RELEASED!?

Released?

 

I heard, 

The news of your release from prison;

And I hoped,

It will one day be the nation's turn.

.........................................

(For all jailed at the whim of those who were supposed to protect them.) 

Justice ‘Absurdistan’ style: ‘Twit’ your death!

Absurdistan: 
Justice ‘Absurdistan’ style: ‘Twit’ your death!

Absurdity in the Federal Democratic Republic of ‘Absurdistan’, aka Ethiopia, is a norm; and not so different is the way you would witness justice not served for each and all citizen. In “some less absurd states” security for each and all citizen is but the inalienable right of each and all citizen. 

When a citizen, (The slain Samuel Awoke in my mind) cries out loud for help and justice after being beaten by –‘unknown’- hooligans and for the record...he did so crying for all to see on the social media. Well one would wonder- ‘in less absurd states’ that the justice system would act to search and apprehend the ‘hooligans’ and serve justice.

But hey, this is ‘Absurdistan’.

You cry for justice when you are threatened, no justice.
You cry for justice when beaten, no justice.
You cry for justice and post your wounds on ‘face book’,no justice.
You cry for justice and call for protection, no justice
You cry out through the  media for help,  no justice
Then, you die at the hands of the –Holigans- still no justice.

If after all this, the ‘hooligans’ are not apprehended and the justice not served, you just wonder as a citizen of ‘Absurdistan’ that whoever is responsible for the security of citizens, might be angry at the death of the slain and saying  ‘why did the victim not ‘twit’ his death live to us so that we could follow it or share it?   

‘Absurd?’  well we are talking about Absurdistan.

The Roman Historian, Tacitus in his works -The Annals- where he cataloged the voluntary lapses of justice and the desolation that Roman Empire was festering around its provinces had said how complicit a system was created to crimes being committed with no justice served had said: "A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all."

If Tacitus was alive today and witnessed some lapses in serving justice in Ethiopia would he have said different?

---

 TAE

ህዝቡም አለ!

ትላንት፡

ህዝቡለፋቨስቱ ግራዚኒ ሃውልት በሀገረ ጣልያን መሰራቱ ለገደላቸው ኢትዮጵያውንና ለሀገራችን ክብረነክ ነው አለ፡፡ ብሎም ሰልፍ ወጣ፡፡ ወጥቶም በሃገሩ ፖሊስ -በራሱ ዘ.ጎች- ተደበደበ፡፡ መንግስትም አለ፡መደብደባቸው ትክክል ነው፤፤የሰልፍ ፊቃድ የላቸውም፡፡

 አሁን፡-

ህዝቡ በደቡብ አፍሪካ ከዛም በየመን ከዛም በሊቢያ ዚጎች ዘግናኝ ሞት መጋታቸው ለኢትዮጵያ ክብረነክ ለዚጎችምአንገብጋቢ ነው አለ፡-፡፡ ብሎም ሰልፍ ወጣ፡፡ ወጥቶም በሃገሩ ፖሊስ-በራሱ ዘ.ጎች- ተደበደበ፡፡

መንግስትም አለ፡(የሰልፍ ፊቃድ የላቸውም አንዳይባል ራሱ መንግስት ነው ጠሪው!) -ሊላ ምክንያት- ፡ ሰልፈኞች መንግስትን -በራሱ ሰልፍ- ላይ ለምን ተቃወሙ!!

ህዝቡምአለ፡

በመብት-በዚግነት ክብር-በነጣነት-በሁለንተናዊ ልማት ጉዳይ የራሳችንን መንግስት ካልሞገትን ሲልም ካልተቃወምን ታድያ ማንን! ነው ወይስ መንግስት የህዝብን ምሪት የመሰማቱንም ስራ ለቻይና ኮንትራት ሰጥቶታል!!!

So said Nightmare to Despair

So said Nightmare to Despair

Despair met Nightmare;

and was asked: 

‘why are you imitating me?’

And these words Despair had to spare:

‘I looked south;

I was burned to death;

I looked north;

I was slaughtered to vile ends;

I looked west;

My image mirrored in kidnapped souls;

I looked east; where home is,

I was clubbed for mourning my own death;’

Then, Nightmare said to despair, solemn;

You have a sad question to answer:

‘Where is home’?

…………

(April 22, 2015)

(To all souls brutalized at home and abroad.)

Ethiopia; don’t forget your Archives are Africa’s too!

Ethiopia; don’t forget your Archives are Africa’s too!

---Tariku Abas- Etenesh----

---

When you hear some actions of some Ethiopian government agencies, you feel at a loss of context to conceptualize or understand them.

Well let us try to understand one of such impossible-to-understand scenarios:

Think of a scenario in an African country, deprived of its rights of access to archives by the former colonizer yet striving to secure access. A nation that realized such archives are not only instrumental in retelling the true cruel nature of the African colonial past but also for taking informed, legitimate steps towards correcting the wrongs of the past.  

Think of a nation like Kenya, where 40,000 Kenyans sued Britain for the brutality they suffered in British colonial detention camps based on documents in colonial archives; a nation like Namibia suing Germany for Germany’s genocide on the Herero people Namibia based on document in archives.

Kenya and Namibia realize that as nations, historical documents are like the pearls on the neck of a people’s history glorifying and honoring a body its memory.

As Africans, the most sensitive and less luxurious item, to be treated with nothing but respect should have been historical records of our history as most of it is already lost and distorted by colonial legacies and distortions.        

NOW think of a scenario in my country Ethiopia, that prides itself of not being colonized and has amassed great wealth of achieves from its three thousand years of existence suddenly deciding to SELL the documents in its national archive, (not the copy form but the originals,) less than a dollar a kilo, for a simple and shameful reason of creating a space for an office building.

Cry Africa!

This could sound impossible to believe, but it is true.  

A national that lacks clarity on how it handles and preserves its archives properly is no better than a person with Alzheimer disease; vested on living the moment while forgetting the past.

How could a nation conceive itself sane while selling its archives for ridiculous reasons?

Hopelessly, I would like to say Ethiopia don’t forget your Archives are Africa’s too!