Every one should work for peace …!

Tesfaye Lamma

All Ethiopians have the constitutional rights to ask not only for any development projects in their areas but also they have the rights to get fast and appropriate services. In the same token, they have constitutional rights to oppose whatever they feel wouldn’t help them. They have the rights to ask the government to evaluate its services and make adjustments any time they face bad governance.

Past twenty five years witnessed that the people have been practicing applying their constitutional Rights.  In the same way, the government and the ruling party have the responsibility to assess and solve immediately any question posed by the people.

They have not only the responsibility of responding any question posed by the people but execute any development that the people believe could benefit them. Besides, the developmental government usually design development plans with the consent of the people. This is because it recognized that no development could be succeeded without the will and support of the people.

The ruling party has been evaluating its performances every time and making adjustments and corrections whenever it recognizes its negative impact. One typical example is what EPRDF had made in the aftermath of national election 2005, in which it lost around 130 seats in the House of Representatives. 

As the party had a comprehensive discussion with the people, it learnt that the Ethiopia people want tangible development activities that could improve their living; to get job opportunities.

The ruling party had gathered all the dissatisfactions of the people and worked hard in 2006-2010 and solved most of the problems which the people posed.  The people of Ethiopia began to see light at the end of tunnel and cast its votes to EPRDF in the 2010 election. That free, fair and democratic election witnessed the people of Ethiopia believed that  EPRDF will realize the renaissance of the country in such ways.

The encouraging development the country has been registering; particularly, in the first Growth and Transformation Plan. The mega projects including the railway and road infrastructures, the sugar development projects, hydro-power dam projects and other industries have significantly made millions of Ethiopians beneficiary in various ways like securing job opportunities, which indicated bright future.

The other significant issues is  the need to ensure good governance and minimize rent-seeking activities. This effort has on one hand encouraged the people to ask for good governance. On the hand, it alarmed those corrupt and rent seekers to change their tactics so that that they could maintain the status. They have changed their tactics and began to work without reservation to destabilize the country.

When the government along with the people has determined and has been working industriously to root out corruption and rent seeking political economy, the corrupt individuals and groups have merged their forces to create chaos in the country. The violence in some parts of the Amhara and Oromiya  regional states emanated from this ill will.

If the rent collection political economy continued getting the upper hand all the development efforts will collapse; the hope of Ethiopians to alleviate themselves from poverty will obviously fall through; the light at the end of the tunnel for sustainable development will disappear and the country’s vision to become one of the middle income countries in the world will  remain being a daydream; the efforts to ensure the renaissance of the country will jeopardized may be followed by disintegration. This is what those rent seeker and corrupt people have been sabotaging for.

However, the government and people of Ethiopian want to ensure the upper hand of developmental economy in the country. They have been working hard to enjoy the light at the end of the tunnel and  will benefit from the renaissance of the country.

The efforts to realize good governance and to root out rent seeking activities have left those people frustrated. They comprehended that the government and people of Ethiopia have determine to strengthen their fight against them.  This made rent-collectors so tense that they have made their first but failed attempt both Amhara and Ormiya Regional States  to divert the attention of the people through violence and havoc.

Therefore, the people have to realize what the rent-seekers have been doing. They are obviously behind all the violence in Oromiya Regional State.   On one hand, the people should ally with the government in dismantling the ill-practices of the rent seekers instead of getting confused and go out for violence.  

These rent seekers have merged their forces with terrorist groups like OLF and Ginbot Seven. Besides, they have backed by the terrorist states in the region mainly the rogue state in Asmara.

We can therefore say that the current violence both in Amhara and Oromiya have instigating by the terrorist groups who failed to accomplish their  hidden agenda of destabilizing the country. Ginbot Seven has the stand of forming unitary state; whereas, OLF has the aim of separation. Both of theme have extremely opposing objectives.

The terrorists, the extremists, the chauvinists  and the rent collectors have come together to destabilize the country. They made unholy marriage and have been attempting to create havoc in the country and jeopardize its move towards renaissance.

The cause for these extremely opposing groups to come together is not the similarity of their agendas but probably their interests to destabilize the country. They have been working to jeopardize the development efforts of the country.  It is therefore possible to comprehend that the violence has the aim of jeopardizing Ethiopia’s development. They planned to destabilize the country and left it disintegrated.

As the violence has obviously hidden agendas, both the Oromo and the Amhara people shouldn’t scarify.

It is known that EPRDF has faced various challenges in the past which the party solved peacefully with the participation of the people. Now, the people of Ethiopia in general and that of the Oromiya and Amhara  Reginal States in particular know the value of peace. They know what peace could add to their day today struggle to win their living. They don’t want to shoulder any violence that poisons their peaceful living.

The rent seekers harbored among the people and the ruling party have also interests to divert the current move of the government of Ethiopia against them. They want to destabilize the country so that they could live freely with the huge money they embezzled. These four groups came together and instigated the violence in some areas of the Ormiya and the Amhara Regional States.

The unholy marriage among chauvinists, extremists, rent seekers   and irresponsible states aiming to halt Ethiopian development will melt as the Ethiopian nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia have comprehended the tricks and determined to work, being hand in glove, to realize the renaissance of their country.  This could be a reality if  and only is there is peace and stability. Ensuring peace is not a task that is left to the government only. All of us all should work hard  to maintain it.