Few days ago, members of the federal government from the Prime Minister’s office came to Gambella to get an understanding of the root cause of violence in Gambella and how it could be solved. President Omot Lied not only to the Federal Government about the cause of Gambella Violence but also to Anyuak Murderers.
The Anyuak elite all of which dominate key positions in the Gambella Parliament were the players in the meeting. They chaired the meeting which also meant they were selective of who they want to speak among the Nuer Politicians. As you all know many Nuer politicians in the parliament were brought to power by the former president, Ato Gatluak Tut based on his own agenda, most of them were young and had no formal experience in politic.
They had no match to Anyuak politicians who served in different fields in the region before holding cabinet positions which they are now firmly maintaining to torture the Nuer population and they are very tribal in carrying the Anyuak agenda.
These Anyuak politicians failed to disclose the real problem the people of Gambella are facing and lied to the federal government that the root cause of the violence are the Nuer who want to grab power by force and the media which incites violence.
This is a white lie and in contrast to the Anyuak dream which want Gambella a region for the Anyuaks only. No Nuer, no Oromo, no Amhara, no Tigray, or any other person in Ethiopia to adopt Gambella and call it home. The Anyuak have been justifying this toxic view they held for a very long time by killing anyone in their path to create terror in the hope that fear will drive people away.
Last week, the head of the Ethiopian military in the region met with Anyuak in Abobo and the Anyuak told their plans for peace to come to Gambella which are:
- Nuer must leave Bereseb suburb of Gambella,
- Nuer must leave Itang and the surrounding
- All South Sudanese refugees in Gambella Region must be relocated to other parts of Ethiopia.
Those Anyuak are killers, farmers and villagers who do not know or understand the Ethiopian consititution. But because their view is against article 32 of the Ethiopian constitution which grant freedom of movement to any Ethiopians and right to live freely anywhere in Ethiopia, the Anyuak elite hide their agenda to the federal government when they had meeting because they knew it could not work.
What they manage to do is to act as barriers in the parliament protecting these criminals from persecution in the federal government by not devulging their goal which is dangerous to Nuer lives while at the same time protecting them from Nuer by deploying the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) after they go and kill Nuer.
President Omot dispatches ENDF to save Anyuak every time they go on attack on Nuer when Nuer try to respond to the killings on their people as the goverment is not doing anything. For even half of a second, Omot never talk about getting the Anyuak killers arrested. But when Nuer made a revenge, an act not shared by the Gambella Vision, the Gambella Prison becomes crowded with Nuer inmates everytime an Anyuak vanishes.
President Omot does not only let the Anyuak killers roam freely but he provides them with the mean to kill Nuer as was the case for Puldeng where he provided pickup trucks and police vehicles last year during Puldeng attack.
This is a sad situation not only because the Anyuak are protected after they kill Nuer but sad in a way that violence will have no end. These Nuer are Omot’s people because we all share the same state and the same country. But Omot does not see it that way. President Omot’s priorities are Anyuak agenda no matter the contents of their character.
The Information about the Anyuak expedition to Puldenfg was leaked to Nuer who then passed it to the ENDF overseeing the situation in Gambella. Omot was called by the military about that and his response was that those were not going for war but to burry people killed in recent fightings. The ENDF was satisfied with Omot’s answer.
But early in the morning, the Anyuak attacked the village killing innocent people. As Nuer never got defeated by Anyuak in an open field, the whole Anyuak expedition was humiliated. While they were chased in flood water, they called Omot who then called the same military he lied to 12 hours earlier to go and rescue the Anyuak reminants.
Many Nuer in the region see the Ethiopian military indicisive and a tool which favours the Anyuak course. This is exemplified by the presence of Ethiopian military in every Anyuak village in the river bank of Openo bordering Nuer Areas. The Anyuak mobs in those areas go and attack Nuer but when Nuer respond and chase them back, the military steps in and always eager to shoot at the Nuer not saying anything to the attackers.
The same method was applied by this military during Puldeng attack. A credible unbiased power would arrest culprits, but this is the situation Nuer are going through in Gambella. As for yesterday outcome of the meeting, the terrorist will continue to kill innocent people as long as they are protected by Omot and those Anyuaks in the Parliament.
That is not what everyone wanted. The terrorist needs to stop killing people and need to start obeying Article 32 of the Ethiopian constitution. Violence will not get them anywhere. Instead, Nuer will unite to the point where Gambella will be so hard to live for everyone. Right now, they are the Nuer who are are finding it tough to live in Gambella because of all the killings Anyuak are carrying out daily. Time for the federal government to intervene because the state leadership is not capable for a meaningful peace. They are just bunch of liars and tribal who want to carry a dream that will never materialise.
