Gambella, April, 27,2016 (GSN) - According to the press statement sent to media from the Gambella regional state, South Sudanese refugees have killed 14 Ethiopians in Gambella on Thursday. The shooting was carried out in retaliation for the killing of two South Sudanese kids killed by a car accident at Jawi refugee camp, located 17 kilometer’s away from Gambella town. The car was owned by Save the Children.
At least 30 people suffered serious injuries and residents fear the death toll could be higher as there were still people hiding in the bushes from the killers. Those killed include Ethiopians who work for the UN at the refugee camps.Thursday’s killing came six days after armed men of the Murle tribe from South Sudan crossed the border into Ethiopia and killed at least 230 and abducted over a 100 women and children. The Ethiopian government says its forces are in South Sudan to bring home the abducted as officials of South Sudan trade accusations of involvement in the killings.
First I would like to express my deepest condolence to the people of Gambella and in particular to those families who losses their loved one by this unspeakable crime committed by perpetrators. It becomes a daily practice to see when Ethiopia’s territory is violated by bandit’s armed groups coming from the neighboring countries. Only in this year hundred of Ethiopians kidnapped and many of them were killed and tortured by Eritrean regime. Because of inaction by the Ethiopian government, recently well organized armed tribal groups (counted in thousands) invaded many villages in Gambella region. As we heard from different media outlets, these tribal armed groups destroyed villages, killed, tortured and take hostages in hundreds. When the government is not taking a decisive action when the Ethiopian territory is violated, and its citizens are killed or abused this is what we are expected. We do not know what will happen tomorrow to those Ethiopian living near and around the boundaries of Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. It seems other than talking about development, Ethiopia does not have a patriotic government which can take a decisive action when our territory is violated and our people harmed by perpetrators.
A tiny country Eritrea which gets its independence from Ethiopia, and now a fragile country which gets its “independence” from Sudan (by direct or indirect interference of some western countries) are now testing our strength by penetrating freely to our territory. Before South Sudan becomes a country, I wrote on this website an article in title “The inevitable secession of Southern Sudan and its repercussion to other African states, in particular to Ethiopia”, and expressing my concerns how wrong it is to let South Sudan to become an independent country. As if lessons are not taken from those claimed “independent” still at this time the elites of Africa are advocating secessionist ideology. For Africa, the idea of secession is a drug illegally promoting by westerns, manufacturing and marketing by illegal drug manufacturers and dealers. It is a drug affecting the people immensely by creating hate and unstoppable violence between poor peoples. The only beneficiaries are the elites and other external actors. Narrow minded elites in general are allergic to talk about true democracy, a medicine for all social, economic and cultural problems prevailing in many African countries
Coming to my topics, the recent organized violence attack by South Sudan (Murule tribe) will remain with us for the coming many years. I said this because of the reality on the ground. As many of us know, tribal conflicts are not uncommon in this part of Ethiopia and beyond. This kind of tribal endemic conflicts are exists in Ethiopia between many tribes in particular in south, western and eastern part of the country. It is not new as many “oppositions” are trying to politicizing and exploit the recent incidence that has happened in Gambella administrative region. This conflict sometimes is exceeding its limit and goes beyond national boundaries. Depending on the situation and the purpose, the number of people participating in this kind of conflict varies from time to time. The Gambella incidence is an example. How many of us know the existence of this kind of conflicts in Ethiopia between different tribes? There are seasonal or deliberately instigated tribal conflicts (deadly, with the losses of many life) between Nyangatom (Dassanech) and Hammer, or between Dassenech and Turkana, or between Dizi and Suri or Borena and Gerri, Nuer and Anyuak, Guji and Gedio or fair to mention here also the Afar-Issa- Somali conflicts. In most cases the number of participants in this kind of tribal conflict is in hundreds if not in thousands as we have seen recently in Gambella. The main causes of this kind of tribal conflicts are scarcity of resources (mainly land, and water), cattle rustling, particularly by the youth to get livestock before marriage. A backward traditional belief mainly hates towards others tribes is also a factor.
As mentioned above, tribal conflicts and fight is always part of life for many Eastern Africa marginalized tribes. Particularly in the large area called the “Karamoja or Karamojong cluster” this kind of conflicts between different tribes is not new (the name Karamoja is a name given to the agro-pastoral community living in Uganda). This is a large marginalized area sharing very large land territories between Ethiopia, the two Sudan’s, Uganda, Kenya and even Tanzania. Many efforts has made both by the respective governments and NGOs to avoid or to minimize the ongoing unnecessary tribal conflicts between different groups, but with no avail. What this means is that it needs a concerted efforts both the regional and international actors to bring awareness among the local tribes. On the other hand what we Ethiopians should understand is that South Sudan problem will remain with us indefinitely. Taking into consideration the traditional belief, the prevailing social and economic factors, the backwardness and remoteness of large areas, it is extremely hard to bring peace in South Sudan. What is strange is that not only the 95% of the population of this country is very backward in many socio-econometrics parameters, but also lack of willingness from the few “politically” active elites to solve the tribal conflicts prevailing in their country. I am pessimistic about the peace deal signed between the Juba government and the main opposition led by Riek Machar (from Nuer tribe), and I am afraid their conflict will spill-over to Ethiopia. When I am writing this article I heard through varies media outlets (4/22/16) that another 14 Ethiopian were killed mercilessly by barbarian South Sudan refugee settled in the region. This is too much for the country hosting and helping more than a quarter of millions of South Sudanese refugees. Therefore side by side with diplomatic efforts, measures should be taken to strength security in this part Ethiopia, and refugee’s status should be scrutinized.
Last, we have to look this incidence seriously. First we have to ask ourselves why this attack has happened in the first place and who is behind it. Second, what will be the repercussion of taking or not taking decisive military action to retaliate and to rescue those kidnapped innocent children’s? This is not something we can look as a conflict between two cross- boundary tribal groups. Although it is wise to leave this matter to military personnel, the recent attack was well planned and executed in organized militaristic style. Therefore, our military action should think beyond the actual incidence, and plan long term military strategy how to handle the unforeseen scenario.
Long Live Ethiopia
