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Meles' Indian growing crops where Gambellans were forced off their land
In October 2011, Karuturi Global received yellow card from Baro River. 20, 000 hectares of maize were destroyed and the company lost 11 million Euros. However, either national, international investors or EPRDF dictatorship government didn’t learn a lesson from this disaster. This natural catastrophe showed that even the nature was/is against land grabbing/economic genocide and forced villagisation program committed against the indigenous people in Gambella. Why the EPRDF government, national and international investors were given yellow and red cards in Gambella Regional State? There are many different answers for this question however this article will only discuss three points which are relevant to this topic.
First, there is no monitoring system in the land grabbing/ economic genocide policy. Currently more than 36 countries including India, China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia leased land in Gambella. The only remaining forest in Gambella Regional State is being cleared and burned by foreign and national investors. Reliable information from Gambella Regional State shows that there are more than 900 companies involved in land grabbing and 1/4 of farmland is already leased to those companies in give-away price under non-existing monitoring system, accountability and no penalty for non-compliance.
According to lease agreement available at Gambella Regional State Office, companies are required to submit a survey and environmental impact assessment within three months of signing contract. However, no investor carries out environmental impact assessment in Gambella. The EPRDF government left the investors free to do whatever they want in Gambella Regional State like a free bird flying in blue sky. Win-lose outcomes are less likely to be accepted voluntarily by any legitimate government. However, the EPRDF government falters in its role as protector of Gambella indigenous people. Under this win-lose economic genocide strategy and forced villagisation program, the international and national investors have great advantage and more say in the lease contract compare to the EPRDF government. The most disadvantage group is the indigenous people who even do not have any say in the contract that affects their livelihood and survival.
For instance Karuturi Global alone signed an agreement with EPRDF brutal government and leased 100,000 hectares of land in Gambella with a fixed rent 20 Ethiopian Birr (0.90 Euro) per hectare a year. Reliable sources from Gambella Regional State reveal that this agreement can be extended for Karuturi to acquire an additional of 200,000 hectares of farmland if it wishes. Mr. Karmjeet Sekhon, the project Manager, described this deal as very cheap deal every found in the world. He added that we don’t have land like this in India. We don’t need fertilizer or herbicides here in Gamblella.
To halt this economic genocide deal, despite heavy present of Meles’s military in the region, the indigenous people expressed their concern and outrage to Mr Omot Oban Olum and EPRDF government for several times. However the EPRDF brutal government didn’t/ doesn’t listen to Ethiopian people in general and indigenous people in particular to refrain from such inhuman economic crime against the people of Gambella. The indigenous people lost confidence and trust on regional and federal governments. This becomes one of the reasons why both EPRDF and investors are given red cards in Gambella Regional State to stop them from this atrocity and economic genocide against indigenous people in Gambella.
The Second point is establishment of Meles’s concentration camps in Gambella. The indigenous people are relocated in concentration camps under forced Villagisation Program. There is no time and place where the people of Gambella were consulted and involved in decision making process regarding the Villagisation Program. Thousand of indigenous people are forced to concentration camps to give way for investors. It becomes a common practice for national and international investors to bribe regional government officials to force their own people who elected them to the concentration camps; where there no services.
For example the Human Rights Watch found that residents of six indigenous communities in Gambella Regional State were told by the officials that the underlying reason for Villagisation program is to provide land to investors. According to the Oakland Institute report, areas vacated for Villagisation in Gambella have been quickly taken by investors. Therefore the Regional and Central governments denied indigenous people a right to life in their ancestral land. Currently in Gambella Regional State, investors enjoy more rights and privileges than the ordinary indigenous people. The indigenous people of Gambella lost everything in this economic genocide program and are left with no options but to issue red cards to the enemies the investors and EPRDF government.
Third Gambella is the only Regional State in Ethiopia without land certification processes. The absence of this land certification risks the right of indigenous people to lose their land at any time without compensation. Also the indigenous people are vulnerable, don’t having any legal protection and legitimate right on their ancestral land. The EPRDF government does not want to see land certification in Gambella regional State to make it easy for the system to deprive indigenous people from land right and relocate them anywhere at any time to fulfil the interest of investors.
We the indigenous people want to make it clear to the world that an economic genocide, economic crime and violation of land rights are being committed against us in Gambella Regional State. We want international community and democratic countries to know that EPRDF government wants to eliminate us and turn Gambella/ our homes into plantation and agricultural land for Karuturi Global and Saudi Star. An indigenous elder from Gambella who have seen three successive governments in his life, described EPRDF as irresponsible and devil government.
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4218, April 2007 revealed that A key tenet of land policy that has been supported by numerous studies is that providing owners with higher levels of tenure security (e.g. against eviction) will increase productivity. There is no any legal ground for the EPRDF government to treat indigenous people of Gambella as the second or third citizens in their own ancestral land. The indigenous people of Gambella don’t want Villagisation, economic genocide and eviction from their land but they want sustainable development and transformation from substance farming system to food security. They need democratic government and goog governance that supports and encourages them to increase productivity and self-reliance to reduce poverty.
Finally the indigenous people give red cards to all investors to pull out from Gambella Regional State. The EPRDF brutal government should allow indigenous people of Gambella to have land certification processes as it did to the rest of Ethiopians. Economic genocide and forced villagisation program must stop in Gambella. Therefore, we ask international community, donors and United Nations to stand with indigenous people in this critical period. The international community should put pressure on the EPRDF dictatorship government including national and foreign investors such Karuturi Global and Saudi Star to stop economic genocide against indigenous people of Gambella. The indigenous people of Gambella appeal for urgent international action to avert a humanitarian and environmental disaster in Gambella and ensure that land grabbing/economic genocide and forced villagisation don’t go forward as planned.
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