Vision Ethiopia 10^th Conference

Post-TPLF Ethiopia: The Path Forward

January 9 and 16, 2021

With the end of the political, economic and military dominance of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia, there are incalculable challenges and opportunities to advance sustainable democracy, rule of law and equitable economic development in the country.  The TPLF, which was at the front and center of many of the problems faced by the Ethiopian people over the last three decades, has predictably faded into the dustbin of history.  While the causes of its demise are multifactorial, ranging from tyrannical rule and rampant corruption, to the recently perpetrated treasonous attacks against the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), the most prominent of them all is the one rooted in the pathological constitution it imposed on the people of Ethiopia when it assumed power. Indeed, the fact that this aberrant organization was born with the seed of its own destruction was evident in its obsession with ethnic hatred that could be traced back to its founding manifesto. It may serve as a lesson for similar groups to heed that the catastrophic collapse of the TPLF is but an affirmation of the time-honored historical truism that the ultimate fate of a party that pivots its power on ethnic-based philosophy is assured self-annihilation.

Although the TPLF is removed from power, many concerned citizens and observers of developments in the country contend that there are still numerous outstanding issues that still require cogent dialogues and bold discussions. Even as we speak, the country is governed by the ethnic-based constitution whose primary objective is the promotion of the dissolution rather than the preservation of the integrity of the nation. Ethnic violence is claiming the lives of countless innocent civilians across the land, and a dark cloud is hovering over the prospect of conducting free and fair elections. Years of corruption and economic mismanagement by the TPLF oligarchy have pushed the national economy to the brink.

The ethnic federalism, which is unique to Ethiopia, continues to fuel conflicts among people that have coexisted in harmony for generations, resulting in genocidal violence, destruction of property, and displacements of biblical proportions. Innocent civilians have been slaughtered in various parts of Oromia, Benishangul-Gumuz and other regions; and more recently, the

retreating TPLF thugs have committed atrocious crimes against Amharas and other ethnic groups in Mai-Kadra and neighboring villages.

Justice is demanded by those whose ancestral lands and other properties have been forcibly usurped by the TPLF. Disquietingly, the federal government has shown inexplicable insensitivity to respond to the legitimate demands for recognition by the Amhara inhabitants of Humera, Wolkait, Tsegede, Tselemt and Raya who have been subjugated, tortured and subjected to untold repression because of their identity. Similar cases abound in other parts of the country, including Wolaita, Guragie, and various zones of the Southern region.

Extremist groups and terrorist organizations such as the TPLF and OLF, who have committed egregious crimes with impunity, have not yet been labelled as such by the government in power. As a result, some of them have continued to carry out horrific attacks on defenseless civilians the likes of which have not been seen since the dark days of the Rwandan Interahamwe.

The large sums of aid and donated money siphoned off from the nation’s coffers and stashed away in foreign bank accounts by TPLF leaders will continue to cause unimaginable economic pains and challenges for years to come. The international community and financial institutions have yet to honor their moral responsibility and heed the pleas of the people of Ethiopia for return of the wealth blatantly stolen from them.

It is with these backdrops that Vision Ethiopia, in keeping with its proven tradition of excellence and neutrality, has organized a series of roundtable discussions to tackle some of the most critical questions of our time. The questions to be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The constitution is the legal document that has legitimized the current ethnic federalism, which incontrovertibly is the source of the pervasive conflicts in Ethiopia. So, what is the framework for abolishing ethnic federalism and ratifying a genuine constitution that guarantees individual rights, ensures equality of all the people under the law, and ensures the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country?
• One of the legacies of the TPLF regime is the illegal appropriation of fertile lands from neighboring regions and the subjugation of the inhabitants of these places. What is the due process for addressing the grievances of Amharas and other minority ethnic groups whose ancestral lands have been forcibly annexed by the TPLF and the inhabitants subjected to untold suffering and persecution because of their identity?
  • Since the current government came to power, extremist forces, including the TPLF and OLF, have caused incalculable damage to the economy and perpetrated heinous crimes against humanity. To date, the government is reluctant to identify by name and denounce some of these elements. How can extremist elements and terrorist organizations be purged and outlawed to ensure lasting law and order in the country?
  • While the postponement of the planned elections due to the disruption caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic is understandable, there are misgivings about the feasibility of conducting free and fair elections under the current environment in Ethiopia. What are the available options to ensure a genuine transition to democracy and build robust democratic institutions in the country?

Conference Agenda

January 9, 2021, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

January 16, 2021, 10 am – 2:00 pm

Speaker Biography

1. ተካልኝ ገዳሙ

አቶ ተካልኝ ገዳሙ የአንደኛ፣ የሁለተኛ እና የኰሌጅ ትምሕርታቸውን ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ካጠናቀቁ በኋላ፣ በኤኮኖሚክስ የድሕረ-ምረቃ ትምሕርት ለመከታተል ወደ አሜሪካ መጡ። ከዚያም በተባበሩት መንግሥታት ድርጅት በኢንዱስትሪ ልማት መምሪያ ውስጥ ተቀረው፣ ኒው ዮርክ ሁለት ዓመት ያህል ሥርተው፣   ወደ አፍሪካ ኤኮኖምክ ኮሚሽን ተዛወሩ። በኮሚሽኑ ውስጥ በተለያዩ ክፍሎች ለስድስት ዓመታት እንደሰሩ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር በነበሩት ክቡር ጸሐፌ ትዕዛዝ አክሊሉ ሀብተ ጥያቄ የፕላን እና ልማት ምኒስትር ከነበሩት ከክቡር አቶ ሐዲስ ዓለማየሁ ጋር እንዲሰሩ ተደረገው፣ከአንድ ዓመት በኋላ ደግሞ የኢትዮጵያ ልማት ባንክ ሥራ አስኪያጅ በመሆን ተሾሙ። እዚያ ሁለት ዓመት ገደማ ካገለገሉ ወዲያ የፕላን እና ልማት  ኮሚሽን ዋና ኮሚሽነር ሁነው ተሾሙ።

እዚያ እንዳሉ ነበር በአብዮቱ ዋዜማ ልጅ እንዳልካቸው መኰንን ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ሲባሉ ኮሚሽኑ እንደገና ወደ ሚኒስቴርነት ተለውጦ አቶ ተካልኝ ገዳሙ በቦታው የተመደቡት። እዚያ ጥቂት ከሰነበቱ ወዲያ የትራንስፖርትና የመገናኛ ሚኒስቴር መሪ ሆኑ። በመስከረም 1967 ላይ ጊዜያዊ ወታደራዊ መንግሥት ሲታወጅ እዚያው ባሉበት ቆይተው የደርግ አመራር ለአገርም ሆነ ለመንግሥት አገልጋዮች የማያማች በመሆኑ ስንብት ጠይቀው አገራቸውን ዘጠኝ ዓመት ካገለገሉ ወዲያ በየካቲት 1968 ዓ ም ሥራቸውን ለቀቁ።  ከዚያም በ1969 ዓ ም ለአፍሪካ ልማት ባንክ ፕሬዚዳንት የኤኮኖሚ አማካሪ እንዲሁም የኤኮኖሚ ምርምርና ፓሊሲ መምሪያ ሃላፊ ሁነው አሥር ዓመት እንዳገለገሉ የድርጅቱ ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት ሆነው በተጨማሪ ስድስት ዓመት በሥራ ላይ ቆይተው ተሰናበቱ ። ከዚያም ወደ አሜሪካ መጥተው ሁለት ዓመት ያህል ከቆዩ ወዲያ በ1988 ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ተመልሰው፣ ባንክ በማቋቋም ላይ የነበሩ ወዳጆቻቸው እንዲቀላቀሏቸው ስለጠየቋቸው ከ1988 እስከ 1995 የባንኩ ሥራ አስኪያጅ እና የቦርድ ሰብሳቢ ሁነው ካገለገሉ ወዲያ ተሰናበቱ።  ባለትዳር እና የሶስት ልጆች አባት የሆኑት አቶ ተካልኝ ገዳሙ፣ በአሁኑ ሰዓት ፊላዴልፊያ ውስጥ በጡረታ ላይ ይገኛሉ። ርዕስ፡ “ወቅታዊው የኢትዮጵያ “ዴሞክራሲ” ጉዞ —  አጀማመሩ፣ የዛሬው ሁኔታ፣ እና የወደፊቱ አዝማሚያ”

2 Assefa Mehretu 

Assefa Mehretu is Professor Emeritus of Geography at Michigan State University (MSU) where he served from 1977 to 2016 as Professor of Geography, Associate Director of the African Studies Center, Director of the Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science, Associate Dean the College of Social Science, Assistant Dean of International Studies and Programs, and Director of the Rome Social Science Abroad Program in Italy.  Before 1977, he was Assistant Professor of Geography and Director of the Institute of Development Research at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.  His research interests include economic geography of African development, rural development, and theories in socio-spatial marginality.  Most recently, his research and writings have put focus on the role geography can play in boundary-making for viable administrative regions in Ethiopia.  He is a recipient of research fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, and various MSU grants to support fieldwork in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and East Africa.

3 Alemante Gebre-Silassie

Alemante Gebre-Silassie is Professor Emeritus of Law at the College of William and Mary. He received his LLB from Addis Ababa University, and his MLI (Master of Legal Institutions) and J.D. (Juris Doctor) degrees from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison.  He served as   Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Land Reform (1975-1976) in Ethiopia and worked as an Associate with the Law Firm of Foley and Lardner in Milwaukee (1985-1987). Before retirement, he was a  Law Professor at the College of William and Mary (1987-2014). Professor Alemante has written extensively on the question of ethnic federalism in Ethiopia, and two of his papers,  “Ethnic Federalism:  Its Promise and Pitfalls for Africa,”  published in the Yale Journal of International Law, and the other, “Ethnic Identity and Constitutional Design for Africa,”  published in the Stanford Journal of International Law, have received wide acclaim.

Abstracts

ወቅታዊው የኢትዮጵያ “ዴሞክራሲ” ጉዞ:  አጀማመሩ፣ የዛሬው ሁኔታ፣ እና የወደፊቱ አዝማሚያ

ተካልኝ ገዳሙ፣ ፊላደልፊያ፣ ፔንሲልቫኒያ

እ አ አቆጣጠር በሚያዝያ (ኤፕርል) 2018 ዶ/ር ዐቢይ አህመድ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር አቶ ደመቀ መኰንን ምክትል ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ሁነው በኢሕአዴግ ፓርቲ ተሾሙ። ከዚያ ባልታሰበና ባልተጠበቀ ሁኔታ ብዙ የመሻሻል እርምጃዎች ተወሰዱ።

ኢሕአዴግ ለዓመታት የብሔር ብሔረ ሰቦችን መብቶች የምወክልና የማስከብር ነኝ የሚለውን እጅግ የተሳሳተ “እምነት” አንግቦ፣ የፈላጭ ቆራጭነት ሥልጣኑን ለሕወሐት አስጨብጦ ኢትዮጵያን ለሃያ ሰባት ዓመታት ሲመራ ቆይቶ ነበር። ሕወሐት በዚህ ሥልጣን በመጠቀም አያሌ ንጹሐን ዜጎችን አስሮ ያንገላታ፣  ይደበድብ፣ ዘግናኝ የአካል ስቃይም ያደርስባቸው ነበር። አዲሱ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ሃላፊነታቸውን እንደተቀበሉ እነዚህን ሁሉ በነፃ ለቀቋቸው። ውጭ አገር በስደት የሚኖሩ የፖለቲካ ተቃዋሚዎችና ግለሰቦችም ወደ አገራቸው ተመልሰው ኢትዮጵያን በእውነተኛ ዴሞክራሲ ጎዳና ለማራመድ ይቻል ዘንድ የየበኩላቸውን አስተዋጽኦ እንዲያበረክቱ ጥሪ አቀረቡላቸው። በነፃ የመናገር፣ የመሰብሰብ፣ በጽሑፍ ሃሳብን የመግለጽ፣ ወዘተ፣ መብቶች ታወጁ። መንግሥት የፈለገውን ዜጋና ወገን ተቃዋሚ ነው እያለ እንዳሻው ለማሰር የሚያስችለው የሽብርተኝነት አዋጅም ተሻረ።

በማከታተል ጠቅላይ ምኒስትሩ የኢትዮጵያን  አንድነት፣  ባሕል ፣ ታሪክ ፣ የሕዝቧን ወንድማማችነት የሚያበስር አዲስ ትርክት በየጊዜውና በየአጋጣሚው ማሰማት ጀመሩ። በታሪካችን ያሳለፍናቸውን የእርስ በርስ አለመግባባቶች እያስታወሰን ከምንጎነታተል፣ አንድነታችንን አጥብቀን ከያዝን የማንወጣው ችግር የለም፣ እስቲ በወንድማማችነት መንፈስ “እንደመር” የሚል መልእክት አስተላለፉ። ሕውሐት አፍኖ ረግጦ ከሚያስተዳድረው ከትግራይ ክልል በስተቀር ይህ ትርክት በመላይቱ አገር የእፎይታን አየር አሰፈነ። ሕዝቡም በአንድነት ከዳር እስከዳር ወጥቶ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትሩን በጋለ የፍቅር ስሜት ተቀበላቸው፣ ወደዳቸው፣ አቀፋቸው። እግዚአብሔር እንጂ ሌላ ኃይል አይዶለም ይህን መሪ ለዚህች ከገናናነት ከክብር ደረጃ ወደ ውርደት ገደል ለተወረወርች አገር የላከላት የሚል ስሜት አደረበት። የአንድነት የሰላም የዴሞክራሲ ጎዳና ብሩህ ሁኖ ታየ።

አገሪቱ በዚህ ሁኔታ ላይ እያለች አንዳንድ አሳሳቢ የሆኑ ክስተቶች ብቅ ብቅ ይሉ ጀመር። እ አ አ በየካቲት (ፌብሪዋሪ) 19 2019 ላይ አዲስ አበባን ለቆ መቀሌ ላይ የመሸገው ሕውሐት አንድ መግለጫ ያወጣል። እሱም ባጭሩ ያመለከተው አቋም ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ዐቢይና አጋሮቻቸው የሚወስዷቸውን የለውጥ እርምጃዎች እንቃወማለን የሚል ነበር። በለውጥ ኃይሎች ላይ ዘመቻ ተከፈተ ማለት ነው። እሱንም ተከትሎ የኦሮሞ ዴሞክራቲክ ፓርቲ በክልል ጥያቄ ላይ ድርድር አናደርግም የሚል መግለጫ አወጣ። ከጥቂት ጊዜ በኋላ ደግሞ የለገ ጣፎ ማዘጋጃ ቤት በጠራራ ፀሐይ የአንዳንድ ነዋሪዎችን ቤት በቡልዶዘር ደረመሰ፤ ባለቤቶቹ ሲጯጯሁ ሲላቀሱ፣ እያየ እየሰማ እንዳላየ እንዳልሰማ በመምሰል። ማዘጋጃ ቤቱ የሰጠው ሰበብ ያለፈቃድ የተሠሩ ቤቶች ናቸው የሚል ነበር። ለዓመታት ግን ማዘጋጃ ቤቱ ራሱ እውቅና ሰጥቷቸው ግብር ይቀበላቸው ነበር። የኤልክትሪክ የውሐ ሌላም ሌላም የመንግሥት ድርጅቶች የሚጠይቁትን ክፍያም ባለንብረቶች ይፈጽሙ ነበር። ዋናው ምክንያት ግን ባለነብረቶቹ በአብዛኛው ኦሮሞዎች ሳይሆኑ ከኦሮሞ ገበሬዎች ላይ መሬት ገዝተው አነስተኛ ቤቶችን የሰሩ “ከክልሉ ውጭ የመጡ” ኢትዮጵያውያን ስለሆኑ ነው የሚል ዚና በጊዜው ተሰራጭቷል። እነዚህ ሰዎች አቤቱታ ለማቅረብ ወደ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትሩ ቢሮ ሄዱ። ይህ ጉዳይ የሚመለከተው የኦሮሚያን ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት ስለሆነ ወደዚያ ሂዱ ተባሉ። እዚያ ሄዱ፣ ግን ሊያነጋግራቸው ፈቃደኛ የሆነ ባለሥልጣን ሳያገኙ ተመለሱ። በተከታታይም ተመሳሳይ የሆኑ የመፈናቀል ድርጊቶች በተለያዩ የኦሮሚያ እንዲሁም የደቡብ ክልልች ተፈጸሙ።

ይህን ያስተዋሉ አያሌ ዜጎች ያ ሁሉ የሕዝቡን ትኩረት የማረከ የጠቅላይ ምኒስትሩ የመደመር ዲስኩር ተዘነጋ? ተሻረ? ወይስ የማይበገር መሰናክል አጋጠመው? በማለት በጣሙን አዘኑ። ጊዜው እየጨመረ ሲሄድ ድርጊቶቹ እየባሱ እየተባባሱ ሂደው ዛሬ ከምንገኝበት እጅጉን ከሚያሳዝን ተስፋንም ከሚያመነምን፣ በኦሮሚያ፣ በቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ፣ በጉራ ፈርዳ፣ ከሚታየው ዘግናኝ ዘር የማጥፋት ሁኔታ ላይ  ደርሰናል። የኢትዮጵያ የዴሞክራሲ ጉዞ እምነት የሚጣልበት ሁኖ አልተገኘም።

በዚህ ረገድ የወደፊቱ የፖለቲካ አዝማሚያ ምን ይመስል ይሆን ብንል፣ በግምት ከምንደርስባቸው ምላሾች መካከል የሚከተሉቱ ሊታዩን ይችላሉ።

1. ሁኔታው አሁን በምንመለከተው ሂደት ከቀጠለ የባሰ ችግር ተፈጥሮ የነዐቢይ የለውጥ መኩራ ከሽፎ ከማንወጣው ከማንመኘው ማጥ ውስጥ ልንገባ እንችላለን። እርግጥ ነው ይህ ኢትዮጵያ ያልቅላታል ትፈርሳላች የሚያሰኝ አይሆንም። አያሌ ጠላቶችዋና ጥቂትም ተመልካቾች እንደሚያስቡት ኢትዮጵያ አትጠፋም አትበታተንም። ምነው ቢሉ “ኢትዮጵያ እና ኢትዮጵያዊነት” በአያሌ ምዕተ ዓመታት ትስስር እና አብሮነት ጠንካራ መሠረት ላይ የተገገነባ ሕያው ኃይል ስለሆነ ነው የሚል መልስ ለመስጠት ይቻላል። የነዐቢይ ሙከራ ከከሸፈ ሊሆን የሚችለው፤ ሌላ ኃይል ተራውን ኢትዮጵያን ከማጥ ውስጥ ማውጣት አለብኝ ብሎ የመነሳት ዕድል የመፈጠሩ ሁኔታ ነው። ይህ አካሄድ ከአንድ የመከራ የፍዳ አዙሪት ወደ ሌላ የመተ እንጂ ተስፋ ሰጭ ወደ ሆነ የመጨረሻ ጎዳና የመዛወር ዕድል የሚፈጥር አይዶለም።
2. የሚመረጠው ዶ/ር ዐቢይ እና ደጋፊዎቻቸው (ወይም ከታቀደው ምርጫ በኋላ የሚከሰቱ መሪዎች) ከላይ ከተጠቀሱት ስሕተቶች ትምሕርት በመውሰድ ከሁለት ዓመት ተኩል በፊት “እንደመር” ወደተባለው ወይም ተመሳሳይነት ወዳለው እውነተኛ የዴሞክራሲ ጎዳና ለመጓዝ በጥሞና ጉዞ መጀመሩ ነው። ይህን ለማድረግ በቆራጥነት መንፈስ የመሪነትን ሃላፊነት መቀበል ያስፈልጋል።

Deconstructing Tribal “Federalism” for Killil Subjects: Toward Provincial Federalism for Ethiopian Citizens

Assefa Mehretu, Professor Emeritus of Geography, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824

Abstract

Present political problems in Ethiopia arise from the design of tribal federalism whose objective has been to balkanize Ethiopia into antagonistic tribal fiefdoms of gerrymandered killils (tribal enclosures).  Killils, with their assumed but incorrect homogenous tribal inhabitants, were allowed to practice restrictive single tribal group-rights covenants and to disregard rights of other Ethiopian citizens arbitrarily designated as “immigrants” and subjected to deadly violence that included ethnic cleansings and destruction of property.  Tribal federalism in Ethiopia is intrinsically unstable, dangerous, immoral, discriminatory and unsustainable.  It allows the abridgement of rights of all people including those it claims to protect by tribal covenants as killil subjects under the hegemony of decentralized tribal despots.  Tribal federalism has to be deconstructed to restore singular and inviolable Ethiopian citizenship by celebrating the collective identity of Ethiopinism while respecting the nation’s diversity as was the case prior to 1974.  Ethiopia had provincial boundaries called kifle hagerat (divisions of the country) that were historic administrative regions in which every Ethiopian exercised his/her full citizenship rights without prejudice.  That should be recovered either by resorting to truly democratic central governance or cooperative federalism (not dual) with the use of the pre-1974 administrative provinces or some other territorial divisions of the country using natural features or other geographic attributes.

Constitutional Reform in Ethiopia

Alemante Gebre-Silassie, Professor Emeritus of Law, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Abstract

The focus of my talk is constitutional reform. Since this is a broad topic, however, I intend to address only a few constitutional provisions that I believe call for special attention.  I will argue that in its obsession with the notion of ethnic identity, the Constitution has jettisoned the concept of Ethiopian citizenship and the survival of Ethiopia as a country. This is evident from the opening words of the constitution through many of the subsequent provisions on ethnic rights and the near impossibility of revising it. I will also argue that despite its ringing and heart-warming provisions on human, democratic and political rights, the salience given to ethnic group rights has eviscerated these rights. Also, the fact that power of interpretation has been vested in the House of the Federation makes these rights of little significance in practice. I will conclude by offering some suggestions on how future constitution-makers might address the foregoing problem areas.

VE10 Conference Bios and Abstracts