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ዳውድ ኢብሳ: አንጋፋ ታጋይ እና የኦነግ መሪ

ትውልዱ ሆሮ ጉዱሩ ሲሆን ከአራት ኪሎ ዩንቨርስቲ በስታትስቲክስ ተመርቋል በተማሪዎች እንቅስቃሴ ወቅት ደርግ ለሁለት አመታት አሰሮ ፈትቶት ነበር ከእስር ሲለቀቅ ወደ ኦነግ የትጥቅ ትግል ገባ ። ኦነግ በ1968 ሃያ ስምንት ማእከላዊ ኮሚቴ ስመረጥ ይህ ሰው አንዱ በመሆን ተመረጠ ፡፡ ወቅቱ 1971 ነው ኦነግ ትግሉን በምእራብ ኢትዮጵያ ለማሰፋፋት ሲወስን ዳውድ ኢብሳ እና የኦቦ ሌንጮ ለታ ወንድም አባ ጫላ ለታ ዋናና ምክትል ሆነው የምእራቡን ትግል እንዲመሩ ተመድበው በጥቅሉ 17 የሰው ሀይል በመያዝ በሱዳን በኩል አቋረጠው ወለጋ ቤጊና ጊዳሚ አከባቢ እንቅሰቃሴ ይጀምራሉ፡፡

ደርግ ይህን የኦነግ የምእራብ እንቅስቃሴ ለማፈን ትኩረት ሰጥቶ ማጥናት ይጀምራል፡፡ በወቅቱ የጊዳሚ ወረዳ አሰተዳዳሪ ሂካ መሳዲ እና የወለጋ ክ/ሀገር አሰተዳዳሪ ንጉሴ ፋንታ የኦነግን የትግል ጅማሮ ለማጨናገፍ አንድ መላ ይዘይዳሉ፡፡ በጃሌ ዳውድ ኢብሳ ይመሩ ከነበሩት 16 ታጋዮች የአንዱ ወንድም ዘካሪያስ ሾሮ ይባላል፡፡

.የጊዳሚ ወረዳ አስተዳዳሪ ደነበረው ሂካ መሳዲ ዘካርያስን ጠርቶ እንዲህ የሚል ግዳጅ ይሰጠዋል። ወንድምህንና ጓደኞቹን ቤትህ እራት ትጋብዛቸዋለህ የምንሰጥህን መርዝ ደግሞ ምግቡ ውስጥ ትጨምርና ታበላቸዋለህ፡፡ ይህን የማትፈጽም ከሆነ ከእነ ቤተሰብህ ትገደላለህ! ከብትህ ይዘረፋል! መሬትህን ታጣለህ! ዘርህ ከምድረ ገጽ ይጠፋል…..”
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ዘካሪያስ ግዴታ ሆኖበት እንደ ተሰማማ የደህንነቱ ሪፖርት ላይ ተጠቅሷል፡፡” ወንድሜንስ እንዴት ብዬ እገላለው…” ብሎ አቅማምቶ ነበር፡፡ የተሰጠው ምላሽም “….እንግዲያውስ ከቻልክ ወንድምህን ለይተህ እንዳይበላ አድርገው፡፡ ካልተቻለ ግን አብሮ ይሙት! ወንድምህ አገር ሊያጠፋ የተቀጠረ ከሃዲ ነው” በማለት በግልጽ ይነግሩታ፡፡

..ይህ ዝግጅት ከተደረገ ቦሀላ የገበሬ ልብስ የለበሱ ወታደሮች በአከባቢው አድፈጠው ዘካርያስ ሾሮ እንዳያመልጥ ይጠብቁት ነበር፡፡ ምግብ ውሰጥ የሚጨመር መረዝ ከአዲሰ አበባ ተልኮ በንጉሴ ፋንታ በኩል ለሂካ መሳዲ ተሰጠ፡፡ሂካ መሳዲ ለዘካርያስ አሰረከበው፡፡

…በንጉሴ ፋንታ ትእዛዝ የተገዛው ሙክት ከተላከ ቦሀላ ዘካርያስ ለወንድሙና ለጓደኞቹ የራት ግብዣ ጥሪ እንዲላክላቸው ተደረገ፡፡ ቀጥሎም በጉ ታርዶ ጥሩ ምግብ አዘጋጀ፡፡ በዚያን ሰሞን 17ቱየኦነግ ታጋዮች ለሁለት ተከፍለው ነበር የሚንቀሳቀሱት፡፡ አባ ጫላ ዘጠኝ ራሱን ሆኖ በሌላ አቅጣጫ ይንቀሳቀሰ ነበር፡፡ ዳውድ ኢብሳ የሚመራት ቲም የዘካርያስን የራት ግብዣ ተቀብለው ማምሻው ላይ በገበታው ዙሪያ ተገኙ፡፡

በሰአቱም ዘካርያስ ወንድሙን ለይቶ ለማሰቀረት ሳይቻለው ቀረ፡፡ “…አንተ ቆይ ቦሃላ ትበላለህ ..”ቢለውም ወንድሙ አሻፈረኝ ብሎ ለገበታው ቀረበ፡፡ ወንድሙና ጓደኞቹ በመረዝ የተለውሰውን ምግብ ሲበሉ ዘካርያስ የጎጆውን ምሰሶ ተደግፎ በትካዜ እና በሰቆቃ ይመለከታቸው ነበር፡፡
ዳውድ ኢብሳ ከምግቡ ትንሽ ቀማምሶ ደጅ ጥበቃ ላይ የነበረው ጓደኛቸውን ለመተካት ገበታውን ትቶ ወደ ደጅ ወጣ፡፡ ሌሎች የተመረዘውን ምግብ መብላቱን ቀጠሉ ነገር ግን ብዙም ሳይቆዩ መላ ሰውነታቸው እንደ እሳት እያቃጠላቸው እየጮሁ ይወድቁ ጀመረ፡፡

ዘካርያስ የታናሽ ወንድሙን ሬሳ እጁ ላይ ታቀፈ፡፡ ዳውድ በወቅቱ ብዙም የተመገበ ባይሆንም ከመመረዝ አላመለጠም፡፡ በጥበቃው ላይ እያለ ሰውነቱ ሲቃጠልበት መመረዛቸው ስለገባው በፍጥነት ቅጠላ ቅጠልና አፈር እየቃመ ውሃ በብዛት ጠጣበት፡፡ ደግሞ ደጋግሞ አሰታወከ፡፡ሆኖም ከመውደቅ አልዳነም፡፡ራሱን ስቶ እንደ ጓደኞቹ ከዘካርያስ ጓሮ ወደቀ፡፡ የገበሬ ልብስ ለብሰው በአከባቢው አድፍጠው ውጤቱን ይጠብቁ የነበሩ ወታደሮች በተያዘላቸው ቀጠሮ ዘካርያስ ቤት ሲደረሱ ሰባቱ ታጋዮች ሞተው ዳውድ ኢብሳ ግን ነፍሱን እንደሳተ አገኙት፡፡

ዳውድነን ይዘው ወደ ደምቢዶሎ ከነፉ፡፡ የኦነግን ሚስጥር ከእሱ ለማግኘት ፍላጎት ሰለ ነበራቸው ፈጣን ህክምና ሰጥተው ህይውቱን አተረፉት፡፡ ቀጥሎም ከደምቢ ዶሎ ወደ ነቀምት አዘዋውረውት ተጨማሪ ህክምና ሰጡት፡፡
ነቀምት ላይ ትንሽእንዳገገመ ወደ እስር ቤት በመውሰድ ገልብጠው ይገርፉት ጀመር፡፡ በወቅቱ ስለ ሁኔታው የተገኘው ማስረጃ የወለጋው የደህንነት ሪፖርት እንደሚገልጸው አሉ የተባሉትን የምርመራ እርምጃዎችን
የተጠቀሙበት ቢሆንም ከዳውድ ኢብሳ አንደበት አንዳችም ሚሰጢር ሊያገኙ አልቻሉም፡፡ሲያቅታቸው ወደ አዲሰ አበባ ወደ ማእከላዊ ላኩት፡፡

እዚያም በቤንዚንና በቆሻሻ ውሃ የሞላ በርሜል ውሰጥ እየደፈቁ መረመሩት፡፡ ለመሞት ዝግጁ ሰለ ነበር አንዳችም የተነፈሰው ነገር የለም፡፡ደግመው ደጋግመው ማእከላዊና አለም በቃኝ እያመላለሱ በተለያዪ ማሰቃያ ሰልቶች እንደ መረመሩት የደህንነቱ መ/ቤት ሰነድ በዝርዝር ያብራራል፡፡
ዳውድ ኢብሳ! በአለም በቃኝ አምስት አመታት ታሰረ፡፡ በሂደትም ከመላመድ ብዛት ጠባቂ የነበረውን ፖሊስ ማሳመን ቻለ። ለህክምና ሲወጡም ከሁለት ባልደረቦቹ ጋር ከሆስፒታል አምልጦ ወለጋ ገባ፡፡
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የቤንሻጉል ጫካዎችን በማቋረጥ ዳግም ኦነግ ከአለበት ቦታ ለመድረሰ የሁለት ሳምንት የሌሊት ጉዞ አድርጓል፡፡ እሱ መርዝ በልቶ ሲማረክ ምእራብ ወለጋ ጫካ ውሰጥ የቀሩት አባጫላ ለታ እና ዘጠኝ ጓደኞቹ ከአንድ ብርጌድ በላይ ሰራዊት ሆነው ነበር የጠበቁት፡፡ የመሪያቸውን በህወይት መመለስ ማመን ያልቻሉት ታጋዮች በታላቅ ደሰታ ተቀበሉት!!
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ይህ ተአምር ከሞት_የተረፈ_በብልጠቱ_ከደርግ_እስር_ቤት ያመለጠው ሰው የዛሬው_ የኦነግ_ ሊቀመንበር_ ጃሌ_ ዳውድ_ኢብሳ_ነው ፡፡ ዳውድ ኢብሳ ባመነበት የትግል መንገድ ለኦሮሞ ህዝብ ህልውና ሲል ሲታገል እና ሲያታግል እድሜው የጨረሰ ጀግና ነው ። ታሪክ ታሪክ ነው እና የምናውቀውን አጋራናችሁ ።

“Fayyaa fi Nagaan adda hin bahu!” Dr Kuwee Kumsaa

ከትብብር ለሕብረብሔር ዴሞክራሳዊ ፌደራሊዝም (ትብብር ) የቀረበ ፖለቲካዊ የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ

በኮቪድ-19 ምክንያት የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ የገጠመውን ሕገ-መንግሥዊ ቀውስ (አጣብቂኝ) ለማሻገር ከትብብር ለሕብረብሔር ዴሞክራሳዊ ፌደራሊዝም (ትብብር ) የቀረበ ፖለቲካዊ የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ

መግቢያ፡
የደርግ አገዛዝ በ1983 ካከተመ በኋላ ኢሕአዴግ የሚመራዉ መንግሥት ለ27 ዓመታት የመንግሥትን ስልጣን፣ ሕግ አዉጪዉ፣ የሕግ አስፈጻሚዉንና የፍትሕ ተቋሙን ሙሉ በሙሉ በመቆጣጠር በአንድ ፓርቲ አገዛዝ ሥር ሀገሪቷ እንድትወድቅ አድርጓታል። በዚሁ ኢሀአድግ የበላይነት በሰፈነበት አምባገነናዊ አገዛዝ ይህ ነዉ የማይባል የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰትና በጥቂቶች ከፍተኛ የኢኮኖሚ ምዝበራ በኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች ላይ ተፈጽሞዋል። ይሄን አስከፊ የሆነ አምባገነናዊ ሥርዓት ላለመቀበል የተለያዩ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች ከፍሎቹ በትጥቅ ትግል፡ በጋራም ሆነ በተናጠል ፣ የተለያዩ ሕዝባዊ አመጾች በተለያዩ የሀገሪቷ ክፍሎች ሲያደርጉ ቆይተው ሕዳር 2007 በኦሮሞ ወጣቶች በኦሮሚያ የተቀሰቀሰዉ ሕዝባዊ አመጽ ወደመላዉ የሀገሪቷ ክፍሎች ተስፋፍቶ በታህሳስ ወር 2010 ኢሕአዴግ እራሱን በጥልቅ ተሃድሶ ማሻሻል እንዳለበት አምኖ እንዲቀበል ማስገደዱ ይታወሳል። የዚህ ሕዝባዊ አመጽ በኢሕአዴግ ዉስጥ ለዉጥ ፈላጊ ኃይል ታክሎበት መጋቢት 24 ቀን 2010 ዶ/ር አቢይ አህመድ ወደ ጠ/ሚንስቴርነት እንዲመጡ አድርጓቸዋል።
በጠ/ሚንስቴር ዶ/ር አቢይ አህመድ አመራር ሥልጣኑን የያዘዉ ኃይል ኢትዮጵያ ከአምባገነናዊ አገዛዝ ወደ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት እንደሚያሸጋግር ቃል ገብቶ ክፍተኛ ተስፋና እምነት ተጥሎበት ነበር። ለዚሁም ጠቅላላ ምርጫ ከመድረሱ በፊት የሚያስፈልጉ ሪፎርሞችና የህግ ማሻሻያ ዝግጅቶች ተደርገዉ በምርጫ 2012 ዴሞክራሲያዊ የሆነ ምርጫ ተካሄዶ ሕዝብን የሚወክል መንግሥት እንደሚመሠረት በተስፋ ሲጠበቅ ነበር። ሌሎች በርካታ ተግዳሮቶች ባሉበት ሁኔታ በተጨማሪ በጠቅላላ ምርጫው ዋዜማ ዓለም-አቀፋዊ የሆነ ወረርሺኝ የኮቪድ-19 በሽታ መከሰቱ ምርጫዉ በታቀደለት ጊዜ እንዳይከናወን በማድረግ በእንቅርት ላይ ጆሮ ደግፍ አድርጎታል። ከዚህ የተነሳ በሕገ-መንግሥቱ የምርጫ ድንጋጌ አጣብቂኝ/ቀውስ ወስጥ መግባቱ እጅግ አሳሳቢ ሆኗል። ለዚሁም የችግሩ ተቋዳሽ በመሆን በበኩላችን ከዚህ አጣብቂኝ ለመዉጣት ይረዳል ብለን የሚናምንበትን የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ ይዘን ቀርበናል። ለመፍትሔ ሀሳቡ መነሻ ይሆን ዘንድ ከመጋቢት ወር 2010 ጀምሮ ሀገሪቷ ያሳለፈችዉ ፖለቲካዊና ማሕበራዊ ሂደቱን መዳሰስ እጅግ አስፈላጊ ነዉ ብለን እናምናለን። ለዚሁም የለዉጡን ሂደት ከመጋቢት ወር 2010 ጀምሮ ያጋጠሙትን ችግሮች በመገምገም አሁን ሀገሪቷ ያለችበትን ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ በማጤን ለተጋረጠብን ሕገ-መንግሥታዊ ቀዉስ የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ ማቅረቡ ይበጃል ብለን እናምናለን።
1. የለዉጥ ኃይሉ (Reformist Group) የወሰዳቸዉ ተስፋ ሰጪ እርምጃዎች
በዶ/ር አቢይ አህመድ የሚመራዉ የለዉጥ ኃይል የሚከተሉትን ተስፋ ሰጪ ዉሳኔዎችና እርምጃዎችን ማስተላለፉና መዉሰዱ ይታወሳል። እነሱም፡
1. የፖለቲካ እስረኞችን መፍታት
2. የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ ማንሳት
3. የተለያዩ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች (ትጥቅ ትግል ሲያካሄዱ የነበሩትንም ጨምሮ) ወደ ሀገር ተመልሰው ህጋዊ በሆነ መልኩ የቆሙለትን ዓላማ እንዲያራምዱ ሁኔታዎችን ማመቻቸት
4. በሀገሪቷ ዉስጥ የዴሞክራሲን መሠረት ለመጣል ማነቆ ሁነዉ የነበሩትን የሽብርተኝነት፣ የሚዲያና የሲቭል ድርጅቶችን አዋጅ ማሻሻል
5. የኢትዮጵያ ምርጫ ቦርድን አወቃቀር በአዲስ መልክ ማደረጀትና የቦርዱ ኃላፊዎችን መለወጥ
6. በአጠቃላይ አቃቤ ሕግ ሥር የሕግና ፍትሕ አማካሪ ም/ቤትን ማቋቋም
7. የማዕከላዊ እሥር ቤትን መዝጋት
8. ከሀገር ዉጪ ሆነው ሲሰሩ የነበሩትን የመገናኛ ብዙሃን ወደ ሀገር ቤት ገብተው እንዲሠሩ ማድረግና ታግደዉ የነበሩትን ድህረ-ገጾች ለተጠቃሚዎች ክፍት እንዲሆኑ ማድረግ
9. በኢትዮጵያና በኤርትራ መካከል የነበረዉን የፀጥታ ችግር በእርቅ መፍታትና የመሳሰሉት ናቸዉ።
2. የለዉጥ ሂደቱን ያጋጠሙት ችግሮች
የለዉጡን ሂደት የገጠሙት ችግሮች በሁለት ከፍሎ ማየት ይቻላል። እነሱም፡ አጠቃላይ እና በተለይ ደግሞ ኢሕአዴግ/ብልጽግና ፓርቲን እንደ ገዢ ፓርቲነቱ ያጋጠሙት ተግዳሮቶች ማለት ይቻላል።
አጠቃላይ ችግሮች፡
በሀገሪቱ የሚገኙ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች በመሠረታዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ተቀራራቢ አመለካከት አለመኖራቸውና መቻቻል ባለመኖሩ መንግሥታዊ አወቃቀር (State-Structure and Nation-Building) ላይ ብሔራዊ መግባባት አለመቻሉ፣ እንዲሁም የብሔር ብሔረሰቦች ብሔረተኝነት እና የኢትዮጵያዊ ዜግነትን አዋህዶና አጣጥሞ መሄድ ካለመቻል የተነሳ አብሮ ከመሥራት ይልቅ ርስ-በርስ የመጣራጠር ስሜቶች መጉላታቸዉ፣ በተለይ ደግሞ በረዥም የሕዝቦች ትግል የተገኘዉንና ተጨቁነናል ብለው የሚያምኑ ሕዝቦችን በተወሰነ ደረጃ ጥያቄያቸዉን የመለሰዉንና ህገ-መንግሥታዊ እዉቅናም ያገኘዉን ህብረ-ብሔራዊ ፌዴራሊዝምን አፍርሶ ወደኋላ በመመለስ በአሮጌዉ መንግሥታዊ ሥርዓትና አወቃቀር ለመተካት የሚደረግ ጥረት ትልቅ ልዩነት በመፍጠሩ ያለዉን አቅምና ዕዉቀት በአንድ ላይ ከማምጣት ፈንታ መጠላለፍ ካሉት ተግዳሮቶች ኣንዱ ሆኗል።
ኢሕአዴግ/ብልጽግና እንደ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲ እና መንግስት፡
የሚከተሉት ችግሮች ኢሕአዴግ/ብልጽግና ፓርቲን እየገጠሙ መሄዳቸዉ የአጠቃላይ ችግሮች አካል ነዉ። እነሱም፡
• ዉስጣዊ የሥልጣን ሽኩቻ (Internal power struggles within the EPRDF)
• ይህ ችግር የኢሕአዴግ አባል ድርጅቶች በመካከላቸዉና እያንዳንዳቸዉም በዉስጣቸዉ ያላቸዉ ችግር መሆኑና ይህ ችግር በሂደት ትሕነግ/TPLF ሙሉ በሙሉ ከሌሎች ኢሀአድግ አባል ድርጅቶች በኋላ ከብፓ/PP እራሱን እስከማግለል ኣድርሶታል። በኢሕአዴግ/በብልጽግና ፓርቲና በመንግሥት መካከል ልዩነት እንዳልነበረ በመንግሥት ሥራ አፈጻጸም ላይ ይንጸባረቅ ነበር።
• የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ጥሰት፡
• ባጠቃላይ አሁንም ድረስ በተላያዩ የሀገሪቱ አከባቢዎች የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ኣለመከበር በስፋት ይታያሉ። በሰላማዊ ዜጎች ላይ በሚካሄዱ እስራትና ግድያዎች በርካታ መሆናቸዉ፣ የበርካቶች ተፎካካሪ ፖርቲዎች አባላትና ደጋፊዎች እንዲሁም የአመራር አባላት ታስረው እስካሁን እስር ቤት ዉስጥ የሚግኙ መሆናቸዉ፣ ለአብነት፡ የኦብነግ፣ የአገዉ ብሔራዊ ሸንጎ፣ የኦነግ፣ የቅማንት ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት፣ ፣ የኦፌኮ፣ የሲዳማ፣ የጋምቤላ፣ የአብን …ወዘተ። በተጨማሪም የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች ከቦታ ቦታ ተንቀሳቅሰው መስራት አለመቻል በተለይም የታችኛው የገዢ ፓርቲ መቀቅርና የመንግስት አካላት በፓርቲዎች ላይ የሚያደርሱት ወከባ መበራከት አሳሳቢ ጉዳይ መሆኑ።
• በተለያዩ ሕዝቦች መካከል የሚፈጠሩ ግጭቶች
• በኦሮሚያ፣ በደቡብ፣ በአማራ፣ በቤንሻንጉል-ጉሙዝ እና በሶማሌ ክልሎች ኣንዲሁም በሌሎች አከባቢዎች ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ ሰላም መታጣት
• የወጣቶች ሥራ አጥነትን ማቃለል ኣለመቻሉ፣ በአንፃሩ የለዉጡ ዋነኛ ኃይል የነበረዉ ይህ ሥራ-ኣጥ ወጣት በመንግሥት ላይ የነበረዉ ከፍተኛ ተስፋ መመናመኑ።
• የኢኮኖሚ ዕድገት ማሽቆልቆል፣ መህበራዊ ቀውሶች ከግዜ ወድ ግዜ መበራከት፣ የአከባቢ ጥበቃና የተፈጥሮ ሀብቶች ውድመት አሳሳቢ ደረጃ ላይ መሆናቸው
• በትግል ላይ የነበረዉን የሰዉ ኃይል በአግባቡ በሥርዓቱ ዉስጥ ማቀፍ ኣለምቻሉ፣ ((Reintegration of armed (combatants) lack of proper demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration processes.
• ለ2012ቱ የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ምርጫ ዝግጅት እያደረገ ባለበት የኖቬል ኮሮና ቫይረስ (COVID-19) በሽታ መከሰቱ፣
3. ኮቪድ-19 ፣ የ2012ቱ የኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላላ ምርጫ እና ህገ-መንግሥታዊ ተግዳሮቱ (challenges of the constitution/Constitutional crises)
የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ በኮቪድ-19 ምክንያት ለነሐሴ መጋቢት 22 ቀን 2012 ለነሓሴ 23 ቀን 2012 6ኛ ጠቅላላ ምርጫ በታቀደለት የጊዜ ሰሌዳ ማካሄድ አልቻልኩም ስል ወስኖ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ም/ቤት መፍትሔ እንድፈለግለት ለምክር በቱ ማስተላለፉም ይታወሳል።
ስለዚህ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ም/ቤት በህገ-መንግሥቱ መሠረት የተመረጠበትን አምሥት ዓመት የጊዜ ገደብ በህገ-መንግሥቱ መሠረት ምርጫ ተካሂዶ ሥልጣኑን ለሚመረጠው አድሱ ም/ቤት ለማስተላለፍ በተፈጠረዉ ችግር ምክንያት የማይቻል በመሆኑ ህገ-መንግሥታዊ ቀዉስ ዉስጥ ልገባ ስለሆነ የተፈጠረዉን ሁኔታ በመገምገም የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ ማመንጨትና ማቅረብ እንደ ፖለቲካ ድርጅት አስፈላጊ ሆኖ ተገኝቷል።
3.1 በህገ-መንግሥቱ ዉስጥ ካሉት አንቀጾች መካከል በምርጫ መራዘሙ ምክንያት ለጥሰት የተጋለጡ አንቀጾች
በመሰረቱ ከህገ-መንግሥቱ አንቀጾች አንዱንም መጣስ ህገ መንግስታዊ አይደለም። ባሁኑ ሁኔታ ይህ ጠቅላላ ምርጫ በተቀመጠለት የጊዜ ገደብ ዉስጥ ካልተደረገ ከሀገሪቱ ህገ-መንግሥት አንቀጾች ዉስጥ ልጣሱ ነው የሚንላቸዉን ወሳኞቹ አንቀጾች የሚከተሉት ናቸዉ፡
• አንቀጽ 1: የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ስያሜ ራሱ እንደሚያመለክተዉ “ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት ፌዴራላዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ የመንግሥት አወቃቀር ይደነግጋል፡፡ በዚህ መሰረት የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ በሚል ስም ይጠራል፡፡” ይህ ዴሞክራሲያዊ የመንግሥት ምሥረታ ልኖር የሚችለዉ ቢያንስ ወቅታዊ ምርጫ በየጊዜዉ በማድረግ ዜጎች የሚወክላቸዉን ሲመርጡ ነው።
• አንቀጽ 54. 1. “የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት አባላት፤ ሁሉ አቀፍ፣ ነጻ ፣ ቀጥተኛ፣ ትክክለኛ በሆነና ድምጽ በሚስጥር በሚሰጥበት ሥርዓት በየአምስት ዓመቱ በሕዝብ ይመረጣሉ፡፡” ይህ አለመሆኑ ሕዝቡን የሚወክል የተወካዮች ም/ቤት አለመኖርን ያመላክታል። በዚሁ መሠረት አሁን ያለዉ የም/ቤቱ የሥራ ዘመን ካለቀ በኋላ የሚወጡት አዋጆችና ድንቦች ህጋዊነት አይኖራቸዉም።
• አንቀጽ 58.3 የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የሚመረጠው ለአምስት ዓመታት ነው፤ የሥራ ዘመኑ ከማብቃቱ ከአንድ ወር በፊት አዲስ ምርጫ ተካሂዶ ይጠናቀቃል፡፡ ይህ አንቀጽ እንደሚደነግገዉ የአምስት ዓመት ጊዜዉን የማራዘም ፍንጭ ኣያሳይም።
• አንቀጽ 61. 3 የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት አባላት በክልል ምክር ቤቶች ይመረጣሉ፤ የክልል ምክር ቤቶች በራሳቸው ወይም በቀጥታ በሕዝብ እንዲመረጡ በማድረግ የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት አባል እንዲወከሉ ያደርጋሉ፡፡ የክልሎች ም/ቤት አባላት ምርጫም ባለመከናወኑ ምክንያትም የፌዴሬሽኑ ም/ቤት መቋቋም አይቻልም ማለት ነዉ።
• አንቀጽ 67. 2 የፌዴሬሽኑ ምክር ቤት የሥራ ዘመን አምስት ዓመት ይሆናል፡፡ ይህም አንቀጽ እንደሚደነግገዉ የአምስት ዓመት ጊዜዉን የማራዘም ፍንጭ ኣያሳይም።
• አንቀጽ 72. 2 ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩና የሚኒስትሮች ምክር ቤት ለሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ተጠሪዎች ናቸው፡፡ የሚኒስትሮች ምክር ቤት አባላት በመንግሥት ተግባራቸው በጋራ ለሚሰጡት ውሳኔ የጋራ ኃላፊነት አለባቸው፡፡ የተወካዮች ም/ቤት ህጋዊ እስካልሆነበት ጊዜ ድረስ በአንቀጹ ዉስጥ የተጠቀሱት አካላት ተጠሪነታቸዉ ለማን እንደሚሆን አጠያያቂ ነዉ።
• አንቀጽ 72. 3 በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት መሰረት በሌላ አኳኊን ካልተወሰነ በስተቀር የጠቅላይሚኒስትሩ የሥራ ዘመን የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የሥራ ዘመን ነው፡፡ ይህም አንቀጽ እንደሚደነግገዉ የጠ/ሚንስቴሩ የሥራ ዘመን ከአምስት ዓመት በላይ ልሆን እንደማይችል ይደነግጋል።
• አዋጅ ቁጥር 1162/2011 አንቀጽ 7.1 ጠቅላላ ምርጫ በየአምስት ዓመቱ የሚካሄድ የህዝብ ተወካዮች እና የክልል ምክር ቤቶች አባላት ምርጫ ነዉ።
ይህ በኮቪ-19 ምክንያት ባለመከናወኑ በዴሞክራሲያዊ መንግሥት አመሠራረት ላይ ተመርኩዞ የወጣዉን አዋጅ አለመተግበሩ ለአጠቃላይ ህገ-መንግሥታዊ ቀዉስ ሀገሪቷን ይዳርጋታል።
3.2 የመንግሥትን የሥልጣን ዘመን ለማራዘም ዕድል የሚሰጥ የህገ-መንግሥት አንቀጽ አለመኖሩ
ሀ) የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ
አንቀጽ 93. 1. ለ) የተፈጥሮ አደጋ ሲያጋጥም ወይም የሕዝብን ደህንነት አደጋ ላይ የሚጥል በሽታ ሲከሰት የክልል መስተዳድሮች በክልላቸው የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ ሊያውጁ ይችላሉ፡፡ዝርዝሩ ክልሎች ይህን ሕገ መንግሥት መሰረት በማድረግ በሚያወጧቸው ሕገመንግሥቶች ይወሰናል፡፡ ይህ ሁኔታ በም/ቤቶቹ የሥልጣን ጊዜ ገደብ (አምስቱ ዓመት) ዉስጥ ለሚከሰት እንጂ የጊዜ ገደቡን ለማራዘም አያገለግልም።
ለ) ም/ቤቱን ማፍረስ/መበተን
አንቀጽ 60. 1 ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ የሥልጣን ዘመኑ ከማለቁ በፊት አዲስ ምርጫ ለማካሄድ በምክር ቤቱ ፈቃድ ምክር ቤቱ እንዲበተን ለማድረግ ይችላል፡፡
ይህም ሊሆን የሚችለዉ በተቅላይ ሚንስትሩና በም/ቤቱ የሥልጣን ዘመን ዉስጥ እንጂ ጊዜዉን ለማራዘም ፈጽሞ ኣያገለግልም። በህገ መንግስቱ አንቀጽ 60 የተደነገገው ከመደበኝ ምርጫ በፊት አዲስ ምርጫ ለማካሄድ እንጂ መደበኛውን ምርርጫ ለማራዘም የተደነገገ እንዳልሆነ ግልጽ ነው።
ሐ) የሕገ-መንግሥት ማሻሻያን ማድረግ
አንቀጽ 104 የሕገ መንግሥት ማሻሻያ ሐሳብን ስለማመንጨት
አንድ የሕገ መንግሥት ማሻሻያ ሐሳብ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በሁለት ሦስተኛ ድምጽ የደገፈው፣ የፌዴሬሽኑ ምክር ቤት በሁለት ሦስተኛ ድምጽ የደገፈው ወይም ከፌዴሬሽኑ አባል ክልሎች ውስጥ አንድ ሦስተኛው የክልል ምክር ቤቶች በድምጽ ብልጫየደገፉት ከሆነ ለውይይትና ለውሳኔ ለመላው ሕዝብና የሕገ መንግሥቱ መሻሻል ለሚመለከታቸው ክፍሎች ይቀርባል፡፡
አንቀጽ 105 ሕገ መንግሥቱን ስለማሻሻል
አንቀጽ 105. 1 በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት ምዕራፍ ሦስት የተዘረዘሩት መብቶችና ነጻነቶች በሙሉ፣ይህ አንቀጽ፣ እንዲሁም አንቀጽ 104 ሊሻሻሉ የሚችሉት በሚከተለው አኳን ብቻ ይሆናል፡፡
ሀ/ ሁሉም የክልል ምክር ቤቶች የቀረበውን ማሻሻያ በድምጽ ብልጫ ሲያጸድቁት፣
ለ/ የፌዴራሉ መንግሥት የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በሁለት ሦስተኛ ድምጽ የቀረበውን ማሻሻያ ሲያጸድቀው፣ እና
ሐ/ የፌዴሬሽኑ ምክር ቤት በሁለት ሦስተኛ ድምጽ ማሻሻያውን ሲያጸድቀው ነው፡፡
አንቀጽ 105. 2 በዚህ አንቀጽ ንዑስ አንቀጽ 1 ከተዘረዘሩት ውጭ ያሉት የሕገ መንግሥቱ ድንጋጌዎች ሊሻሻሉ የሚችሉት በሚከተለው አኳን ብቻ ይሆናል፤
ሀ/ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤትና የፌዴሬሽኑ ምክር ቤት በጋራ ስብሰባ በሁለት ሦስተኛ ድምጽ የቀረበውን ማሻሻያ ሲያጸድቁት፣ እና
ለ/ ከፌዴሬሽኑ አባል ክልሎቸ ምክር ቤቶች ውስጥ የሁለት ሦስተኛ ክልሎች ምክር ቤቶች በድምጽ ብልጫ የቀረበውን ማሻሻያ ሲያጸድቁት ነው፡፡
ለሕገ-መንግሥቱ የማሻሻያ ሀሳብ ለማቅረብ የሚያስፈልጉ ሌሎች ቅድመ-ሁኔታዎቹ ልሟሉ የሚችሉ እንኳ ቢሆን “ለውይይትና ለውሳኔ ለመላው ሕዝብና የሕገ መንግሥቱ መሻሻል ለሚመለከታቸው ክፍሎች ይቀርባል፡፡” የሚለዉን ቅድመ-ግዴታ ለማሟላት በ ኮቪድ-19 ምክንያት ስለማይቻል በዚህ በኩል ያለዉም ዕድል በሩ የተዘጋ ነዉ።
መ) ሕገ-መንግሥቱን ስለመተርጎም
አንቀጽ 83. 1 የሕገ መንግሥታዊ ክርክር ጉዳይ ሲነሳ በፌዴሬሽኑ ምክር ቤት ውሳኔ ያገኛል፡፡
አንቀጽ 83. 2 የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት፣ የሕገ መንግሥት ጉዳዮች አጣሪ ጉባኤ በሚያቀርብለት ሕገ መንግሥታዊ ጉዳይ ላይ በሠላሣ ቀናት ውስጥ ውሳኔ ይሰጣል፡፡
ይህ ህገ-መንግሥቱን የመተርጎም ስርዓትም በመሠረቱ የሚመለከተዉ ክርክር ያለባቸው ወይም አወዛጋቢ የሆኑ አንቀጾች በተለያዩ አካላት ለአጣሪ ጉብዔ ስቀርቡ እንጂ ከመሬት ተነስተው አንቀጾችን በመተርጎም ሊሆን አይችልም። የህገ-መንግስቱን አንቀጽ 9 እና አንቀጽ 54ን ማስታረቅም የሚቻልበት መንገድ ኣይታይም።
3.3 ህገ-መንግሥታዊ የመፍትሔ ዳሰሳዉ አጠቃላይ ጭብጥ
ማጠቃለያ፡
1) በኮቪድ-19 ምክንያት ምርጫዉን ማራዘም ግድ ሆኖዋል።
2) ህገ-መንግሥቱን ተከትሎ ምርጫዉን ለማራዘም የሚያስችል አማራጭ ከህገ-መንግሥቱ ዉስጥ ማግኘት አይቻልም። ካሁን በፊት ኢሕአዴግ ለሕዝብ ዉይይትና ዉሳኔ ሳያቀርብ ህገ-መንግሥቱ ላይ ማሻሻያ አድርጎ ነበር የሚለዉ ተሞክሮም (precedence) ተቀባይነት የለዉም።
3) በህገ-መንግሥቱ አንቀጽ 9. 2 ላይ እንደተደነገገዉ “ማንኛውም ዜጋ፣ የመንግሥት አካላት፣ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች፣ ሌሎች ማኅበራት እንዲሁም ባለሥልጣኖቻቸው፣ ሕገ መንግሥቱን የማስከበርና ለሕገ መንግሥቱ ተገዢ የመሆን ኃላፊነት አለባቸው፡፡” ይላል። ስለዚህ፣ መፍትሔዉ ለሀገርና ለሕዝቦች ሰላምና መግባባት ሲባል አገርን በሚጠቅም መልኩ በጥንቃቄና በስምምነት ከዉሳኔ የሚደረስበት ልሆን ይገባል።
3.4 ከህገ-መንግሥቱ ዉጪ ሥልጣንን ማራዘም የሚያመጣዉ ችግር
ህገ-መንግሥቱን ባልተከተለ መንገድ በመንግሥት በራሱ ዉሳኔ የሥልጣን ጊዜዉን የሚያራዝም ከሆነ፡
አንቀጽ 9. 3 (በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት ከተደነገገው ውጭ በማናቸውም አኳን የመንግሥት ሥልጣን መያዝ የተከለከለ ነው፡፡) የሚለዉን መተላለፍ መሆኑና ይህም በሌላ በኩል የሀገሪቱን ህገ-መንግሥት ብቻም ሳይሆን በህገ-መንግሥቱ ዉስጥ በአንቀጽ 9. 4 ላይ የተካተቱትን ዓለም-አቀፋዊ ስምምነቶችንም (9.4 ኢትዮጵያ ያጸደቀቻቸው ዓለም አቀፍ ስምምነቶች የሀገሪቱ ሕግ አካል ናቸው፡፡) መጣስ ይሆናል። ይህም ለምሳሌ፡
በአፍሪካ አንድነት ቻርተር ዉስጥ፥“Chapter 8 Sanctions in Cases of Unconstitutional Changes of Government
Article 23.5 Any amendment or revision of the constitution or legal instruments, which is an infringement on the principles of democratic change of government.”
እንዲሁም፣
“Universal Declaration of Human Rights፥ The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948
Article 21 .1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Article 21.3 The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”
4. የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ
በየአምስት ዓመቱ የሚደረግ ጠቅላላ ምርጫን በማራዘም የህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የስራ ዘመን ማራዘም የሚያስችል የህገ-መንግሥት ድንጋጌ ባለመኖሩ አሁን ያለዉ የመንግሥት የሥራ አስፈጻሚዉ አካል የተወሰነ የጊዜ ገደብ ተሰጥቶት በሥልጣን እንድቀጥል ተደርጎ በዚህ ግዜ ውስጥ፡ ስልጣን ላይ ያለው አስፈጻሚው አካል የእለት ተእለት የመንግስት ስራ ከማከናወንና ምርጫን ለማካሄድ ከማገዝ ውጪ ህግ ወይም አዋጅ ማውጣት፣ ማሻሻል ወይም ያሉትን ህጎች መሻር እና አዳድስ አደረጃጀትና አወቃቀሮችን መዝርጋት የለበትም፡ ብለን እናምናለን። ይህም ማለት ህገ-መንግስቱ እንዳለ ሆኖ ወይም ሳይነካ አሁን ላጋጠመን አድስና ያልተለመደ ፈተና በሁሉም ወገኖች የጋራ ስምምነት (consensus) አድስና ያልተለመደ ፖለቲካዊ መፍትሔ/Political settlement ልበጅለት ያስፈልጋል ማለታችን ነዉ። በዚህም መሠረት ያለንን ፖለቲካዊ የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ/አማራጭ እንደሚከተለዉ በዝርዝር እናቀርባለን።
ይህ የመፍትሔ ሀሳብ/አማራጭ የተመሠረተባቸዉን መሠረታዊ ምክንያቶችን መጀመሪያ ግልጽ ለማድረግ፡
 ኮቪድ-19 የ2012 ጠቅላላ ምርጫ በታቀደለት ጊዜ ዉስጥ እንዲካሄድ የማያስችል መሆኑን ስለሚናምንበት፣
 በህገመንግሥቱ አንቀጽ 9.2 ላይ በማያሻማ መልኩ እንደተቀመጠዉ፡ “ማንኛውም ዜጋ፣ የመንግሥት አካላት፣ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች፣ ሌሎች ማኅበራት እንዲሁም ባለሥልጣኖቻቸው፣ ሕገ መንግሥቱን የማስከበርና ለሕገ መንግሥቱ ተገዢ የመሆን ኃላፊነት አለባቸው፡፡” ይላል። በዚህ እናምናለን። ላለፉት ዓመታት መሠረታዊ የመቀራረቢያ ሰነድ ሆኖ ወደ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት እንደ መሸጋገሪያ ድልድይ እንዲያገለግል ተስፋ የተጣለበት ይሄዉ ህገ-መንግሥት ስለሆነ እሱ ከመሠረቱ ሳይነካ ይች እንደ አገር ሆና እንዳትቀጥል ጥያቄ ዉስጥ በማይገባበት ሁኔታ ምርጫዉን ለማራዘም፣
 የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦችን የጋራ ጥቅምና ሀገራዊ ህልውና የሚያስከብርና የሚያራምድ የዉጭ ግንኙነት ፖሊሲ ጥያቄ ዉስጥ እንዳይገባ፣
 ኢትዮጵያ በዲፕሎማሲዉ መስክ፡ በኢጋድ/IGAD, በአፍሪካ ህብረት/AU እና በተባበሩት መንግሥታት/ UN ዉስጥ ያላት ድርሻ እንዳይታገድና ይህ አሻጋሪዉ መንግሥት ህጋዊነቱ ላይ የጋራ ስምምነት እንድኖረን፣
 ሀገራዊ ህልውና አደጋ ላይ የሚጥል ሁኔታ ሲፈጠር በፍጥነት ሀገራዊ ሰላምን የሚከላከል መንግሥት እንድኖር፣
 አሁን ሀገር እየመራ ያለዉ ፓርቲ በለዉጡ መጀመሪያ አከባቢ የገባዉን ቃል በመሸርሸር ህግና ህገ-መንግሥት አስከባሪ አካላትን ለራሱ ፖለቲካዊ ጥቅም በመጠቀም የተፎካካሪ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎችን አባላትና ደጋፊዎችን (የአመራር አባላትን ጨምሮ) በእስር ቤቶች በማጎሩ የተጣለበት ተስፋና እምነት እንደተጠበቀ አለመሆኑን ከግንዛቤ በማስገባት፣
 ባጠቃላይ አሁን ሀገሪቱን ያጋጠመዉ ፊተና መፍትሔዉ ከህገ-መንግሥቱ ዉስጥ ተፈልጎ ልገኝለት የማይችልና አድስ እንደመሆኑ በአድስ አቀራረብ በአድስና ፖለቲካዊ መፍትሔ ብቻ ልንወጣዉ የሚንችል ነዉ ብለን ስለምናምን ነዉ።
ከላይ የተዘረዘሩት ነጥቦችን በመመርኮዝ አሁን ያለዉ መንግሥት የሥራ አስፈጻሚዉ አካል (Executive body of the current Government) ለአንድ ዓመት ሥልጣኑ እንዲራዘም ሆኖ ጠቅላላ ምርጫው በግንቦት ወር 2013 ተጠናቆ አዲስ የሚመረጠው የህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ቀደም ስል በተለመደው ግዜ ስራውን እንድጀምር ማድረግ። ይህ እንዳለ ሆኖ ያሉት ተፎካካሪ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች በሚከተሉት ሀገራዊ ጉዳዮች ዉስጥ በቀጥታ ተሳትፎና ድርሻ ኖሮዋቸዉ ለሚፈለገዉ የዴሞክራሲ ግምባታም ሆነ ለሀገር ሰላምና ህልዉና ይረዳ ዘንድ ወጥ የሆነ መፍትሔ “Political conventions” መቅረጹ የግድ ይላል።
እነሱም፡
1. በዉጭ ግንኙነት አካል ዉስጥ (Council of Foreign Relation)
 To inspire domestic trust and gain international legitimacy.
2. በብሔራዊ ደህንነት (Coordinated National security council or Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of the Security Arrangements )
 ሀገር ደህንነትና ሰላም ጉዳዮች አካል ዉስጥ (በሀገር ደህንነት፣ መከላከያ፣ ፖሊስ፣) ከፖለቲካዊ ወገንተኝነት ነፃ በሆነ መንገድ ማገልገላቸዉን ለመከታተልና ብሎም በሀገር ህልውና ላይ የሚቃጣ አደጋ ቢያጋጥም የጋራ ሀላፍነት ለመዉሰድ እንዲያግዝ
 To balance the need for bureaucratic, technocratic, security and judicial expertise against the aim to limit the influence of the previous regime. To create civil order and end violence, while ensuring that all security and intelligence forces would be subject to control by the new civilian authorities.
3. የዴሞክራሲ ሥርዓት ግንባታ ተቋማት (Democratic Institutions building) ዉስጥ ተሳታፊነት
 የሕዝቦች ዴሞክራሲያዊ መብቶች ዋስትና የሆኑት ተቋማት ዉስጥ የተፎካካሪ ፓርቲዎችን ተሳትፎ በማሳደግ ሂደቱንና አሠራሩን የሚቆጣጠር ሥርዓት መፍጠር። (Procedural limits how the government can act, in order to prevent arbitrariness, corruption, oppression, discrimination, and the misuse of public office for personal gain)
 የባለሥልጣናትን ሥልጣን ኣለግባብ መጠቀም የሚከታተልና የሚቆጣጠር ነፃና ገለልተኛ የዳኝነት ሥርዓትና የሚዲያ ተቋማት መኖራቸዉን ለመከታተልና ለማረጋገጥ የሚረዳ አሠራር ማበጀት (To establish or protect the autonomy and authority of independent judiciaries and independent media that could hold national executives and others accountable)
4. ሀገራዊ መግባባትን ለመፍጠር የሚረዳ ኮሚሽን
 ሀገራዊ መግባባትን ለመፍጠር የሚረዳ የጋራ አካል በጋራ መፍጠር
5. የተራዘመዉን የጊዜ ገደብ አግባብ ባልሆነ መልኩ በመጠቀም ለሌላ ችግር እንዳይዳርገን የሚቆጣጠር ኮሚቴ
 To limit Unrealistic deadlines and attempts to move forward with the political settlement process
የእነዚህን አካላት ተጠሪነትና የአሠራር ሥርዓት በዝርዝር አዘጋጅተን የሚናቀርብ ይሆናል።
በመጨረሻም አሁን ስልጣን ላይ ያለው የፌዴራል መንግስት፣ የክልል መንግስታት፣ ተፎካካሪ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች፣ ሲቪክ ማህበራት እና ከሁሉም በላይ ደግሞ የአገርጡ ህዝቦች ከላይ የደረስነበትን የፖልቲካ ውሳኔ የምርጫ ህግን በሚመለከት ህግ መንግስቱን ካጋጠመው ቀውስ ሊያሻግረን እንደሚችል ስለምገነዘቡ ውሳኔያችንን ይጋራሉ ብለን ተስፋ እናደርጋለን።
ትብብር ለህብረ-ብሔር ዲሞክራሲያዊ ፈደራልዝም(ትብብር)
ሚያዚያ ቀን 2012 ዓም
አድስ አበባ
ከዚህ በላይ በትብብር ለህብረ ብሔር ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፌዴራሊዝም የቀረበው የመፍትሔ ሃሳብ ሰነድ አይተውት ለውይይት እንዲያቀርቡ ለዶ/ር ዐብይ አህመድ የኢፌዲሪ ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር የተላከ ሲሆን
ለኢፌዲሪ ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ሰብሳቢ
ለኢፌዲሪ ጠቅላይ ዐቃቤ ህግ
ለህዝብ ተውካዮች ምክር ቤት አፈ ጉባዔ
ለፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት አፈ ጉባዔ
ለኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ ሰብሳቢ ግልባጭ ተደርጎላቸዋል

Opposition parties statement on election postponement

(A4O, May 4, 2020) The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia has announced that it will be unable to conduct the 2020 national elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, the House of Peoples’ Representatives approved the election postponement. According to the constitution, the term of office of government is five years, which means that the current government’s constitutional mandate will come to an end on 10 October 2020. With that in mind, the government has tabled four proposals as potential remedies to manage the power vacuum that would occur when its current term expires on October 10. After a careful and considered review of the proposed alternatives, we, the undersigned parties, issue the following statement.

  1. The constitution makes it clear that power should be acquired only through a periodic election conducted every five years, and the term of office of a government is strictly five years. The electoral board has announced that it will not be able to conduct the election before the current government’s term of office expires. And there is no legal basis that will allow the government to legitimately remain in power past 10 October, even for a single day.
  2. We have carefully reviewed the four possible solutions proposed by the government to manage what would ultimately become a constitutional crisis. We have concluded that none of the presented options provide a legal basis to extend the mandate of the current government beyond its five-year term limit in the event that the national elections, albeit due to understandable reasons, are not held on time. The constitution does not allow for the declaration of a state of emergency specifically to postpone an election or extend a government’s term. The dissolution of parliament pursuant to Article 60 only allows for an election to be held prior to the expiry of the five-year term. This article cannot be invoked to allow term extensions beyond five years. Undertaking a constitutional amendment in order to add an article or clause that would allow the postponement of an election and/or the extension of term of office does not only negate the spirit of the constitution, it is a complex process that requires public debate and deliberation that cannot be undertaken during a pandemic in any meaningful way.
  3. The fourth option, constitutional interpretation, which is favored by the government, is not a legal and legitimate reason to postpone the election or extend the incumbent’s term. Although the House of Federation has the power to interpret the constitution, it can only do so on disputed issues contained within the constitution. Unfortunately, the constitution does not stipulate a mechanism for the postponement of elections or extension of terms of office. Furthermore, constitutional interpretation by a legislative body overwhelmingly controlled by a single party, whose members were elected through an election that we know was rigged, amounts to imposition of the will of a single party. Hence, if anything, this option erodes the legitimacy of this government even more, rather than lending it credence.
  4. It is our view that, in order to collectively and effectively combat the pandemic while preparing for the election, the best and only option is to seek a national consensus among political parties in order to legitimately fill the looming power vacuum.
  5. We would like to strongly stress that extending the term of government by any other means lacks political or legal legitimacy and could lead to a political as well as a security crisis, which the country cannot afford at a time where it needs a unified front to overcome the multifaceted challenges posed by the pandemic.

In order to find a legitimate solution for the impasse through achieving a national consensus, we believe these principles should be put into practice:

  1. The deliberation and negotiation should involve all political parties that are registered and qualified to participate in the 2020 election.
  2. The deliberation and negotiation should be facilitated by entities who do not have direct involvement in electoral affairs and do not have a vested interest in the outcome.
  3. The final agreement reached by the parties should be binding.

After years of struggle and sacrifice by the Ethiopian people, it was two years ago that we embarked on a transition that we all hoped would usher in a new era of democracy. Unfortunately, negotiations and deliberations which would be vital for a successful transition were not undertaken. Consequently, as we get closer to the election, tension has begun to rise and the political space has further narrowed, dashing the hopes for a successful transition to a democratic order through a free and fair election.

The postponement of the election due to the pandemic can be used as another opportunity to seriously deliberate, correct mistakes made over the last two years, and put the transition back on track. Therefore, we call upon all parties to seize this opportunity and sit for a roundtable deliberation to seek a legitimate political consensus on how to manage the constitutional crisis the country is facing. To this effect, we have prepared a detailed proposal and action plan in line with this recommendation, which we will present at the negotiation forum once it is convened upon acceptance.

Co-signing members of the Coalition of Democratic Federalism:

  • Oromo Liberation Front
  • Ogaden National Liberation Front
  • Oromo Federalist Congress
  • Agaw National Congress
  • Mocha Democratic Party
  • Kaffa Green Party
  • Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty

Peace, Freedom & Democracy for All Peoples!

WIFE SHEDS LIGHT ON HUSBAND’S ORDEAL IN SECURITY CRACK DOWN

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The handcuffed picture of Abdo Abajobir caused a social media uproar yesterday

(Oromia, April 25/2020) – The wife of a man whose handcuffed picture provoked the ire of many on Ethiopian social media spoke to the BBC Afaan Oromo that “he was beaten” before being escorted to a police station.

The picture of Abdo Abajobir, an employee of Oromia education Bureau in Jimma Zone, Cherkosa Wereda, surrounded by heavily armed special forces of the regional state caused a social media uproar yesterday, with prominent Oromo politician/activist Jawar Mohammed calling it security forces’ attempt of “restoration of fear through terror.” The picture was taken last Wednesday.

According to his wife Jamila Abaraya, the armed security forces “surrounded our residence at around 5:30 PM, breached the door and went in. They then handcuffed him and took him away while beating him.”

“It is hard to describe what has taken place; it looked like they were there to film a movie not to arrest one individual; our compound was flooded with the police,” said Jamila. The police have also searched the house of Abdo Abajobir, a father of three and a resident of the same wereda. According to his wife, he belongs to no political party. “If someone is not following the political line of the wereda, he is considered as belonging to the opposition,” she said.

Other residents of the werea also told the BBC Afaan Oromo that more houses were searched and more people were arrested on the same day. Arabu Khalifa, another resident, said. “We are not members of any of the political parties. We are proud of our identities; we sympathize for people but they accuse us of having relations with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Arabu said.

The security forces have said that they were searching for “various weapons and a roadmap to kill people inside Abdo Abajobir,” his wife said. “They told him there were weapons in our residence and that they will not leave without taking them. He told them they can ‘demolish the house if you wish to and search; you will not find anything,’” Jamila quoted her husband as saying.

Security forces have found no weapons but plastic toy guns the kids were playing with and one history book, which they took with them, according to her. “They could have summoned him with an invitation letter, but instead they handcuffed him like a bandit and took him to a detention facility where there are many people,” she said and expressed her fears that her husband could be exposed to the COVID-19.

She said that since his arrest yesterday, her husband has not been given chances to speak to the police. The BBC Afaan Oromo said its attempts to speak with the wereda administration and wereda scrutiny officials and were to no avail. AS

Kaayyoo Wareegamtoota Keenyaa Galmaan Ni Geenya!

Guyyaa Gootota Wareegamtoota Oromoo Ilaalchisee ibsa ABO irraa kenname.

(A4O, Ebla 15, 2020) Gootota Wareegamtoota Oromoo ti. Guyyaan kun Gootota qabsaawota keenya kanneen Bilisummaa Saba keenyaa mirkaneessuudhaaf dabarsanii of kennan/wareegaman kan itti yaadannee oolluu dha. Akeekni kabajaa fi yaadannoo guyyaa kanaa, injifannoo fi mirgoota wareegama isaaniitiin gonfanne tikfachuu fi Kaayyoo isaan (Goototni Wareegamtootni keenya) wareegamaniif itti fufnee guutummaatti galmaan gahuudhaaf Waadaa/Irbuu qabsoo haaromsachuu dha.

Guyyaan Gootota Wareegamtoota Oromoo (GGWO) kan bara kanaa sababoota gara garaatiin kanneen amma duraa hunda irraa addummaa ni qaba. Sababootni kunneenis: Ebli 15, 2020 waggaa 40ffaa wareegamni ulfaataan Shinniigaa kan Ebla 15, bara 1980 (kan seenaa Guyyaa kanaatiif sababa tahe sun) itti mudatee tahuu isaa, Ayyaana GGWO kan bara kanaa yeroo fi haalli keessatti kabajannu yeroo Golfaan hamaan Vaayiresii Koroonaa Addunyaa keenya girgireessaa jirutti tahuu fi hunda caalaa ammoo, haalli amma keessa jirru qabsoo Ummata keenyaa kan wareegama qaalii Gootota keenyaatiin boqonnaa injifannoo ol’aanaa keessa
seenee jiru duubatti deebisuudhaan Qabsoo Bilisummaa Saba keenyaa Galma isaa hanqisuu fi wareegama Gootota keenyaas gatii malee hambisuuf dabni siyaasaa farreenii fi diinota Qabsoo Saba keenyaatiin xaxamu kan yeroo kamuu caalaa sadarkaa ol’aanaa yeroo itti dhaqqabee jirutti tahuu isaa ti.

Kaayyoon Qabsoo Bilisummaa Saba keenyaa kan wareegama qaalii fi ulfaataa Gootota keenyaa gaafate sun, Sabni Oromoo biyya ofii irratti Bilisummaa guutuu gonfatee dhiibbaa tokko malee hiree isaa akka ofiin murteeffatu dandeessisuu dha. Qabsoo hadhaawaa fi wareegama qaalii Gootota keenyaatiin waggoota 2 dura siyaasa biyya kanaa keessatti jijjiiramni abdachiisaan mul’atee ture. Jijjiirama abdachiisaa ture kan bu’aa/gatii wareegama Gootota keenyaa tahuutti amannu sana irra dhaabbatamee Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo fi Paartii Itoophiyaa bulchaa ture gidduutti waltahiinsa godhameenis ABOn Hooggana isaa Ol’aanaa Finfinneetti deebise. Bu’uurri waltahiinsa sanaa qabsoon ABOn gaggeessu qabsoo haqaa mirga Ummataa kabajsiisuu tahuu isaa fi gama kaaniin ammoo karaan bulchitootni Itoophiyaa hordofaa turan farra dimokiraasii tahuun amanamee irraa deebi’uudhaan, kana booda humnootni siyaasaa hundi bilisa tahanii karaa nagaa akeeka siyaasaa ofii Ummatatti dhiheeffachuudhaan murtii Ummataaf abboomamuuf wal hubannoo irra gahamuu ture.

Har’a waadaan sun hangam takka kabajame? Gama eenyuutiin maaltu hanqate? Abdiin sun sadarkaa maalii irra jira? waan jedhu Ummata keenyatti himuun waan feesisu nutti hin fakkaatu. Waan ija isaa duratti tahaa jiru waan arguuf. Har’a miseensota Hooggana Ol’aanaa ABO akka J/Abdii Raggaasaa fi MGS fi qondaalota Dhaabichaa hedduu dabalatee deggertootni ABO fi qabsaawotni Oromoo biroo kan mirga Saba kanaa kabajsiisuuf wareegama baasaa turan kumootaan sababa gahaa fi murtii seeraa malee hidhaa keessa jiru. Mirga Sabni Oromoo wareegama qaalii Gootota isaatiin gonfate kan akka Oromiyaa, Afaan Oromoo, … kkf. sharafuuf (duubatti deebisuuf) shira hedduutu xaxamaa jira. Kun waan Sabni keenya xiyyeeffannoo addaatiin hordofuu fi irratti qabsaawee irra aanuu qabu dha.

Egaan, Ebla 15 (Guyyaa Gootota Wareegamtoota Oromoo) kan bara kanaa oggaa kabajannu haala akkanaa keessa jiraachuu keenya hubachuu fi akkamiin haala kana irra aanna? gaaffii jettu sammuu keenyatti qabachuudhaan tahuu qaba jenna.

Gama biraatiin, Sababaa dhibee Vaayiresii Koroonaa irraa kan ka’e, Guyyaa Yaadannoo Wareegamtoota keenyaa kan bara kanaa (Ebla 15, 2020) guutuu Addunyaa irratti (biyya keessaa fi biyyoota alaattis) akka baroota dabranii lakkoofsa namaa hedduudhaan walitti dhufnee sirna how’aa gara garaatiin miidhagsinee kabajachuu haala nu dandeessisu keessa hin jirru. Dhibee Vaayiresii Koroonaa amma Addunyaa raasaa jiru tatamsa’ina isaa xiqqeessuuf namootni lakkoofsaan hedduu tahan bakka tokkotti akka walitti hin qabamne gochuun maloota Addunyaan itti dhimma bahaa jirtu keessaa tokko waan taheef. Haa tahu malee, haalli rakkisaa fi danqaan fedhes jiraatu Ayyaana Guyyaa Yaadannoo Gootota
Wareegamtoota keenyaa kabajannee isaan yaadannee ooluu nu hin hanqisu. Akkuma isaan Bilisummaa keenyaaf jireenya ofii wareegan, nutis isaaniin hoggayyuu yaadachaa, Kaayyoo isaanii kan tahe galma gahiinsa Qabsoo Bilisummaa Saba keenyaa akka mirkaneessinu waadaa qabsoo haaromfachuuf haala kamuu keessatti sirna yaadannoo Gootota Wareegamtoota keenyaa ni gaggeeffanna.

Kana waan taheef, Ayyaanni Yaadannoo Gootota Wareegamtoota keenyaa kan bara kanaa haala armaan gadiitiin (seeraa fi tartiiba of eeggannoo ittisa dhibee Koroonaa wajjin haala wal hin faallessineen) akka kabajamee oolu Addi Bilisummaa Oromoo miseensotaa fi deggertoota isaa dabalatee Ummata bal’aa Oromoo kan biyya keessaa fi biyyoota alaas jiraniif dhaamsa dabarsa:

1. Namni hundi bakka jirutti haala isaaf danda’ameen galgala jal-bultii guyyichaa (Ebla 14, 2020) Yaadannoo Gootota Wareegamtoota Keenyaaf dungoo qabsiisuu fi Faaruu Wareegamtootaa “Maal dhaamanii, Jaallewwan Qabsoof Kufanii …?” jedhu dhaggeeffachuu fi faarfachuudhaan yaadachuu.

2. Ebla 15, 2020tti ammoo nam-tokkeenis tahe maatiidhaan ykn murnaan, akkuma akka walitti dhihoo fi waliin jiramutti qophii feesisuu fi danda’amu taasisuudhaan, Kaayyoo Gootota Wareegamtoota keenyaa galmaan gahuuf ni gargaara jennee waan itti amannu kanneen armaan gadii fi kan biroos raaw’achuudhaan Guyyicha kabajatanii ooluu:

a) Suuraa Wareegamtootaa, Faaruu fi Dhaadannoo Qabsoo, Walaloo, Diraamaa … kkf. keessaa waan dandeenye qopheeffachuun wal afeeruu fi haasawa, tapha, marii
wareegamtoota keenya ittiin yaadannuu fi Kaayyoo isaanii fiixaan baasuuf waadaa keenya itti haaromsannu waliin qabaachuu,

b) Kaayyoon Qabsoo Goototni Wareegamtootni keenya lubbuu isaanii wareeganiif akka galma gahuuf kan gargaaru deggersa dinagdee (maallaqas tahe qabeenya biroo) gumaachuu dandeenyu malaa fi caasaa qabnuun gumaacha gochuu,

c) Dhibee balaafamaa yeroo ammaa Addunyaa kana raasaa jiru ilaalchisee odeeffannoo jiru, mala of eeggannoo irratti qajeelfama karaa Dhaabbattootaa fi ogeeyyota wal’aansa fayyaa (WHO, Oggeeyyota Wal’aansa Fayyaa Keenyaa fi kan biroo) irraan tamsa’an wal dhageessisuu fi wal irraa dhagahuun dhimma itti bahuu,

d) Kan biyya keessaa lammiilee keenya sababa gahaa fi balleessaa malee bakka adda addaatti hidhamanii jiran gaafachuu fi haala isaan itti gadi lakkifaman irratti qaamota mootummaa isaan hidhe dubbisuu fi dhiibbaa feesisu taasisuu,

e) Namoota dhibee Koroonaa kanaan qabaman seera of eeggannoo ittisa dhibee kanaa haala hordofeen gargaaruudhaan du’a irraa baraaruuf waan dandeenyu gochuu,

f) Sababa tatamsa’ina dhibee kanaatiin uggura sochii fi tajaajila adda addaa irra kaa’ameen namoota harka-qalleeyyii rakkinaaf saaxilaman seera of eeggannoo ittisa dhibee kanaa haala hordofeen gargaaruuf waan danda’amu gochuu,

g) Hanga haalli hamaa fi yaaddoon dhibee Vaayiresii Koroonaa kanaan uumame furmaata irra wayyaa argatutti haala hojii qabsoo, sochii fi qunnamtii keenyaa akkamiin qindeeffachuu akka dandeenyu mari’achuu fi qindeeffachuu,

Kanneen armaan olii fi kan biroo waan Kaayyoo Wareegamtoota keenyaa fiixaan baasuuf ni gargaara jennu hunda gochuudhaan guyyaa ulfaataa fi kabajamaa tahe, Ebla 15 Guyyaa Gootota Wareegamtoota Oromoo (GGWO) kabajannee haa oollu jenna.

Ulfinaa fi Yaadannoon Bara-baraa Wareegamtoota Keenyaaf !

Injifannoo Ummata Bal’aaf !
Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo

Ebla 11,2020

The Sidama Nation Mourns the Sudden Death of kalaa ‘Yosef Sibu Guraro’ Who’s Passed in Las Vegas’s family house.

(A4O, April 11, 2020) The Sidama nation is deeply disturbed and mourns the sudden death of its unwavering nationalist, one of formidable Human rights activists and the renowned advocate for the Sidama’s national self-realisation and self-governance. He has passed away in his home on the midday of April 10, 2020 Las Vegas (Nevada) local time.

 Yosef has battled with the Covid19 for the last two weeks and has fully recovered from the illness. Besides, he remained in his isolation room until his final day within the family house. During the midday of April 10, 2020 local time, his wife prepared a meal and knocks at his room door to leave it for him. She has done so since he has isolated himself to protect his kids and her. During the time she has left his meal and fluids at the door, she saw him accessing his computer. He has also advised her that he has fully recovered and not to worry.

After some time since she returned to the lounge (salon) on the ground floor where kids were playing; she heard huge bang from the upper floor and rushed to his room to find him lying on the floor. Subsequently, she called for an ambulance. Within two minutes the Paramedics (Ambulances) were there but unable to save the Sidama’s hero from his death. Yosef has suddenly left his wife and kids deeply traumatised and the nation extremely saddened.

Kalaa Yosef Sibu’s persistence and unwavering determination is seen as a symbol of the Sidama’s national resistance and by the enemy as Ethiopian empire’s foe as he has battled with the unionist in Las Vegas and its environs; where he has worked and lived for the entire time since he has moved to the USA over 15 years ago.

Furthermore, kalaa Yosef Sibu is one of the SNLF’s founding and executive committee members. His contribution since he has joined the SNLF has been enormous. He has tirelessly worked day and night for the Sidama’s national cause with those who have devoted their lives for the same cause. Moreover, he has also continually live streamed on social Medias to inform the Sidama nation and the wider subjugated nations and peoples of Ethiopia with larger emphasis on fighting for a common good in unison.

Kalaa Yosef was in Kenya’s refugee camp (Kakuma) for a considerable period of time before moving to the United States of America about 15 years ago.

Kalaa Yosef will be missed by his little kids, his wife and the wider Sidama nation. His body is waiting to a rest after the decision of the Las Vegas authorities who have a protocol on how to bury those who are affected with (Covid19).

The SNLF sends its deepest condolences to his wife, children, family and the wider Sidama nation. We also kindly advise all Sidama community- in particular those who are in the USA to do all it takes to continually support his young family at this difficult time.

The Sidama National Liberation Front (SNLF), April 11, 2020

A Year on since a Historic Gaado Furra has Voiced Nation’s Grievance in the Sidama Capital; The Handover of the Power to the Nation Yet to Materialise.

By Denboba Natie, Edinburgh, Scotland

(A4O, April 09, 2020) On the early hours of April 09, 2019, the Sidama Women, girls, elderly ladies and grannies staged on a peaceful government’s response delay- demonstration in the Sidama capital, Hawassa. The scorching Hawassa sun didn’t deter them from their mission as the day has progressed. Perhaps it was the first in its kind and composition of the participants in the African soil, not only in Ethiopia. The estimated number of over one (1) million Sidama women and girls in their colourful Sidama costume came out of their entire Sidama districts to show their national grievances to the rulers. However, the PM surrounded by anti-Sidama unionist advisers didn’t say a single word about the Sidama women’s demonstration to this date demonstrating how much he belittles and hates the nation.

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The Sidama women’s demonstration was initiated by these groups due to the delay in fixing the date for the Sidama referendum that guarantees the nation of its constitutional rights to a national regional statehood. Sadly, to date the cause Gaado Furra has echoed hasn’t been responded apart from running of the referendum on the 20th of November 2019 whose result was staggering 98.52% in favour of Sidama statehood.

The Sidama nation commemorates this an historic day in nation’s anti-oppression peaceful resistance history as significant milestone in Sidama’s female population contribution and in adding their signature in a traditionally patriarchal society. Their historic action has transcended traditional belief and seen above the traditional assumption on women’s assignment mainly as a household chores bearers.

The Sidama however traditionally asserts that Women are the foundation of the society; and believes without their presence the life and the society can’t continue to exist. Furthermore, historically, the Sidama women have got a very strong association known as ‘Yakiissa’ through which they had effectively defended their rights since time immemorial.

Historically, the Sidama nation has demanded its national rights to be restored since the nation has lost its political and economic power to the invading Abyssinian king, Minelik II’s army in late 1890s. Ever since the nation has been occupied- it has never silently rested and voluntarily allowed its rights to be crushed. Instead, the nation has challenged the successive Abyssinian rulers in different forms and shapes; and the quest has continued to this date.

Due to this quest tens of thousands of Sidama civilians were massacred by the successive Ethiopian rulers. Since the new PM, Dr Abiy Ahmed came to power in April 2018, over 212 Sidama civilians were executed and between 3000 and 3500 civilians were unlawfully arrested and remain in various prison cells throughout the country. Recently, some of those (Ejjeetto leaders) were released after unlawfully incarcerating them for 8 months since July 17, 2019 for no apparent and justifiable reasons. As we speak, there are several hundreds of Sidama politicians and activists commonly known as ‘Ejjeetto’ prisoners arrested in relation to these quests by the current regime in Sidama land and in Hosaena Zone, nearly 200km away from their families and the nation at large.

The Sidama nation is demanding these Sidama prisoners to be unconditionally released as the danger of Covid-19 looms. At the current climate, keeping the Sidama and the other prisoners in entire Ethiopia in their cells equates to sentencing them all to death penalty. The Sidama nation is urging the government to unconditionally release the Sidama, the Oromo and the rest prisoners in Ethiopia. The Sidama also urges the government to immediately handover the Sidama State power to the nation by desisting from joking on our nation. It is imperative to assert that, since the declaration of Sidama victory by the national election board post November 20, 2019 Sidama referendum, the Sidama national regional state (SNRS) must obtain its regional budget to fight poverty, and the current Covid-19 pandemic in addition to planning for its own priorities and objectives.

Finally, I propose April 09 to be honoured in respect of the Sidama women and girls. Therefore, it needs to be commemorated as a historic Sidama Women ‘Gaado Fuura’ day on yearly basis.

I Salute Your Bravery and inde
finability the Sidama Women and Girls!

Furra Gaadanonke Agaxxeommo’ne!!

Stay Safe by Staying Apart for Some time!

April 09, 2020- By Denboba Natie, Edinburgh, Scotland

Urgent Open Letter to The Ethiopian Government, the WHO and International Community

The Ethiopian Government should be part of the World Community in Fighting Against COVID-19 and Respecting Human Rights of the Citizens
Monday, April 06, 2020

We, Oromo Civic, Professional, and Faith-based organizations in Diaspora write this letter out of grave concern that COVID-19 might cause preventable loss of lives in Oromia and the whole of Ethiopia upon all political prisoners, temporarily displaced persons such as refugee and homeless peoples who are extremely vulnerable because of their unhealthy living conditions. We are also concerned by the damages that could be done by the movement of the military personnel and the continued deployment of the illegal command posts in several Oromia regions during this period of fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic. At this critical global health emergency, deployment of the military should be to contain the COVID-19, not to harass, kill, displace and plunder the citizens.

COVID-19 is unprecedented pandemic, and it exerts multifaceted threats. We have no cure or vaccination for this highly contagious disease. The only tool we have is prevention and mitigation. Prevention strategies are complex, and they take place at different levels and require coordinated efforts. This necessitates the government and the public to go extra miles. The WHO recommended prevention strategies are social distancing and personal hygiene. Social distancing means being two meters apart from each other, avoiding public meetings, and restricting travels. But the Ethiopian prisons are overcrowded with political prisoners and luck clean water. These conditions put the prisoners and the general public in unnecessary public health risks.

Moreover, the ruling Prosperity Party of Prime Minister Abiy is continuously holding public meetings and forcing people to attend in Oromia Regional State, in packed halls with thousands of people for political orientation. This is neglecting or prudently violating the global health guideline- one of which is social distancing. Such action is deliberately or negligently exposing the people to the deadly virus. This tantamount to genocide.

Ethiopia also has historical practices where the movement of soldiers unwittingly led to the spread of infectious diseases from one place to another and transmitted disease-causing agents. At this time, the Ethiopian army is deployed to several regions and is serving in the command posts.

For over a year, Western and Southern Oromia zones are under illegal command posts or martial law. The soldiers of the command posts are engaged in killings, imprisoning, and harassing civilians. In those regions, farming, businesses, schooling, and other activities are either entirely stopped or significantly disrupted, and the condition has subjected the people to live in poverty and malnutrition.

Poverty and food insecurity also make people vulnerable to infections. Hence, the illegal command post has created unhealthy social conditions and generated unnecessary risks to the transmission of COVID-19. From the zones ruled by the martial law and others, people who feared the atrocities of the Ethiopian security forces are massively fleeing from their homes to major cities. Many of them are now in cities and live in overcrowded housing or homeless. In the last twenty years in Finfinne/Addis Ababa area, the Oromo people have been evicted massively from their homes with little or no compensation, and many of them are now homeless.

Resulted from the Ethiopian government’s divide and rule policies, over two million Oromos have been evicted from their homes. Most of them live in overcrowded housing, and others are homeless. Homelessness and overcrowded housing are major risk factors for COVID-19. The Ethiopian public health action plans to contain the COVID-19 needs to include housing the homeless people and respecting human rights principles.

The widespread human rights violations are causing people to flee from their homes and displacing them locally and making them international refugees. The movement of the armed forces and the displacement of civilian populations are creating fertile grounds for the transmission of COVID-19 and putting the local and global communities at risk.

Breaking the chain of transmission of infections is possible only if we effectively communicate the risk of transmissions and preventive strategies. The significance of effective communication during emergency and epidemics are well known, and the WHO gives specific guidelines. During an emergency, the information should be delivered by the most trusted institution. Mixing politics and public health is counterproductive. However, in Ethiopia, politicians are mixing their party’s political agendas with health information. Some of the Ethiopian government political figures on their Facebook pages describe their political opponents as “the Coronavirus”. The political figures who openly use detestable languages also deliberately misinforms the public. Mixing politics and health education compounded with inaccurate messaging repeal those who do not adhere to party politics and make health education ineffective. At this critical juncture mixing politics and health education and giving misinformation is counterproductive. Health education should have primacy over political indoctrination.

COVID-19 does not discriminate between the supporters of different political parties, languages, religions, and ethnic-national-race groups. In such understanding, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire among all parties involved in armed conflict. We know that human rights violations, war, and armed conflict have exposed our people to famine and HIV/AIDS. We urge the Ethiopian government to settle the political differences with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) peacefully and focus on the common enemy-the the disease-causing agent. Evidence-based public health policy directions in prevention and mitigating COVID-19 suggest the need for coordinated and multilateral efforts. Highly credible sources suggest that holding back this deadly virus is on the hand of the public, and everyone need to play their parts. This necessitates the need to build the social, economic, political, and cultural capacities of a group of people and individuals. Developing these capacities requires advancing individuals and group rights and communities’ capacity to prevent and mitigate the problem.

We, therefore, urge the Ethiopian government to respect human rights principles, release political prisoners, remove the command posts and protect vulnerable population groups such refugees, those internally displaced, and homeless individuals from the spread of COVID-19. We call upon the Ethiopian government to immediately take the following critical public health measures:

  • Release all political prisoners.
  • Make prison cells are consistent with the WHO recommended social distancing principles.
  • Lift the martial law in the Oromia Regional State because it hinders people from leading a healthy life and playing their role to contain and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
  • Stop all forms of human rights violations because it kills the aspiration of people to understand and solve problems.
  • Stop displacing people locally or making them international refugees,
  • Stop armed conflict and settle political differences with the OLA by a peaceful means.
  • Overcrowded housing and homelessness are the manifestations of the ill-planned policy, and the government needs to strive to correct those wrongs.
  • Stop holding public political meetings, because most of them do not fulfill the principle of social spacing
  • Stop harassing and threatening independent mass media, including Oromia Media Network and Oromia News Network and let information to freely flow in Oromia.

Respectfully,

Oromia Global Forum: A consortium of Oromo Civic, Professional and Faith-Based Organizations
Signatories:
Advocacy4Oromia
Bilal Oromo Dawa Center
Canaan Oromo Evangelical Church
Charismatic International Fellowship Church
Global Gumii Oromia
Global Oromo Advocacy Group
Global Waaqeffannaa Council
Horn of Africa Genocide Watch
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa
International Oromo Women’s Organization
International Qeerroo Support Group
Mana Kiristaanaa Fayyisaa Addunyaa
Oromo Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church
Oromo Communities’ Association of North America
Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church of Washington DC Metropolitan Area
Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society
Oromo Human Rights and Relief Organization
Oromo Legacy, Leadership and Advocacy Association
Oromo Lutheran Church of Baltimore
Oromo Parliamentarians Council
Oromo Studies Association
Oromia Support Group
Tawfiq Islamic Center
Union of Oromo Communities in Canada
United Oromo Evangelical Church
Washington DC Metropolitan Oromo SDA Church
CC:
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director of World Health Organization (WHO)
Avenue Appia 20 1211, Geneva
Telephone: +41-22-7912111
World Health Organization – Regional Office for Africa
Cité du Djoué, P.O.Box 06 Brazzaville Republic of Congo
Telephone: +(47 241) 39402 Fax: +(47 241) 39503
Email: afrgocom@who.int CC: chaibf@who.int
harrism@who.int jasarevict@who.int
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
The US Department of State (USA)
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (UK) Minister for
Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)
Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)
Federal Foreign Office (Germany)
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS
UN Human Rights Council
Africa Union (AU)
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Council of Europe,
UN Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
MEDIA AND NEWS GROUPS
Oromia News Network
Oromia Media Network
Hegeree News Network
Radio Sagalee Walabummaa Oromiyaa
VOA Afaan Oromoo Program
BBC Afaan Oromo Program
Addis Standard
Aljazeera English
DW-Amharic
The Washington Post
New York Times
The Guardian
Reuters

Ethiopia: Release detained journalists and opposition politicians immediately

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Amnesty International, 7 April 2020, The Ethiopian authorities must immediately release two journalists from the Oromia News Network and three Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) officials who remain in custody a week after charges against them were dropped and the court ordered their release on 31 March.

The authorities must desist from this intimidation, harassment and arbitrary detention and immediately and unconditionally release these five individuals.
Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa

“The Ethiopian authorities continue to detain five people long after the court ordered their release. The authorities must desist from this intimidation, harassment and arbitrary detention and immediately and unconditionally release these five individuals,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

The five were charged with taking a photo at the Burayu police station, and for traffic offenses relating to an incident where a vehicle rammed into the back of the police car the arresting officers were using. The prosecutor later dropped the charges, stating none of the alleged acts were crimes under the country’s criminal law.

The police however continue to detain the individuals claiming there were irregularities with the names on their identification documents. However, they have not presented the five in court with any new charges.

The detained are Batir Filae, OLF Central Committee member; Gadaa Gabisa, OLF political officer; and Bilisuma Ararsa, OLF member. With them are Desu Dula, the Vice Director of the Oromia News Network (ONN) and Wako Nole, a journalist with the network.

For more information on the mounting harassment of OLF members and supporters, see links below.

Vendor killed after police attack opposition supporters in Oromia

Authorities crackdown on opposition supporters with mass arrests