Addis ababa (MomentMedia) Shir madaxeedkii 20aad ee Urur Goboleedka IGAD ayaa ka furmay magaalada Addis ababa ee xarunta wadanka Ethiopia iyadoo arimaha Soomaaliya iyo koonfurta Suudan ay yihiin ajendayaasha ugu waaweyn.

Shirkan ayaa waxaa ka qeybgalaya hogaamiyaasha wadamada xubnaha ka ah urur goboleedka IGAD, Wakiilada ururada Midowga Afrika, Qaramada Midoobay iyo Jaamacada Carabta. Waxaana shirka martigelinaya raysul wasaaraha Ethiopia Meles Zenawi.

Shirka ayaa sidoo kale lagu wadaa inuu ku baaqo kordhinta tirada ciidanka AMISOM ee hadda ku sugan gudaha Soomaaliya, kuwaasoo ciidamada Kenya loo ansixiyey inay ku soo biiraan.

Warar ku dhow shirka ayaa sheegaya in Ethiopia looga mahadceliyey dagaalkii ay ku qaaday Al-Shabaab ee ay kaga saartay magaalada Beledweyne halka ciidamada la sheegay in illaa hadda ay dhaqaaqi la’ yihiin.

Dhanka Soomaaliya waxaa shirka uga qeybgalaya wafdi  uu hgaaminayo madaxweynaha DKMG ah Shariif Sheekh Axmed iy wafdi uu hogaaminayo.

Gabagabada shirkan ayaa la filayaa in laga soo saaro qodobo lagu taageerayo hawlgalka ciidamada Kenya iyo Ethiopia ay ka wadaan gdaha Soomaaluya kaasoo lagu micneeyey mid lagu caawinayo DKMG ah ee Soomaaliya, inkastoo hawlgalkaasi uu galaaftay nolosha dad rayid ah oo Soomaaliyeed.

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M/weyne Shariif oo lagu soo dhaweeyay Addis

M/weynaha Soomaaliya iyo wafdigii la socday ee maanta barqadii ka ambabaxay magaalada Muqdisho ayaa si diiran loogu soo dhaweeyay caasimadda dalka Itobiya ee Addis Abeba.

Wafdiga m/weynaha ayaa waxaa garoonka ku qaabilay safiirka Somaliya u fadhiya Itobiya, masuuliyiin ka tirsan dowladda Itobiya iyo xubno kale.

Magaalada Addis ayaa waxaa ka furmay galabta shir dalalka IGAD.

President Ahmed Mohamoud Silyano pledged to improve press freedom conditions in Somaliland during his 2010 election campaign. (AP/Teresa Krug)

New York, January 13, 2012– The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent spate of arrests of independent reporters in the semi-autonomous republic ofSomaliland. 

(Garissa) – The Kenyan security forces are beating and arbitrarily detaining citizens and Somali refugees in Kenya’s North Eastern province, which borders on Somalia, despite repeated pledges to stop such abuses, Human Rights Watch said today.

On January 11, 2012, in the latest of a series of incidents documented by Human Rights Watch since October 2011, security forces rounded up and beat residents of Garissa, the provincial capital, in an open field within the enclosure of the local military camp. A Human Rights Watch researcher witnessed the incident.

“When military officers can beat civilians in broad daylight without fearing repercussions, it’s clear that impunity has become the norm,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Repeated promises by both the police and the military to stop these abuses and investigate have amounted to nothing.”

The Kenyan police and military have been responsible for a growing number of serious abuses against civilians since the Kenya Defence Forces entered southern Somalia in October, with the stated aim of eliminating al-Shabaab, an Islamist militia. The same month, suspected al-Shabaab sympathizers initiated a series of attacks against police, military, and civilian targets in Kenya.

In response, members of the security forces have been responsible for rape, beatings, looting, and arbitrary arrests of civilians. The crackdown has largely targeted Somali refugees and Kenyan ethnic Somalis, but residents of other ethnic backgrounds in North Eastern province have also been victimized.

The incident in Garissa on January 11 involved Kenyan citizens who told Human Rights Watch that they had been arbitrarily detained by the military. One of them, Ali Ibrahim Hilole, was at a shop across from the military camp buying items for a hospitalized relative when a military officer said to him: “Why are you standing here? So you’re al-Shabaab.” Soldiers forced him to accompany them to the camp, where they kicked him and told him to roll around on the ground.

Yusuf Khalif Mohamed, a long distance truck driver, stopped in Garissa for a soft drink on his way from Mombasa to Dadaab, where he was to make a food delivery for UNICEF. He parked his truck near the military camp, not knowing that parking was prohibited there. A military officer forced him to come to the camp, where soldiers threw a 20-liter container of water on him, forced him to roll on the ground, kicked him on the side, and hit him on the head with the butt of a gun. Mohamed told Human Rights Watch that one of them said, “I think you are al-Shabaab. You are bothering us in Somalia, and now you’ve come to bother us here.”

Both men, along with at least five to seven others who were similarly detained and mistreated – most of them truck drivers, and all of them Kenyan citizens – were released after 30 minutes. They were not interrogated or charged with any crime.

A Human Rights Watch researcher who attempted to visit the military camp to speak to the officer in charge witnessed soldiers forcing several men to lie down in the dirt and forcing another man to frog-jump across the field and to assume various gymnastic positions. Military personnel refused entry to Human Rights Watch, one of them stating, “There are no human rights here.”

The military spokesperson, Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, said by phone from Nairobi that the people held at the military camp were being questioned because they had tried to build an illegal structure to sell things outside the camp. Chirchir said he did not have knowledge of any abuses, but assured Human Rights Watch that the military would investigate the allegations.

The events in Garissa follow a series of human rights violations by security forces against ethnic Somalis and others. On November 11, soldiers in Garissa rounded up ethnic Somalis arbitrarily on the basis of their appearance, beat them, and forced them to sit in dirty water while interrogating them.

On November 24, following two grenade attacks on civilian targets in Garissa and an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on a military convoy in Mandera, police and soldiers rounded up hundreds of suspects in both towns. Some were beaten so severely that they suffered broken limbs. In the days following the attacks, suspects were arrested at random. Human Rights Watch interviewed some who were taken to Garissa military camp and forced to do humiliating exercises, such as standing on their heads, and were beaten if they could not comply.

Explosions in the town of Wajir in early December were also followed by arbitrary arrests and beatings. A local activist in Wajir told Human Rights Watch that after an IED went off on December 12, injuring an intelligence officer and several others, police and soldiers rounded up and beat ethnic Somalis over the next three days.

“They criminalize all Somali people,” he said. “Whenever a crime is committed, detaining and torturing people doesn’t seem like a good security strategy. It is creating a barrier between the people and the security forces.”

The worst abuses took place at Dadaab, home to over 460,000 mostly Somali refugees. A police officer was killed by an IED at Dadaab on December 5, leading to arbitrary arrests of those in the vicinity. After further explosions targeting police vehicles on December 19 and 20, one of them killing a police officer, police reacted angrily, beating refugees, and, in several cases, raping women. The chair of the Supreme Council of Muslims of Kenya, which conducted investigations in the camps, said that Kenyan police raped at least seven women following the explosions. Other victims suffered broken limbs.

A Garissa-based organization, Citizen Rights Watch, found that on the same occasion police looted dozens of shops, stealing over 27 million Kenyan shillings (US$310,000) worth of property and money that refugee traders stored in their shops.

Garissa residents interviewed by Human Rights Watch complained that police have not conducted thorough investigations to identify the actual perpetrators of either the initial attacks or the subsequent abuses by the security forces.

“Kenya’s security forces are rightly concerned about attacks by suspected al-Shabaab members, and should be doing more, not less, to identify the attackers,” Bekele said. “But beating, raping, and humiliating innocent Kenyan citizens and Somali refugees accomplishes nothing. Those in the security forces who are responsible for these abuses should be investigated and prosecuted.”

By SOLOMON MOORE

NAIROBI, Kenya—Ethiopian government officials vowed Monday to hold a key Somali town that Ethiopian troops wrested from al-Shabaab over the weekend, as the Islamist militant group was said to be massing its troops on the outskirts

The Ethiopian troops’ seizure of Beledweyne on Saturday was another blow to al-Shabaab, which recently ceded ground in Mogadishu to Ugandan and Burundian troops fighting under the authority of the African Union mission in Somalia. Ethiopian troops are working independently of the mission, known as Amisom.

Militants were gathering outside Beledweyne on Monday, the Associated Press reported, and were recruiting from neighboring towns.

Beledweyne, a trading hub on the Ethiopian-Somalian border, has been the site of several battles between al-Shabaab, Somali government-allied militias and Ethiopian troops during recent years.

Hundreds of Ethiopian troops crossed into neighboring Somalia last month at the invitation of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government—the second invasion of the war-torn country by Ethiopian since 2006. The earlier invasion lasted until 2009, when Ethiopia withdrew amid a lack of regional support for the military action and mounting public criticism in Somalia.

Sebsese Bade, a spokesman for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he expects this incursion to be more successful, both in fighting al-Shabaab and in helping stabilize the Somali government enough to establish itself more firmly in Mogadishu.

“This time Ethiopia has taken precautions—we were asked to send our troops by the TFG [Somalia's government] and the African Union—so that there are no misunderstandings on the part of the people of Somalia,” Mr. Bade said. The rout of al-Shabaab in Mogadishu has also convinced Somalis that foreign intervention might have a positive effect, he said.

Mr. Bade insisted, as Kenyan officials have since their troops crossed Somalia’s southern border in October, that the operation will be relatively brief.

“We have a common enemy in al-Shabaab and the Somali government is willing and appreciative of help from its neighboring countries,” said Mohamed Ali Nur, Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya. “They will help the Somali government defeat the enemy and the Somali people welcome this.”

The recent famine in Somalia and al-Shabaab’s refusal, in some instances, to allow food shipments hardened the populace against the militant group, Mr. Nur added.

As Ethiopian troops battle militants in the west, Kenyan troops have been advancing on another of al-Shabaab’s important funding sources in the southeast—the port city of Kismayo. Kenyan officials also have said they hope to create a buffer zone between Somalia and Kenya to stave off kidnappings and terrorist attacks by al-Shabaab. Since Kenya’s invasion, al-Shabaab militants have staged several attacks inside Kenya, including a New Year’s Eve grenade attack that killed five people at a nightclub in Garissa, a northern town.

Kenya is currently awaiting approval from the United Nations Security Council so that its troops can join the African Union command, a move that would allow the U.N. to provide funding to Kenya’s overstretched military.

Lindsey Kiptiness, deputy director of the Horn of Africa division of Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said such a regionalization of Kenyan troops would allow them to coordinate more closely with African Union forces in Mogadishu.

“We will combine forces to beat al-Shabaab,” he said. The four main foreign forces in Somalia—from Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia—now operate mostly independently, though the Burundian and Ugandan troops are under the AU’s aegis.

Ugandan Maj. Gen. Fred Mugisha, commander of Amisom troops in Somalia, said on Monday that his combined Ugandan and Burundian forces have largely secured Mogadishu, despite sporadic attacks by al-Shabaab.

Gen. Mugisha said the shooting deaths last week of two staff members of Doctors Without Borders at the organization’s Mogadishu compound were the act of a disgruntled former employee of the aid group of Somali descent and were unrelated to the current crackdown on al-Shabaab. The former employee has been detained, the general said.

Doctors Without Borders confirmed the deaths of the two doctors, a Belgian and an Indonesian, in a statement last week. It said it will relocate some staff for security reasons, but remains committed to serving Somalia.

Xildhibaano Maanta oo isniin ah kulan ku lahaa Xarunta Golaha Shacabka kuwaas oo 12 ka bishii hore Xilka ka qaadey Gudoomiyihii hore ee Baarlamaanka Shariif Xasan Shiikh Aadan, waxaana kulankaan shir Gudoominayey ku simaha Gudoomiyaha Baarlamaanka ahna Gudoomiye ku xigeenka Baarlamaanka Axmed Rooble Casoowe waxaana laga doodayey qaabka loo dooran lahaa Gudoomiyaha Baarlamaanka waxaana lagu guda jirey in Musharaxiinta u taagan Gudoomiyaha Baarlamaanka ay halkaa ka jeediyaan Wax qabadkooda.

Inta uusan bilaaban Kulanka ayaa waxaa Iridka hore ee Baarlamaanka la fariisiyey Guddiyo la socda Tirada Xildhibaanadda maadaama hore loogu andacoodey in kulankii Xilka looga qaadey Shariif Xasan ay fadhiyeen kalfadhiga dad aan xildhibaano ahayn markii uu buuxsamey Kooramkii ayaa Xildhibaano taageersan Shariif Xasan ay goobta yimaadeen waxaana loo sheegey in ay Magacooda qoraan hase yeeshee waa ka biya diidaan waxaana dhacdey in warqadihii lagu qorayey Xildhibaanadda la jeexjeexo ka dib ay xoog ku galaan Xarunta golaha shacabka.

Markii Gudaha la iskula tagey ayaa waa bilowdey Buuq iyo sawaxan waxaa xigey Feer jilib iyo in kuraasta la isla dhaco iyadoo Ciidamadda Amisom iyo kuwa Dowladda FKMG ay kor ka daawanayeen markii dagaalkii iyo buuqii siibatey ayaa la xirey kalfadhigii iyadoo Xiriiriyaha Doorashada Gudoomiyaha Baarlamaanka ee Xildhibaan Maxamuud Maxamed Guuleed Gacmadheere uu sheegey in kal fadhigii uu xiran yahay sidoo kale wuxuu sheegey in Kulamadda soo socda ay ku qabsanayaan Goobo kale isagoo sheegey intaasi 

uu u fasaxayo Xeer hoosaadka Baarlamanka.

Qaar ka mid Xildhibaanadii Xilka ka qaadey Shariif Xasan ayaa waxay warbaahinta u sheegeen in Xildhibaanadda kulankii maanta ku sameeyey arrimo sharcidaro ah oo ka hor imaanaya Xeer hoosaadka Baarlamaanka waxayna sheegeen in kuwii falkaas ku kacay talaabo laga qaadi doono iyadoo lagu waramey in muddo aan la cayimin dib loo dhigey Doorashadii Gudoomiyaha Baarlamaanka .

Inta uusan bilaaban Kalfadhigii Baarlamaanka ayaa waxaa warbaahinta la hadley Madaxweynaha Dowladda Federaalka KMG Shiikh Shariif Shiikh Axmed oo sheegey in kulankii Xilka looga qaadey Shariif Xasan uu ahaa mid “sharci darro ah” isagoo Xildhibaanadda u soo jeediyey in ay raacaan Heshiiskii Kambala.

Heshiiskii Kampala Accord oo Ogolaanaya in Xukuumadda laga keeni karo Mooshin ka dhan ah haddii ay ku xad gudubto Axdiga FKMG kampala_accord_signed.pdf

Wasiirka Warfaafinta Maamulka Somaliland ayaa la sheegay inuu ka dambeeyay xariga lagula kacay laba wariya oo ka hawlgala oo maana lagu xidhay saldhiga dhexe ee magaalada laascaanood wariyayaasha telfeshinada madaxa banaan ee HCTV wariye Cabdiraxmaan Cali Ducaale iyo wariyaha TV Universal Cabdi qani Xasan Faarax Gadari xili ay ku jireen hawl maalmeedkooda shaqo.

Sidoo kale waxaa lala xidhay niman dhalinyaro ah oo iyagu ku soo booqday xafiiska warbaahinta gobolka sool oo wakhtigaasi laba wariye ay joogeen mana jirto sabab rasmi ah oo ka danbaysa xadhigaas marka laga reebo ciidamada booliska oo ku dooday in dhalinyarada barnaamij laga duubayo ku aadan taageerada shirka Taleex.

waxaana durbadiiba loo taxaabay saldhiga iyadoo taliyaha saldhigaas uu si tacadi leh ula dhaqmay wariyayaasha amarna ku bixiyay in sheelada lagu xidho, markii wariyayaashu waydiiyeen waaranka xadhigooda wuxuu ku jawaabay inaan cid laga hadlinayn.

Xadhiga wariyaasha Telfeshinada HCTV iyo Universal tv ayaa ku soo beegmaysa xili maamulka somaliland uu ka hadlay shirka Taleex, waxaana talaabadan u muuqataa mid lagaga hortagayo sidii loo joojin lahaa ka hadalka shirkaas

xigasho lasanodonline

when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.“
By anonymous sage.

The students of Ethiopian politics perceive the forth coming peace talks between the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front) and the Ethiopian Government as one of the toughest talks ever entertained by any Ethiopian government. Even though the peace talks weren’t officially proclaimed by the concerned parties, yet there is reliable information to that effect from trustworthy sources that the Ethiopian government informed formally the Kenyan government that it wants to talk to the ONLF in the presence of a third party.

The ONLF all the way through its history was maintaining that they are willing to talk to the Ethiopian government, in a neutral country, provided Ethiopia accepts the presence of a third party to witness the progress of the talks.

The Kenyan government received the acceptance of the ONLF without a delay since it was the government of Ethiopia not the ONLF that was dragging its feet for so long from taking the offer of peace talks in the hope that it will wipe out the ONLF through brute military force. The Somali Region’s (Ogaden region) resistance to occupation stretches over a century and the region was and is a battle field between successive Ethiopian governments and national liberation forces. The region has been treated by the Ethiopian governments over the years as a buffer zone and its citizens as strangers that have no right in Ethiopia. 

Ethiopia through its choice tool, military option, to address the genuine occupation question of the Somali region (Ogaden Region) made the region the least developed region in Ethiopia. Substantial number of its citizens grew up in refugee camps or in neighbouring countries for the third generation and whatever left behind either move from one IDP camp to the next at best or loiters in concentration camps called military prisons that are spread throughout the region at worst. 

Human rights organisation’s yearly and daily reports consistently highlight the atrocities and human rights abuses meted against the region by the security forces of Ethiopia. The region is categorized and recognised as famine prone by the international development agencies and yet in pursuit of its military option the Ethiopian government sealed the boarders Ethiopia’s starvation strategy of the region from all sides and pronounced it  as no go area for international aid agencies, independent reporters  and the likes. The Gaza- like status, open prison, is effective to this day and among the latest casualties of the notorious anti terrorist bill are the two Swedish journalists who ventured into the region on a fact finding mission –   Ethiopia Jails Swedish Journalists

The people of the region have never been allowed to elect their representatives even at village level let alone at regional level. Since the region is garrison town under perpetual emergency rule, the army hand picks their young informers and crowns them to high offices. The educated and the elite of the region, who grow up in exile through fault of not theirs, were barred from running for public office and thus under – thirty year olds with no experience but loyalty to their appointed Tigrean masters are at the helm of the region. 

The reigning Ethiopian government, under premier Zenawi, which the ONLF has to negotiate with, is an authoritarian state that has no tolerance for pluralistic views in any shape or form. The politics, military and the economy of Ethiopia is dominated by his TPLF/EPRDF party which claimed that it won 99.6% of the latest staged election when it is common knowledge that the reality is on the contrary - Total Domination of Ethiopia by Ethnic Tigrean  . The most draconian anti – terrorist laws ever was introduced by his party to criminalise any form of decent, repressive press laws that saw the closure of all the independent media outlets is in place and rubber stamp judiciary that are tasked to dish out lengthy prison sentences that underwrites opposition party officials, journalists, human rights activists and the likes are kept behind bars; works round the clock.

Real peace talks, between Ethiopia and the ONLF, that are pencilled to start soon heralds a glimmer of hope for the Somali Region and the horn of African countries. If the Ethiopian government is sincere about the talks and prepared to negotiate within the framework of the Ethiopian constitution, all signs are that a successful deal is within reach. The core of the talks, from the Ethiopian government’s side, should be aimed at permanently wrapping up a century of warfare, sabotage, mistrust and mass upheaval that became the hallmark of Somali region’s relationship with Ethiopia and a gaping sore to the pride and the international image of Ethiopia.

A fool and water will go the way they are diverted but not a leader

The appalling but factual scenario in Ethiopia as mentioned above has the potential to categorically chase away weak leaders that are detached from their background in its entirety but on the contrary; robust pragmatic leaders will always find, in such thorny times, an opportunity to make a difference. UWSLF (small unknown Islamist front) and Eng. Maow’s (expelled from ONLF central committee in 2004)one man show, after protracted and gruesome media coverage finally concluded what the Ethiopian government christened as peace pact with the Ethiopian government – not a single one from the serving central committee members nor a commander was signatory to the so called peace agreement . The terms of the pact fell short of the expectations of many in the Diaspora and received muted reaction from the people of the region. The two purported leaders were offered no demonstrable concessions at all with the exception of the release of hundreds of wrongly incarcerated members of the thousands of the civilian inmates in the military prisons.

The ONLF swiftly condemned the leaders that opted out of the armed struggle for few pence as sell outs.  Sizable numbers in the diaspora, who were initially sitting on the fence, after studying the empty pact, lent their support to the ONLF. The push factor that wooed the doubters from the fence to the ONLF camp can be credited to the lack of noticeable and structured fundamental changes as to how the regional government conducts its political businesses. The Ethiopian government, as a goodwill gesture temporarily tuned down its scorched earth campaign, to sell the empty peace agreement – hostilities and arbitrary arrest of the innocent civilians decreased significantly, hundreds of alleged ONLF supporters held in detention for so long were released, the feared and often  unaccountable local police were reigned and waves of delegations from Somali regional state visited the diaspora lands to put across their argument which was in essence not more than the prolongation of the current statuesque .The officer’s talks were centred around  petty things such as offering  tribe X few more political posts but failed to address the fundamentals they were expected to attend to.

A little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing

The current peace talks are driven by a third party (Kenyan Politicians) who by all measures have an in-depth knowledge of the issue and have a genuine stake in the success of the talks. The Ethiopian government on its side understands the local and international political gains it could reap from the success of the talks and is in no mode to forgo the opportunity although it is not at any price. The ONLF on their part are eager to reach nothing short of durable and verifiable deal, with the Ethiopian government, that can offer the masses of the vast region their full constitutional rights initially with in Ethiopia. Full constitutional rights as understood by ONLF and the people of the region, is the exercise of their right to freely elect their own representatives without interference from the TPLF/EPRDF dominated federal government with the view of preparing the region for full referendum for independence within a decade along the lines of Eretria and southern Sudan if the need arises. 

The 2012 peace talks calls for ONLF leaders to go to the talk’s venue with open minds and with determination to keep the negotiating going, no matter how many sittings, until a mutual compromise is hammered out. The negotiations won’t be easy as some ONLF members, although  few in number,  might be susceptible to fall for external interests  and could create confusion and distractions as the highs of the talk is reached but the will and the steadfastness  of the mainstream genuine nationalists will overcome the mice traps. The failure of the talks will have a lasting effect on the ONLF and the Ethiopian government as this puts their leadership’s diplomatic maturity under the spotlight for everyone to see. 

 The ONLF should understand that the goals and history of the opposition movements in the north and Oramio are largely far removed from to that of the Somali Regional State. The mantra sung in the corridors of western government’s power houses by the varied Ethiopian opposition groups can’t be taken at face value as most have ethnic based agendas concealed up their sleeves. No regional state in Ethiopia suffered as much as the Somali regional state so one size fits all paradigms floated by the Ethiopian opposition groups can’t address the grievances of the region but will rather further exasperate the situation.  The region’s problems are unique and hence require tailor made solution that can redress in a significant way the long standing grievances at least partially at this instant.

Conclusion and recommendations

The peace talk on the table is not a riddle but a simple dialogue that only a wise and committed leaders that can put the interest of their people before their ego can save the day. The old adage of the cow “cow gave birth to a fire: she wanted to lick it, but it burned; she wanted to leave it, but she could not because it was her own child.” Our forefathers passed to us clearly points that no problem is insurmountable. Courageous and honest leaders can successfully circumnavigate the hurdles on the road to peace. What the region is waiting is nothing short of able leaders of high calibre that can steer the country from its impending self implosion.

The ONLF leaders ought to understand that the Ethiopian government headed by premier Zenawi and the ONLF are conjoined twins that can’t be separated for the time being as they live in the same body called federal Ethiopia.  In the short-term however unattractive Zenawi may appear to some members, the organization is obliged to do business with his government in the long-term therefore necessity dictates that he should appear, in the eyes of the ONLF leadership, more gorgeous than for instance president Isias Afewerki of Eritrea or for that matter any other head of state.  Although I am not condoning oppression in any form or shape but at same time I fail to see the compulsion for endless armed struggle that most often than not only harms the same people both claims to striving to better their lives.

The Somali regional state is acknowledged as the key holder to the stability and developmental aspirations of both Ethiopia and Somalia. All the ills of Ethiopia historically stem from the Somali region and its fallouts spoils the political and economic health of the region albeit to different degrees. It is said “Compromise, if not the spice of life, is its solidity. It is what makes nations great and marriages happy.” ONLF at this historical juncture is expected to look at the big picture carefully and to sign the agreement if it confers the people of the region their full constitutional rights or else risk to end up in the museum where failed organisations are safely parked. 

“It is said a proverb is the horse of conversation: when the conversation lags, a proverb revives it.” As a concluding remark I would like to emphasise that the Ethiopian government should understand that the ONLF stands for the aspirations, full constitution rights for all, of the Somali regional state citizens. The ONLF is the current bearer of the torch of struggle that resistance movements have been handing down for generations and should in any way confused with the packaging of the organisation. Those who aren’t members of the front share with it the strategic goal the front is fighting for but might have a little difference on the tactical side that is bound to be ironed in the near future.

Two decades of federal army’s mass killing at industrial scale coupled by five years of Liyu Police(local government armed marauding militia )   and the shadowy peace deals with individuals with no military or political influence didn’t divide the ONLF nor brought the region closer to peace. The Ethiopian regime should understand that century old conflict is a political one and can only be ended with robust political solutions.