WHAT EPRDF MEANS TO ME

I was driving to attend a panel discussion on HR2003 at the Ethiopian Television Network in Alexandria, Virginia, when a thought crossed my mind. My dad in Gara Kufa keeps bee hives in his back yard. He knows bees like the back of his hand. He knows how to nurture them, care for them and finally share in the product of their labors. I myself grew up on honey and milk. To this day there is Ethiopian honey at our home in Virginia.

So, as I was driving to the TV studio to debate the decadence of this thing called HR 2003, it occured to me that I was going to be labelled by my opponents, as an "EPRDF supporter" or even worse as a "woyane". My recent writings have started showing my true colors! I will debate the virtues of those labels at another time. But I wanted to concentrate more on "EPRDF" and what it means to. Trust me, the relationship of EPRDF and "bee or neb" did not cross my mind at that time.

In this metaphor, Ethiopia is the bee hive and EPRDF is the honey comb. The bees are the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia. The bees pouring their honey into the honey combs of EPRDF are the hard working Ethiopians, in and outside government, who protect their queen and believe in working together to make honey. The simile does not end here. There are other bees that are fighting and killing each other, instead of helping out. These bees have not realized their role in the honey making process, but are educable and can have their day in the sun, pardon the pun, if they decide to be helpful and join the army of worker bees, before it is too late. Kinijit is like these fighting bees.

There are other bees, perched outside the hive on a tree branch near by. They are quietly buzzing around some "fake queen", plotting and waiting to occupy the bee hive some day. Some are occasionally sent to fight, but they never make it back. These are the OLF, ONLF, EPPF, SNLF and all the "LF"s trying to empty the hive by force and occupy it themselves. They cannot see what is going on inside the bee hive. They have no idea that the skeleton of EPRDF is being filled with muscle and tissues and all other essential organs to make it full. Even their occasional advisors, who also reside outside the bee hive, like Hibret and EPRP, pontificate day in and day out about the emptiness of the hive and how it will soon be occupied by progressive forces. But you do not see them progress an inch closer to the bee hive. Our bees are not only making honey, but also the next generation of well-nourished and protected caretakers. These bees will not break up and go to another hive, but work and live together. When the time comes to harvest the honey, they will have plenty left over to feed others.

That is my visualization of EPRDF, a strong back bone to our ever growing freedom and democracy movement. We want to build on what we have, not destroy it and start from scratch. We want to feel it up with our good ideas and mature political opinions. We want to be civil in our disagreements and have the magnanimity to invite the other Ethiopians in the opposition movements for a dialogue of ideas. Most of all, we want to be law abiding citizens, who can change laws if it does not fit us, but do it legally. We do not need an HR 2003 or its kinds to tell us what to do. Our ever increasing favorable relationship with the United States of America will not be taken hostage with any HR, pass or fail.

So, when I walked into that studio to trash HR2003, I was armed to the teeth with the essential ammunition to blow the opposition away. I hope you will all have a chance to watch or hear that discussion and make up your mind about which side has the winning edge.