Nearly three decades of its implementation has amply demonstrated that the Ethiopian Constitution has not bode well for our country. Its weakness has been made worse by its inbuilt mechanism of blocking amendments. A nation of over a hundred million people ought not be taken captive by a document put in place by an unscrupulous group, i.e., the TPLF and its accomplices.
If Ethiopia is going to have a decent post-conflict economic recovery, this mixing of business with politics, the ethnically centered enterprise empire-building, and few family-controlled conglomerates need to be reformed. The opportunity should not be missed.
Sadly, the world has different standards for Africa. There is a widespread doubt about whether the people of Africa are ready for democracy. A milieu of explanations has been put forward. Chief among them are that democratic norms and institutions have not developed and the majority of the populace is uneducated and apathetic about who is in power.
Africa has many opportunities to grow more food on less land while safeguarding the environment, therefore protecting millions of its citizens from going hungry. But for this to come to fruition, African governments need to be open to new, scientifically proven technologies including bioengineered crops, and use them appropriately.
Ultimately, for neutral observers, it is important to note that TPLF’s accusation of Eritrea’s involvement was not corroborated by actual evidence. Hence, the allegation is most likely nothing but a failed disinformation campaign by the TPLF.
Kenya and Ethiopia signed an agreement for preferential access aimed at fostering economic co-operation in 2012, emphasising on trade, investment, infrastructure, food security and sustainable livelihoods.
Another potential challenge is that the use of any of these vaccines by national immunisation programmes will need to be informed by high quality and timely evidence that takes local context into consideration. This means national policy makers must urgently and meticulously consider the merits and demerits of each of the vaccines prior to deciding which one to use
One of the many crimes of EPRDF, is that it forced those like me to spend way too much energy defending at all costs the ideas that a nation exists, that a nation has been imagined and achieved, that Ethiopia is larger than its ethnic components; when in fact, those like myself should not have wasted this much time on it at all.
After Mussolini’s revenge invasion in 1936, Ethiopians were tormented for five years by aggressive fascist Italy. The city of Addis Ababa still shows memorial landmarks of several massacres, executions of national patriots, religious leaders, imprisonment and exile of aristocrats and citizens.
As Ethiopia hopes for peaceful days ahead, everyone should contribute towards constructive engagement.
Thus, it is also high time that the ethno-nationalist camp stop the divisive rhetoric and replace it with calls for dialogue, forward looking reconciliation, and peaceful co-existence.
