Search:

Get Abyssinian Settlers Out of Shekacho Land - Save the African Forest

[ Posted On: 2008-07-05 ]

In an earlier article – call for freedom (published under the title 'Liberate the Shekacho Nation from the Abyssinian Tyranny – Stop the Shekacho Genocide Now!' - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/66247), I focused on the tyrannized nation of Shekachos, and published an 'Appeal to International Community to help the Innocent Shekacho People in South Western Ethiopia' released by Alemayehu Dasho, a Human Rights advocate.

In a second article (entitled 'The Shekacho Genocide – The 'Ethiopian' Final Solution for a Glorious African Nation - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/67206), I republished a report issued by IRIN on the Tepi killings carried out by the ruling Amhara and Tigray Monophysitic Abyssinians against the long tyrannized Shekachos, who are a very ancient and highly civilized African nation – undeservedly and shamefully disregarded by the supposedly democratic and humanist societies and administrations of Europe and America. I also published an Introduction on the Shekachos, first posted in the SEPAG website.

The Southern Ethiopian People's Action Group (SEPAG) is based in Reading in the UK and in the town of Masha, Sheka Zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' State (SNNPS), Ethiopia. SEPAG is a registered Charity in England and Wales (charity registration number 1070812); SEPAG was founded by members of the Shekacho ethnic group, but it is committed to working for the benefit of all people from the southwest of Ethiopia.

Continuing the Shekacho series, in a third article, (entitled 'Shekacho History: from Independence to Slavery in the Abyssinian Hell (Fake 'Ethiopia')' - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/67368), I republished from the SEPAG website an informative feature on the Modern History of the Ancient Nation of the Shekachos, who fell victims of the monstrous campaigns of the cruel and barbaric pseudo-king Menelik of the Abyssinians, Africa's most repugnant gangster and at the same time colonial England's best friend.

Brake Down 'Ethiopia' to Save the African Forest

In this article, I republish, from the same website, a feature focalizing on the present social, economic and environmental problems of the tyrannized Shekacho nation (http://www.sepag.org/Today.htm). The article exposes the paranoid and abnormal measures taken by the cruel, tyrannical Amhara and Tigray Abyssinian elites and administrations for a land that was not theirs, and of which they had no idea and no understanding.

The article highlights a rarely discussed issue, namely an additional reason that stands behind the introduction of the tyrannical measures imposed by the racist, dictatorial elites of the Monophysitic Abyssinians on the Shekacho Land: they were completely alien to the entire geo-morphological and environmental context in which the Shekachos had lived for centuries prior to the illegal Amhara invasion and tyrannical occupation.

Familiar with their own arid lands, the Amhara found the forest lands of Africa as an incomprehensible landscape, and alien as they were to it, they thought – in a most imbecile way – that the environment will follow their dictatorial directives. Thus, they utterly contributed to a socio-ecological disaster, which will take an immediate end, as soon as the abominable colonial relic 'Ethiopia' will be demolished and broken down to ten pieces.

The brief article sheds light on one more reason for which all the Shekachos passionately desire their independence and secession from the Abyssinian Hell that has been fallaciously re-baptized 'Ethiopia': environmental protection and preservation.

The Shekachos Today

The Derg was eventually brought down in 1991 by a coalition organisation of regional-ethnic party organisations called the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), although the real power behind this movement was the Tigrayan People's Liberation front (TPLF), led by the current prime-minister Meles Zenawi.

The EPRDF was ostensibly committed to creating a federal system, in which all the ethnic groups in the country would be given a voice. Tight control, however, was maintained over dissenting voices. In the election of 1995, for example, the regime banned regional-ethnic parties which were not part of the EPRDF coalition.

The Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State was created to encompass the ethnic diversity of the south west. The most scrupulous of governments would have found it difficult to create a fair administrative system in the area and southerners themselves have been only too ready to jostle for advantage.

As the name suggests the resulting state is something of a ragbag and, with the eyes of the government elsewhere (the Eritrean border!) and foreign NGOs largely concerned with the drought-prone north, the area has returned to a state of stagnation and even decline. The area faces a number problems, including –

• Underdevelopment

• Overpopulation

• Environmental degradation

Underdevelopment

Ethiopia is a poor country and health, education and infrastructure resources are thinly stretched. Nevertheless, the inequality of distribution in the south is evident to a casual visitor – roads are poorer, electricity more intermittent, schools and hospitals more scattered. From the nineteenth century the region was viewed as a backward area which could be ignored and this attitude continues today. Fewer students from the area enter higher education than from the centre or north of the country and there are correspondingly fewer southern voices to argue their case, either at a national level or among the international community.

Overpopulation

The population of Ethiopia as a whole is booming. Between 1967 and 1984 the highest annual growth rates were in Kaffa, Sidamo, and Shewa, ranging from 4.2 percent for Kaffa to 3.5 percent for Sidamo and Shewa. Kaffa and Sidamo are in the south. Such an increase was not entirely natural – the growth corresponds with the Derg's policy of shifting population groups from the north to the south. Migration into the area continues to be encouraged by the central government. The growth in population in a neglected area means that scarce resources are stretched even further. It also leads to the next, perhaps most urgent problem – environmental degradation.

Environmental degradation

Natural population growth in south puts considerable pressure on the forests – pastures are cleared, wooden taken for fires and so on. But there has a widespread belief among all twentieth century governments that the south is natural breadbasket which, made accessible, would solve Ethiopia's food problems – and have enough left over to make a profit. Coffee, after all, originates in the area and is the country's largest export earner. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. The government continues to encourage both peasant small-farmers and agribusiness exploitation, with the result that the land is slowly turning into a desert like much of the rest of the country. Large numbers of poor northern peasants also add another complicating factor to the sometimes tense relations between indigenous ethnic and caste groups. The issue of continuing villagisation will be discussed in the next section.

Continuing Villagization
http://www.sepag.org/ContVillagization.htm

In 2004 The Guardian newspaper printed a large photograph which showed an Ethiopian man sitting in the rain, with green foliage in the background. It was by Reuters photographer Anthony Njuguna and was captioned 'April Showers: Escaping Drought in Ethiopia'. Beneath it a couple of sentences read – An Ethiopian man sits in the rain on Sunday at a resettlement centre in Chawaka, 300 miles south west of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The government has launched a scheme to move two million people from drought prone to fertile areas, and so reduce reliance on food aid.

The optimistic picture and caption neatly expresses an interpretation of the situation which the current Ethiopian government would like people in Europe to accept. However, the situation is much complex than the photograph and its caption would have the newspaper's readers believe.

Abyssinian Settlements in the Shekacho Land: A Criminal Practice leading to Genocide

The current government claims that its aim in continuing to facilitate immigration into the area is to improve the lives of people from drought hit areas. The is laudable, but will this policy provide a long-term solution? SEPAG asks both the Ethiopian government and foreign NGOs to reflect on these points.

The current wave of sponsored immigration is perceived by the indigenous population as a continuation of the practice begun in the nineteenth century of expropriation and domination. This may not be case, but many local people will take some convincing!

The policy adds to instability. Ethiopia is an ethnically diverse country and the people must learn to live together. In practice, this is what happens most of the time. But existing tensions between ethnic groups and castes within Ethiopia already occasionally breaks out into violence and adding another potential cause of friction into a tense situation will only make things worse.

1. The groups who are being encouraged to move into the area do so reluctantly. Rather than seeing it as an opportunity, most view it as a form of exile. The photographs below show a recently abandoned resettlement village established by the government near to Tepi, in the Sheka zone. In this case the forest was cleared and buildings erected, both houses and communal buildings such as a veterinary centre. The settlers were given money by the government to encourage them to move. However, the settlement was remote and the settlers were unused to the rain and other environmental differences. Within two years they had all gone home. As each family left they burned their house down. Now all that remains are the locked communal buildings. The money and effort dedicated to this project by the government has destroyed an area of forest, without bringing any benefit to its intended beneficiaries.

2. The resettlement dispossesses local people. NGOs have generally concentrated on the plight of those forced to move and have ignored the problems it creates for the existing population. One of the few who has drawn attention to their perspective is Ethiopian sociologist Yntiso Deko Gebre (see Links) who has commented – Policy makers, funding agencies, and researchers often overlook the implications of resettlement for host populations. For example, resettlers and refugees usually receive aid, research coverage, and policy attention, while the plight of the host people remains largely unnoticed. My recent study in Ethiopia suggests that during massive resettlements, the host people, particularly powerless communities, are likely to encounter displacement and impoverishment risks similar to that of relocatees.

3. The forests of the south-west are not a bread basket that can provide inexhaustible good for the impoverished people of Ethiopia. They are fragile and, once gone, can not be replaced. Their destruction will leave Ethiopia even more impoverished. As the Conserve Africa report puts it – 'Environmental degradation contributes markedly to many health threats, including polluted air, dirty water, poor sanitation, and insect-transmitted diseases such as malaria. … Land degradation impacts are felt most keenly by the poor because they are forced to cultivate on river shores and marginal lands such as desert margins which get degraded more rapidly.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 51, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

| View Profile & All Articles By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis |

		Post Comment
		Blog This Article!
		Discuss Article in Forum(s)
		Publication \| Reprint Terms

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Green Energy Articles Via RSS!

| Category Feeds | All-in-one Feed | Other Feed & Syndication Options |

Additional Articles From - Home | Environment | Green Energy

How YOU Can Get IRS Refunds using Water Powered Car - By : Andris Valdoze
Biodiesel Fuel - By : David Tanguay

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email To Friends
	Ezine Ready \| Syndication
	Make PDF Article
	Post To del.icio.us
	Post To Furl
	Add To Google Bookmarks
	Submit To Netscape
	Add To Yahoo! My Web
	Add Main Feed To Outlook
	Post to BookMarks @ AfroArticles.com

	Post To BookMarkAfrica.com

Site Home

Article Categories

More Search Options

Site Map

Submit Articles

Top Authors

Most Recent Articles