• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Goolgule

Ethiopian News

  • ስለ እኛ/about
  • አስፈንጣሪዎች/links
  • ቤተ መዝገብ/archives
  • አድራሻችን/contact
Header Banner Image
  • Home
    ዋና ገጽ
  • Editorials
    ርዕሰ አንቀጽ
  • News
    ዜና
  • Socio-Political
    ማኅበራዊ-ሽከታ
  • Religion
    ሃይማኖታዊ
  • Interviews
    እናውጋ
  • Law
    የሕግ ያለህ
  • Opinions
    የኔ ሃሳብ
  • Literature
    ጽፈኪን
    • Who is this person
      እኚህ ሰው ማናቸው?
  • Donate
    ለባለድርሻዎች

The way forward: challenges and opportunities for Ethiopia; truth and reconciliation

July 21, 2018 01:45 pm by Editor Leave a Comment

The ascendancy of Dr Abiy to the premiership in Ethiopia brings unprecedented, and to many fellow Ethiopians, unexpected hope and excitement to the possible formation of a democratic system in the country. The central galvanising messages are unity, forgiveness,  love, inclusiveness (medemir) and a robust Ethiopian nationalism sentiment.

There are some indications that various committees are working on a number of initiatives including the revision of the existing laws such as the terrorism and other similar laws.  There is a need to include the revision of the controversial Ethiopian constitution because all other laws originate from the constitution. There should be a strategic plan on organising the changes. There is a need for dialogue on how the country should be governed, including on the federal structure, the current federal structure clearly have shortcomings, including fragmenting the country, and claim and counterclaim of many areas.

This article proposes how we can transform the country on the foundation of peace, justice, truth and reconciliation and lay the foundation to build democratic systems. This helps to create an enabling condition for all Ethiopians to live in harmony based on democratic system of governance. Dr Abyie’s current strategy is to forge a broad-based alliance based on love, reconciliation and forgiveness, include all who want to be part of the solution (medemir)  for facilitating the transformation of Ethiopia into a democratic country. The central point is that the key component for forgiveness must include truth, which need to be told and recorded. We Ethiopians need to formulate truth and reconciliation commision, the South African case a good example to have a closure on traumatic past and to start build the future.

Furthermore, there are challenging tasks for forming democratic institutions in the country which is a mammoth undertaking that needs to be supported by all Ethiopians especially those who are expert in these fields.  The formation of democratic institutions are the most important work to establish a long-standing peace, security, rule of law and respect for the individual freedom.

Dr Abyie, at the moment, enjoying a universal support of many Ethiopians including the opposition politicians and political parties. However, if the transition is not handled appropriately answering the fundamental issues, the support he enjoys at the moment will not continue in the future.

There are some worrying signs, for example, the appointments of new ambassadors who are suspected of gross human right violation will alienate the victims. It is understandable there are some political horse-trading is going on to isolate the barbaric TPLF from its supporters, at least for a short-term strategy will help the P to strengthen his power base. However, the strategic advantage depends on the level of atrocities committed by these individuals that are appointed ambassadorial posts.

What are the criteria one uses for inclusiveness (medemir), recently the Somalia president Mr Abdi Mohomud Omar has stated that he has included himself (tedemerialhu), the question is that sufficient to continue as a head of the region, or possible ambassadorial appointment to another country?

On the other hand, those who openly oppose Dr Abyis’s premiership are left unchecked; their actions are creating more significant challenges including armed insurrection, for example, what is reported recently in Wellega is a case in point. This will test anyone’s patience, and a robust response becomes a necessity to protect the innocent, the weak and the vulnerable from this naked aggression.

Closing our traumatic chapter:

The importance of truth as the facilitation of forgiveness and reconciliation is paramount for a country like Ethiopia, with many documented cases of human right violations, this chapter of our history requires proper closure. To be inclusive (tedemern), to forgive and start  the reconciliation process we have to formulate a truth and reconciliation commission for the following principal reasons:

  1. In Ethiopia, we know that a physical genocide: mass killings of a targeted group has been committed;
  2. Cultural genocide has been committed: the destruction of social institutions of what constitutes to be Ethiopianism;
  3. Spiritual leaders (both Orthodox and Islam) are persecuted, land is seized, objects of spiritual value are confiscated and destroyed: For example, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is considered the sacred pillar of  Ethiopiawinet and as a result become a target by the previous government;
  4. It is only the truth that can bring healing and reconciliation;
  5. For families whose loved ones have disappeared for many years, the truth set them free and give them some a sense of closure and start the healing process;
  6. This is part of our history that need to be properly documented and reported; it will be the source of painful stories that our future generation learn from our mistakes and it will be a good reminder not to repeat the mistakes of this generation.

This is not about the past; this is also about the future, we learn from our experience to stop future conflicts in Ethiopia.

Concluding remark:

For a country like Ethiopia, the process of reconciliation is an essential element to have a proper closure on the past and to pave the way for a better future. True forgiveness and reconciliation only possible when we know the truth, “አደባብሰው ቢያርሱ በአረም ይመለሱ”.

The proposed truth and reconciliation commission requires a legal framework that need to be agreed on its scope, power and terms of reference. The process requires time, money and patience; it takes seven years for the South African Truth and reconciliation commission to complete its work, so we have to prepare that this will take a long time.

The independence of the commission from any outside influence is paramount for creating public trust. Other crucial element is the organisation of the commission, and the members’ selection need to be done wisely to provide legitimacy and trust to the processes.

Long live Ethiopia!

Wegene Demeke (PhD)
The writer can be reached on wdemeke@mail.com


Notice: Reports, rebuttals, analyses, press releases and/or recommendations offered by the author/s or organization/s do not necessarily reflect that of Goolgule: Amharic Internet Newspaper’s stand.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us

Filed Under: Opinions Tagged With: Left Column

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

በማኅበራዊ ገጾቻችን ይከታተሉን

Follow by Email
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Tweet

Recent Posts

  • “ዐቢይ ይውረድ፣ እኛ እንውጣ፣ በተራችን እንግዛ” ስልቴዎች (ስብሃት፣ ልደቱ፤ ቴዎድሮስ) June 11, 2025 01:56 am
  • ኤሊያስ መሠረት የሚሠራው ለማነው? ለብጽልግና? ወይስ …? June 3, 2025 01:27 am
  • በግንቦት 20 – የሁለት መሪዎች ወግ May 28, 2025 02:01 am
  • በፈቃዳቸው የተመለመሉ ወጣቶች ሁርሶ ሥልጠና ጀመሩ May 22, 2025 09:11 am
  • ድብቁ ሤራ ሲጋለጥ – “ሦስትን ወደ አራት” May 21, 2025 01:01 am
  • ከትግራይ ሾልኮ የወጣው ምሥጢራዊው ሰነድ ምንድነው? May 20, 2025 09:18 am
  • በደቡብ ጎንደር በጸዳሉ ደሴ የተመሩት 72 ታጣቂዎች እጃቸውን ሰጡ May 19, 2025 02:24 pm
  • የተመሠረተው የፋኖ አደረጃጀት ዋነኛ ዓላማው ድርድር መሆኑ ተነገረ May 14, 2025 11:07 pm
  • ከፍተኛ የፋኖ አመራሮች መገደላቸው ተነገረ May 6, 2025 10:40 pm
  • ሃይማኖትን ለተራ የፖለቲካ ሸቀጥ ማዋል ውርደት ነው April 24, 2025 12:43 am
  •  የኬሪያ ኢብራሒም ኑዛዜ “ብትንትናችን ወጥቷል” April 22, 2025 12:08 am
  • ለወልቃይት ጠገዴ ሰቲት ሁመራ ዞን አመራሮች ወታደራዊ ሥልጠና ተሰጠ April 16, 2025 11:44 pm
  • ዓቅም እንደሌለው የገመገመው ሻዕቢያ ፊቱን ከጦርነት ወደ ዲፕሎማሲ እያዞረ ነው   April 15, 2025 12:32 am
  • “አንድ የፋኖ ተቋም (የእስክንድር) ተመሥርቷል፤ ሌሎቹ ደግሞ እንዲሁ አንድ ተቋም መሥርተው ወደዚህ ይመጡ” አበበ ጢሞ April 11, 2025 12:07 am
  • መለስ (ለገሰ) ዜናዊ – ተዋርዶ ያዋረደን! April 9, 2025 10:28 pm
  • የተከዜ ዘብ: የሉዓላዊነት መጠበቂያ April 8, 2025 11:49 pm
  • አዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር የሪፖርተርን የተዛባ መረጃ ኮነነ፤ ሕጋዊ እርምጃ እወስዳለሁ አለ April 8, 2025 10:06 pm
  • ሀሰተኛውን የሪፖርተር ዘገባ ንግድ ባንክ በጽኑ ተቃወመ፤ እርማትም ጠየቀ April 8, 2025 09:48 pm
  • “ኦሮሚያ ላይ ወይም ሌላ ቦታ ላይ ስታደርገው ከነበረ ትግራይ ወስጥም የማታደርግበት ምንም ምክንያት አይኖርህም” ነው ጌታቸው ረዳ April 7, 2025 10:22 pm
  • “TPLF’s belief in a strong federal government was always tied to its own dominance in Addis Ababa” April 7, 2025 10:15 pm
  • Counter-Video by EBC Challenges EBS Broadcast, Sparks Public Outcry Over Alleged Misinformation March 31, 2025 02:36 am
  • የኤሊያስ መሠረትን ፌክ መረጃ ማን ያጋልጥ? February 19, 2025 06:00 pm
  • አዘርባጃን፡ የሻዕቢያን ሸምቀቆ ማጥበቂያ?! February 19, 2025 12:29 am
  • የአሜሪካ ድምፅ/ቪኦኤ ይዘጋ ተባለ  February 12, 2025 03:37 am

ጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣን በኢሜይል ለማግኘት ይመዝገቡ Subscribe to Golgul via Email

ከዚህ በታች ባለው ሣጥን ውስጥ የኢሜይል አድራሻዎን ያስገቡና “Subscribe” የሚለውን ይጫኑ፡፡
Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright © 2025 · Goolgule