OPINION: Ugandans in Ethiopia heed US advice to its citizens, prepare a will

“What's good for the goose is good for the gander”, goes a time-honoured adage, meaning that the present US travel advisory on Ethiopia is as good for the Americans as it is for Ugandans in that country now facing the Armageddon.  I will come back to this in a moment.

Meanwhile, in my piece, ‘Ethiopia is a timely if tragic reminder about the danger of tribal politics in Uganda’, published in the Nile Post on 26th July 2021), I warned that:

 “Ugandans, who are consistently and persistently blaming westerners for dominating national politics, army and economy since the liberation war...we either learn to live together in relative peace, or die separately in the kind of tribal war Ethiopians are sleep-walking into.” 

Today, Ethiopia is on the brink of the abyss where Uganda was just before the NRA/M took over in 1986, when different warlords controlled different hills in and around Kampala. 

While Okello Bazilo’s Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) was in charge of Kololo summit view, Andrew Kayira’s Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM) was controlling Rubaga and Mengo hills, and Museveni’s National Resistance Army (NRA) was on Makarere hill. It was only Moses Ali’s Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) which was freelancing, offering their services to both the NRA and UNLA.

Paulo Mwanga’s Force Obote Back Again (FOBA) controlled his head. 

It was a precarious time to live in Uganda. Kampala came to a sleepy life after 10 am and closed down by 4 pm except for those with a death-wish!

Let me elaborate in the context of the present crisis in Ethiopia.

What Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace laureate told the world on 4th November 2020 was to be a short, sharp “law enforcement operation” in Tigray region, has today become a fight for the “survival of the nation”, according to recent government a statement.

How this came to be, is a question which historians will ponder for decades and centuries.

For now, a nationwide  state of a emergency has been declared and all able-bodied Ethiopian called arms, any kind of arms in order to halt and reverse the rapidly advancing Tigray Defence Forces and allied Oromo Liberation Army that are closing on the capital city, Addis Ababa.

This has triggered three extraordinary developments.

To mark the first anniversary of the civil war, Prime Minister Abiy has told the world that he will “bury the enemy” with the blood and bones of loyal Ethiopians, prompting Facebok, now renamed Meta, to pull down the post. 

Kenya, Ethiopia neighbour to the south, has closed its 400-mile border, pre-emptively stopping the arrival of an estimated five million refugees. After all, Dadaab has become a permanent refugee camp as well as political and security problem, having been set up in 1991. 

In its turn, the USA which is expecting the worst has issued a Travel Advisory, explicitly sating, “if you are currently in Ethiopia, or plan to travel to Ethiopia:

• Draft a will, and designate appropriate insurance beneficiaries and/or power of attorney.

 

• Discuss a plan with loved ones regarding care/custody of children, pets, property, belongings, non-liquid assets (collections, artwork, etc.), funeral wishes, etc.

 

• Leave DNA samples with your medical provider in case it is necessary for your family to access them.

 

• Guard your passport and wallet when in crowded outdoor areas and open-air markets.

 

• If asked to stop by police, stop only in well-lit areas or places where several officers are posted.

 

• Erase any sensitive photos, comments, or other materials from your social media pages, cameras, laptops, and other electronic devices that could be considered controversial or provocative by local groups.” https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/ethiopia-travel-advisory.html

 

If this stark Travel Advisory is good for the Americans in Ethiopia, so it must be for Ugandans and other national currently in that country.  

That is why, diplomatically speaking, ‘Our Woman in Addis’ Ambassador Otengo and staff should take heed of US advice, and draft a Will.  

 

The author is Sam Akaki