Addis Ababa (PP Commentary) — If one organisation has lost its face as a result of the Ethiopian civil war, it is the African Union. As an organisation created to defend sovereignty of Afrcian nation states and, lately, interests of undemocratic regimes, it now more than ever seems powerless and visionless to persuade the Ethiopian government to return from the brink.
The Ethiopian government had organised militias fighting alongside its army against Tigray forces in a manner similar to 1990s Somalia civil war.
The AU has been unable to pressure Prime Minister Abiy to rethink his decision to wage a war against his people. In a statement released on the Ethiopian television last weekend Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed unsuccessfully tried to sell his war to the International Community. He is oblivious to calls for de-escalation.
There is a fear that Eritrea is already involved in the war. The African Union is a club for dictators who are united in the principle of sovereignty to give leaders a free rein to behave as they please against citizens’ wishes.
There are reports that people in the Amhara region fled to Sudan following massacres directed by the Ethiopian government. No doubt the civil war in Ethiopia will usher Africa in a new era in which repressive regimes will exploit the principle of national sovereignty and seek help from a neighbouring country to suppress its citizens.
What can be done to stop the civil war in Ethipia if the African Union remains silent on the unfolding tragedy that reminds people of the Rwanda genocide in 1994? There is a strong case against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who declared a war of ethnicities against one ethnicity in a multi-ethnic country.
The rationale to authorise a war against a region whose people conducted local elections is wholly unconvincing. The AU has had an opportunity to prove its mettle but it has failed miserably so far.
© Puntland Post, 2020
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