By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
For almost a year and a half, Ethiopia has been experiencing political unrest, a situation that has been simmering and recently resulted to the death of some 78 people, while more than 400 others were arrested. According to Rt. Rev. Markos Ghebremedhin, C.M., Vicar Apostolic of Jimma-Bonga, some churches as well as mosques have also been destroyed, a situation that has created some kind of distrust and tension in the country.
Bishop Ghebremedhin attributes this to unemployment of the majority of young people in Ethiopia who are taken advantage of by a clique of political groups.
The population in Ethiopia is growing rapidly and currently we are over 100 million people, of whom more than 50% of the population are the younger generation. Unfortunately, the Government is not able to cater for the employment needs for all these young people and therefore unemployment rate is high,” Bishop Ghebremedhin explained in an interview with AMECEA Online news.
Due to frustration, the majority of young people are vulnerable to being used by certain political groups who convince them that unless they put pressure on Government, they are not going to get employment. This, Bishop Ghebremedhin explains, is the cause of some hooliganism and acts of lawlessness such as blocking roads portrayed by some young people in Ethiopia.
However, Bishop Ghebremedhin says that there is hope.
“We are hoping for the best because the government and the religious leaders under the umbrella body of the Interfaith Religious Forum has for some time now been working on peace and justice issues. Also, Cardinal H.E. Berhaneyesus Souraphiel has been nominated by the Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed as the Chairperson of the Peace and Reconciliation Office in the country. Under him, there are people working from different denominations including the Orthodox Church, Muslims, Pentecostals as well as different parties. They come together and they are really working on the peace issues.”
Bishop Ghebremedhin explained that H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus in his message at the heat of the clashed reminded young people to be reflective and not emotional.
“Ethiopia is our country, it is our common home, everyone has a right to live peacefully. Everyone has to listen to each other and if we have any problems or any conflicts, the Cardinal reminded us to resolve these issues through dialogue rather than with bullets or crude weapons,” Bishop Ghebremedhin said adding that their Prime Minister. Dr. Abiy Ahmed who recently won a Nobel Prize is really a man of peace and in a very careful and mature way has been working hard to handle the peace issue.
“We are heading for an election in 2020 and all concerned parties have to work hard and put peace first rather than destroying our country and therefore making people suffer. It is important to realize that with peace we can build our country and achieve more. However, with war we are bound to destroy every good thing that we have achieved as a country. As Bishops and as religious leaders it is expected of us to teach our people, especially the youth, that dialogue is more important that confrontation.”