I am hearing contrasting views about how we should respond to the #Kofele killing. While some express their exasperation over the dismal coverage of the killing on social media, others call for a more cautious response. I sympathize with neither view. I do not grudge over other, presumably, independent minded people for not joining me in condemning the Kofele killing. Nor do I celebrate them for adding their voice to the chorus condemning the Kofele killings. Ultimately, how people chose to react will be a matter of personal decision. All I can talk about with certainity is my own position. I condemn the Kofele killing for the simplest of reasons: killing people is not anymore an acceptable manner of answering citizens grievances. We are in the 21st century, and in this connected, awakened and fast moving age, solving problems through guns is an extremely outdated approach. It is so outdated that the number of contemporary national governments that can potentially resolve to guns to quell citizens’ grievances is very, very rare. The time that we are living in call for a peaceful and democratic approach to solving problems. It is backwardness of the highest order to shoot on citizens in an attempt to suppress their questions. You can kill the people, but you can never kill their questions. It is with this conviction that I am urging the EPRDF government to liberate itself from its self-imposed backwardness and come to terms with the changing world order. If there is anything that the Arab Spring teaches us, it is that governments cannot continue to rule over an awakened populace with the barrel of the gun. It is up to EPRDF to take note!
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 00:58:09 +0000
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