|
The Need for a Robust and Coordinated Humanitarian Response
Desta Asgedom 07-01-21
Background: The people of Tigray are peace loving, law abiding and hardworking people who want to grow, prosper, and aspire for change and for a better life. That is the purpose of life and living. They want to identify themselves with their history, preserve and enjoy their cultural identity and be the sole determinants of their destiny, which is a fundamental right of any society. But this has been met time and time again with wars of attrition, depopulation, and coerced assimilation of Tigrayans by successive Amhara led regimes for nearly a century. During this period, the people of Tigray have suffered too much for too long from various wars of internal and external in nature. In part, to defend their country from foreign invaders and in part, to maintain their cultural and national identity against Amhara led governments of Ethiopia. Without going back to the details of previous wars waged against the people of Tigray in every 40 years interval on average, suffice is to mention the most recent 17 year-long (1974-1981) and bitter armed struggle of the people of Tigray in their pursuit for self-determination against the Amhara led Dergu regime. They have paid enormous sacrifices, but the victory was uniquely important in the sense that it introduced a federal system of government and had instituted a constitution that guarantees equality among nations and nationalities of Ethiopia although with some shortcomings that require open public discourse. It brought very impressive economic growth, law and order and peace in the country. But with the massive youth unemployment and widespread corruption, change of leadership became inevitable within the EPRDF. PM Hailemariam resigned and was replaced by Abiy Ahmed in a peaceful transfer of power which surprised many that this was happening in Africa. The newly elected PM Abiy Ahmed received an overwhelming support including from the TPLF leadership and the people of Tigray but, soon evaporated when Abiy Ahmed started assailing the TPLF and the people of Tigray in general with words of hate that undermine and belittle their history. Abiy Ahmed was doing this in every speech of his public address, in the House of Representatives and his cabinet ministers galvanizing support to advance his heinous agenda. He was able to create an atmosphere of open hostilities towards Tigrayans. As a result, tensions between the TPLF and the federal government led by Abiy Ahmed were running high from time to time for nearly two years. Side by side the Amhara elite, the arch enemy of the people of Tigray has been beating a drum of war to annex Wolkayit, Tsghede and Raya and formed a united front with Abiy Ahmed to advance their conspiracy. But they both realized that they did not have the military capability or the know how to go it alone. So, they had to look for more groups or countries to join the conspiracy. In deeded, they found many. Abiy Ahmed, Isaias Afewerki, the leaders of Amhara region, Mohammed Formajo of Somali and the UAE government have coalesced and agreed to carry out a genocide. I do not know whether the UAE and Somalia knew the extent of the details. But Abiy Ahmed, Isaias and leaders of Amhara region agreed on every detail of the genocide. They have instructed and ordered their troops to carry out indiscriminate mass killing of anyone seven-year-old and above, systemic, and violent rape of women of every age, looting, and burning of properties, public and private of social and economic infrastructure. This is what happened in Tigray and the world have witnessed. The main objective of this piece is therefore, first, to provide a base line information on the economic performance of Tigray prior to the war of genocide. Secondly, to formulate a method for estimating of the economic destruction. This will be used as an approach for conducting field-based assessment of an estimated fund needed for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Tigray.
Thirdly, the paper tries to suggest a way forward on the need for a coordinated and a comprehensive humanitarian response among major stakeholder (Tigray government, Tigray Development Association, Relief Society of Tigray, the diaspora community of Tigray), the international development and humanitarian organizations. What was the economic development like in Tigray before the genocidal war? After the downfall of the Dergu regime in 1991, the political, social, and economic outlook of Ethiopia changed dramatically. The EPRDF government instituted a constitution and established a system of federal government which accords the highest power and due recognition to the different nations and nationalities of Ethiopia. The economy of the country grew in double digits for over 15 years making Ethiopia a rising star globally and a hope for sub-Saharan countries. Tigray also shared the same level of growth and opportunity. Its Gross Domestic Product (ETB140 billion) grew by 21% on an average and GDP per capita also increased from USD100 in early 1990s to USD850 between 2019, reducing the number of people living under extreme poverty. With relatively efficient budget utilization, better fiscal discipline and better implementation capacity of government projects, Tigray was making significant progress across all economic and service sectors. In the last 21 years (1998 to 2019 fiscal year), Tigray received a total of ETB49.78 billion in aggregate or 6% of the total federal grant ETB829.78 billion distributed to regions in the same period. In the rank of order, Oromia 33%, Amhara, 21.2%, South, 19.73%, Somalia, 9.79%, Tigray, 6%, Afar, 2.96%, Addis Ababa, 1.87%, Benshangul-Gumuz, 1.8%, Gmabella, 1.31, Dire Dawa, 0.86, Harari, 0.75% receive on average of the total federal grant. But Tigray also contributed 41% of the subsidy from its internal revenue collection, by far the highest of any region or the average 30% set by the House of Federation. In total, the region collected a total of ETB20.4 billion revenue from its internal business activities making the total budget of Tigray ETB70.15 billion in aggregate over the 21-year period. This amount of capital was invested on the various social and economic sectors based on their comparative advantage. The education sector gets 20%, the highest followed by construction, 13%, water, 11%, health, 8%, trade, 8%, agriculture, 6% and technical vocational, 4% in that order. Over 2,200 elementary and secondary public schools, 125 technical and vocational public colleges were built by the regional government and Tigray Development Association (TDA), creating huge opportunities for 1.5 million school children and youth. A good number of schools and colleges were also established by the private sector. These schools and vocational colleges were relatively equipped with the necessary educational materials, such as lab equipment and computers from the government’s own budget and largely from diaspora Tigrayans and donations from international development and humanitarian organizations. With tens of thousands of youths graduating from colleges and universities every year and as more and more skilled personnel enter in the labor market, productivity and production began to increase both in terms of quality and quantity across all sectors. Even then, there is a massive youth unemployment as the rate of economic growth is unable to catch up with. But the regional government was working on two fronts to deal with the problem head on. This is to increase budget for training on practical skills and expansion of micro and small enterprises on one hand and diversifying the sphere of social and economic activities by involving and incentivizing the private sector on the other. In the public health sector, several health posts were established at village or tabia level, health centers and general hospitals in cities and major towns, resulting in a significant increase of service coverage in Tigray and neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara. What is more, these health facilities were coordinated and interlinked by assigning over 200 ambulances that transport patients from rural health posts to health centers and hospitals, making it the best health system in the country. Access to health facilities especially in the rural community was improving, both child and maternal mortalities were decreasing. The coverage of clean drinking water reached 68% on average both in rural and urban areas according to reports of the federal government, 2019 resulting in a significant impact in reducing water borne diseases in the population. With the introduction of modern agricultural technologies and improving the capacity of the small holder farmer, production and productivity enhancement and commercialization of the agricultural sector have improved. Demand for varieties of agricultural produce was increasing due to emerging urban consumer and a growing urbanization. The rural farmer has been responding to these changes. Farmers have started producing different kinds of produce and based on market demand. These changes are vivid both in the crop and livestock sector. Dairy development was flourishing in urban and suburban areas. Overall, the livelihood of the rural population has started improving. Tigray’s economy which was once a largely dependent on subsistence agriculture began to show modest structural transformation in which trade and the services sectors became competitive in their contribution to the overall economy, services 37%, Agriculture 36.7%, and Industry 26.3% in 2016/2017. Road connectivity has expanded appreciably improving transport and communications services between woredas and zones, and between urban and rural. This sector has a huge multitude effects in improving trade and investment, access to social and economic amenities by all communities. About peace and security, while conflicts along ethnic lines were raging in many parts of the country instigated by Abiy Ahmed in a deliberate attempt to centralize power, Tigray was an exception to this and synonymous with peace, social harmony and development, a preferred place for living and investment. According to reports from the region in early 2020, ETB43 billion worth of gross private investment was made in Tigray, creating thousands of jobs. There were textile, leather, shoe and plastic factories, marble, quarry, cement, gold extraction, dairy, and fruit processing plants. Investment in the services sector, hotels, banking, and IT was steadily growing creating tens of thousands of job opportunities in the region. In all, the people of Tigray had worked hard sweated for and have invested so much physically and financially, both individually and collectively in the fight against poverty. From the meagre income they have, they pay taxes and understand that it is their duty. They raise money to build public schools and health facilities and those who are educated, they volunteer to offer their professional services at no cost for a better tomorrow. But on the opposite pole, the Amhara elite, Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki were effectively working day and night in planning and preparing to carry out unprecedented atrocities, crimes against humanity, economic destruction and in sum a genocide over the people of Tigray, Indiscriminate mass killing, ethnic cleansing, systemic and violent rape, destruction of social and economic amenities, causing mass starvation and demeaning of sacred religious institutions which are the sources of moral codes that shaped the moral and cultural values and history of the people of Tigray are the key strategies of the genocidal war. All these zooms to extermination. The Magnitude and Extent of Devastation This is the largest war ever fought in Ethiopia. Various sources estimate that 42 division command from Eritrea, 12 division command from Ethiopia with a combined total of 620,000 troops, over 100,000 special forces from Amhara and other regions of Ethiopia, including five thousand from Somalia were deployed to Tigray. What is more, they are equipped with the latest military technology including one of the most advanced drones from the UAE. Comparing the magnitude of the destruction of the war and the size of troops deployed with that of the geographic size of Tigray (53,000 sq. kms) and a population (6 million), there are 13 soldiers per sq. km and 1 soldier for every 12 people. It is well planned and executed by Abiy Ahmed and Isaias that no village is spared from this genocide. Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara forces were everywhere. If they were not fighting, they were killing innocent civilians, and if they were not killing, they were raping, looting, and burning of properties. According to various reports, the number of innocent civilians brutally killed ranges from the lowest 100,000 to 200,000 and 22,000 of violent and systemic mass rapes of girls as young as five-year-old, women and nuns as old as 60, over one and half million people are displaced and are put in temporary shelters, 6,000 children are left without parents and more than 63,000 have fled to Sudan. 91% of the population of Tigray is need of aid of which 350,000 people are in a dire situation and could die from starvation any time unless they receive food aid and medication urgently, according to field reports of humanitarian agencies. As the winter season is approaching fast, the situation of the displaced could deteriorate soon, putting the lives of many at risk. Already shelters are blown away by windy rains on refugee camps both in Tigray and Sudan. Health matters could worsen from malaria and possibly chlora pandemic from insanitary conditions, transportation could be drastically curtailed due to muddy roads making humanitarian response operation extremely difficult. What is more, June and July are major planting seasons and if framers are unable to plant this season, thinking on what possibly could happen next year is a nightmare. Therefore, it requires support of the international community, cooperation, and coordination of all stakeholders to mobilize the needed resources. Tigrayans in the greater diaspora are deeply grateful for the relentless efforts being made by the international humanitarian organizations, USAID, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, Doctors without borders (MSF) and others to save the lives of Tigrayans under extremely risky security situation. Economic destruction is also another major objective of the genocide which could ensure derailing economic development of Tigray by at least fifty years or more. The army of both countries and the savage Amhara militia was given strict orders from its superiors to carry out massive destruction of social and economic infrastructure, destroy livelihoods at household level. Industrial complexes such as textile, leather, and shoes factories, marble, quarry, and food processing plants public or private were destroyed, in most cases beyond repair. Their machineries were vandalized, looted, and burned jointly by Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara forces. Thousands of vehicles that belong to individuals, company and government are taken to Amhara and Eritrea. Tigray’s health system is the best in the country known for its higher accessibility and coordination from health post at rural village level to hospitals in cities. This sector is another important target of the destruction. The enemy knew beforehand that there was going to be a massive displacement of people that has the ability of causing a widespread humanitarian crisis of significant proportion, accompanied by mass starvation and insanitary conditions. The enemy also knows that denying these two (starvation and insanitary) would expedite their evil objective of extermination. Hence, destruction of health facilities was the number one priority. The army viciously looted every fixture of the interior infrastructure of every health facility such as lab equipment, machinery, computers, refrigerator, medication, furniture, files destroyed, smash windows, and vandalized doors, and demolished the entire facility. Whatever the soldiers think is important they ship it to Eritrea and Amhara. Worst of all, the soldiers killed, tortured, and arrested medical personnel. Some of these hospitals are used to treat wounded soldiers only and were closed to the public. According to reports of doctors without borders (MSF), 70% of the health facilities are unable to provide services of any kind currently. As a matter of record, the list of health facilities in Tigray are presented below: General hospital=15 Specialized hospitals=2, Primary hospitals=22 Primary care centers=216, health posts=712, private health facilities=500 The education sector is another but a major target of the destruction because this is the system where nation builders are produced, and the enemy must make sure that this is destroyed. A large percentage of schools elementary or high school have been looted and vandalized, their structures damaged, and demolished. Some of these schools are turned to a military base. Federal universities are also looted, some are used as military base. A good number of university lecturers and students have been killed in mass. Since starvation is consistently used as a weapon of the genocide, destruction of the agriculture sector which is the only livelihood of the rural population and a source of food supply for the urban population was among the priorities of the enemy. The destruction is carried out house to house. Farm crops and seed grains are looted and burned to ashes; farm implements are destroyed so that farmers would be unable to plant for next season. Irrigation infrastructure is dismantled, private investment of hundreds of thousands of hectares of different varieties of vegetables and fruits like mango, orange, papaya, and banana trees are destroyed. The destruction is not limited to property, but they are attended with mass killings, rape and uprooting of famers from their original dwellings. These descriptions do not tell it all, the pain, anguish, and grief felt by the victims at the hands of the perpetrators. Looking Forward-The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Process At this very moment, our soul, energy, knowledge, and finance are to rehabilitate the people, especially those who are displaced and bring back Tigray to its normalcy. We must pursue our plea to the international community to lend hands in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Tigray. Alas! To the relentless effort exerted by Tigrayans in the greater diaspora in informing the international community by explaining the facts on the on-going genocide a great deal has been achieved so far in making Tigray a global agenda. This needs to be pursued with resolute for a long time to come although the modes operandi might change accordingly. Now that both aggressors are decimated and humiliated in the eyes of the world arena, the work of the diaspora could be divided into two main components, namely, public diplomacy by reigning over the social media and mobilization of resources, both in kind and finance. Rehabilitation of the Displaced With 91% of the people of Tigray or an estimated 5.5 million people need aid 350,000 of which are currently facing starvation, reaching out to these people with adequate supply of food and the necessary medication would be a matter of urgency. Since the start of the war, close to two million people are displaced within Tigray and over 60,000 have fled to Sudan. Most of these are from western Tigray. They are brutally dispossessed of their properties, faced ethnic cleansing at the hands of the savage Amhara militia and left their homes with horror. These people not only do they need food and shelter urgently, but also need medical treatment that could relieve them from their physical and mental trauma. Once the savage Amhara militia and Eritrean forces are out from Tigray one way or the other, the displaced would be returned to their places with the attendant of humanitarian assistance for them to settle down safely, and gradually resume normal life. The rehabilitation process needs to consider the demographic characteristics of the displaced as the need of each group varies. There are rural farmers whose livelihood is farming and those who are urban who were either self- employed or civil servants before the war. There are also students for whom schooling was disrupted for an extended period partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and mainly by the war. Farm implements and various seeds that take shorter period to mature, cash assistant for purchasing cattle, sheep/goat, chicken needs to be provided. In general, the need of each category of the displaced needs to be determined. Rehabilitation of health and school facilities The exact number of health facilities destroyed will be determined, the extent of the damage will be assessed and valued in monetary terms. Doctors without borders (MSF) and UNICEF are doing incredible job in assessing the status of the overall health system and its facilities while providing firsthand medical treatment for the most affected. For instance, MSF-Medicin sans frontiers have already visited 106 health facilities and have assessed their situation and found out that one in three of the health facilities visited is looted and vandalized of its internal fixtures which includes laboratory equipment, computers, medication, furniture, medical records destroyed, their windows and doors are broken, and some are demolished. The medical group also has mobile clinics and is providing treatment in many parts of Tigray. Similarly, UNICEF is providing a comprehensive humanitarian support such as nutritious food and health for malnourished children and their mothers. It is doing a tremendous amount of work in identifying 6,000 children without parents among the displaced and helping over 750,000 children. A complete inventory of the school system is a huge one with over 2000 schools, four federal universities. Schools are looted, vandalized, burned, and even demolished. Most of them have been used as a military base. About the rural population, the livelihood of the rural farmer is destroyed, and the task of rehabilitation is a bit complicated compared to other sectors. Farmers have lost their livestock, farm implements and, in most cases, their homes. The need is enormous. These needs must be met to settle the farmers. But nothing is impossible for the Tigrayan farmer if peace is restored and is back to his dwelling. All they need is a little push at the start. The level of destruction could also be easily assessed, and the level of intervention determined. Preliminary Assessment and estimation of the economic destruction in monetary terms based on market price in birr as of 2020. 1. Public investment made in the las 21 years across all sectors=70.15 billion birr 2. Private investment made in the last 21 years=43 billion but assume that only 50% were operational=43x0.5=21.5 billion Subtotal A= 91.65 billion 3. Private-rural livelihood= agriculture sector=livestock +crop There are 4.9 million cattle, =4.9mnx10,000=49 billion (assume 10,000 birr/single cattle) Goat/sheep, 4.9 million=4.9mnx4000=19.6 billion (assume 4000 birr/goat/sheep) Donkeys, 900,000=900,000x15,000=13.5 billion (assume 15,000 birr/donkey) Beehives, 343,243=25kg/beehive=343,243x25kgx600=5.1 billion (assume one beehive produces 25kg per year and the cost for one kg is 600 birr)
Poultry, 6.3 million=6.3mnx300=1.9 billion (assume 300 birr/chicken)
Camels, 46,436=46,436x50,000=2.3 billion (assume 50,000 birr/camel)
About crop, 26 million quintal was estimated for 2020- year harvest. Crop, 26 million=26mnx4000=104 billion (assume 4000 birr/qt) Subtotal B=104 billion birr
4. Grand Total=A+B=195.4 billion birr 5. If destruction is 100%=195.4 billion birr 6. If destruction is 70% across all sectors=136.78 billion birr 7. If destruction is 60% across all sectors=117.24 billion birr 8. If destruction is 50% across all sectors=97.7 billion birr 9. If destruction is 40% across all sectors=78.16 billion birr 10. If destruction is 30% across all sectors=58.62 billion birr
Sector wise public investment as a percentage of total:70.15 billion birr Education (20%)=70.15x0.2=14.03 billion birr Public health (8%)=70.15x0.08=5.61 billion Agriculture (6%)=x0.06=4.21 billion Construction/road (13%)=70.15x0.13=9.12 billion Trade/industry (8%)=70.15x0.08=5.61 billion Water (11)=70.15x0.11=7.72 billion Technical vocational (4%)=70.15x0.04=2.81 billion Subtotal=49.11 Administrative budget (22%)=70.15x0.22=15.43 billion Contingency (8%)=70.15x0.08=5.61 Subtotal=21.04 Grand total=70.15 billion The level of destruction on each sector could be calculated the same way as above from 100% to 30% destruction. Roughly, a total amount of 195.4 billion birr have been invested over the last 21 years by the people of Tigray. This could be an input for a complete sector-based inventory of the destruction.
Responsible Bodies of the genocide and economic Destruction All responsible bodies who led the genocide must be brought to justice and be held accountable for the massacre of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and brutally raped women and young girls. They must pay the compensation for the socio-economic destruction they have caused which would be assessed by neutral bodies in cooperation with the government of Tigray.
1. The Ethiopian government 2. Amhara regional government 3. The Eritrean government 4. United Arab Emirates (UAE) 5. The Somali government
Major Stakeholders in the implementation of the rehabilitation and reconstruction 1. The government of Tigray has proven experience from the 1977 humanitarian crisis. It has Highly Decentralized administrative structure which could facilitate a smooth process of rehabilitation and reconstruction programs.
2. Relief Society of Tigray-has four decades of experience in the distribution of humanitarian aid such as food, clean drinking water, credit provision and management of micro-finance to those most in need. 3. Tigray Development Association-has three decades of development experience in the construction of schools, clinics, equipping schools and health facilities with strong links with Tigrayans worldwide.
4. Global Society of Tigrayan Intellectuals -repositor of scholarly research studies on socio-economic development of Tigray, professionally linked with international institutions and will have access for collecting equipment for health and school facilities, could provide professional service for counseling of rape victims and others who are undergoing through trauma of any sort, conduct assessment of the damage sector by sector and chart out the way forward. This is the force that Tigray could greatly count on in building economically strong Tigray.
5. Diaspora Tegaru-worldwide-this is a dynamic force of young generation with incredible talent and professionalism in the state-of-the-art digital communication, and public diplomacy, has unleashed this skill and demolished both Abiy Ahmed’s and Isaias Afewerki’s foreign policy and diplomatic apparatus, amazingly galvanized support of the international community in this extremely difficult period in Tigray’s history. They could easily mobilize a huge amount of resources both material and financial needed in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and beyond.
International Humanitarian and Development Agencies Now the diaspora could easily enter Tigray through Sudan and assess the situation and find ways to coordinate with the government of Tigray and international organizations. Most importantly we need to get organized around functional groups for efficient and effective mobilization of resources. 1. USAID-has programs for humanitarian assistance and development assistance, has proven track record of working in the field in Tigray, knows and has helped Tigray in many sectors-education and agriculture, in partnership with TDA implemented different projects in the education sector. Currently providing a coordinated humanitarian response in the field in Tigray and working hard to save lives.
2. WFP-currently in the field in Tigray as part a coordinated humanitarian response, provides food aid, working hard to save lives.
3. UNICEF-assisting the children of Tigray, they are in lifesaving mission.
4. MSF (Medicine’s sans frontiers)-providing treatment under exceedingly difficult situation using their own mobile clinic, started rehabilitating some health facilities and making them operational.
5. Oxfam UK, Canada, CIDA, Save the Children and many others I believe are involved in helping the lives of our people.
Conclusion: After living through a turbulent history of disillusion, illusion, myth and mythology of Ethiopia and Ethiopian ism for centuries, we Tegaru have finally awaken to find the truth of our cultural and historical ties visa vie with the rest of Ethiopia. The truth is prevailing. But since this is overly broad issue that deserves merit of in-depth analysis, I would rather leave it that and stick to the message that this paper would like to convey. However, and undoubtedly so, the price paid by the people of Tigray throughout the last century to date is beyond the scope of any metric. This genocidal war if in deeded is over is perhaps one of the most horrific crimes committed by mankind which has galvanized world attention. Though more in words than deeds and I simply wonder why this happened to be the case. And out of an utter frustration, I tended to put forth some questions as follows. How could the world allow for these two butchers, Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki to do whatever they wish? When and how does the ICS apply the law? How many and what kind of evidence does it take for the court to bring them to custody? It is true that we have lost more than one hundred thousand precious lives of innocent civilians, boys, girls, young and old in a gruesome massacre, over 22,000 women violently raped, most of them had to endure a permanent physical and mental disability. Millions are brutally dispossessed and forced out of their homes and are now living in temporary shelters. The situation is terribly dire. But thanks to the international community, a good number of humanitarian organizations are making every effort to reaching out and save lives. Now that the government of Tigray is back to its citadel, Mekelle they would use their proven experience from that of 1977 in establishing a coordinated, and robust humanitarian response to avert a looming catastrophe. Humanitarian aid is going to operate without any impediment upon a complete clearing off all enemy forces from every corner of Tigray.
The economic destruction is devastating. Public and Private investments are destroyed. But Tigray is at a much higher base line of human resource development index now compared to what it was after the victory over the Dergu in 1991. The number of diploma and B.A. holders was too insignificant let alone professionals. There was acute shortage of engineers, public health professionals, qualified teachers, agricultural experts, and accountants, etc. As a result, it was extremely difficult to implement development projects across all sectors as planned and it took quite some time to reach the level we are now. Now there are tens of thousands of engineers of all kinds, electrical and electronics, communication, computer, IT, mechanical, civil, water, agriculture, and chemical. Similarly, there are thousands of public health professionals, medical doctors, public health, pharmacists, and nurses. We have experts in finance/banking in thousands. There is also a huge number of low-level skilled manpower working in factories, construction, in micro and small enterprises. With this manpower Tigray is going to be rehabilitated, new schools, health facilities, factories, and roads will be built with better know how, and faster than what it was both in terms of quality, quantity and using latest technologies. Victory: It is a matter of public record, that the despotic regimes (Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki) have deployed over half a million troops in the eight months war of genocide. It is this size of an army pulled from three countries and supplied with the latest military logistics that has been swept aside by Tigray Defense Forces within days. TDF which started with merely ten thousand special forces and few thousand militias, fighting day in day out for the first three months had quickly upgraded itself into a formidable force in due course. But still there was no match both in number and military armaments with that of the Ethiopian and Eritrean army. The final military showdown that completely paralyzed both Abiy Ahmed’s and Isaias’s army and brought to submission was named after a great African general, called Alula Aba Nega. This is incredible and make Tegaru wherever they might proud. Ultimately, economically, and militarily strong nation, Tigray will be realized. Tigray Prevails!!
Desta Asgedom Economist and Applied Mathematician Founding Member-TDA Founding member -Mekelle Institute of Technology Lecturer Hunter College-City University of New York Senior Value Chain Development Specialist, UNFAO Co-authored research studies in agricultural value chain, For Industrial Park development in Ethiopia, UNFAO/UNIDO Twitter:: @AsgedomDesta
|