EPRDF has no choice but to declare state of emergency in Ethiopia

Tigrai Online, Feb. 14, 2018

This week of february 2018 the mayhem is back to the Oromoia regional state

The rotating violent protests have erupted in Oromo region in Southern Ethiopia one more time. Last year Oromo region was rocked by mass demonstrations, road blockage, burning and looting of factories and private properties. After that the sinister plan of dismembering Ethiopia moved to Universities, as a result of that many young students, other civilians and members of the security forces lost their lives.

Right after the Oromo region disturbances and the upheaval in Universities which also took lives of innocent young Ethiopians and disrupted the learning process of many higher education institutions, those who are behind the evil plan moved the destructive movement back to Amhara region. In the north of the country in Wello, Amhara region the entire country witnessed what took place in Woldya, Qobbo, and Mersa towns last month.

This week the mayhem is back to the Oromo region. According to news reports including government media like EBC roads to major and small towns have been blocked. All trade and business was halted by hooligans and demonstrators. The same news report says some towns have been opened up, but no one knows for long.  The government is pleading and begging those are destroying property and uprooting people. Many more towns are still closed off by the demonstrations.

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All this is happening just weeks after the EPRDF party executive committee announced it has went through deep renewal conference. Also the government has released hundreds of prisoners including leaders of opposition parties to calm down the tense situation in the country, but the result is not what the government was expecting, instead it has triggered more demonstrations more lives has been lost this week. It seems the more the government try to appease the demonstrations the more they become embolden. It is safe to say those who are planning, financing, guiding and leading the destructive demonstrations are smelling fear on EPRDF, probably they are right.

Ms. Omia Aba-Jemal who is part of the Oromo regional government said as a result of this week’s disorder nine people have lost their lives, 13 others were hurt and many businesses were destroyed.

From 2015 to 2018 Amhara and Oromo regions have been plagued by disastrous mass demonstrations supported by armed groups and hooligans. Hundreds of people lost their lives, thousands of public and private properties destroyed.

The federal government keeps doing the same thing, putting out fire following the ruinous movements. The government never took any proactive actions to prevent these devastating actions from happening.

When the state of emergency was in place the country was becoming peaceful, then the government lifted the state of emergency prematurely and we are back to square one. If the government is serious about maintaining peace and security in Ethiopia, they should reinstate the state of emergency throughout the country for three years. Meanwhile they should work to address all the issues raised by citizens and implement the so called deep renewal ideas announced after the meeting.

If EPRDF fail to take real, tangible and immediate action to remedy the current situation, things are deteriorating faster than the economy is growing. Besides what is the point of constructing factories if they are destroyed, highways if they are blocked, schools if they are empty and what is the meaning of federation if there is no federal government to enforce the laws and there are no states to federate?

This week of February 2018 the mayhem is back to the Oromo regional state