Imagine there was no Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) in all of the Anyuak villages bordering Nuer areas. Nuer would not have died daily like what is currently happening. But the Prime Minister, Dr Abiy, does not care about the Nuer lives in Gambella.
Why we say that is because he knew exactly that the Gambella National and Regional State goverment is incompetent and out of touch with the population it supposed to serve. People get kill in their dozens but the Gambella President, Ato Omot Ojulu, would not spare a thought one bit for the victims or their families.
Whenever a Nuer gets kill by his mob, he wanders around talking about developmental issues which shows not only incompetent leadership but an insult and a lack of respect to the victims and their families.
This is exactly the case for the July, 2023 massacre of the Nuer in a passenger bus near Abol Woreda by Anyuak Armed Terrorists. President Omot and his vice, Thankuey, went to Wanthoa woreda on plantation of trees, a project the Prime Minister lead to grow trees in Ethiopia. That itself is not a problem implementing it. But when the Gambella Hospital is packed with the Nuer dead and the wounded, it kinds of show disrespect as a leader to pretend it is not a problem.
President Omot is the most bias, most evil leader Gambella ever had. But despite so many reports by the military generals in the region reprsenting the office of the Prime Minister about President Omot not being up to his task, Dr Abiy is doing nothing.
Many thought Dr Abiy and the President of Gambella actualy forgot that the Nuer who are dying in the hands of Anyuak terrorists are the same human like they are. President Omot is determined to carry out the Anyuak goal which is the eradication of the Nuer in Gambella.
This is seen by his work. He allows the Anyuak criminals to go and kill Nuer in their homes, but does not take any action to arrest the killers saying he does not know who they are, where they live and where they came from.
President Omot surrounds every Anyuak village with the ENDF. In that the ENDF is used as a launching pad by the Anyuak terrorists in the sense that they go and hunt for Nuer on the roads and bushes and when they kill Nuer, they ran back to their villages telling the ENDF Nuer are organising to come and attack us.
They do that after every murder they carry and what does the ENDF do? The ENDF loads their arms ready to shoot at the Nuer who pursue the killers. The Nuer or mostly families of those attacked sometimes may pursue the killers and that comes as a last resort because there is no goverment that jail or punishes the killers especially if they are Anyuak. The Gambella Police or the military in the region all do nothing to bring perpetraors to justice.
In essence, the ENDF is seen by the Nuer as a party to the conflict helping the Anyuak because if there were no ENDF in those Anyuak areas adjacent to Nuer villages, the Anyuak terrorists would not have gone to hunt for Nuer knowing that Nuer would come for them.
But what do you do as a Nuer when the President is an Anyuak, allows his people to kill Nuer and at the same time protects his people from persecution. These Anyuak deserve no protection from ENDF because they are the one attacking buses, they are the one attacking people in their farms, they are the one attacking people in their homes.
They need to be left alone and that is the only way they will stop attacking Nuer and killing innocent people like what they did today. But many Nuer have cried so much to the Prime Minister ‘s ear to remove Omot and bring a new administration which will deal with crimes as President Omot is coward and unable to arrest criminals from his own people. Yet the Prime Minister does not want to do that.
He stuck with President Omot whose people did not vote PP. Someone needs to inform the Prime Minister that 70 percent of Anyuak voted Ezema. Could the Prime Minister explain how the Anyuak, which are the minority in Gambella could have the leadership even if they all voted PP? But that did not happen, they voted EZEMA but still, they are the leaders of Gambella. How does that makes sense? Also how would you keep someone that harbours criminals? Only Prime Minister Abiy keeps Anyuak leaders who harbour criminals.
This makes us to think that the Prime Minister is worst for Gambella and for the Nuer in general. Anyuak are killers and all they know in their life is killing throughout Gambella hisstory. They stop killing only when the leadership is strong. That was what happened during the Derg era. Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam created a strong militia force which hunted down the Anyuak terrorists in their woredas and kebeles and in return Gambella became calmer.
During Meles regime, the Anyuak started killing again as this mob are not good for democracy. Their killing spree on innocent people continued to the UNHCR and ARRA staff which prompted the federal goverment to response. That is what they called the Anyuak massacre and that saw a period of tranquility because the Anyuak never stop killing untill you kill them back. After that Gambella was calmed. But during Meles regime, there were so many Anyuak presidents as the late Prime Minister Meles did not entretain with their nonesense.
He keep trying good ones by removing incompetent leaders of Anyuak not knowing they are all such a comformative society where killing, financial mismanagement and perjury of justice stands on the rank of every Anyuak. Meles’s successor, Haile Mariam Desalegn followed suit and put justice first. Desalegn was not hesitant in removing failed leaders unlike Prime Minister Abiy who dine with the Gambella Murderers and incompetent leaders.
The blood that has been shed in Gambella with no accountability whatsoever is enough to make you think that Omot would have been in jail by now if the leadership in Addis Ababa was a person like Coloner Mengistu, Melese or Desalegn.
Many would wonder what hold the Prime Minister back from doing the right thing?
This might be tough to answer by anyone because in reality all Nuer are behind the Prime Minister and during the last election, 90 percent of them voted for Prosperity Party. It is fair to think the Prime Minister would have turned a deaf ear on the Nuer deaths if the Nuer were againsts him. But that is not the case. All Nuer are behind him not only in refelection during the last election but 90 person of the Ethiopian defence force recruits from Gambella are the Nuer.
They are in a lot of divisions in the infantry, in the airforce and in mechanised divisions. They are in the army fightinng fir their country while they are being stabbed at the back by the very Prime Minister they look upto and see as their leader. THe Prime Minister is quick, decisive and sharp in other regions such as in Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, Oromia, Somali or Tigray. But turned a deaf ear on Nuer deaths in Gambella.
Nuer should not be neglected and humilated this way. They are proud Ethiopians and will do everything to make Ethiopia great. The Anyuak on their part are looting funds, to finance the killing of the Nuer leaving every road in Gambella with patholes. With this resources the state goverment is using to kill Nuer. the misery of them will not stop unless President is remove and the only one to do that is the Prime Minister.
What is his problem?
Nobody know what really his problem for the Nuer is. But what he does need to know is that the Nuer are so loyal to him and any leader in Addis Ababa. There are so many Nuer in the Etiopian National Defence Force fighting to protect Ethiopia. Yet their mothers or brothers or fathers are being killed every day in the region by Anyuak and Prime Minister Dr Abiy is okay with that. Can he bring a change by putting Gambella in the state of emergency and ask the population to nomiatte who they think can serve the region better? Some one who is brave enough to make Law and Order issue Gambella is facing as an issue to tackle.
