Gambella Regional Government Delegations in Minneapolis, MN.

May 6, 2008 (Minneapolis, MN) — Gambella Regional Government delegates arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to convey what they called “seventeen years economic development and infrastructures” in the region. Minnesota is believed to be home of thousands of Gambellans. The delegates were composed of five regional government officials: Mr. Goanar Yer, Deputy Governor, Mr. Olero Opiew, Head of Regional Bureau of Urban and Rural Development, Mr. Oguta Adiw, Head of the Department of International Relation (Diasporas office), Mr. David Ruach Tang, Federal Bureau of Transportation and Communication, Mr. Waynetu Abara, Speaker of the Regional State Council.

The next day, Saturday April 26, 2008, the delegates addressed a big audience at Four Point Sheraton Hotel in Minneapolis. The crowd of people gathered in small conference room at Sheraton Hotel to listen to the five-man delegation dispatched by Federal and Local governments to North America. Whether the "message of economic development and infrastructure” was warmly welcomed or not, the atmosphere in the conference room was very calm, and the audience was very attentive to the five speakers whose speeches were interpreted into three languages, the Anuak, Amharic and the Nuer.

Mr. Goanar Yer, Vice Regional Governor, opened the meeting by addressing the crowd about the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Revolutionary Front (EPDRF) victory over Col. Mengistu regime and EPDRF’s political agenda afterward. The second speaker, Mr. Olero Opiew, continued the speech by praising the current government as one of the best regimes Gambella region has ever seen in history. “Our generations have seen three regimes: Emperor Haile Selise reign, Col. Mengistu HaleMariam regime, and PM. Meles Zenawi’s EPDRF government (the current one), but the region never had a chance to develop as it does in the current government,” said Mr. Olero Opiew. In essence, the delegates’ messages indicated that the Meles’ EPDRF government is the only government that has given Gambella state an “olive branch.” In general, the theme of the delegation visit is to invite Gambellans in Diasporas to go back home and invest both financially and intellectually.            

As the high profile government officials delivered their message of success, and called upon their fellow citizens to help them develop the region, the audience, particularly the Anuak tribe who has been the victim of December 13, 2003 massacre, and indiscriminate incarceration, seemed to be suspicious about the message their counterpart brought to them. As a consequence, when the podium was given to the audience for questioning, the majority of ten questions asked implied the December 13, 2003 carnage, regional security, feud between tribes, inmates’ fate, and safety of returnees, whether from North America or from neighboring countries. The delegates were asked why they emphasized more on development/infrastructures and ignored the political chaos, and insecurity in the region. In his long speech, Mr. Waynetu Abara, speaker of the regional state council, cunningly tried to sum up the answers by blaming previous regional state council. “In previous regional council, said Mr. Abara, the members did not have an agreement on how to run the regional affairs and they did not have the same language. “There were a lot of competitions among the leaders in the region; that is why the December 13, 2003 carnage occurred.” As far as the conflicts among local tribes are concerned, Mr. Speaker assured the audience that the regional government has now created “Traditional instruments of conflict resolution and mediation among the people of Gambella” composed of all tribes in the region. Mr. Abara also stated that some architect of December 13, 2003 massacre are now in custody and more will be in any time soon. The rest of the answers concerning December 13, 2003 were left to each one to figure out.  The murmur was that the Meles’s government was the Anuak killer for oil and control of Gambella’s affairs. The answers given, therefore, were just the tricky face of politics.

Gambella delegations maybe the last but not the least because many government top officials from all regional governments and federal states have visited North America last year to deliver the same message i.e. economic development and infrastructures that the “Wayane” government has carried out for the last seventeen years in the reign. The five men delegations’ message has no exception from their counterpart. They were just parroting their boss in Addis Ababa. 

Overall, the engagement was good to reconnect with the region and friends. The delegation left a message, which is familiar, and took back some hot questions to discuss back home. December 13, 2003 systematic massacre will continue to be at the base of Gambella politics for a long time to come. The Meles government maybe now trying to mend the damages he inflected on the region, but the Anuaks are not a people of amnesia; they always remember whatever evil happened to their society.   

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