KINIJIT NOW ANDENET - The Way of Peace & Ethiopiawinet

SOLIDARITY FORUM

By Dr Golto Aila

My dear compatriots,

For more than 30 years now Ethiopia has endured two tyrannical rules! Thousands, may be millions, have lost their lives directly or indirectly as a result of these tyrannical rules and thousands have been flung to the four winds, never to come back to the country of their birth! All forms of resistance have been attempted – passive resistance, active and peaceful, active and violent, and everything in between! The result of the resistance has invariably been failure except for the demise of the Mengistu regime (as a result of the rebel support by outside powers and loss of Russian support for the Mengistu regime)!

What is wrong with us ? A population of 70+ million people has consistently failed against the regime of the day, attempt after attempt! After every failure the questions on everybody’s lips, invariably were, and still are “what is wrong with us?”, “why can’t we agree on anything?” etc, etc! If the context of these questions weren’t and aren’t so serious, one would say they were and are laughable! Why? Because if only one quarter of the 70+ million people, one day decide not to go to work, or execute a sit-in in government offices, or ceaselessly demonstrate or if worse comes to the worst, throw only one stone each, the tyrant of the day would have been brought down to its knees in a matter of days! So what is the anatomy of our failure?

1. We fail to stand together and fight the tyrant!

2. Different political parties have mutual hostility which, to a bystander, appear to be worse than the hostility against the tyrant!

3. Even within the parties, we cannot respect the by-laws we crafted, we are dictatorial, and we have no respect for each other!

4. We put personal ambitions and ego ahead of the interest of our Motherland and her suffering people!

5. We fail to see that personal gratification – hand-outs from foreign or home-grown agents - will eventually hurt us and those whose hope depend on us!

6. We are insincere with ourselves – we ask questions such as “what is wrong with us?” when we know precisely what the answer is!

7. We don’t listen to each other and we don’t listen to ourselves!

8. We fail to see the power of forgiveness!

9. We fail to see strength in saying sorry for wrong doing!

10. We fail to see two wrongs cannot make a right!

11. We fail to appreciate pulling together is better, and more rewarding than tearing each other apart!

12. We point accusing fingers at others, and totally refuse to acknowledge our own mistakes!

13. We want to run when we haven’t even learnt to walk.

14. We love to tell the history of our Motherland and its people, while totally abdicating our responsibilities today for benefit of those who come after us tomorrow!

15. We fail to see the plight of children who have no food to eat, no medicine when they are sick, no parents to look after them, no place to call home!

16. WE FAIL TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!

17. Etc, etc, etc!!!!!!!

Obamania: Well, God has not totally forgotten us! He has brought a black man called Obama who has come to tell America about a word we use many times each day – CHANGE! He follows it with a reassuring “Yes We can”! In my daily routine I advise against infection, but how I wish we all get infected with the sentiment that is sweeping across America for the benefit Ethiopia! The words I quoted above and Obama are a recurring theme on EEDN these days - please just don’t use it as a slogan, but think about what those words will mean to those back home who suffer under the yoke of tyranny today!

Grass-root Movement: As many of you know we have been talking about the SOLIDARITY FORUM OF ETHIOPIA for several weeks now. A number of us have been working have been working behind the scene contacting various distinguished and ordinary individuals in our community both for support and ideas! This process is going on as I write this piece! I want to share with you the one question which almost every person I contacted asked:

“WHY DO YOU THINK THIS EFFORT WILL SUCCEED WHEN SIMILAR EFFORTS HAVE FAILED EVERYTIME IN THE PAST? WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME?”

These are legitimate questions asked by those who have given everything to the cause of their Motherland over and over again and returned EMPTY-HANDED everytime! They ask this questions not because they are cynical but because they are looking for a ray of hope so that they can hang on it for comfort!

There is an expression that I have used repeatedly in the past – it is insane to repeat the same method and expect a different result! In short that is precisely what my compatriots are saying to me, and I accept that!

So, my fellow Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia today I have a challenge for you all! Look at the list of the anatomy of our failures above and take the following action - create your own “My SOLIDARITY FORUM OF ETHIOPIA”!

1. Get together with your relatives, friends and neighbors and create discussion groups

2. Reach across the town and discuss with similar groups and form a larger group

3. Repeat the process throughout the country in which you live

4. Communicate with the FORUM founders as soon as the details are announced.

Yes, You Must Do It! We are masters of the art of organizing, let's do it for the Motherland this time!

What will be the topics of discussion?

1. How to tackle the short term problems of Ethiopia.

2. Promotion of our ancestral and historical spirit of independence and responsibility towards our society and country;

3. Exploration of our systems of coexistence (with our ethnic, gender, class, and other differences) to rethink, rearticulate and institutionalize workable social reform implementation strategies;

4. Setting the priority areas that need public attention and stating the associated problems and solutions;

5. Exploration of the ways and means of carrying out political reform along the genuine paths of liberating Ethiopia from patrimonial rule, namely the destructive personalized social, political, economic processes that lack a sense of social responsibility;

8. Adopting and practicing the culture of transparency;

9. Creation of an open, peaceful, cooperative and transparent work environment for civil society associations, political parties, and other groupings.

10. Promotion of the rule of law applicable for all Ethiopians, irrespective of the levels of their crimes, their social, economic or political status or past records.

11. Promotion of separating the legislative, judiciary and executive branches of government in Ethiopia.

12. Finding ways of convincing the world that Ethiopians have our own very high standards, priorities, views and expectations about our ways of life, systems of coexistence and type of internal governance;

13. Creation of an environment for transforming Ethiopian society through dialogue, tolerance, transparency, social responsibility and honest engagement in the above and other similar matters of public concern.

Let us not wait for a leader to come from somewhere to deliver our Motherland from tyranny, let us create leadership from grass-root. Let each of us play a responsible role in crafting the destiny for our Motherland. Let us each take 100% responsibility for what has happened and will will happen, hence!

Organization: Appoint team leaders for each FORUM and these should include:

1. The chairperson

2. The secretary

3. The treasurer

4. General membership

Why am I suggesting this?

1. The FORUM is yours and you take the full responsibility

2. If the FORUM fails IT IS YOUR FAILURE

3. If the FORUM succeeds IT IS YOUR SUCCESS!

4. I am avoiding repetition the same methods and expecting different result!

5. We shall all share the burden of creating this organization

6. It is from the grass-root up, no boss from the top!

If you think this message is worthwhile please pass it on to your community, to other media outlets and by whatever means available to you! Please show you care about your Motherland, take initiative, take action now!