EU is getting it wrong on Ethiopia- it is regrettable

I was a great fan of the European Union; great admirer of the system. I believed it was an institution that was for fairness, genuine human rights protection, democracy and rule of law. As a British citizen, I had chance to travel visa free across Europe; rights to work across Europe; European Health Insurance and many good things, I thought the union was good for Europe and a good model for other continents. 

When the United Kingdom went to the polls in June 2016 to decide on the EU referendum, I voted to REMAIN. UK decided to LEAVE. I have many good friends who voted LEAVE. When I asked them for their reasons for voting LEAVE, they often said, ‘EU is autocratic and doesn’t listen to citizens on the ground’. I can see that. 

All EU’s actions on Ethiopia since the November 2020 conflict are unfriendly, immoral and out of character. It looks it has lost a partner in the TPLF. It looks EU’s attitude for Ethiopia and for Africa is different from its attitude for Europe and other parts of the world. EU is trying to dictate a sovereign country. EU is trying to say, ‘do it my way or I will suspend this or that’. We recall that EU suspended developmental aid to Ethiopia following the conflict in Tigray. It wanted to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. When Ethiopia was bold and determined, EU changed its attitude. EU for sure knows Ethiopia is an important and strategic partner in Africa. That was why it once again made a statement on the strategic importance of Ethiopia for the European Union and started to work with Ethiopia. EU also decided to send observers to the June 2021 general election, which was a good sign of rebuilding relationships. EU even sent a team to observe the preparatory work. All these were welcomed by Ethiopia. 

Although Ethiopia welcomed EU’s decision to send observers to the June 5 general election, we have now learned that EU is not sending observers. The reasons are clear. Ethiopia is not bowing down to EU’s unconvincing demands. EU has put forward unusual conditions to Ethiopia to observe the June 5 election. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, EU has demanded that it should bring in telecommunication equipment for VSAT services if it were to observe the June general election. This has never happened; and why now? Ethiopia is ready and capable to provide telecom services during EU’s and indeed others’ stay in the country as observers. What makes EU so special to put this as a precondition to observe an election? To insist that EU should bring in equipment for VSAT services smells fishy; rather disrespectful and unexpected. Do they want to give the equipment to TPLF remnants and resuscitate TPLF from the ashes? 

EU shouldn’t forget that when it is in Ethiopia, it is only a guest, nothing more. 

Another demand by EU is very dangerous. EU has demanded that it wants to make public comments and announcement about the general election before even the National Board of Ethiopia. This is scandalous and seriously questionable. EU had observed Ethiopia’s sham elections in the past. It knew the elections were not democratic. Yet it didn’t have demands. So why now? 

Whether EU likes it or not, the June 5 general election will go ahead. Ethiopians don’t need validation by EU on their most important democratic exercise. Ethiopians decide, nobody else! Ethiopia will prevail and come out victorious in all fronts. One thing is for sure, EU also will come back; it is a matter of time. For the time being we say, thank you but not thank you! See you later, EU.

 

GERD - Get it done no matter what!

As Ethiopia prepares for the filling of its most important dam, we have seen anger in some quarters in Egypt, which could be either intentional to create tension or total ignorance of the situation. Whatever the challenge, Ethiopia has to get its Dam done. 

If the origin of the Nile was Egypt, then Egypt might find a tap to stop the flow of Nile Waters. Fortunately that is not the case. To think as if the source of the Nile to be Egypt is disingenuous.  

No need to be angry at Ethiopia’s flagship project like 2 year old toddlers crying for everything they see. 

Egypt has to come to a negotiating table for a 21st century negotiation. Ethiopia is contributing 85% of the Nile Waters and deserves fair share. We all know Nile waters are more than enough for all. 

Vital to remember that both the 1929 & 1959 agreements are void and unacceptable as far as Ethiopia was concerned. Ethiopia is not a signatory to the party. 

Equally vital to stop intentionally ignoring the reality as it is for the benefit of all to come to a mutually acceptable agreement. It is not time for one side wins all and others remain bystanders. 

After all it is about Mutual Benefits, Reciprocity, and Sovereign Equality. This is 21st century, where we are interdependent on one-another and should cooperate; but that cooperation should be mutually sought based on mutual interests. 

ከፊታችን የተደቀነውን ፈተና በጋራ ማለፍ ይገባል

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በተለያየ ጊዜ ፈተናዎች አጋጥመውታል። ባለፉት 5 ወራት ግን ፈተናዎቹ ዘርፈ ብዙ ሆነዋል። ተደጋጋሚ ዘር ተኮር ጥቃቶች ፤ በትህነግ አነሳሽነት የተጀመረው ግጭትና ታላላቅ የሚባሉት እንደ ቢቢሲ እና ሲ ኤን ኤን ያሉ የሚዲያ ተቋማት የተዛባና እውነትን መሰረት ያላደረገ ዘገባ ፤ በሰብአዊ ድርጅት ስም የሚሰሩ እንደ አምነስቲና ሂውማን ራይትስ ዎች ያሉ ተቋማት ውስጥ ያሉ ድብቅ አላማ የተሸከሙ ግለሰቦችና ድርጅቶቹም ጭምር በግልፅ የሚታይ መርህ ያጣ ውንጀላ ፤ የአውሮፓ ህብረትና የአሜሪካ ቅጥ ያጣ ጉትጎታና ከልክ ያለፈ ጫና።

የኢትዮጵያ ጠላቶች ከዚህ የበለጠ ጫና ለመፍጠር ሊሞክሩ ይችላሉ። የሰው ኃይል ፣ የገንዘብና የቁሳቁስ አቅርቦት በማሟላት የበለጠ ጥፋት ለማስከተል 24 ሰዓታት ባለማቋረጥ ሊሰሩ ይችላሉ። ከምንም ጊዜ በላይ ጥንቃቄና አርቆ አስተዋይነት ያስፈልገናል:: ዛሬም እንደ ጥንቱ ተስፋ ያስፈልጋል። ከምንም በላይ አንድነት ያስፈልጋል።

እንደ ኢትዮጵያዊ ከመቼውም ጊዜ በላይ መደራጀትና ለአንድ አላማ መስራት ብቸኛው አማራጫችን ነው::

ከፊታችን የተደቀነው ፈተና መታለፉ አይቀርም። ፈተናዎቹ ቢበዙም ህዝባችን ዛሬም እንደ ጥንቱ በህብረት በመሆን ኢትዮጵያን ሊታደጋት ይገባል። ኢትዮጵያም ማሸነፏ አይቀርም።

በመላው ዓለም ያሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከመቼውም በላይ በህብረትና በብዛት በመሆን ስለ ኢትዮጵያ ሊጮሁና ለኢትዮጵያ ህብረት በትጋት ሊሰሩ ይገባል። ኢትዮጵያ ከመቼውም በላይ ልጆቿን ትሻለች::ሀገራችን ስትጠራን ደግሞ አቤት ማለት ምርጫችን ሳይሆን ግዴታችን ነው። ይህንን ግዴታችንን ጊዜ ሳንወስድ መወጣት አለብን። ሀገራችን የገባችበትን አጣብቂኝ ሁኔታም በሰከነ አዕምሮ መመርመር የግድ ይሏል።

በውጩ ዓለም የምንኖር ሰዎች ብዙ ጊዜ የምንገነዘበው ነገር አለ። በፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች መካከል የሚኖረው ፍጥጫ እጅግ በጣም ከባድ መሆኑን። ፓርቲዎቹ እስከ መጨራሻው የሚነጋገሩ አይመስሉም። የሀገር ጉዳይ ሲመጣ ግል ሁሉም በአንድነት ይቆማሉ። በፖለቲካ አመለካከት መለያየት፤ በሀገር ጉዳይ ግን አንድ መሆን በየትኛውም አለም ያለ ነው። ኢትዮጵያውያንም በሀገር ጉዳይ ላይ ቁርጥ የሆነ አቋም ሊኖረንና ለወደፊቱ ትውልድ የተሻለች ኢትዮጵያን ልናስረክበው ይገባል።

ኢትዮጵያዊነት ይለምልም።

ሰገጤ ነኝ አለች ፤ እኔም ሰገጤ ነኝ

ሰገጤ ነኝ አለች

እኔም ተከተልኳት

እሷ ብቻ አይደለች

እኔም ሰገጤ ነኝ

ስለ ሀገር ማውራቷ

ከልብ መታከቷ

መጮህ መጨነቋ

ኢትዮጵያ ማለቷ

አንተን ካበሳጨህ

አንቺን ካናደደሽ

ችግሩ ካንተው ነው

ፈተናው ያንችው ነው

መድኃኒቱን እወቅ

መፍትሄ ፈልጊ

ሰገጤዎች ጎራ

ብዙ መፍትሄ አለ

ከመፍትሄው ዋናው

ወደርም የሌለው

የኢትዮጵያ ፍቅር

ፍቱን መድኃኒት ነው

 

You are the product of those seconds

 

They keep coming

And going

Minutes after seconds

Hours after minutes

Days after hours

Months after days

And years after months

They keep coming

And going

Notice them or otherwise

They do their routines

As you do yours

Those seconds or minutes
Or the big ones
Make you who you are

As you become who you are
The person you are
And the person others know
To be whom you are

You are the product of

those seconds
the minutes, days and weeks
The months and years

 

Minutes after seconds
Hours after minutes
Days after hours
Months after days
And years after months

They keep coming
And going

Notice them or otherwise
They do their routines
As you do yours

Those seconds or minutes
Or the big ones
Make you who you are
The person you are pic.twitter.com/HgGQH54ifh

— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚 (@BekeleWoyecha) December 26, 2020