱን
አልነካም ሊባል ነው የህብረተሰቡን
ምን አይነት ሎጂክ ነው ሚል የደረደረው

ስራስ ቦታ ቢሆን ምኑን ተጠቀመው
በየፋብሪካው ውስጥ አሩን ለሚበላው
ጣቱን ለሚያጣበት ጎደሉ ላረገው
ነጻነት ምኑ ነው ከምንስ አዳነው
በመንግስት ፋንታ የቱጃር ተወካይ
...ቁም ስቅሉን ሲያሳየው
ፍጠን እንጂ "ሱቹፒድ ' ሲለው
ልብሱንም ቀይሮ ጺምህን ላጭ ሲለው
ፍሪደም የቱ ነው

ግራ የተጋባው
'ስትሬስ ' ያፈሰው
'ሊቭ ሚ አሎን ' እያለ ብቻውን የሆነው
እሱ ነው ነፃ ሰው ?
ባያውቀው ነው እንጂ እንዲያውም ባሪያ ነው
ግማሹን ነጻነት ለቀጣሪው ሰቶ
የተረፈውንም ከሱስ ጋር አጣብቶ
በስተመጨረሻ ራሱን ረስቶ
ተፈጥሮውን ስቶ ሲሆን አንቶ ፈንቶ
አሁንም ነጻ ነው
ሲናገር ስንሰማው
ምን አይነት ቋንቋ ነው ?!
እጁን ካልታሰረ ; እስር ቤት ካልገባ
ነጻ ነው ማለት ነው
ምን ድንፈፍነት ነው
አትንኩኝ ስላለ ነጻ ነው ማለት ነው ?
እስኪ በደንብ አስሉት
ትርጉሙን ፈትሹት
አትንኩኝ የሚለው
በማን ነው ያመጸው
...ጉንጩን ብልጥጥ አርጎ ጌቶቹ ጋር ስቆ
ሕዝቡን ሲያኮርፍ ነው ?
እሱ የሚነቃው ቤተሰቡ ላይ ነው
አትንኩኝ የሚለው ለመሸራገጥ ነው
እሱ ነው ነጻ ሰው
ሚል የሚያሞግሰው
ሚልስ አስመሳይ ነው
አዛኝ ቅቤ አንጉአች ነው ::

ነገሩ ወዲህ ነው
እሱ የተየበው ለማደናገር ነው
ሰንሰለት ደብቆ ሰው እንዳያየው
እያስፈነጠዘ ሊያደነፍፈው ነው
ሰውም እንዳያብር
ከሌላው እንዳይመክር
እንደፈለክ ሲባል
ራሱን ከልሏል
.....ከሰው አይገናኝ
ማን ይደርስለታል
.....አብሮት እየኖረ
መች ይነጋገራል
ይሄ ነው ነጻ ሰው
ሚል የከተበለት የሚያሞጋግሰው ::

የፈረንጁን ዜማ
አበሻ ቢሰማ
መናገር ይቻላል እንደማይስማማ ::
አበሻስ ምናለ ""ነጻነት ምንድን ነው ?""
አበሻ ጨዋ ነው
አትንኩኝ የሚልው
ላገር ለመሞት ነው
የህብረተሰቡን ክብር ሊያስጠብቅ ነው
ዜማውም ሌላ ነው
ክንዴን ሳልንተራስ ምን አይነት ወንድ ነው
ባህር ከፍሎ መቶ እኛን የሚገዛው
ያ ነው ያወራጨው
አበሻ ወንድ ነው !!

ደግነትም ቢሆን አብሮት የሚኖር ነው
እግዜር እንዳረገው
ለሰው የሚሞት ነው ::

ማንነቱን ይዞ መገዛትን ጥሎ
ወደ መሬት ቀብሮ
ሀገር አስከብሮ
በተከበረ አገር እኛነትን ተክሎ
ተክሉ አንዳይጠወልግ ደብዛው እንዳይጠፋ
ሲያርም ሲኮተኩት ማታ አያንቀላፋ
.....ጧት አያንቀላፋ
የሴትም ወንድ አለው አብራ ስትለፋ
የኔ አምበሳ አያለች ውስጡን ስታፋፋ
ኑሮውንም ሲኖር ሆዱ ዱጭ ሳይል አንገቱን ሳይደፋ
የነጻነት ትርጉም በልቡ ታትሟል ሆኖ እንደማይጠፋ ::

ይሄን እንደማያውቅ
የሌባ አይነ ደረቅ
መንገድ ሰብሮ መጣ ነጻነት ሊያሳውቅ
"'ባርነት ምን ሲባል "'ብለው የታገሉት
በለሱ ቀንቷቸው ሕዝብ ላይ ጉብ ያሉት
አዲስ ትርጉም ይዘው ተለቃለቁበት ::

ከዚህ መልስ ጋሞ
ከዚያ መልስ ኦሮሞ
ከዚህ መልስ ትግሬ
ከዚያ መልስ አደሬ
ይኼ ነው ነጻነት
ሌቦቹ እንደሚሉት ::

በፊት ያደገውን በብረት ቆረጡት
ተክሉም ጉደኛ ነው የማይለወጥ
በቆረጡት ቁጥር ነው የሚያቆጠቁጥ
ይኼ ነው ነጻነት
ስንቱ የሞተለት ::

የምን "'ሊቭ ሚ አሎን ""
እንደማያቅ ጥቅሙን
በህብረት መኖርን
ለህብረት መኖርን ::

ያበሻ ግለሰብ እንዳይወጣጠር
አገር በሱ ቆዳ ስለማትቀበር
ጠንቅቆ ይያዘው የህብረቱን ነገር ::
እሱ ባገር ቆዳ መቀበሩን አይሳት
ያ የሆነው ታዲያ አትንኩን እያለ ሰው ስለሞተለት ::

ተቃዋሚም ይወቅ ይህንን እንዳይስት
በነጻነት ሂሳብ ሳይገባው አይኮትኩት
ድንፈፍ የሚያፈራ የነጻነት ፈሊጥ
የሕብረቱን ያጥብቅ
እንደዋዛ እንዳይደርቅ ::

አበሻ ተባርኮአል
"ነግ በኔ " ሲታደል
በብዙ ደርሶታል
ሀዘን ይካፈላል
ደስታ ይካፈላል
መጋራትን ያውቃል
ምን ቁርጥ አድርጎት እኔነት ይነግሳል
ሌላውስ ተረስቶ እሽክትር ይመታል
ሰው የሞተበትስ በእግሩ ይረገጣል ?!


አበሻ ጨዋ ነው !
አትንኩኝ የሚለው
ጥቃት ከተቃጣ
ባገር ከተመጣ
ያኔ አያቅም ጣጣ ::

ሲፈጥረው አበሻ ጥንቁቅ ነው
አበሻ ንቁ ነው
ወደ ውጭ ወቶ ጥራዝ የነጠቀው
""ፍሪደም "" እያለ ግራ እንዳያጋባው
ከድንፈፍነት ጋር ወስዶ እንዳያጣባው
የሕብረቱን ተክል ያን እንዳያስረሳው
ያንን ቅን አበሻ እንዳያሳስተው
አደራየ ይህ ነው ::

አበሻ ገብቶታል
ነጻነቱን ያውቃል
የሰረቀውንም በደንብ አርጎ አውቆታል
የጊዜ ጉዳይ ነው እጁ ያስገባዋል
ሌባም ይታሰራል
የሕብረቱም ተክል እንዳዲስ ያብባል ::

አንድ ነገር ልበል
ሀሳብ ለመጠቅለል
እኛ የወጣነው
ያንን እንዳንረሳው
ሰለጠንን መስሎን
እንዳንጥል አውጥተን !
በሞት የቀናውን የነጻነት ትርጉም
ያ ነው የሚስማማን !!

ስማርት ማለትም ትርጉሙ ወዲህ ነው
የብብት ሳይወድቅ የቆጡን ማውረድ ነው
የቆጡም ካልጣመ እዚያው መመለስ ነው
ፍሪደም የሚሉት ጥሩንባ ብቻ ነው
እሱ የሚጠቅመው ለቱጃሮቹ ነው
ሰው እንዳይባንን ለማደንፈፊያ ነው



መስከረም 17, 2001 ዓመተ ምህረት

Combatting shortsightedness in Ethiopian Politics

COMMENTARY

Combatting shortsightedness in Ethiopian politics By Dimetros Birku Dec 1, 2003

Introduction

I read the article “Hate and Bigotry in the name of Ethiopiawinet”, By Kaayo Ummataa, with interest. He has tried to articulate his view on the issues he believes right and wrong. Some of the points he raised are quite true and deserve appreciation. But there are also points I depreciate as lacking rationality and a spirit of critical approach though it is obvious that the writer can not downsize the party he believes it is in the right track. I want to bring to his attention those points which are not visible to him due to his position. Please don’t take this short article as polemics even if it turns out to be that way with out my knowledge.

Commenting on the nature of Politics, politicians and Political parties in Ethiopia, the writer has marvelously pointed out the downsides which have been denying achievement to the parties and on the way to the people as well. he asserts, “…shortsightedness, ignorance and malice …contaminating the political discourse in Ethiopia” towards the concluding portion of his article he went on reiterating a fact ,“In Ethiopia politics is being played not for the common good it can produce but for its own sake….” I do fully agree with these points and I think no one has a ground to deny. If there is some thing called political maturity in politics, the points raised by the writer as contaminating the political discourse could all be embraced under family name of Political infancy.

This point bounce me back to the 1970’s to have a glance at the genesis of Political parties in the country. The then intellectuals justly demanded the coming into an end of the feudal regime. And Students in particular were blessed to be the motor of the movement. Then we have the evolution of political parties out of the student movement on the eve and immediately after the collapse of the feudal regime. Each party composed its own political agenda and motto. Some adopted an all inclusive name while others wrapped their Political motto with the language group they came from.

Then not long after their formation all the parties were indulged in a violent and acrimonious power struggle there by firmly entrenching the tradition of sorting out political difference on the point of a gun, at a time when they ought to strive to make the people the source of political power. I don’t think there was even adequate political discourse. Each party, then, was claiming the title “revolutionary” for itself while blaming the other as a “counter- revolutionary”. But they were all socialists, and theoretically believe that they were internationalists,working to bring to an end oppression on the bases of class. This political development provided some section of the military with the opportunity to grab political power and the parties had nothing to do. Then some of the parties resorted to armed struggle and went to the wilderness with their ethnic shield while others had to get immunity siding with the military government. In the end, the people was exposed to oppression, dictatorial regime and extreme poverty.

What is very regrettable is that none of the parties dared to admit their mistake and tell, to this generation to which I am a member, what was wrong in handling the politics. Individuals almost from all the then political parties have produced a book on their political struggle and it still appears, to me , a propaganda. Any body who rationally approach these book would find out that almost all the politicians were either shortsighted or emotional, though emotion per se is a kind of shortsightedness and it is not hard to trace a spirit of reticence . No party and politician of that period including the very people who are now in OLF leadership, can extricate from this record. Very recently, we have seen the formation of Coalition of Political parties and what we all can say, at this point, about it is that it is a good start to clear the tradition of shortsightedness and attain political maturity. Time ,more than ever, is demanding working together for a common good and I am very optimistic that all the parties involved in the coalition would work on this principle and work towards, while sticking to cohesion of the nation, installing in place a government obedient to the rule of law and generous in granting citizens all the values of being human and of being a citizen. And What I want to Underline at this point is that Political parties in the coalition should work on the principle of placing more emphasis on discussion than compulsion, on arbitration than aggravation and a fair amount of flexibility is also indispensable. In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela- encouraged discussion with a political opponent and he asserts that political assassination is a primitive way of combating political opponent. Discussion on the basis of rational judgement, a spirit free from emotion, flexibility, tolerance and recognition can definitely bring about consensus. In case, agreement is impossible, the discussion should anchor any violet action.

To be on the right track of the theme of this article, there are some points which I don’t like about parties working on the principle of exclusion. And I will try to look at it from the perspective of History and of politics.

I- History
The whole point what history, I mean the profession, is all about is that it has to come in the service of truth and of fact. And Interpretation of historical information matters a lot. So as to combat anachronism, the interpretation has to be attached to the right time frame of the events. We can not or should not, for instance, judge the feudal politics of the 19th century Ethiopia in a spirit of Governance principle on the basis of the rule of law and Upholding human rights and so forth since the concept itself was no where near Ethiopia at the time. There have been a couple of occasions when the interpretation of historical information fall in the hands of Politicians who invested all their concentration on the propagation value of the information ignoring and /or forgetting the harm or confusion it can cause. Unfortunately, the professional historians failed, with some exception, to come in defense of the profession. They either sank in the ocean of fear or they themselves turned out to be a politician there by analyzing the historical information in a way to support their political belief. As a result their analysis are full of Problems .Misinterpretation, Mistaking leadership quality with ethnic group and devaluing the social fabric of the nation stands out as the cardinal problems in connection with analysis of this sort.

A) Misinterpretation
Interpretation of historical information is quite often coinciding with the political propaganda and /or interest of some political parties. Let us pull an example to verify the misinterpretation of information. You may hear a student at Addis Ababa University blaming emperor Menelik for the atrocities committed on innocent civilians during the territorial expansion campaign (it appears a triviality to mention in detail all the blames). I am not asserting that there was not such an action nor I am not condoning what has been done. But I am interested to explain it from the point of view of Military discipline, not from a perspective of government policy. No Ethiopian Monarch or leader managed to effectively maintain military discipline among the army. It has been in the nature of Soldiers to loot, abuse and harassing people in area where campaign is conducted. There had been series of territorial expansion even in the 14th and 15th centuries in the south and south eastern part of Ethiopia which gave rise to a territory to nearly similar to the present Ethiopia, by no means less. Needless to say these campaigns could not be without defect as far as atrocity on the peasantry is concerned . The war waged by Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim Algazi against Christian high land kings in the 16th century and the expansion of the Oromo people from the south to the central ,north eastern and northwestern parts of the country in the same century were not at all free from such pitfalls .The same was true to the very recent regime of derg. The Derg regime, for instance, did have a Military police which was instituted to maintain order and discipline among the army. But there were instances when the Air borne or an army from the other division employed their military skill to rape, abuse and harass civilians. For that matter they may even abuse their own family- his wife, his son, his daughter. So atrocities committed by during a military campaign or in areas where we had military presence has a lot to do with military discipline than with policy.
The other missed point, I think, is that territorial expansion was part and parcel, we can say, of a feudal politics. The yardstick to measure the strength and weakness of a king was the extent of his kingdom, the amount of tax he collect and the like. Then he will build a palace, as magnificent as he could, to signify his greatness. This was the norm not only in Ethiopia but among European Monarchs and this is how countries came into being. As it has been expatiated, the Unification of Germany was achieved on the principle of “ blood and iron” in the same second half of the 19th century. Even countries which were not under monarchy conducted a war to win a territory. The United States of America fought a war with Mexico, in the first half of the 19th century, to expand its territory and has acquired a territory. Coming back to the issue at stake, any body at the position of Emperor Menelik, regardless of where ethnic background-(it could be Ras Megesha of Tigrai, Abba Jiffar of Jimma, or Kawo Tona of Wolayita etc…)-would have done the same thing so as to meet the requirement of the title strong King. Whether the expansion is important or not is another issue but I assert it was definitely important. Hence the territorial expansion conducted by Menelik was not exception and should be judged in consideration of the order of the day.

B) Mistaking Leadership Quality with ethnic group
While failure, achievement and in general leadership quality should be the measures to condemn or to praise leaders, propensity appears high to associate leaders with the ethnic group they came from. In the first place, the genealogy of emperors of Ethiopia, since at least four or five centuries, is controversial. How ever, I prefer to look at the issue from another angle. To start from the very visible fact, Kings or leaders were not elected by the people (so as not to sink in anachronism let us omit those kings preceding Emperor Haileselassie-I here). In Consequence, leaders tended to ignore the interest of the people. If that is the case there is a clear distinction between the people and the leaders. Putting it differently, the ruled could not be associated with the ruler as a close associate nor as a party who benefited from the system as the main Privileged group, all the time, was the nobility which is numerically feeble. And albeit the difference in number of the composition, the nobility was not composed of a single community, language group or ethnic group, (You may use the terminology you prefer). The peasantry, irrespective of language group, was the most oppressed section of the population. That is why we can trace rebellions in various parts of the country against the feudal regime. There was peasant rebellion in Bale, there was also a peasant rebellion in Gojjam and the same was true in Tigray. This point clearly shows that Ostracism that existed in Ethiopian politics was more on the basis of class than it was on the basis of ethnic group.
If there is any mistake committed by ,say, Emperor Yahannes or Emperor Tewodros or Emperor Menelik, that could and should only be evaluated vis-à-vis his leadership quality and considering his ethnic identity or wrapping the misdeeds with the ethnic group to which he belongs is irrelevant and it could correctly be regarded as missing the point. Emperor Tewodros envisaged a unified ,modernized and strong Ethiopia. When this was resisted by the various feudal lords including people from the church he turned out to be brutal towards them and mercilessly dealt with those people, irrespective of ethnic group, in Wollo, Shoa and Gojjam. If that was a mistake, it can not be judged from the point of view of ethnic heterogeneity. Menelik himself has conducted a Military campaign against Teklehaimanot of Gojjam and it was not a friendly game. It was as costly as (in terms of human life and material distruction) the other campaigns that Menelik had conducted in south ,south western and south eastern part of Ethiopia. Take the derg regime again, the name derg does not refer to a single individual. It rather refer to a group of people from different parts of the country and from different community. Was any ethnic group ostracized, advantaged or disadvantaged on the basis of ethnic identity? No! The ostracism was solely on the basis of political belief. There were Tigreans who valorously fought on the side of derg, there were Oromos who firmly stood on the side of Derg and held a commanding position in the defense force -Air Force,The Navy and the army ).Here in Kenya people have been talking about the atrocity committed by Daniel arap Moi government but they never associated the issue with kalenjin, the community to which he belongs. To sum up this point, if there is any mistake committed by the a leader, that should not be taken as the mistake committed by the ethnic group to which he belongs.

C) Devaluing the social fabric of the nation

Recently the Amharic service of the VOA was interviewing a young scholar, Heran Sereqebirhan, and she splendidly reminded us of the fact that the empire Ethiopia was built so much with love and marriage as it was built in war. The point may appear vague for those who downplay the role of assimilation as a cohesive factor but it has a lot of truth. Here I am not focusing only on the political marriage between the royal families and the marriage between feudal lords, in that case marriage itself could be regarded as a matter of joining important families not as a matter of love ,as some writer has claimed, while it still indicates that the nobility, or at least their off springs were a blend of different communities. The fact that the various feudal lords did not turn their back away from Menelik at a time when Ethiopia was facing a war with Italy could be regarded as a manifestation of the value they attached to intermarriage.
Despite the atrocities associated with the campaigns, those who were included as soldiers during the territorial expansion campaigns were also intermingled with people on the basis of marriage. The campaigns by nature were long and as human beings soldiers could fall in love with girls in areas the campaigns were conducted and they were having babies. Abay Beneberu Keneni ,a writer on the magazine Tobia, has brilliantly explained this issue. The trade relation that existed in various parts of the country between different groups of people had also given rise to assimilation of peoples and of cultures. One community has taken and given something from and to another community. This kind of interaction was particularly common in the south and south eastern part of the country where we had a clusters of markets. Assimilation, intermarriage and other social interactions were also an important building blocks of the empire and should not be devalued as insignificant or viewed as a triviality. The social fabric of the nation is a blend of communities. A point I am in a complete disagreement with Kaayo is that this intermarriage and assimilation can never be calculated in percentage. Even if it is 1% ,it should be given a generous social value as this can serve as a socio-political fabric for the nation.

II) Politics

Coming to the issue of Politics I would like to refute some of the points raised by Kaayo Ummatta. He has mentioned some people as denying the existence of Oromo aspiration. If the denial is based on the assertion that the Oromos do not have any aspiration, it can not stand a day light. But what I would advise the writer(Kayyo) is not to take things on the face value. To start from the argument he raised, he rightly asserts that injustice against one should be taken as injustice against all. Accordingly, to speak out against the injustice done to the Oromos, for instance, one has to accept the question raised by the Oromos as his own question. In doing so one can claim that there is no distinction between the Oromo question and the question of the other communities .One may be interested to give the question a nation wide appearance so that the issue turns out to be inclusive and it ceases to be the aspiration of a distinctive ,if it exists at all, group of people. Concomitantly, the people who picked up the question of the Oromos as their own need to be included in self determination as there will be a point of intersection as far as the questions raised are concerned.

The problem associated in such an argument is that the very people who ignited, rightly, the issue shy away near or at a point of intersection. That is where the issue turns out to be controversial. Another dimension to approach this particular point is that there are injustices elsewhere in Ethiopia and among different group of people. So the same way the Oromos should take these injustices as injustices committed on the Oromos. I had a discussion on a number of occasion with friends who hold the view similar to kayyao and at the end of the day they, with some exception, arrive at exclusive conclusion and they push aside people who claim a hold in the conclusion. At one point a question -Who is an Oromo? -lingered in my mind. Where is the demarcation to arbitrate the issue? (Infact, who would be the arbiter is another issue) Is it blood that is worth to consider or is it language and culture that is worth to consider? Or is it both? I find it hard to accept that Blood can be a measure to judge the social Identity of individuals or group of people. I can not be convinced on that but even if there is consensus on that issue, there are points worth to consider:

1) There are people who are Oromo by blood but can not speak the language and are not familiar with the culture

2) There are people who are not an Oromo but speak the language, even as their first language, in different part of the country and from different communities-Guraghe, Wolaita, Sidama, Amhara etc.

These groups have identified themselves as an Oromo with all the cultural identities associated with the identity Oromo.

I harbor the opinion that these people can never be dismembered and do have a right to have a share, if there existed any variegation, in the way the question is forwarded.

On the matter of deriding, I do accept that there is a tendency, even in the Universities, to deride the style, speech and things like that of people who come from upcountry and it is directed at not only against the Oromos but against the other peoples as well. By the way have you ever noticed the comedy in Ethiopia? They are either on the Ghurage, the Oromo or the Amhara , the Tigres etc. I am not condoning it but I don’t take them serious. They are just fun. But if they are harmful they should be avoided. And the right way is to aware the people to weed out things like that. Compartmentalizing issues which are of a nation wide problem on the basis of language could yield no fruit. Aggravating problems that existed and are existing between different group of people can not be a solution and it does not demonstrate political maturity. Rather, it will generate strength to the men in power.

Being marginalized from the political life of the country is not applicable particularly to some group of people. It only gives sense if we see the issue in connection with the people nation wide as the people as a whole was more marginalized from politics.

What I was trying to say is that Politics on the basis of exclusive approach and especially on the basis of ethnicity is, in the short or long tern, venomous. It can bring about incessant conflict not only with other ethnic groups but with in the ethnic group itself. The Somali peace talk is not concluded for instance and it is still claiming lives. Two weeks ago three of the participants in the Somali peace talks were murdered here in Nairobi. The appointments and/or dismissal of officials in connection with the anti-corruption campaign of the new government of Kenya is sometimes facing problem with people who tend to associate the matter with ethnicity.

The writer has also mentioned that the Oromos in the diaspora keep themselves aloof and do have their own community. That is true. I have experienced this in Kenya. But do you think this is right? Don’t you think that we should be close each other and discuss the political differences at length in a manner free from emotion?

To encapsulate my view, parties should work on the principle including as many people as possible and ought to drop the notion of possessing a question as a concern of a certain group of people. It is possible to address the problems and questions of different group of people. Everything it takes is installing in place a government responsive and accountable to the people. Government power is like a vacancy. And the employer is the people. If the government is not doing well or against the contract it is possible to oust it from its position and replace it with another one. I think this concept is not known to majority of the people and this is the most important concept we should teach the people. This is not the time to stay aloof and OLF should take the initiative to discuss their political differences with the parties involved in the newly formed coalition. I think this is in line with political maturity and not in line with shortsightedness.

The writer could be reached at dbirku@hotmail.com or dbirku@gmail.com

ሁለት ሞት:

ሁለት ሞት :

አገር ጥሎ ተኮብልሎ
ከኑሮ ወጥመድ ላይመለጥ
ክልብ ሆኖ ላየ ...ከፀሀይ በታች ...የሚለውን አስቦ
አንደኛው ከሌላው ብዙ ለማይበልጥ
እንዲህ ሊኖር ፍዳ ተከፍሎ
አነሰም አደገም የነበረን ; የወንዝን ጥሎ
እለት ተለት እየተንከባለሉ እንደ አለሎ

ደሞ ይነገራል!
... ስም አይሞት ይባላል
ይኼው ሞቶ በቁም ተቀብሮ
በሆድ ሲያውቅ ዶሮ ማታ ሂሳብ
ሰው ሲኖር ከመጠሪያው ተሰውሮ
ቀሪ ሀብቱን ስሙን ቀይሮ
ስም የማይገዛ ከሆነ
እንደምንስ ሊሸጥ ተወሰነ
ብዙ ሰው አለው ""ምን አለበት ?!""
እኔ ግን አልኩት ሁለት ሞት

መጋቢት 27, 2001 ዓ.ም
ድሜጥሮስ

Reflection on our achievment in the outgoing Ethiopian Millennium

Reflection on our achievement in the outgoing Ethiopian Millennium


Tuesday, 11 September 2007
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By Dimetros Birku




It is like almost a norm to reflect on the outgoing year and think about what to do in the oncoming year. What is outgoing for Ethiopians this year is not just a year or a century. It is millennium that is going to be ending in a couple of days. Although, Ethiopians are still living with poverty and more importantly with chronic administrative and political problems, the last Ethiopian millennium is of a paramount importance during which we achieved something extraordinary. The objective of this article is to reflect on the preservation of Ethiopia's independence in the face of the conquest of African and other Asian nation by European colonialists and its implication.

To begin with, for the sake of not giving a room for relativist ( I am thinking of the local dissentions) interpretation, it is necessary to depict the object clearly as an achievement so that there could not be the notion that "what is an achievement for one may not be so for the other." Whether something is seen as an achievement or not could best be gauged in light of how challenging the issue or the object is/was. The higher the nature of the challenge, the higher the value of an achievement as far as the challenge at hand was concerned. In fact, when we talk about the preservation of a nation's independence or loss of it as an achievement or as unsuccessful effort we are not talking about "independence' per se. Because its impact involves a domino-effect and the negative implications transcends to some other aspects of a given nation.

It is beyond dispute that the outstanding challenge in the outgoing millennium, not only for Ethiopia, but also for other African and Asian countries, was the task of maintaining independence in the face of European colonial wars of conquest and treaties of trickery. And nations, unfortunately, were not successful in standing taller than this challenge. Ethiopia, one of the oldest nations in the world, with a hierarchical feudal society proved that it was much more than the challenge and stood taller in victory in the face of colonial war. This is an achievement and there is no question be it from regional, continental or international point of view. Rather, what scholars have been questioning is as to why Ethiopia managed to preserve its independence. To analyze each and every conception of foreigners in general and historians in particular is a big task and is not achievable in such a short article. So, what appears to be advisable is to analyze a few works of scholars who primarily analyzed this issue.

Sven Rubenson, a renowned Swedish scholar was one of the personalities interested in the question as to why Ethiopia managed to usher in victory in the task of maintaining its independence. And he has produced a book is entitled, "the survival of Ethiopian Independence." 1 I have to admit that I have some reservation regarding his usage of the term "survival." It is obvious that Ethiopia's response to foreign aggression and attempted wars of conquest prior to Mussolini's war were all (of course the fall of Maqdala was an exception and there is an internal dynamics as explanation for that) successful and Ethiopia emerged with shining victories. In view of these, shining military victories I am of the view that the term "survival" is not appropriate. During Mussolini's invasion, yes the nature of Ethiopia's response was different in form as it was waged in the absence of a monarch and in a guerrilla form and the task took five years. In that case the term "survival" could be fitting.

Before setting out his own argument Sven Rubenson analyzed some other assumptions vis-à-vis the question why Ethiopia was successful. For Arnold Toynbee, "the explanation of Abyssinian survival power" was "...the virtual impregnability of the highland-fastness." 2 Another scholar by the name Spencer Trimingham also appears to emphasize this same "impregnability of highland" theory.3Apparently, the conceptions of both scholars emphasizes the geography of Ethiopia as an important factor. Sven Rubenson, on the contrary, while recognizing the role of geographical factor, rejects geographical determinism. However, I go to the extent of arguing that geography could not be part of the explanation to Ethiopia's military success at all. At least two reasons: For one thing Africa, particularly, the Eastern part is a mountainous continent and Ethiopia is not basically different from other East African (to be specific) nations in terms of geography. And the point invites the questions: why is it that people in the mountainous part of South Eastern Africa is conquered? Why is it that what we now call Tanzania was conquered? For the other thing, even some of Ethiopia's own victory over the expanding Egyptian army was achieved in the less mountainous (we may call it "pregnable" to pursue the context of the discussion) part of the country.

Sven Rubenson then followed three trajectories as an explanation of Ethiopia's success: a) external factors which he stated as "diplomatic, political, and military conditions on the European [and the Turkish-Egyptian] side." 4 b) Internal dynamics which he stated as "the actual and political and military conditions on the Ethiopian side," 5 c) the misconception of Ethiopia's military power by Ethiopia's invaders, which falls within the classification of external factor. Yet, Rubenson emphasized internal factors as an explanation. Also he counts "miscalculation of Ethiopia's potential" 6 by the invading forces as an important factor for Ethiopia's success.


To analyze Ethiopia's victory in light of the political and military conditions (or "weakness" as cited by the scholars) of its invaders rather than analyzing them in light of Ethiopia's invincibility does not simply make sense. No matter how problematic political or military situations the invading countries were in, the invading country's (Turkey, Egypt, and Italy) military and political posture was in no way inferior to Ethiopia's military and political posture. These countries were, at least, in a position to organize military campaigns in an area far away from their territory. And raising an invading force without doubt requires a strong political foundation and is not some thing a politically or militarily weak state can undertake.


With respect to diplomatic factor, it may just suffice to pose the question what diplomatic advantage did Ethiopia enjoy? If diplomatic factor counts at all, it is not hard to assume (and in fact that was the case especially with respect to Egypt and Italy) the invading forces were in a more advantageous position than Ethiopia was. As a matter of fact, countries whose diplomatic support would have been essential to Ethiopia were rather engaged in plot against Ethiopia. The Egyptian invasion of Ethiopia in the 19th century is a case in point.


To reflect on the conditions on the Ethiopian political posture, Ethiopia waged most of its war against invaders as a feudal state. And a feudal state is prone to internal rivalry and power struggle. So even if we agree to the assertion that internal political situation of the invading countries was unstable, Ethiopia's internal political situation was far more unstable in the sense that there had always been power struggle in the form of regionalism. For example, Menelik's military response to Italians at Adowa was almost a concomitant process to his internal military campaigns, which was partly a response t to possible rivalry from regional lords and partly an important part of undertaking of a feudal monarch and empire. So explaining Ethiopia's success in terms of the political and military situation of the invading army does not make sense at all.


What rather makes some senses is the explanation that "miscalculation of Ethiopia's military capacity" to respond to external aggression. In fact Ethiopia was perceived at times as strong (What comes to mind is the legend of the land of Prester John ). Yet, the appearance of Ethiopian feudal politics has given foreign powers the impression that Feudal Ethiopia was weak and divided. This is true not only in the modern history of Ethiopia but in the medieval history of Ethiopia as well. For example, in the medieval period, there is an interesting case of misconception of monarchy and society relationship. A certain Portuguese missionary monk (I am not sure the name, I think Mendez or Paez in the 16th century)7 is said to have reported to the Portuguese king that the Ethiopian monarch is so strong and influential, and the people are simply a passive followers.


This same observer stated the possibility of making Ethiopia easily a catholic state. All it takes, according to him, was converting the Ethiopian monarch to Catholicism and then the monarch can do the rest of the job. Initially, Ze-Dengil, a monarch, happened to be the first Ethiopian convert and he was unsuccessful in his effort to make Catholic a state religion. Then, Susenyos followed the line and was converted to Catholicism and tried to make Catholicism a state religion. What then followed was a stiff resistance which took a form of civil war. Susenyos was then compelled to abdicate his power in favour of Fasiledes.


And the first thing Fasiledes did was to expel European catholic elements and pass a closed door policy. And no European was allowed to enter the country for about 150 years except a couple of Europeans of which one was Jaquoes Poncent on grounds of giving medication to an Ethiopian monarch and the other was ,allegedly, to study the source of Blue Nile( Whom Graham Hancock mentioned in his book, the "Sign and the Seal"). This story is mentioned here to underline that there has been a repeated case of misunderstanding the dynamics of Ethiopian feudal politics and society. Also, I am of the view that this tendency is not a thing of the past and still there exists this attitude.


Coming back to the main question we are reflecting on, Haggai Erlich, another renowned scholar on Ethiopian studies, analyzed the why of the Ethiopia's success in the face of foreign invaders. Although some of his explanations are not agreeable (for example he do not recognize the connection between Ethiopia's victory and a sense of "sentiment of national patriotism," 8 his thesis,"...Ethiopia's strength and survival[""] stem from its unique internal sociopolitical flexibility, rather than from the attributes and behaviour of foreigners," 9 is basically agreeable. What does he mean by "sociopolitical flexibility"? This idea is explained very well in relation to his discussion of colonel Chessman's, a certain British colonel, understanding of the reason/s of Ethiopia's success. Colonel Cheesman believed that, "The crazy structure of the Ethiopian empire is held together by a mysterious magnetism,..., which is incomprehensible to one who has no more than a superficial knowledge of Ethiopia." 10 Apparently, Erlich's conviction that Ethiopia's "unique internal socio-political flexibility" is a principal factor behind Ethiopia's success is a derivation of his analysis of colonel Cheesman's "mysterious magnetism."


Both, however, "mysterious magnetism" and "socio-political flexibility" are references to Ethiopian feudal politics. And the point comes down to state-society relationship and the relationship between central government and regional lords of feudal Ethiopia. Erlich, for example understood Ras Alula's and Ras Mengesha's allegiances to Menelik and Hailesellassie respectively as a manifestation of the flexible nature of the socio-political relation which he also described as "flexible pragmatism." 11 Conceivably, the flexibility is two-sided. There is the emperor's flexibility towards regional lords and there is also regional lord's flexibility towards the emperor. What Ras Alula and Ras Mengesha did was ignoring their respective personal differences and ambitions and ally with their respective emperors. They stood firm in defense of the country in stead of exploiting the situation for what Erlich refers to "provincial separatism."12 Likewise, emperors emphasized what these regional lords could do in relation to Ethiopia's projected struggle against foreign invaders rather than their past feud. If I am to denote Erlich's "flexible pragmatism" in the context of feudal Ethiopia, it corresponds to "tolerance", "recognition", "forgiveness" and "inclusiveness." It also relates to, as cited by Erlich, the will to allow regional feudal lords to take part in the "all-Ethiopian political game."13 This is what made any "theory of disintegration", according to Erlich and rightly, futile in the face of Ethiopian feudal political system. So I dare to conclude that if the essence of the outgoing Ethiopian millennium was Ethiopia's success in preserving its independence, this achievement is the offshoot of the dynamic and unique features of Ethiopian feudalism- and that is the mystery of our success. (To correlate this historical account to the current Ethiopian political situation, taking into consideration that the policies of Meles Zenawi administration are clearly divisive and in view of the fact that the Ethiopian people have rejected Meles Zenawi's administration formally during the last election, informally in different forms, we can say that indeed any "theory of disintegration" does not work to date.)



The question "what is the relevance of our success of preserving our independence?" might linger here. And it is suffice to suggest a reading on colonial Africa in general- and the educational, economic, social policies of the colonial powers in particular, which produced a loss of cultural values and identities as well. Although Ethiopia remains poor to date, although the feudal politics turned out to be lucrative ground to generate negativist interpretations for what we can call some of the pioneers of "modern Ethiopian politics," the preservation of our independence enabled Ethiopians to preserve their cultural values irrespective of the language group to which they belong. The Oromo culture is in its original form and it does not have any European element, the Tigre culture is in its original form and it does not have any European element in it, the Guraghe culture is distinct and its does not have any European element in it, the Amhara culture is the same and it does not have European element in it and so on. Whether we like it or not this has been possible due to the feudal politics. And it is not possible to deny that the "mysterious magnetism" is not at work.



This, however, is not to argue that feudalism is the best that Ethiopia can be nor to ignore the downsides associated with principal political responsibilities of a monarch in a feudal system which is mainly to create a strong central state which at times involve the task of territorial expansion. However, this should not be a ground to craft a political agenda portraying Ethiopia as a colonizer. This is simply missing the point of the dynamics of feudal politics. Whatever was done then has more to do with the feudal system than the concept Ethiopia. Also there is no need to gloss over the upsides of the system, which takes another article to address. It is due up on Ethiopian intellectuals in general and opposition political parties in particular to clear this misinterpretation of history. And one of the best ways to undertake this task is to organize an intensive symposium. Let the "colonial school of thought" argue its cause in the open. And let the other side of the story also argue its cause. And a consensus is possible. If achieved, it is a great step forward in the direction of resolving the political stalemate in the Ethiopian political spectrum, which is the principal challenge of our era. And that would become the threshold of a peaceful and harmonious nation looking striving to change the other form of challenges poverty. But first, my favorite saying Nukrumah's statement:- "Seek first thy political kingdom."


******The End ****






Notes:
Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian Independence, London : Heinemann Educational Books, 1976, 1.
Cited on "The survival of Ethiopian independence"
Ibid.,2.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.4.
For details see Professor Merid Wolde-Aregay's historical account (unpublished?)
Haggai Erlich, Ethiopia and the challenge of independence, Boulder, Colo.: L. Rienner Publishers, 1986,206.
Ibid., xi
cited on Erlich,202
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.

Reference:
Erlich, Haggai, Ethiopia and the challenge of independence, Boulder, Colo.: L. Rienner Publishers, 1986.
Rubenson, Sven, The survival of Ethiopian Independence, London : Heinemann Educational Books, 1976.

Marginalization of the Youth from Politics: as imposed and self-inflicted By Dimetros BirkuJanuary 15, 2004-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some times the norm "doing things in the order of importance" mightbe dysfunctional precisely because things might be equally important.By the same token writing on topics in the order of priority may be difficult for the same reason. What is more, writers on Ethiopian politics have been writing on issues of national importance for the last,at least, ten years and I was a bit apprehensive that the topicI pulled for discussion might have been discussed, already, which iswhy I was dithering to select a topic that should be given priority .The idea to pose my observation regarding marginalization of theyouth from politics, and the over all mood the youth is in convinced me as an area of priority.

An observation from within might not be as critical as it should be since I am a member of the generation I am observing. It is not as easy as we think to be critical in public about a group to which one belongs. Nonetheless, I opted to raise the issue out of the conviction that the issue has reached at a point where others parties [the outgoing generation, the elder generation,opposition parties and the like] should step in and do something about it.I am terribly concerned not only about marginalization of the youthfrom politics but also the very enervating and otiose activities theyouth is engaged in. It appears to me that some of the activities aretantamount to suicide. Normally, the issue should have been theprimary concern of a government but I omitted that out of theconviction that the `government' in power is neither attentive norwilling to be attentive to issues of concern to the life of thenation and have a negative impact on the future of the country. Insuch a situation opposition parties must take up and activate theissue. In fact writers might have raised this topic some time beforein some way. Nonetheless, We need to re-approach, I mean if that isthe case, the issue and recycle the relevant ideas in way sensationalso that the issue could be in the limelight and win the concerns ofthose who should be concerned about it. This was the prime pullfactor to write this article.


The section of population regarded as "Youth" is bigger, longer orthicker in the demographic graph of Ethiopia. Paradoxically, theParticipation of the youth in the political life of the country ismeager while the youth is the very first section of the population toshoulder all the shortcomings of bad governance on the notion thatall the political mess in the country bears its impact in the futureand the future primarily belongs to the youth, not even to thecurrent politicians who are mainly out of the domain of thiscategory. With regard to the magnitude of the problem(marginalization of the youth from politics), we need to underline thefact that the case is not that the youth is offstage but involved inpolitics. The case is that the youth is offstage, inactive inpolitics and engaged in some other otiose activities on a daily basis[I am not asserting that the Youth is not involved in politics ;whatI am asserting is that compared with the number and the role thatcould be played by the youth in the political arena, theparticipation is insignificant].There seems to be a negative relation between involvement of the youth in politics and engagement of theyouth in activities I mentioned above as otiose: while the essence ofworking for the cause of the nation or at least the tendency ofremaining with some ideas of national importance is dwindling, thetendency of living with irrelevant activities , gauged either onindividual , family or community basis, is spiraling up from time totime. To mention a few cases, the question of having `chiat' is coming to be a cardinal subject among hundreds and thousands, if notmillions, of youngsters on a daily basis. And those out side this domain are flocking to this or that form of religious congregationthere by primarily engaged, on a daily basis again, in multiplyingthe number of followers in their respective congregation. Still theremaining section of the youth is concerned with following up andupholding the various events in Europe - soccer, music and the likeon daily basis- at the expense of ignoring the very important issuesat home that concerns the youth. I am arguing that all these are themanifestations of political frustration which gave birth tomarginalization of the youth from politics.


So, I think ,we don't need to raise the question -is the youthmarginalized from politics as it is beyond doubt and/or a vivid phenomenon .If that is the case, the key question could be -Why isthat and/or what is the root cause of marginalization of the youthfrom politics-from historical and contemporary perspective? Is itsomething imposed (from above) or self inflicted, or both- imposedand self-inflicted? And what are the implications of politicalfrustration and marginalization of the youth from politics in thefuture of the country-culturally, politically, socially andeconomically? What has to be done vis-à-vis this problem? The why ofthe problem is interwoven to and can be elaborated in connection withthe second question. The underlying factor that has been hinderingand/or discouraging the youth from taking part in politics was/is thesubsequent frustrating actions inflicted by the subsequent regimesafter the `Revolution' .Probing the attitude of the government/stowards the youth with an alternative political view or towards thosewho were/are advocating the political view of the opposition couldprovide us with a clear picture as to how the subsequent governmentseroded and then affected the spirit of politics which at some pointflourished among the youth-there by imposing marginalization.

Imposed marginalization:

Many people, whom I talk to, harbor the view that the 1974 revolutionwas the main factor in demoralizing the youth not to think aboutpolitics ,let alone to involve in. In deed, the yearsof `revolutionary Ethiopia' contains a lot of information essentialto explain as to why the youth declined to involve in and pushedaside politics and issues connected with politics as well. The notionof a `revolution' is to bring about a fundamental change in thevarious aspects of the life of the nation -politically, economicallyand socially. And the notion of `change' has always been moreattractive to the youth than the other section of the population.That is the rationale behind the fact that the youth is all the timea dominant component in the course of a revolution. And in the courseof a revolution a struggle for political power (either to retain orto attain) is common not only between the antagonist groups but amongthe revolutionary group/groups themselves, who claim as working withthe notion and in a spirit of bringing about a `fundamental change'.To put it differently, the struggle is not only between the forcesof `change' and the forces of `continuity' but with in the circle ofthe forces of `change' as well.

In consequence, among other things, emotion, fear and suspicionprevail and remain high among the revolutionaries through out thecourse of a revolution( though they are not the rules of thegame).That is why revolution is all the time expensive in terms ofhuman life and hence a bloody phenomenon. And the sword of arevolution is merciless even to the very people who initiated theidea of changing the way the nation is being driven in variousaspects. This is a typical hallmark of a revolution not only in theEthiopian context but from the experiences of other nations as well.The French bourgeoisie revolution of the 18th century was one of thebloodiest revolutions which even weeded out the harbingers of therevolution. And ultimately, it gave rise to the dictatorship ofNapoleon. The Great October Socialist Revolution of Russia at thedawn of the 20th century was not less bloody and ate up, brutally,brilliant people like Trotsky. At the end of the day and in virtuallythe same way (though this one is a socialist revolution) it gave riseto the dictatorship of Stalin. We can mention some other revolutionsas well. Coming back to Ethiopian situation, the youth was both theharbinger and the very motor of the revolution, like elsewhere be itin a bourgeoisie or socialist context, in the sense that the youthpaved the way, brought about the revolution itself with a visionpalpable to the majority and oppressed section of the population.Less than half way to accomplish their goal they found themselvesindulged in a bid for power and/or they unknowingly and unconsciouslyturned out to be a tool for this or that group of `revolutionaries'.The scenario after this tells us a lot about what was happening tothe youth in the country and/or what the youth was doing. Therevolution itself turned out to be like a wild beast and the veryvictims of the revolution, apart from those in the antagonist camp,were those who fell in love with it [sic]-the youth.


Thousands of youngsters lost their lives while what they strove forwas not even pushed to half way [land to the tiller and formingpopular government were the significant components of the objectiveof the revolution- unfortunately neither of them are achieved. Nopopular government is in place and land is not still in the hands ofthe tillers with full ownership rights and still it is an importantpolitical tool for the men in power]. Others were tortured. Therewere instances where a family lost two or more sons and/or daughtersat a time in connection with the revolution. The manner in which theyouth was massacred, from different direction and by differentgroups, was brutal with a deliberate move of either winning the youthas a support group or frustrating the youth from taking the oppositeside. This brought about frustration among the youth and amongfamilies as well. That is when taking part in politics, be it offstage or on stage, came to be equated as Electric shock, "Korenti".This thinking was grounded on the fact that While those who reviledand spoke out against the system were eliminated those who kept quite(didn't touch the `korenti') saved their lives. Then avoidinginvolvement in politics, onstage or offstage, came to be a virtue anda way of guarantee to the important question of the time- security -and that is when parents became happy about their sons and daughters.


That was a landmark as far as marginaization of the youth frompolitics is concerned. The generation that came in to being in theaftermath of the revolution was told, by parents and/or neighbors,about the tragedy in the years and/or in the aftermath of therevolution. We grew up hearing families and/or neighbors mourning ontheir lost sons and daughters. On top of that survivors of the swoopon "Counter-revolutionaries" transplanted their trauma and victimmentality to their younger brothers and sisters and they wereconquered by this or that forms of addiction while the remainingyouth began to incline and adhere to this or that form of faith:mainly the various Protestant sects. I will try to portray ,later,the current trend and its impacts as far as the project of creating ademocratic Ethiopian where every body can have the opportunity toenjoy the rights of being human and of being a citizen, and tacklingall the pertinent national issues in the interests of the nation, isconcerned. Yet the political spirit among the youth was notcompletely depleted. There was a spasmodic political involvement oractivities. Though it was not displayed directly in reaction to thepolicies of the men in power then and the way the country's politicswas handled, it was displayed, at least, as a move to combat the thenguerrillas when the then regime in power made a clarion call atdifferent times and this same spirit was displayed towards the lastdays of the Derg when University Students called the then head ofstate, Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, to the University campus andrequested him on issues of national importance and on how to do awaywith the guerrilla forces who were on their way to take over power.This clearly depicts that there was a concern for the cause of thenation even amidst political frustration. If we are to conceptualizethe idea that a concern for the well being, in whatever dimension oraspect, of the nation gives rise to political interest which in turnevolved in to participation in politics we ought to definitelyincline to the judgement that the youth was to some extent involvedin politics. In fact, there were instances when the regime was forcedto impose a national service system when the youth appeared reluctantto join the defense force and the refusal, I think, could be regardedas an offshoot of the marginalization -which deprived the youth ofawareness and hence concern, as in most case concern springs fromawareness.


The trend of marginalizing the youth continued with the ascension topower of TPLF/EPRDF. The regime in power coined the term `Anti-peaceforces', in a manner the Derg used the term `counter-revolutionaries', to eliminate those who were/are at odd with thesystem. Theoretically, the regime claims that it has provided everycitizen with the right to demonstrate a political belief so long asthe demonstration is peaceful. Practically, the regime in power wasengaged in thwarting the Youth not to demonstrate, meaningfully andadequately, any political opinion other than the political creed ofTPLF/EPRDF. This had been displayed in a number of occasions and indifferent parts of the country. And thousands had been killed,tortured or exiled. Institutions of higher learning, in particular,have been closely monitored by the agents of the regime in power withthe move to avert any possible opposition from the student community.The TPLF/EPRDF regime, for instance, has committed repeatedatrocities against University students only because they wished todemonstrate their opposition to the policies of the regime in power.The same action was taken outside the institutions of higher learningand elsewhere against the youth.

As a result, more and more youngsters avoided involvement even in theoff stage politics. Then after questions in various places came inthe form of social appearance or some other non-political cover. Forexample, there have been hunger strikes in the various institutionsof higher learning and they were all a request either for theimprovement of meal or other facilities in the campuses. At onepoint, and may be still, it was quite common to hear thecomment "generation of bred" as a typifying tag of this generationfrom the previous generations. My take on this issue is that it wouldbe a derogatory remark to assert that the strikes were, indeed ,aboutmeal and improvement of other facilities. Many students were from thecountryside and they understand very well what the country can offerin terms of facility and for that matter they (we) understand thetorment condition under which the peasantry was/is languishing. Theunderlying cause of the strikes was political frustration and all thestrikes were about politics. But forwarding demands in a purelypolitical form was expensive and could only be paid, in most cases,in life, torture, arrest or exile. That was why students werecompelled to wrap their feelings that way. There was, for instance, aserious hunger strike at Kotebe College of teachers' Education in1996 and the first thing students mentioned to the Collegeauthorities who came to the scene to attend to students' demand wasthat the strike was not political in nature-Let me use the termitself -"we demand bread and our demand is not political" and theplacard was written in four languages-Amharic, Oromiffa, Tigrigna andEnglish. But that did not mean students, who are part of the youth,did not have a political question as a student, as member of theyouth and as an Ethiopian, but they knew who the authorities were andthe expenses of political demand. On top of that, students' councilwas completely filled with cadre students and they are the ones whohave the access to the media. [By the way I am using theterms `Youth' and `students' interchangeably with the intention thatstudents can at the same time be part of the Youth and that can betaken as a sample of the Youth. The other reason is that in mostcases questions raised by students in the institutions of higherlearning are taken up by the other sections of the Youth]


To sum up this point, the regimes after the revolution have beendoing relentlessly either to make the youth support their policies orto remain in a neutral position. And they all did this brutally andin blood thirst manner. In the end this created a victim mentalityand the youth started to conceptualize politics with a deadly diseaseor electric current there by distancing itself away from politics.This can be taken as imposed marginalization - from above. Thenegative impact of this is immense. And it is unlikely the mencurrently in power can understand the long term impact of the trend.After all, who are the leaders to analyze all these and more? Thewheel of the government machinery is in the hands of either ignorantor selfish people like Tefera Walwa, Addisu Legesse and even MelesZenawi himself.

Self-inflicted Marginalization:

In a situation where the government is unwilling to accommodate theYouth in the political life of the country, not only as proponentsbut as opponents and members in the opposition quarter as well, it isindispensable to exploit all the opportunities arising from anypolitical activities of opposition parties or the government itself,to make sure that the government feel and recognize the inclusion ofthe youth in politics as a vital point and that is when it ispossible to make the government feel the impact of marginalizing theyouth. Putting it differently, all the opportunities of taking partin politics while offstage should be given due emphasis and value. Ihave the conviction that remaining active in offstage politics couldlead to an active involvement in onstage politics. It appears thatsuch an approach is not given the attention and commitment itdeserves.


For instance, no matter how nominal they were, TPLF/EPRDF had beenorganizing elections at different times and that should have beenexploited as a possible way of resisting the regime in power. As manypeople agree, it would have been useful in the sense that no roomcould have been left for TPLF/EPRDF to claim a landslide victory (Iam not saying TPLF/EPRDF won a landslide victory. never!). I had theopportunity to observe the last `woreda' and `Kebele' election, onbehalf of Ethiopian Human rights council-EHRCO (The principles ofelection were not observed at all and the election was s all fake, onthe side of the government). What is pity is that the youth did notpop up to polling station and that has helped TPLF/EPRDF to fraud thevoting process. It was only those who were working with TPLF/EPRDFwho- meaningfully and with commitment -participated in the votingprocess. I have requested friends who were observing the electionsome where else and the trend was virtually same-the youth did nottake part in the election as much as it should. Had there been anactive involvement of the youth in the election as voters the resultwould have been otherwise (the question would the regime in poweraccept the result is another thing). This, among other things,demonstrates that the youth has a share to take as far asmarginalization from politics is concerned and this can be termed asself-inflicted marginalization. How could that happen? Is it becausethe youth was/is not in a position to realize the fact that takingpart in events like election process is another possible avenue toremain active, at least, in offstage politics and counts towardsreinforcing the opposition and challenging the regime in power? .No!! The reason is, as I mentioned at the outset, that the youth isengaged in some other activities on a daily basis. And my concernhere is that the activities the youth is engaged in are problematic-dimensionally and - both in the short term and in the future of thecountry. Being inactive in politics per se is not healthy, especiallyin a country like Ethiopia where there is a chronic political crisis-brought about both by the government and some political groups. Apartfrom this, the activities currently attracting the youth more andmore bear a devastating upshot in the country in a number of ways.

Features of political frustrations and their implications:

May be the discipline political psychology could provide us with auseful tool necessary for the analysis of what political frustrationis all about (and I expect this from those in the field). But for thetime being it is not difficult to pull some explanation fromdevelopmental psychology to explain as to why a considerable portionof the Youth is behaving the way it is behaving currently. Accordingto Lahey, Parents are classified into three categories depending onthe way they raise children-authoritarian, permissive andauthoritative (this differs from the first one). Authoritarianfamilies are very strict and they stick to "because I say so"approach [sic] and they implement their rule by punishment. AndChildren from this kind of family are very frustrated and it islikely for such a child to go bad or behave badly (Psychologistscould correct me for wrong). This kind of relation represents theexisting situation regarding the way cross section of the youth isbehaving in Ethiopia. A considerable portion of the youth is goingbad because it has been living under authoritarian government andwith strict instruction of "because I say so" approach. However, Ithink it is possible for children from authoritarian family to be aresponsible and visionary individuals by assuming responsibility,envisaging a bright future in a situation when parents failed to takegood care - rather than responding by enervating himself/herself andindulging in practices that can not bring about solution and/oraggravates the problem. Now let us look at some of theexemplification and features of frustration.

Addiction to `chiat' as a political anesthesia:

I can not exactly trace as to when the habit came to be part of theday to day activity among a considerable section of the Youth. But Ican certainly speak out that the addiction has become a way of lifeand an important subject in the lives of thousands of youngsters inand becoming ubiquitous event in the country. It is also very visiblethat the number of addicts is mounting from time to time at alarmingrate. The situation in the various institutions of higher learningcould be taken as a sample to portray the magnitude of the problem.The number of students claiming the impossibility of studyingwithout `chiat' is increasing annually or biannually. Includingstudents coming from the rural part of Ethiopia are being conqueredby the addiction since it is deemed as a style of living amongyoungsters who claim the title `arada'. It is not uncommon to observeyoungsters, from upcountry, trying to emulate those who areenshrining the `norm' of living in the world of `arada ` and alsoclaiming the title `Yegebaw'( with the existing application among theyouth the term connotes some one with a clear vision of what life isall about).In actuality ,that is a misnomer and the terrible thingabout it is that the term accurately denotes the opposite. Amongother addictions, `Bercha', a prestigious name given to the practiceof chewing `chiat', is one of the measuring unit to label some oneas `arada' or `Yegebaw' .In consequence many are ending up being avictim to the addiction. Putting it differently, joining the worldof `arada' is coming to be a virtue among a cross section of theyouth. Tackling my intrinsic feeling of being a member of thisgeneration and regretting (about all the downsides of my generation),at this point, I want to make a general comparison between the youthin history and the contemporary generation. Simply, stretching something like a century and a little more to Ethiopia's past, we noticethe nation faced with the task of maintaining its independence in theface of colonialism. Very fortunately, dedication to the cause of thenation and courage were among the established virtues in the societyin general and the youth in particular and they successfully didmaintain the independence of Ethiopia paying in life. Some fortyyears later, Ethiopia the independence of the country was challengedagain. Courage was still there among the youth was invested to resistthe occupation and the youth was emulating their elders. And allother virtues were still there (In fact we had some IgnobleEthiopians who stood on the side of colonialism). If you are to readHaddis Alemayehu's `Tizita', you can observe a humble, strong,freedom loving, courageous, kind Ethiopians, and with integrity andwith extreme dedication to the cause of Ethiopia .For me, thoseEthiopians are the acme and paragons of what being human is all aboutbecause these objects elucidate the essences of being human and cannot lose importance with time [I am conscious about the fact thatwhat is a virtue in one society may not be a virtue in anothersociety. But there are qualities which all human beings share byvirtue of being human and they are Universal in character just likehuman rights] I believe the objects emanated from the values andvirtues in the culture and were important components of the virtuesof the society.


The generation in the aftermath of evacuation of Italians was the onewho fascinated with and fall in love with the concept of a revolutionand were/are far better in terms political consciousness and devotionto the cause of the nation compared to my generation -though theireffort remained sterile, viewed from the perspective of forming apopular government dedicated to the interest of the nation and/orpeople. They were discussing now and then on various issues ofnational importance. It was in this spirit that they were dragged tothe mood of political extremism, there by killing each other. I amnot condoning the way they handled things. What I am saying is theywere at least on the track with matters of concern to the nation. AsI have explained above, now the virtue and concern of the youth areturning out to be activities harmful not only to the individual youthbut to the future of the country as well. The controversial matteramong the youth is coming to be "chiat" and other related issues. Toyour surprise, I have come across, in a couple of occasion,youngsters who get annoyed when you discuss about the impact attachedto "chiat". For me this is tantamount to moving hundreds of milesaway from our culture, which in some form has been vigilant to thewell being of the nation, and only to fetch something harmful. It isalso tantamount t to suicide though the effect can not be feltovernight. What would have happened if this was the generation inplace and time, something like 150 years or a little less, faced withthe task of maintaining the independence of the country in the faceof colonialism?!


The question of implication of this particular practice - what doesit mean to be attached to this addiction-chiat- in such a manner -economically, socially, politically and culturally?)- requires anintensive research just for the sake of portraying the problemvividly. Yet it is not difficult to realize that a culturalrevolution -perilous and in the wrong direction-is being carried outby this generation. It is also visible that an economic, political,and social crisis is hovering, provided that the number of those whoare being a victim to it is growing at the current rate. I have theopportunity, both in Ethiopia and here in Kenya, to look closely therate at which the number of addicts is growing and it is reallypainful to think about the repercussion it bears in the future.Nearly a year ago I sent an email to the producers of `Mestawot'Programme of VOA -Amharic service- regarding the addiction under thetitle "the ignored challenge" hoping that they would give it weightand invite the youth for discussion. Unfortunately it didn't happen.However, the issue is still my prior area of concern to the extent ofmy concern to HIV-AIDS. I was, and still am arguing that at somepoint the addiction is a partner to HIV-AIDS. Just visualize theseries of events after `chiat' and you can clearly see the pointwhere the addiction and the epidemic are working together. I was alsopointing out that the addiction has some thing in common with HIVepidemic in that, like HIV -AIDS, it is affecting the productivesection of the population .On top of that the addiction is affectingmillions and still catching up more youngsters. And I was suggestingan approach of containing the addiction just like HIV: preventingthose who are not addicts from joining the camp (susun balebetmakom). Anyways, this must be a point of discussion and with nowastage of time.

Getting back to the political impact of the addiction, my position is that "chiat", in the Ethiopian context , is serving as a politicalanesthesia for the men in power. The youth is spending much of theday chewing chiat and chiat has attained an honorable place in theminds of the youth. Such political questions like installing in placea democratic government, Ethiopia's rightful claim to access to thesea, poverty alleviation and the like are out of the circle of theattention of the youth. In other words, a growing number of the youthis not so much concerned-either theoretically or practically -aboutthe current situation or the future of the country as it is concernedabout `chiat'. As mentioned, the youth is preoccupied with thequestion of having `chiat' and with a spectacular determination toit. This reminded me of the event `rice riot' in the Japanese historywhich was caused by an increase in the price of rice and I am afraidthe question of chiat might arouse such a riot in the future, apartfrom currently serving TPLF/EPRDF government as a politicalanesthesia. Naturally, the youth was/is a potential threat to badgovernance and a motor in the opposition movement. .Practically theyouth, in Ethiopia, is in a mood of deep sleep with `chiat' and thatis so advantageous to the regime in power.

Religion as another political Anesthesia:

First of all I would like readers to understand that the idea is notdrawn from the materialist philosophy of Marx-`religion is an opium'.It has nothing to do with that. The argument here is on the basis ofmy observation of the generation to which I belong. I do believe thatthere is nothing wrong in embracing a faith, whichever form weprefer. But I do also hold the view that embracing faith, which ever,should not hamper from discussing political issue and about thepolitical life of the country. Tendency is a high among those whoembrace this or that form of faith to avoid discussion on politicalissues (with some exceptions) and they hold the belief that they cando nothing about the things going wrong to the nation but prayer.This is the thing I can never or ever accept because it is wrong.While commitment is so high to multiply the number of worshipers intheir respective congregation, it is zero or even negative to havediscussion on the fate of the nation. Unfortunately, the number ofyoungsters with such a belief is increasing with the swelling size ofthe worshipers in the various Congregations.

At the height of Apartheid policy in South Africa, the situation wasmore painful to the young blacks and it was unbearable for a youngman. Then many black youngsters were frustrated with the situationand swung to embrace the various forms or sects of Christianity,there by sticking to the belief that this world does not belong tothem and they wrapped their suffering with this cover. A considerableportion of the youth is in the circle of this thinking and this hasretarded the struggle for freedom. The trend was later changed afterrelentless effort and the tribute to this goes to ANC and otherparties in South Africa. It appears to me that the same thing ishappening to the Youth in Ethiopia (applicable for those who areoutside the domain of addiction to chiat).

This sentiment is not in line with the principle of Christianity.Christianity has been there since ancient time and it has served asan ideology for emperors -Christians have been serving both theirreligious faith and at the same time their nation. Catholicism hadbeen an ideology in the Roman Empire, Orthodox Christianity in theByzantine Empire, Protestantism in Germany after the period ofreformation. This is also true with Islam in what is now the MiddleEast. The term caliph implies both a religious and spiritual leader.Neither in the past nor in the contemporary world religion had everbeen at odds with national affairs of political nature, as to myunderstanding. Buddhism, Judaism and what have you can not be freefrom this trend .To mention some example from the contemporary world,Kenya, next door, is dominantly Catholic -with a considerable numberof Muslim and Protestants and yet Kenyans are active in politics,even the prelates. Currently, for instance, the constitution reviewprocess has turned out to be a bone of contention in Kenyan politicsand religious leaders are directly and indirectly involved in anactivity to twist any possible acrimony and at the same time to win anew constitution for Kenyans. Religious leaders are even initiatingthe Mwai Kibaki government to finalize the process with in a possibleshortest time. Majority of the population in the U.S. is protestantand it is at the same time active in politics. We can mention a lot.

Coming back to the situation of Ethiopia, the tendency of embracingand committing oneself to the embraced faith should not be at oddswith and at the expense of discussion on the fate of the country,having an opinion in the way the country should be handled andattaining political awareness. Emphasizing on the essence and primacyof politics in human relation and interaction, Kwame Nkrumah ofGhana, astoundingly stated "seek ye first your political Kingdom andall things shall be added unto you" (General History of Africa, Vol.III- UNESCO edition). This may appear an extremist opinion for manypeople. But there is still a point of crucial importance - workingfor freedom from political oppression is not at odds with religiouscreeds. It also implies the importance and possibility of seeking thekingdom of God and favorable political atmosphere and working towardsit concurrently.

Soccer and Music:

This is still another domain making the youth busy and still at theexpense of political awareness there by serving, again, TPLF/EPRDF asa political anesthesia. A considerable and growing number youngstersare being attached to either to music or European soccer. Somesection of the youth from this domain is living and breathing Reggae,others are living and breathing rap, still others are living andbreathing the English primer league. I want to underline that I amnot claiming any one of these should not be a component of our hobby.My position is that it should not be the only or the dominant subjectin our day -to -day life as if we don't have something else to engageourselves in.

What is the remedy for all these?

Here I am not talking about what the government in power could orshould do. No! There is no point in that. I am talking about whatopposition parties could and should do. Opposition parties have beenworking to aware the people on the project of installing a democraticgovernment, regaining what the country has lost -in the political,economic and social sector -under TPLF/EPRDF administration. And theproject requires the participation and commitment of the populace andthe larger section of the populace is the youth. The mood a crosssection of the youth is in, on the other hand, does not fit with theproject for reasons mentioned above and also for reasons notmentioned. Which is why opposition parties have been lagging behindsuccess. So opposition parties in general and the newly formedpolitical alliance in particular, should do something about it. Theproject of many of the opposition party is lofty and if the projectis not to be sterile, the new coalition should carry out its programof action, having in mind the task of arousing political interest andawareness among the youth as an area of priority. Interest andawareness are all the time indispensable to achieve any kind of goal.Then follows dedication and that is the threshold of success.


The good thing about the youth is that it is fast to understand andrealize something valuable if guided. And this is specifically truewhen it comes to the cause of this great nation-Ethiopia. This hasbeen proofed in a couple of occasions. The Gashi Abera Molla projectcan provide us with a good example of this .No assistance wasprovided by the government, when hundreds and thousands of youngstersin Addis Ababa responded to the clarion call of this noble artist toclean the dump in Addis Ababa. In the recent confrontation ofUniversity students with TPLF/EPRDF regime (in 2001), the motor rolewas still played by the youngsters in Addis Ababa and other towns.The events in Addis Ababa on the arrival of victorious athletescontains a lot of message regarding the interest and commitment ofthe youth when it comes to something connected with the cause ofEthiopia. It is up to the opposition parties to arouse and exploitthis potential and they need to know that it is a good startingpoint. Let they not start with an endeavor to discuss about Liberaldemocracy, not with the issue of regaining access to the sea andthings like that. Rather, the parties should enable the youth tovisualize the fact that every youngster is valuable to the countryboth at present and in the future. And every youngster should feelthat way. When that one is achieved, it is automatic that issues ofnational importance would be interesting objects among the the youthand be a point of discussion. And that is when parties shoulddiscuss, with the youth, about installing democratic government, thevalue of taking part in election, regaining access to the sea, thekind of government structure Ethiopia should have. After this theyouth could be given an assignment and responsibility so that it canbe more dedicate to the cause.

Is it feasible to achieve the task of arousing political interest andawareness among the youth? Of course!! The task may appear a bit difficult but definitely not impossible. And there are a number ofways to attain the objective. I can see,for instance, that Artists,by virtue of their profession, do have a large follower among theyouth and hence access t to the youth. There fore, they can be auseful tool to aware the youth. And I have recognized that there arevery dedicated artists to the cause of Ethiopia and I don't thinksuch people would refuse to devote their talent if approached wisely.The discouraging factor was the bickering in the opposition quarterand now it appears that is gone and I hope it won't be back at leastbefore the downfall of the regime in power.

Conclusion:

To generalize, the youth has been marginalized from politicsprimarily because of the policy of governments that came to powerafter the `revolution'. And also because the political frustrationgave rise to some mal-practices which came to dominate the lives ofthousands and millions of youngsters there by depriving the youth ofthe commitment and dedication which should have been invested tobring about objects (political, social and economic) which are in theinterest of the nation. Many of these objects are robbed by theregime in power. If opposition parties do have a project of forming ademocratic Ethiopia and regain every thing Ethiopia has lost underthe previous regime and the regime in power, it can only be achievedwith the active participation of the Youth. For that to happen it isimportant for the opposition parties to deal with victim mentalityand/or hangover of political frustration among a cross section of theyouth as far as involvement in politics is concerned. We need to freeourselves from ourselves and then we can free the country from everymal- administration born diseases-politically, economically andsocially.Therefore, I strongly believe that clearing off thefrustration among the youth and/or waking the youth up from the moodof deep sleep should be the prime concern of opposition parties andit is a good starting point for opposition parties in general and thenewly formed political alliance -UEDF -in particular. A policy andstrategy of combating the imposed marginalization (from above) bypolitical activation from below is of burning importance. Thisobviously leads to success.


Yet, the task should not be left only in the hands of oppositionparties. Individuals, civic organizations and other stake holdersshould be involved in this task. Diffusing the concept about theessence of being active in politics in a way that can be visualizedby those who are inactive counts towards achieving the goal and thiscan be done even by every conscious individuals from all walks oflife. Quoting, Eldridge Clever, Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, in hisbook `the road less travelled' mentions " If you are not part of thesolution, then you are part of the problem"-the saying was famous inthe U.S. in the sixties. I think the saying works well in oursituation and now. Responsibility may be something given. But moreimportantly, responsibility is also something we assume.

By Dimetros Birku,Nairobi,Kenya

ሰው መሳይ በሸንጎ

ለቀማኛ ወሮበላ ያደረ
እደሚለብሰው ካባ ህሊናውን ያጠቆረ
እውነት ዘብጥያ ሲጣል አብሮ በመንፈስም ያሰረ
ሱፉን ከካባ አስማምቶ
ከሱፍ መልስ ያለውን
ስብዕናውን አጨቅይቶ
ህሊናውን በሳስቶ; አድርጎ ቡትቶ
የሚበይንበት ወንበር ላይ ሲያዪት ተጎልቶ
ሰው መሳይ በሸንጎ
ፍርድ አዋቂ;አሳቢ በጎ
እሱ የሚቀመጥበትን ወንበር ሲያሽከረክር
ከላይ ግን ሲያሽከረክሩት
... እንደፈለጉት ሆኖ እንዲያድር
ሲያስብሉት ጥቁሩን ነጭ;ነጩን ጥቁር
የፍትህ ቅጣንባር ጠፍቶበት ሲደናገር
ምነው ራሱን እንኩአን ቢሽር
ውስጡን ኮስኩሶት ከሌባ;ለሌባ ማደር!!
ግን እሱም የሱ አይደል; አለበት ወታደር::


ለሚመለከተው ሁሉ,


ድሜጥሮስ ብርቁ
መጋቢት 24, 2001 ዓ.ም
ቶሮንቶ

የፍትሕ አርበኛ

የፍትህ ተሟጋች አርበኛ
ተገኝታ ቆፍጣና እንስት ዳኛ
ልጓሙን አጥብቃ ይዛ
በፍርሀት በብረት; ሳትገዛ
አላስነካም ብላ ፍትህን በዋዛ
በነጻነት ስለፍትህ ስትበይን
ስለእውነት ሳታጋንን
ሆኖባቸው የራስ ምታት
ለሚገዙት ""በእንተ ሰማዕታት""...
በዱላ; በብረት
የጎሪጥ ሲያዩአት
ገባትና የፍትህ መሰረት መናጋት;
በቆይታ መሰረት ልታጸና; ልታደላድል
በሴት አቅሟ ገባች ወደ ትግል::

ጥሊያንን እንደተፋለሙት የእናት አርበኞች
ወኔዋ ሳይከዳት; ሳትል ፍንክች
ልክ ልክ ስለተናገረች
በውሸት እና በብረት እንደገና ታሰረች
እንደምን የታደለች!!
ለእምነቷ -በእምነት የጸናች
ስንቱንስ እንስት ለትግል አነሳሳች!!
እኔ አልኩአት የሴት ወንድ-የእውነት አገልጋይ
ይጠብቅሽ ኤልሻዳይ!


ለብርቱካን ሚዴቅሳ

ድሜጥሮስ ብርቁ
መጋቢት 23, 2001 ዓ. ም
ቶሮንቶ

About Borkena Blog

Hello and Wel-come to Borkena!

For me, "Doubt" is a virtue and credulity out side the realm of religion (faith) is vice.I can't stand credulity. I have a feeling that my writings are, in most cases, inspired by doubt. I share my thoughts for two main reasons.It is either to benefit from the thoughts of readers by way of giving my thoughts exposure to critical and thoughtful readers, or it is to challenge thoughts which I think are incorrect. As well, I intend to make it a place to share my readings. Politics and culture are of special importance to me. I like poetry too, and I have some.

Thank you for reading me. Comments are much appreciated!

Dimetros
dbirku@hotmail.com,@dimetros

My memories of Borkena

Borkena is one of the tributaries of Awash river -draining eastwards from the High lands of Wollo ( part of the central high lands of Ethiopia). It's like the river jordan of my home town,Dessie.

Borkena, in Dessie- my world in the past and still a place very much close to my heart-drains the foot of Azwa Gedel on its way east ward. Dessie is small town enchained by mountains. Even higer than the mountains, which encircled Dessie, is the Mountain of love- the social Dessie. Simplicity is combined with sense of community to generate social warmth.

Borkena is selectd as my blog name because it was an important part of my childhood world. Geographical features could have a social impact. Back then, Borkena attracted more children from differnt parts of the town ( In fact the river streches through most past of the town on the east side) and we cherished the river with no limit. There were shoking memories of drown cases but the fun of cherishing borkena is stronger.

While exploring the inns and outs of Borkena as part of our childhood play, we (I remember) also used to have imagination about the outside world. At one point in time, there was a tempetation to explore the world outside of Borkena and we set out to "explore" kombolcha, which is about 23 kilometers to the south east of Dessie, without informing anyone in our respective family members and it was like a big adventure. In short, Borkea was a small world of play exploration and imagination. Our time in Borkena was usually fun, at times horrific. But when we go home, we miss it till the next day. Among others, Fasil, Mamush, Eyasu, Yosef, Mulugeta, Yohannes, Habtamu, Awol, Zuriash and Fanaye comes to mind when I think about Borkena. I am very nostalgic about it.

Of the games, I used to love ''handap''-it is a corrupted English for "hands up!" The game is played both in group and individually. It is an imitation of combat mission. We hide in the bushes and try to spot an opponent( "an enemy") and call out his name and he is "killed".If one is killing more than one he says "alofiw" -to mean "all of you."

The other game was "Ahlen" -I feel like this is a distant ancestor of cricket. We put a short stick on two stones. Using another stick, we raise the stick from the stones and kick it. The fartherst one kicks the stick without being caught by the opponent, the fartherst he rides the back of his opponent.

DB.