Injera diplomacy and honouring heroes the Ethiopian way

L-R Ethiopia Foreign Minister, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, African Union Commission Chairperson, Dr Dlamini-Zuma and Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda share a meal of Injera at Mekele Airport, Ethiopia, on February 19.

What you need to know:

I could see the victims of Luweero Triangle, or those we lost in battles against the Lord’s Resistance Army, those who died in the war against the Allied Democratic Forces, and those we have lost in Somalia in the battle to pacify that country and combat terrorism.

When President Museveni delegated the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, to represent him at the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) in Mekele, Ethiopia, on February 17 and 18, Dr Rugunda in turn asked me to accompany him.
I did not know that the experience would leave lasting impressions on all of us.

The TPLF is a key partner in the ruling coalition in Ethiopia and one of Africa’s oldest liberation movements.

My previous travels to Ethiopia had always been to Addis Ababa to attend the African Union summits, but on this occasion, we were to go up north, to Mekele City, near the border with Djibouti.

When we reached Addis Ababa airport, we boarded another plane to Mekele, and in slightly over an hour, we were in this sprawling city, that is under heavy construction. The sight of mortars rolling cement, and the moving of bricks and blocks is a common sight across Ethiopia.

One person in fact commented that Ethiopia is the construction capital of Africa.

As we descended, we could see a huge structure-The Mekele Martyrs’ Memorial Monument imposing itself on the landscape of the city.

Standing 51 metres high, the monument is easily visible from every part of the city.
On its right and left stand sculptures of former fighters, farmers and weapons.

The monument was elected as a symbol of the thousands of women, men, students, farmers, youth who died in the struggle that led to the defeat of the Derg—a military regime of Mengistu Hailemariam.

Resistance rooted in student movement
In 1974, some Tigray students at Addis Ababa University established a political association called Tigray National Organisation (TNO). After continuous evaluation of the Derg regime, TNO decided that, the only way to overthrow the Derg military regime was through a rural-based armed struggle.

TNO held its final session on February 1975 in which it decided to start the guerrilla fighting at Dedebeit and changed its name to Tigray People’s liberation Movement. Later in 1979, the name was changed to Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

The February 18 celebration in Mekele marked the day in 1975 when 11 men, armed only with seven rifles, took to the forest to begin the fight against the Derg army – a move that triggered a popular struggle that eventually led to the Derg’s overthrow in 1991.

The Derg regime had come to power in 1974 after Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown.

The Derg ruled with an iron hand under the leadership of Mengistu Hailemariam. During his rule, thousands of Ethiopians fled the country. The regime became deeply unpopular due to ill-sought out policies and mass executions, which sent shock waves across the country.
The TPLF then went on to fight a guerrilla warfare, working with other movements, eventually leading to the fall of the Derg regime in 1991.
The late prime minister Meles Zenawi became the TPLF leader and set the country on a transformational journey that has seen the country become one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.

So, it was this milestone—of 40 years since that small student movement took up arms to fight a brutal regime.

Celebrations
On the evening of February 17, Dr Rugunda joined other leaders on a walk up the hill to pay last respects to the fallen heroes of that struggle.
It was, however, what happened on February 18 that would leave lasting impressions on us.

As early as 5am, hundreds of people—of all walks of life started trekking to Mekele city, walking long distances, mostly by foot to the 60,000-seater stadium where the main celebrations were to take place.

They beat drums and sang patriotic songs, hailing their fallen heroes for the sacrifice they made to secure the country.
You could tell that they had travelled from very far by the amount of dust that covered their feet. There were no trucks in sight to suggest that they had been transported by anybody to the venue.

The amount of commitment to mark their history and victory was enormous. In just a few hours, the stadium was full.

Lessons learnt
In my mind, many images came up: I could see similar images of the many gallant sons and daughters who we have lost in many of our own struggles to make Uganda free.

I could see the victims of Luweero Triangle, or those we lost in battles against the Lord’s Resistance Army, those who died in the war against the Allied Democratic Forces, and those we have lost in Somalia in the battle to pacify that country and combat terrorism.

When Dr Rugunda stood up to read President Museveni’s speech, he spoke about the shared relations between the two countries.

On our way back at Mekele Airport, Dr Rugunda found Ethiopia’s foreign minister Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr Dlamini-Zuma. He joined them in a conversation. Then all of a sudden, the foreign minister had an idea: he called the service ladies at the airport to bring a meal of Injera, a chapati-like meal that is the staple food of Ethiopia. He asked Dr Rugunda and Dr Dlamini-Zuma to join him in the eating.

Injera is best eaten with bare hands. As they started dipping their hands in the plateful of Injera, I couldn’t help but take a photo of the trio. I liked the photo of the three of them—hands in the plate.

I walked over to the foreign minister and told him: “Sir, you have really pushed diplomacy in a very creative way. I think we should call this injera diplomacy. He laughed so loud, and said: “Please share with me that photo.” I did. When we finally uploaded the photo on Facebook—it was shared 300 times, generated over 500 comments and 5,000 likes.

On our way back, we could not help, but keep remembering what we had seen in Ethiopia—a very effective way of honouring the heroes and heroines of the struggle. We were convinced that we have lessons to learn from the experience. And we have.

Priceless gems

Several dignitaries were in attendance: Rwanda’s Paul Kagame was there, and so was Sudan’s Omar – El- Bashir.

The President of Somalia was also present as was the Prime Minister of Djibouti. African Union Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma attended, plus several ambassadors accredited to Ethiopia.
The celebrations started with a display of Ethiopian innovation in science, culture and technology. There were demonstrations of the irrigation technologies the country is using to expand farming in the mostly arid parts.

As we were still getting over these scenes, a group of about 2,000 people—men, women and children marched in the stadium carrying framed photographs of the people who died or disappeared during the TPLF struggle to liberate the country from the Derg regime.

Each photograph spoke powerfully. Instead of saying many people died in the war, the pictures did not just tell—they showed it. It was emotional.

The writer is a communications adviser to the Prime Minister