CALL ME BY MY NAME: Solutions with Debteraw, XIV

Obo Arada Shawl alias Wolde Tewolde

March 13, 2008

Confused or Confuser

Am I confused or a confuser (no such word is found in the English Dictionary, though)? My pen name is Obo Arada Shawl, which signifies that I stand for Rural Ethiopia, inner cities of Addis Ababa and Asmara respectively but my real name is Wolde Tewolde. Am I creating some confusion for my readers? If there is, please let me know as our given Names signify something of value.

In my previous article, actually it was a commentary on professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam who might intentionally or unintentionally lived in a confused environment or smart enough to confuse others during our lifetime. In the past, I had attempted to save Ethiopians from confusion made by a prominent Poet, deceitful geography professor and by an emotional journalist in Diaspora. I have always believed since years back that three professions (personalities) namely of Arts, Geography and Journalism can create distortion on any Ethiopian realities.

MWM (Geographer)

I do not want to go on answering the twenty questions posed to professor MWM by EthioLion.com. Besides, no one asked me to do so despite my plea. However, since the professor cannot stop meddling in the affairs of innocent Ethiopian/Eritrean lives, we have to continue to reveal and disgrace his personality a la mode of CC (combat & challenge) and TT (Tagel & Tateq) style of struggle. CC was the name of the publication of EPRP whereas TT belonged to MEISON’s. Both style of struggle were anemic to MWM. He likes Yaz & Leqeq despite his pretension as a leftist professor. When the EthioLion editor pleaded with the professor as to when to get off from the Ethiopian peoples’ back, I responded that he would never do that until he finds out his DNA. When I wrote that comment I did not mean his DNA in order to find out his paternity or his criminality record. I was trying merely to locate his space in life, namely his political geography.

Now, true to my prediction, he wrote an article on Obama (see Abbaymedia.com).  He labeled Obama’s presidential race as a spirit. What kind of a spirit, one may ask? This kind of jumping into conclusion is what harmed our people and country. I am sure this is another blunder by the professor to be seen in the near future.

Every time there is a wind of change or a hope for change professor MWM jumps and make some serious mistakes including some irreparable damages. For instance, the professor had joined a panel of eleven PhD holders that was formed to demarcate the Ethiopian polity under the DERG. He also joined the group of so-called independent Ethiopians who went to London to witness the surrender of the Ethiopian government to EPLF/TPLF/OLF. This time, the professor had joined with three PhD holders and three Masters. One can go on listing his calculated or erratic activities. What I do not understand is why many Ethiopian intellectuals follow his example instead following the right people regardless of their titles. Call me by my name. What is my name? (Girzmatch, Kegnazmatch, etc. etc.)

I do not know whether it is true or not, but one simple explanation of the professor’s attitude of character and personality is given like this.

• In his professional field, at a certain time during a proposed meeting of some local Amhara officials to be held somewhere in rural Shewa village, they did not know the location of the village and so MWM was summoned by the Emperor Haile Sellasie I in order to locate the meeting place and so the professor true to his geography knowledge pinpointed the village. From there on, the Emperor reported to have said that ‘there is nothing that Mesfin does not know’. Could this be a reason for his arrogance?
• In his family life, when asked why he wanted a divorce from his wife, it was circulated that he said, “Two husbands couldn’t live in the same house”. Let us hope that Mideksa has liberated him this time around.

Our Issue, Then

How do we handle our aspirations for Unity, Peace and Democracy? At the time when I met Debteraw, our communication was three dimensional, in religious terms (father-son-holy spirit), familial (husband-children-wife), governmental affairs (monarchy-church nobility), political (party-army-masses) and so on and so forth.

Specifically, Debteraw used to insist that the practical solution for bringing Unity-Democracy-Peace was through READ (Revolution-Education-Art-Democracia). For Debu and me the letters of A&E are one and the same (usage in pronunciation as first & fifth). However, their contents were fundamentally different from mine as AE = Arts and Education (he was excellent in Kinet and Education). For me, the letters of K& W were/are relevant as KW = Knowledge and Wisdom. Our common agreement for working together was based on Revolution and Democracia (RD). By the way every nation has progressed via Research and Development while ours was set on Revolution and Democratization.

Our Issue, Now

I do not want to go into detail as why each leader/professional, country/countries or global organizations aspire to indulge in Ethiopia or Eritrea. Suffice to indicate to my readers in a nutshell what is behind agendas of our time.

So what is our stand on these issues? What do we need to do? Let us discuss them.

On Domestic affairs

• Engineer Hailu for Costs
• Economist Berhanu for Benefits
• EPRDF/TPLF for confusion

On Foreign affairs

• USA for Strategic purpose of fighting Terrorism
• UNMEE for Employment
• AU/EU/China for Trade and Aid

Our Issue then and now

Domestic and foreign: Although all organizations, groups and individuals attempt to resolve the Ethiopian issues, they all do it in around about way. That is by switching places for the letters of U (unity), D (democracy) and P (peace). Changing names will not help to solve the problems of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Prioritizing, yes.

EPRP for Unity, Democracia and Peace

For EPRP, it is not about prioritizing. It is about putting the three letters together. They have done this for four decades now. EPRP’s main tasks as at yesterday, today and tomorrow were, are and will be as follows: -

• Visionary Solutions
• Fearless leadership and
• Timeless principles in
• Domestic and
• Foreign sectors.

What I wanted to bring to the attention to all my readers is that there is no Unity in Diversity as Debteraw has been fighting for a long time. We cannot go on using the same phrase or mission of Vive La Difference! I believe now that we have to bring Unity in Clarity. That is why I am asking intellectuals and other literate Ethiopians to expose their true nature in terms of Names, Symbol, Ritual and Values. Call me by my name? What is your name?

True to the nature of Debteraw Tsegeye’s proposal for Ethiopia, I still insist to continue to dwell on the political solution based on Ethiopian History, Culture and DEMOCRACIA. He used to call this HCD. It is purely based on Ethiopian political History, Cultural and social/religious path (AAgmelago). To put it simply, let us see what has been said and presented to Ethiopians both at home and abroad.

EPRP is a unity of a political party, peace at the top of Red Mountain (ASSIMBA.com & Assimba.Org). Democracia in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

• Let us share our experiences
• Let us write our shared experiences or perish as they say and
• Let us finish the Marathon of struggle with ADE

When the war broke out between EPLF and TPLF and later agreed to settle their dispute through an arbitration but never materialized the agreement, but continue in disrupting the peoples’ daily lives, I proposed in such a way that Europeans should settle in Zala Anbesa to administer them, to let America to settle in Assab so as to develop the Red Sea and to let the Chinese to let them to settle in Badme to develop agriculture. At the time, nobody heeded my call. What about now? I have now different types of proposal. Here it is.

For EPRP, Ethiopia is a Center for the Universe and Eritrea is a Key for the World.

It is about CK. It is that simple.

Proposal

For comments and criticism

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Comments (3)

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written by Hammacho, March 14, 2008

DEAR Wolde Tewelde
Thank you for the comment but what i mean is that since i song the songs of EPRP in the beginning of the 70s as a kid i was dreaming EPRP as a party which can emancipate our people from tyranny and dictatorship but it end up in splitting thrice in my life once in 1971 EC,then with Getachew Mamo and now in the middle of Europe and America.What is the reason? Egoism,Power,Redundency Political? The other issue which is not clear is about how it is organized because i know individuals who say themselves are the member of EPRP but could not trace their offices or meetings or other activities,does that means still the party is underground as it was during the Junta regime? Beasides i do not see grass root participations in the country as well outside of Ethiopia, does that mean after 40 years the party cannot set these things because of fragmentation? other issue you raised is that i all know about both Tsegaye`s throughly but what i tried to underline was that you write good ideas but it is not clear for most of your readers so it is polemic and better you use everyday expressions

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written by Obo Arada Shawl, March 14, 2008

Dear Hammacho

I feel that you are sorry for me. Please, don't. I am at peace with every one and every body including the professor. And I am very much content with myself.
What you should know about me is that I am not in the business of entertaiment. I am very serious in what I write. I think you are looking for maturity, vision and value. That is what EPRP stands for. That is why Debteraw is in prison. By the way, I think you have confused Debteraw Tsegaye with the Tsegaye, the laureate. They are two different personalities. Please try to know about them. As to MWM, nobody will be interested to write or say about his personal life. It is because he is involved in the affairs of Ethiopians. That is he wants to be a Public Servant. If so, he should be checked. That is the democratic process you believe in. Are we not in the same boat Mr. Hammacho?
Besides, check the rest of the article, it does not talk about MWM. There are a lot of concepts incorporated. Decipher them. Thanks for your comment.

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written by hammacho, March 13, 2008

dear friend i thought it was only you buddy who runs in astray for me what you write are good entertainment and good mental excercise but it is one thing to visioualize for a Laurate but anpther to struggle for real democratic rights.
Sometimes some say a lttle knowledge is dangerous which i belong but experience showed me that for the last 35 years that if you do not have a vision at 20 you may acquire it at 40 if not at 40 may be at 60 but if one has not avision at 60 it is a waste of time,
What do you think about this saying just sitting in you villa without feeling any danger but writing polemic about the voiceless? is it the way you learn for the last 34 years how to struggle?
i wish you peace for ever and reconcile to youself

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