Tight celebration of Nationalities’ Day in Jijiga shows Region’s instability: Observer

An Ethiopian government official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said to ESAT that during his stay in the region he leant that the main problem of the Region was the absence of peace.

He said although the government stated that the 8th Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Day Celebration in JigJiga, Ethiopia had ended without any problem, the truth was far from that.

In the suburbs of Jijiga city there were tanks, vehicles carrying heavy weapons, special commandos, fully armed soldiers and Federal police officers were giving a 24 hour protection while fighting helicopters were conducting surveillance. All vehicles were banned from moving on the Day. The official said the celebration was held inside the Stadium while the rest of the City looked like a city of death. Even in war zones, events are not celebrated under such a tight security, particularly foreigners and his own workmates that visited the city have come to understand what ‘peace’ meant in the ruling Front’s lexicon, the official added.

According to the source, the Speakers of the Houses of the Kenya and Rwanda, who have been invited as guests were under an inconvenience as they were provided appropriate reception and protocol. The Kenyan Speaker of the House was invited by Abadula Gemeda, his Ethiopian counterpart while the Ugandan Speaker of the House was invited by Kasa Teklebirhan, Speaker of the House of Federation of Ethiopia. When the two Speakers arrived at Jijiga airport, neither Abaduala nor Kasa were there to receive them at the airport. There were not also other officials who were there to accept them. After staying for a while at Jijiga airport, the Jijiga Police took them to Jijiga hotel with an old police vehicle. The official said the Hotel the two diplomats stayed in was below the standard. When the two guests arrived, Abadula and Kasa were taking pleasure in their guesthouse.

The incoming delegation was deeply angry at the uncharacteristic protocol they were provided as well as the quality of the Hotel they were forced to stay in. It is to be recalled that the officials of the Somali Regional Administration expressed their displeasure as the officials of the Federal government were not providing the proper ‘respect’ to guests from overseas.