Ethiopia: Set the People Free!
It is a dangerous psychological problem when one knows that one is lying but yet believing one's own lies as truth fights to impose them on others despite others knowing the truth.
Right now, as was the case for two decades, the government of Ethiopia is doing exactly that. Imposing the lie it told itself on the people of the country.
The lie of just recently winning 100% of the parliament seats when it was an evidently rigged election through coercion, and intimidation.
The lie of standing for universal justice when the justice it cares about is measured justice for the few and connected elites not for the masses.
The lie that it accepts all people of all ethnicities as equals before the law when time an again it has demonstrated that some ethnic groups are less equal.
The lie that its military stands for the constitution when in reality the military itself has declared its allegiance to the ruling party, its ideology and the few connected elites not to the constitution and to the people as it was supposed to (even to the chagrin of it's own former military leaders and Chief of Staff of the Army.)
The lie that all ethnic groups are given the same power to determine their fate according to the constitution of the country when In reality some can decide on their future while some get their fates decided for them.
The lie that access to participate freely in the economic opportunities of the country are open for all when in reality in almost all major economic ventures the government has shown preferences for a few connected elites to dominate and control.
The result of such pathological disregard for truth and the rule of law begets revolutions. As can be seen in Ethiopia now, despite the repression, despite the total disregard for freedom of expression, especially despite the denial of freedom of assembly, the people are on the streets, their anger spilling out and saying enough is enough.
Things that are common for all tyrannical regimes being their assumption that force and force alone would solve the problem. So was the former military government, so is now. Torture, beatings, arrests, denigration, threats and intimidation are the the practical vocabularies we hear from the government. This mentality of the government brought us no where but to more polarized and hatred festering system the country has ever seen.
Now the government has a great chance to do right if it chose to. Now is not the time to try the old trick of 'discussing with the opposition' just to threaten them to condone your repressive methods, accuse them of being the vessels of foreign interests, and claiming that a few development projects that are actually financed by the people and china could give you the license to oppress the very people that should decide your fate.
Such a mentality has already brought us to the Ethiopia of now. The way forward should not be repeating the way of the past. The governments reliance on its police, undercover hit teams and the military to crush any opposition did not work for the Derg and it will not work now.
The attempts now by the administration of Ato Hailemariam to rally the media under its control and trained social media saboteurs, cadres and party controlled media outlets to paint and derail the legitimate questions of the people for their basic rights into ethnic hatred and conflict of one over the other would only have the feared consequences of self-fulfilling prophecy. This is time for them to act like they are leading a country and not a mafia cell.
The people on the streets have clearly shown that they needed unity and solidarity with fellow Ethiopian brothers and sisters of all backgrounds ethnicities.
For the government to rally behind divisive tactics of setting one ethnic group against the other, as was done for the past 25 years will be a disastrous . It is demonstrated that the people have a matured take of their own future than the hatred laced, fear ladden divisive future the government insists to impose on them.
The time is saying to the government of Ethiopia : Let the people free; only then will you be free!!
