OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF SUDAN

Dear Citizens of Sudan,

First and foremost, we are bound by human curtsy and religious fraternity to send you our neighborly greetings to you. Also, we wish you a speedy resolve to the current political crisis that your country is faced with recently. We say this because Sudan has a special place in the Ethiopian psych.

Millions of Ethiopians grew singing and dancing Mohammed Wardi’s lyrics. Many went to school with Sudanese students to witness your kindness, hospitability and decency. The centuries old fraternity and good neighborliness between Sudan and Ethiopia have always been deep rooted. We drank and bathed from the Nile waters. We shared 1,500 kms of geographic landmass at our shared borders. This landmass served as an umbilical cord to our biblical and koranic fraternity.

During Ethiopia’s difficult times you provided shelter to hundreds of Ethiopian refugees. So, has Ethiopia sheltered Sudanese refugees. Ethiopians remained indebted to our shared hospitality, kindness and good neighborliness founded on mutual respect. In our view Ethiopia remained faithful to bilateral fraternity.

History attest to Ethiopia’s unwavering friendship free of conspiracy against Sudan. However, in recent times your country exhibits some acts that erodes our good neighborliness. Our quest to understand the rationales that lead to the ugly state of affairs between our countries remain illusive to us. Yea or Nei, we can candidly enumerate few reasons of causality.

One of the nuances begrudged by Ethiopians is Sudan’s full-fledged support to the terrorist Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). We Ethiopians remain bamboozled as to why your country gave shelter to the Sameri group, a genocide wing of TPLF, who massacred over 1,000 innocent Amharas’ in Maikadra in November 2020. It is inconceivable to understand Sudan’s treatment of a gang of criminals with kids gloves. Ethiopians are still puzzled by your decision to coalesce TPLF terrorists in a military camp to train them as combatants against Ethiopia. These actions don’t bode well with good neighborliness.

Taking advantage of the conflict in Northern Ethiopia you invaded our country to control some of Ethiopia’s territory. Your invasion caused loss of lives, farms vandalized and subsistent farmers displaced from their domicile. Indeed, this is not a sign of good neighborliness.

Knowing TPLF’s terrorist behavior from the 70’s, it is in the best interest of Sudan to dissociate itself from its unholy alliance with terrorists. Undoubtedly, this group will do you more harm than good. A group careless of its own constituency in Tigray won’t care for you either. TPLF is a viciously dangerous beast that won’t waste opportunities from conspiring against your regime. TPLF is intoxicated for power, money, and prestige. It is devoid of any humanity and faith other than its own. As neighbors we advise you to exercise caution in your interactions with TPLF.

Recently, Sudan along with Egypt went on rampage to discredit the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam(GERD) project. Since the beginning of GERD years ago, you orchestrated a host of accusations, threats and war mongering propaganda against our flagship project. It is our firm conviction that your government is deliberately hoodwinking Sudanese with unfounded bravado. We urge Sudan to refrain from hobnobbing facts with fiction against a good neighbor – Ethiopia.

Historically, Ethiopia has never concocted war against any nation late alone on Sudan. We Ethiopians consider war as a last resort. Hence cooperation and mutual understanding is the preferred option to settle our differences if any. Mark this-if war is imposed on us, we are absolutely zealous and selfless people always ready and united to defend our national interest and integrity. Certainly, when we fight, we fight to the finish line by holding a Bible/Quran on one hand and a gun in the other. We are the most resilient people ready to go extra mile to defend Ethiopia’s vital establishments including the GERD. Should Sudan remain defiant to a peaceful resolution, our advice is-let all of us stop playing with fire. A military option will have gargantuan consequences to our countries.

Let us reach out to one another as Ethiopia reached your country to settle your differences soon after the fall of Al-Bashir. We understand that Sudan is in difficult transition. A power struggle between your civilian government and the army is costing your country dearly. It is regrettable that your country is in a state of political quagmire and limbo. In an extremely fragile situation, you need a good neighbor than the one that kowtow you from across the Atlantic. The West that betrayed Ethiopia will also betray Sudan. You will always profit from a principled neighborliness with Ethiopia.

Finally, as your country is the current chair of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), consolidating good neighborliness with Ethiopia is paramount to realizing your country’s dreams of peace, democratic governance and economic transformation. We advise that this be done with mutual understanding and cooperation. The other way around is neither doable nor sustainable.

Long live the fraternity and good neighborliness between Ethiopia and Sudan.

Semaneh Tamrat Jemere

Ottawa, Canada

Email: stjtamrat@hotmail.com