የሽግግር ወቅት

ዴሞክራሲያ ቅጽ 42 ቁ. 2 ጥቅምት/ ኅዳር 2009
 በማንኛውም የሥርዓተ ማኅበር ልውውጥና ሂደት የሚተላለፍ ኅብረተሰብ፣ ተወደደም ተጠላ፤ የሽግግር ወቅት የሚያስፈልገው መሆኑ አያከራክርም። ለዚህም በቂ ምክንያቶች ይኖራሉ። በቅርቡ የሀገራችን ታሪክ እንኳን ሦስት ተፃራሪ ሥርዓቶች፣ ባለፈው ግማሽ ምዕተ ዓመት ሲለዋወጡ የተመለከትን ሲሆን በሥርዓቶቹ ልውውጥ መካከል ለተተኪው ሥርዓት መተላለፊያ፣ ማስተናገጃና መቆጣጠሪያ ሊሆኑ የሚገባቸው በቂ ዝግጅቶችና መሰናዶዎች ሳይደረጉ ቀርተዋል። ሂያጁውን ማስወገድ እንጅ፤ መጭው ምን እንደሚመስል እንኳን በቅጡ ሳይታወቅ በመታለፉ ፤ በሁሉም መስክ አገራችን መጎዳቷን ሁሉም ዜጋ የሚያውቀው ዕውነታ ነው። የዚህ ውጤትም የማያቋርጥ ፀፀትና ቁጭት ሆኖ ቀርቷል። "አርቆ ማሰብ አቅቶኝ፤ በግብታዊነት እጄን በእጄ ቆረጥኩት" የሚያሰኝ ትካዜን ጥሎ ሄዷል። ያለፉት ሦስት ፅንፈኛ ሥርዓቶች የተፈራረቁት አንዱ ሌላውን በማስወገድና ሥልጣኑን በመተካት ቢሆንም ሕዝቡ የበይ-ተመልካች በመሆን ተበደለ፤ ተጎዳ እንጅ፤ የመፃዒ ዕድሉ ቀያሽም ሆነ የመብቱ ወሳኝ አልሆነም። እያንዳንዱ ሥርዓት ከአንዱ ወደሌላው በሚተላለፍበት ወቅት የለውጡ ሂደት የፈጠረው ክፍተኛ ግርግር፤ ሕዝቡ የሚመኘውን የለውጥ ረድዔትም ሆነ በረከት እንዳያገኝ አድርጎታል። ዕድሉን ተነጥቋል፤ ተስፋው የምድረ-በዳ ውልብልቢት ሆኖ ቀርቷል ። ያም በመሆኑ፤ ሽግግሩ የጥቂት ሥልጣን ጥመኞች ማርኪያ ሆኖ አልፏል። ሕዝቡ ተሳታፊ ሊሆን ባለመቻሉም የብሩኅ ተስፋ ዕድሉ፤ ተሰናክሎ ቀርቷል። የዚህ አንደምታ፤ እስካሁን ድረስ ሀገሪቱን እያማቀቃት ይገኛል። ይህ ችግር በሦስቱም ተከታታይ ሕዝባዊ አመፆች ተፈጽሟል - ተደጋግሟል። ከዐፄው ሥርዓት እስከ ወያኔ አገዛዝ ተሰልሷል። በተለዋዋጮቹ ሥርዓቶች ሂደት ውስጥ ሕዝብ የሥልጣን ባለቤትና ተጠቃሚ ባለመሆኑና የሕዝብ ተሳትፎ ተግባራዊ እንዲሆን ባለመደረጉ፤ የተጠበቀው የሀገር ተስፋ መክኗል።

Ethnic tensions in Gondar reflect the toxic nature of Ethiopian politics

From uneven development to authoritarian government, the morass of issues facing the city of Gondar offer a snapshot of Ethiopia’s wider problems

 A coach torched by anti-government protesters in Gondar, Ethiopia. All photographs by William Davison

In Gondar, a city in Ethiopia’s northern highlands, a lone tourist pauses to take a photo of a fortress built more than two centuries ago. Nearby, past a row of gift shops, lies the wreck of a coach torched during unrest in August.

Gondar, known as “Africa’s Camelot”, was once the centre of the Ethiopian empire – at a time when that empire was defined mainly by Amhara traditions. 
Today, the city is facing new tensions that have a complex history. A territorial dispute between elites here in the Amhara region and those in neighbouring Tigray has been simmering for at least 25 years.

Ethiopia: Government blocking of websites during protests widespread, systematic and illegal

14 December 2016, 00:01 UTC

The Ethiopian government systematically and illegally blocked access to social media and news websites in its efforts to crush dissent and prevent reporting of attacks on protesters by security forces during the wave of protests that started in November 2015 and led up to the state of emergency, a new report released today shows.

Research conducted by Amnesty International and the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) between June and October 2016 shows that access to WhatsApp was blocked, as well as at least 16 news outlets.

Ethiopian opposition leader from restive region arrested

By Aaron Maasho | ADDIS ABABA

An Ethiopian opposition leader from a region hit by deadly anti-government protests has been arrested after returning from meeting members of the European Parliament in Brussels, a political ally said on Thursday.

Merera Gudina leads the Oromo People's Congress from Ethiopia's Oromiya region, which has been the center of protests against land grabs and what opponents say is a government clampdown on political freedoms. Officials deny such charges.