DICTATORIAL NEEDS - AND EVOLUTION OF THE YPFDJ: By Biniam Yohannes

SEARCH FOR SECOND GENERATION CADRE:

A decade after independence, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), which won the war of independence from Ethiopian colonisation in 1991, had started becoming the very enemy it drove out during its 30-year popular struggle. In 1994, a year after a national referendum almost unanimously voted for independence from Ethiopia, the party had dropped the word ‘Liberation’ from its name and added ‘Democracy and Justice’. A national army was set up, an Eritrean currency circulated and a new constitution ratified. The first seven years of independence seemed to hold true promise for the future of the newly independent nation. But, even before the euphoria of independence had worn off, a border war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998. The war took a heavy toll on Eritrean politics, society and the economy. By 2001, a blame game within the party about the handling of the war had led to the imprisonment of major politicians and army commanders. The free press was shut down, the economy slowed and any freedoms that the people had enjoyed for the few years between independence and the war were taken away.

‘ፖለቲካ-ኣውራጃታት’፤ . . . ሓማሴን፡ ኣከለ-ጉዛይን ሰራየን፤ እተን ዝተርፋ ኣውራጃታት-ከ፧! ብ Mimi Mimo

ኣሮን ኣብራሃም ዝበሃል ደራፋይ ነይሩ። ሕጂ`ውን ይህሉ’ዩ። ግናስ ክደርፍ ገጢሙኒ ኣይፈልጥን - ኣብዚ ዳሕረዋይ ግዜ። ኣሮን ሓደ እዋን ሃቢቡ ነይሩ እዩ - ኣብ ኤርትራ። ኣብቲ ፈለማ 90ታት ሓዳስ ካሴት ሰሪሑን ብዙሕ እቶት ረኺቡላ`ውን ይበሃል። በቲ ናይ`ቲ ሽዕኡ መለኪዒታት ማለት እዩ። ህብቡነቱ ተጠቒሙ ከኣ ዑደት`ውን የካይድ ነይሩ እዩ - ኣብ ከተማታት ኤርትራ። ስለ`ዚ ድማ፡ ሓደ ግዜ ኣብ ከረን ምርኢት ከቕርብ ኣብ ‘ጆኮ ከረን’ (ሜዳ ኲዕሶ እግሪ) ተረኺቡ።

ኣሮን ምስ ደርፍታቱ ጽቡቕ ከዘናግዖም ኣምስዩ ንመንእሰያት ከረን። ኣብ መንጐ እውን እንተስ ብገርሁ እንተስ ብጉርሑ ከዘንግዖም ሓሲቡ ነይሩ እዩ።

“ጉጅለ 03”፡ በዚ፡ ‘ጾመ-ሰማእታት’ ትእውጅ! - በዚ፡ 'ፉል-መሰላሕ' ትትብትቦ! ብ Dessale Berekhet

እቲ ልክዕ ዓመተ ምህረቱ ቁሩብ ተደራቢሹኒ’ሎ። ኣብ 2000ን ገለ እዩ። እታ ዕለት ግን ልክዕ ከምዛ ሎሚ - 20 ሰነ እያ ነይራ። ኣብዛ ኣብ ስእሊ ትርእዪዋ ዘለኹም ማእከላይ ቤ/ጽ ህግደፍ እየ ዝሰርሕ ነይረ። ሻዕብያ፡ “ጻዕዳ-ገዛ” ኢሎም ድዮም ዝሕጭጩላ ንWhite-House ናይ ኣመሪካ፧ እዚኣ ገዛ እዚኣ ከኣ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጸላም ገዝኡ እያ። ኣሎ ዝበሃል ተንኰላትን ክፍኣትን፡ ኣብዛ ‘ጸላም-ገዛ’ እዚኣ እዩ ዝጥጃእ። ንሱ ግዲ የለን፤ መዓልቱ ሓሊና ክንምለሶ ኢና።

ኣብቲ ውሽጢ እዚ ቐጽሪ፡ ‘ብእንዳ ወርቁ’ ዝፍለጥ ንእሽቶ እንዳ ሻሂ ‘ካንቲን’ ነይሩና። ሕጂ እውን ኣሎ። ወርቁ ንልቢ ዘንብዕ ዛንታ እምበር፡ ምንም ወርቂ ኮነ ውላድ ዘይብላ ዘይተነበት ሰብ እያ። ሓንቲ ካብተን ሻዕብያ ከም ብዕሪር ሓይኹ ዝተፍኤን ደቀንስትዮ - ኤርትራ። ዛንታ ወርቁ እውን ንሎሚ ዛዕባናን ኣይኰነን እሞ ክንሰግሮ። 

ስውእ ብህይወት እንተዝነብር-ከ፧! ብ Mimi Mimo

ትዕዝብቲ ቁ. 1

ካብ ኣስመራ እየ ወጋሕታ ተበጊሰ። ነቶም ኣብ ከረን ዝነበሩ ስድራይ ንኽርኢ። ኣማስያይ ከኣ ከረን በጺሐ። ኣውተቡስ ንምርካብ ኣብ ሃለኽ-ለኽ ስለ ዝወዓልኩ እምብዛ ደኺመ ነበርኩ። እንታይ እዋነይ ናብ ዓራተይ ከም ዝወደቕኩ እውን ኣይተረድኣንን።
   

ነቶም ብሃንቀውታ ክጽበዩኒ ዝጸንሑ ስድራይ እውን ሰላምታ ኣጽጊበዮም እንተ ነይረ እውን ኣይዝክርን። እታ ተወሊደ ዝዓበኹላ ከተማ ከረን ተደቅሰኒ እያ። ጥዑም ድቃስ እኳ ድኣ! ከቢድ ሩፍታ ዘለዎ ድቃስ፡ ኣብ ከረን ጥራይ እዩ ዝወስደኒ ዝነበረ። ኮይኑ ኸኣ ሽዓኣ ለይቲ እውን ሃመይን ቀልበይን ኣጥፊኤ እየ ዝደቀስኩ።

The Eritrean Revolution: Born from a 'Shifta' father, produced a 'Shifta' system – part 2 and final

We have read the documents in part one regarding the affairs of shiftas and their crimes in the 1940-1950s. Let’s now see the issue critically. Whose narrative is true? Let us start with open and curious mind and with open questions. Let us freeze our previous knowledge and do not block our mind to receive new information we have never known before. To do that we have to approach the issue using the following questions:

1. 1.    Was Awate a shifta?
2. 2.    If yes, was Awate involved in criminal activities during his banditry life?