Ethiopian millennium under poverty, war and oppression

By Qeerransoo Biyyaa

May 25, 2007 — What have we Ethiopian achieved that we are rushing to celebrate the ‘Ethiopian new millennium’-2000? Whose millennium is it any way? These are questions that inquisitive minds are likely to ask when observing the rushes and the extraordinary government preparation to celebrate the new millennium in September 2007 Gregorian calendar or known to ‘Ethiopian’ as September 2000, ‘the new millennium’. That comes almost eight years later than the millennium that was celebrated on most of the world’s continents. It is the odd one out I guess. This is perhaps the only millennium of its kind in Africa to be celebrated at this time.

Let us come to the meat of the argument to attempt to answer the questions. The facts scream that Ethiopia’s 76,511,887 population according to CIA (2007) are leaving in abject poverty, major epidemic diseases such HIV/AID are spreading at alarming rates with diverse consequences, the country is involved in major wars and conflicts both internally and externally. Economy-wise there is no story worth telling; those notorious adjectives and pictures which describe the economy are still there – ‘poverty-stricken’ for instance. There is nothing false about the description because it is fact that more than 80 % of its population are unemployed. But sometimes statistics is generous; it takes from the ruling party companies and some people who can afford and says that the per capita GDP is $ 100 ‘giving’ the money to the 80 % unemployed people who do not even have that $ 100. The cause for all major cause for all these appears to be the unending wars and conflicts within and neighbouring countries because of lack of freedom and democracy to mobilise it people. Government’s war spending has even devastated the non- exiting economy for most of its people, BBC. Over 10 big rebel movements are active including the Oromo liberation front and the Ogaden Liberation Front are struggling for freedom because the government has proved that peaceful dialogues is not possible as long as it there.

To me as person who has observed and experienced the pains of this country, most people have more reason to mourn, to cry, and to curse the millennium, 2000, than celebrate it. The government has started the campaign for the celebration at the beginning of this year. A so called ‘millennium celebration secretariat’ (the whole millennium plan is found in the ruling party’s press) has offices in every region and cities in the country to coordinate the effort. EPRDF’s surrogates parties are rushing to spend ‘donors’ money and to achieve publicity internationally. That is because the government wants the world to forget the massacres on all the three de facto elections that took place from 1992-2005 where tanks and helicopters were deployed on protesting civilians to silence them from speaking against injustices of immeasurable magnitude.

Will thousands of families who lost someone to conflicts, wars, hunger even put smile, to the maximum, let alone celebrate the so called ‘Ethiopian millennium-2000’? That is impossible when everyone is aware that the government is trying to project a positive image about itself regardless of the screaming facts about what they have made that country to be. There seem to be many more reasons to mourn than celebrate. My attempt is not to finish all of them but to show that the Ethiopian government is using the millennium propaganda to campaign for acceptance amongst world leaders. The millennium is planned with a ‘great run’ event on which they want to force 30, 000 people out to run to attract the attention said.

Deconstructed, the Ethiopian millennium will be, as the preparations show, celebration of a minority ruling class and affiliates who have amassed the wealth of the poor unjustly. On the millennium date, stories will be told that ‘Ethiopia has never been colonised’. This is completely controversial areas where all people of the country have not yet formed the country by their consent that is agreed to be ‘Ethiopia’. The cultural and linguistic expression of the ruling group has been imposed on rest of the country. Excuse me if you think this is outrageous and not true. Of course I’m a lot patriotic than you think I may not be. May be I love my country better than you do. I am only describing that there is not yet a national identity or a just national state formed since the nations 100 years history by the consent of its people. Ethiopian is an empire which was born and we opened our eyes to see it clamp down on us. Yet, we are ‘Ethiopians’. The year does not matter, it can be 3000 thousand as some historians would flippantly love to write. But where are we in those hundred or 3000 thousand years pretending that history is true. It is painful to and violent to physically fight, but I am only talking, just conversation so that you can question what there really is to celebrate. As rational beings thinking is what precedes doing. Let us think and do something…

Without achieving any freedom and democracy, and as we daily see the all-rounded meltdown of the Empire (oh sorry, I forgot it is now called the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia), it is hard to celebrate but mourn, but cry, but sob, but think that our own land is not ours. What millennium with a pack of 77 million dying people. Ok, I have forgotten the ruling tyranny is not amongst the dying. It leverages the millennium celebration to cover up the stinks in its backyards to stay in power for some more years. This government off people to itself, by itself, and against people is never tired of duping donors to convince them to vote for the cancellation of its debts. The debts were used on military spending not on the bread that people desperately need as the facts suggest. And it will use the new millennium whistles for the same attraction.

* The author is based in Ethiopia. He can be reached at [email protected]