Ethiopia’s May 28: The Case of Somali People
May 28 that is locally known as Ginbot 20, marks the day that heightened the inclusion of very historically Marginalised societies and introducing an equation of what Ethiopia is and should be. I laud it as the start of a no swivelling point for such fantasies.
May 28 is the day that Derg Regime led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam that ruled Ethiopia is dislodged from the seat.
In a meantime, as a citizen from Somali State, I am not empty from what happened after the birth of this day and records of human Right violations of Massacres and ethnic cleansing that are committed in the name of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
A good example of citing the notorious Massacres happen under EPRDF rule who is now changing the shirt into Classified Prosperity Party is like; Cobolle of Dhahaxbuur area and other massacres of ethnic cleansing that happened under One of the EPRDF Regions Oromia and I count for them just because No one has been held responsible for the brutal massacres is Awdey and Balbaleyti.
I don’t want to detail these massacres, just because every wise person who watches the politics of Ethiopia in general and that of Somali State. These massacres committed left behind a lot of people with horrific injuries in their minds and hearts. Because of this, many children are orphaned and traumatized due to the lost their Silver Primary Caregiver and breadwinner in these brutal ways. Because of this, many families who were dependents on the goodness of taxpayers and Contributors to our country’s GDP, have now lost their livelihood in this massacre; they lost their only assistant to sustain their day-to-day life, and are lining up for very limited humanitarian aid assistant in a concentration camp called “IDPs” while some are begging in the streets.
EQUITY
After May 28 birth, EPRDF took the lead of this country to design the policies that guide a country that is now 100 Million plus Complex Nations, Nationalities and People’s population. The policies that were formulated favoured the big four that made EPRDF- Amhara, Southern Nations and Nationalities, Tigray and Oromia regional states. These policies orphaned other Regional states of Ethiopia including the Somali Region.
One can witness how Somali Region is very long behind the big four. Mind you that today that Coronavirus is causing the death of lives and how to prevent and keep it away a while from your self washing your hands is the major prevention tool; lots of Somali Regional State people have no even basic drinking water let alone water that washes hands.
The inequality of every sector remain high; the big four regions take the lion share of every single Ethiopian Birr that is collected from the country’s revenue and donations too.
This is because the policy favours them or just because they are misleading this poor region and others who are in the same scenario. The nation’s misguided policy allocates more than 90% for these big four regions not to mention the aid of the small money that some donors earmarked regions like Somali to lift them out of the dust.
Self Ruling
Let all these Unorthodox things under the rule of EPRDF happen; the Self Rule remained the picture of people who share with me the same belief came close and expected to these people who are left behind by the policies will get political landscape and good guys who include in them into the Development policies and the Word will at the Centre of the designing multi-million development packages.
And I saw an inclusion gesture from Current PM H.E Abiy Ahmed when he jumped the top job April 2018 and his good eloquent Amharic speeches he did after and when listened told to my soul fairness is in the yards for your the most marginalised Region now. But to my dismay; let alone to see that but PM changed the shirt of EPRDF and formed a new party that may cause more harm than EPRDF. Who knows?
Therefore, I am afraid that the so-called Classified Prosperity engineered by PM Ahmed is positioning to weaken the verse of "Self Ruling" that was the only luxury that this poor region had and introducing a new play that will never find anyone who is pro-self-rule and taking back May 28. Who knows? I wish central rule that didn’t find lots well will not come to my door. Ameen
Happy National Day
