Tigray Herald፡November 27,2024 (Mekele)
Enderta cries for Justice
Written by Bereket Kiros
My article focuses on the Enderta region, where things are upside down, and people are persistently deprived of living on their ancestral land. Enderta people are not in the spotlight as they should be and are denied justice; their pleas are ignored. It is a fraud designed to illegally snatch land from the people of Enderta for a fraction of what it is worth. The transaction was based on the production capacity of the land as farmed by a single farmer; subsistence level, a tiny fraction of what the land is worth when fertilized and mechanically framed. The broker was the government, and the buyers were cronies. Thus,the farmers of Enderta were dislocated and turned into beggars. Meles Zenawi’s bones must be rattling in his grave because he foresaw this and declared that land was the social security of the peasant farmer and was never to be bought or sold. The people’s cause was betrayed once again.
The persistent reappearance of evicting farmers from their ancestral land compelled me to write and illustrate the simmering discontent against TPLF and the current INTERIM Administration. They incessantly appealed for justice and were ignored. What happened in the Addis Ababa grand plan when thousands of Oromos were evicted with little petty cash
as compensation? They did not crawl away. They rose, and their rebellion led to removing
the EPRDF from power.
May I remind my readers in the words of a man who survived Nazi prison camps and atrocities as follows?: “First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a communist; then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew; then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.” Martin Niemöller, a victim of Nazi Germany.
Sadly, this drama is that the diaspora does not dare to utter a word to and support our citizens’ constitutional rights to live in their land for fear of reprisals from followers and members of TPLF who isolate and defame decenters. This tactic has been in play for many years and cannot continue as the new enlightened generation will conduct the people’s affairs at a much higher level of moral and ethical conduct. is to take these issues to the highest level possible. So far, the political environment has contributed to all forms of dispute and contradictions among the populace. Thus, the regional government is fully responsible for creating the current chaotic political processes in Tigrai. Arrests,intimidations, illegal detentions, rapes, false accusations, and killings were and still are not the answers to the crises in Tigrai, as these are the facts on the ground.
The peaceful and hard-working people of Enderta are victimized by illegal, drastic, and massive demographic displacements where the people are removed by force from their ancestral homes and farmland to be replaced by individuals from other parts of Tigrai.
This is intended to change regional demographics and keep dependent—the favored group,often loyal members of the ruling faction of the fractured TPLF.
In one of his rantings and foul remarks, Sebhat Nega said, “We will remove those poor Enderta people from their precious land and gentrify with our clans in Digdigta, Egrihareba, Quiha.” Most Tegaru who heard such outrageous and insulting remarks from a nonagenarian were appalled and devastated, especially the people from Enderta and, in
particular, the young from the Enderta area, who were totally incensed and rightfully angry
that Sebhat and the TPLF leadership betrayed the trust of the people to live in their
ancestral land.
In the case of Enderta, no public debates or serious professional studies were conducted
to justify such drastic demographic-altering acts of land nationalization. The Tigrai Kilil
administration has not issued legal instruments or court orders to remove people from
their land. What we witness before our own eyes is a drastic segregation and subjugation of
a community that had respected and obeyed law and order.
This lawlessness of political leaders and their supporters will lead to rebellion. Once such a civil uprising unfolds due to the removal and replacement of people illegally, it is
impossible to As an illustration, Maida Debri and Serawot was confiscated by Addis Alem
Balema, PhD and turned into a desolate building structure; previously used to feed the city of Mekele with its enormous surplus of grains and other agricultural products, The peasant
owners of the land are now wallowing in the town of Mekele; having lost their cattle and money ended as beggars and security guards of the illegally rich on their ancestral lands.
There was no evidence to justify removing people from their homes and land and replacing them with corrupt favored groups This is also a violation of the 1995 Ethiopian Constitution, international law norms, and basic Biblical and Qur’anic fundamental values. Bribery and
corruption engineered by TPLF cadres as part of family members and circles have eaten has deeply eroded the fabric of our society. This must be stopped, and every Tigrawaiti and Tigrawai must rally to return Tigrai to the status quo ante.
I implore all Justice and equality-loving Tegaru to join me and echo the agonal cries of
Enderta. True, I am Endertawai, but this call stems from a universal cause: justice denied.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, ” MLK said from Birmingham jail. Ihave advocated for minorities and the voiceless Ethiopians of different ethnicities and
minorities anywhere in the world. Please, do not dismiss this as ‘awrajawinet’/tribalistic
frustration and resentment; join me instead and protest the organized crime in Tigrai so that our people will resume their time-honored straight life regardless of how hard.
They will then seize the opportunity to scratch with their bare fingers and develop an honest life as they did before.
