Colonialism should not be an excuse

By Ahmed Kateregga Musaazi

Apart from Coronavirus pandemic, where Africa has not done badly, world headlines are on riots in Ethiopia as a result of killing a popular singer Hachalu Hundessa.

At least over 230 people were killed after a popular singer's death sparked violent protests which resulted in riots in the country's Oromia region and capital Addis Ababa. Girma Gelam, Oromia region's police deputy commissioner, told media on Saturday night that 156 people have died in the riots, including 11 members of security forces. Hachalu Hundessa, the 34-year-old singer, was shot dead in the capital Addis Ababa on Monday night of June 29, 2020, by unidentified gunmen when he was driving.

His music often focused on the rights of the country's Oromo ethnic group and became an extremely popular voice in a wave of protests that led to the downfall of the previous prime minister in 2018.

Following his death, huge protests erupted in Addis Ababa and Oromia region, the homeland of the Oromo people. According to media reports, the authorities have shut down the internet in parts of the country to curb the spread of the protests.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "calls for calm and for all stakeholders in Ethiopia to refrain from any action likely to fuel tension," his spokesperson said. About 2,200 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the riots, government sources said, adding that the protests and riots had been under control as of Saturday.

A number of humanitarian and relief organisations working in Ethiopia are looking to evacuate their foreign employees from various Ethiopian cities due to the development of the political and field situation in Ethiopia.

This development comes in light of the frequent reports of the cessation of flights to Addis Ababa and the closure of the Ethiopian airspace after the deterioration of the security situation and the steady violence by the security services towards citizens, which killed more than 200 citizens.

Elsewhere in Africa, the excuse for civil wars and civil strife is colonialism. How colonialism, after the 1884 Berlin conference, did away with the nation-states that had evolved for centuries and imposed on us a system that was alien.

Nations that had been rivals, like Buganda and Bunyoro, found themselves under the British sphere of influence. Explorers like John Speke and Henry Stanley and Christian missionaries are also blamed to have laid a foundation for the colonialists.

Slave traders are also not left out for having weakened African states by taking away able-bodied people, and for giving the colonialists an excuse to conquer Africa disguising as stopping slavery and slave trade. So, if it was colonialism to blame, Ethiopia is independent throughout history. It had practised Judaism.

right from legendary King Solomon of Judea and Queen Sheba of Axum, and not only is Christianity a state religion, even Islam survived its infant years in Ethiopia where Muslims sought refuge running away from persecution in Mecca.

If it was lack of multi-party or Western liberal democracy, Ethiopia, which was an absolute monarchy and an empire until 1974 revolution, and military and one-party dictatorship until 1991, is now a multi-party democracy and has seen Prime Ministers as heads of government and presidents as ceremonial heads of state handing over power peacefully from one to another.

If it was over-concentration of power into an individual as it was the case in the emperor and the imperial presidency in the past, Ethiopia is now a federal state, where even states have a right to secede, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, through a referendum, if they feel marginalized by the centre.

In Ethiopia, additional to the National Assembly at the centre, there are also state assemblies in the regions all democratically elected. I think there is a decline in popular participatory democracy in Africa, which foundation was laid in the councils of elders.

Popular participation was all-inclusive and all-embracing, and it was a success story in Uganda between 1986 and 2006 under a Movement system. The first of the 10 now 15 point program of NRM emphasizes popular democracy, parliamentary democracy and a decent living.

Unlike the current multi-party winner takes it all system where even the loyal opposition is seen as an enemy of the state. In Ethiopia, neither the President nor the Prime Minister of Ethiopia is directly elected by the people by universal adult suffrage. They are elected by parliament acting as an electoral college. That is sham democracy.

African states Ethiopia inclusive, under pressure from donors, abandoned a mixed economy (for Ethiopia, it was feudalism before 1974 revolution and socialism after)) to a liberalised economy, which is not bad, but some states over privatized even vital and essential areas and cannot afford good welfare for their citizens.

So it is high time, we, Africans abandoned putting all the blame on the shoulders of colonialism and lack of liberal democracy.

There are other essential requirements for realizing national stability and tranquillity, and these include, among others, broad-based governance other than winner takes all, and a mixed economy where even foreign investors are required to have joint ventures with the states and or the indigenous people, and social welfare of the citizens.

Haji Ahmed Kateregga Musaazi is a Communications Assistant with Government Citizen Interaction Center (GCIC), Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and Deputy Spokesperson, Office of NRM National Chairperson