Blogger/Kaffa Last year, I read an old article about Meles Zenawi discussing with scholars in America about his ethnic federalism policy more than 10 years ago after he gained power. He sounded very sure about his ideological stance and answered every question coming from the western scholars. Most of the scholars applauded him because they thought things in Ethiopia can not possibly get any worse than the former DERG policy of forced assimilation of oppressed nationalities with the oppressors, which led to more than a million dead under the DERG military regime. Well, the western scholars were somewhat correct, but Meles Zenawi’s statements that ethnic federalism will not lead to an ethnocentric society when the “process of assimilation does its job” is being proved more and more wrong 17 years under his leadership.
What is the reality today in Ethiopia? Well, I can sum it up by what my friend told me yesterday about new ethnic Sidama political groups. According to him, there is a growing and deep discontentment from ethnic Sidama population because their land has not been given regional state status by the government while the much smaller ethnic Afar & Benshangul have their own ethnic states. Accordingly, there have been various ethnic clashes between Sidama and the numerous other ethnicities in Southern Ethiopia. In fact, southern Ethiopians used to focus on fighting only against ONE “enemy” – the Neftenga northern Ethiopians. But today, southern Ethiopians are divided and they are fighting TWO enemies – each other (different ethnicities in south) and the northern Ethiopian colonizers. This is one of the reasons why many people say that the Meles Zenawi government has held on to power despite his Tigrayan (7%) ethnicity being much smaller than the previous Amhara (25%) governments. I wonder if more ethnicities in Ethiopia will seek regional state status in the future. What is the requirement anyway? If it is having more than 4 million population, all are due to reach that number.
As more groups seek such state recognition, they are not only fighting against the government but also against other neighboring ethnicities which they see as a threat to their rise and to the boundaries of their future republics. So this can become disasterous because there are no known land boundaries between these ethnic groups. Even before 19th century, most of them have been conquesting each other and mixing. There are no writen historical accounts and mapped boundaries of every 79 ethnicities in Ethiopia. Even if someone miraculously finds or creates such maps, they will not be agreed up on by one or more oppositing sides who would be dis-satisfied with the shape of their ethnic state. In general, ethnic federalism can become the worst thing that happened to Ethiopians. But i can't wholly disregard it because if it was implemented correctly and cautiously, i believe ethnic federalism still has hope. Until then, the status quo is just a time bomb waiting to explode.
Anyhow, I am not going to claim that I have a perfect solution to our problems in Ethiopia than the two policies: pre-1991 and post-1991 governments. But I believe things can be much better than they are today. Yes, there are some positive developments I have witnessed under ethnic federalism. I have seen uplifting cultural exchanges and empowerment of ethnicities. But at what cost? Are ethnicities in Ethiopia integrating or disintegrating? It appears that the later is occurring in some places. Where is the process of assimilation you talked about Meles Zenawi?
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