Unsolicited Advice to Brighed N’Hamedu (BNH)
Prof. Araya Debessay
Introduction. The birth of Brighed N’Hamedu (BNH), in Cologne, Germany, in 2022, has greatly energized justice-seeking Eritrean youth in the Diaspora. It has been one of the current encouraging developments. The BNH slogan from” Diaspora to Asmara” has given a renewed hope and breath of fresh air to all those who aspire to see regime change in Eritrea. This grassroots movement that has spread like wild fire in many parts of the world has achieved spectacular successes in foiling the dictatorial regime’s fund-raising festivals, in several countries in Europe, the US, Canada, Israel, Australia and some African countries. Its presence is even felt inside “the belly of the beast” when BNH youth left a graffiti on the main building of the PFDJ office, in Asmara, declaring “We Stand with Brighed N’Hamedu”.
More importantly it has exposed the true nature of this despotic regime for all the world to see. As a result, many countries in Europe have decided to ban Eritrean Government sponsored festivals, that are designed to spread hate speeches and brain washing propaganda. As a result, many countries have made it difficult for the government of Eritrea to collect the 2% tax it has been imposing on Diaspora Eritreans. BNH, by its own admission, is a “direct action group” whose objective is regime change and has recognized the need to have an overarching Political Body. This Political Body will give legal advice and guidance to the direct action group. More importantly, the same Political Body is supposed to serve as a legitimate representative of BNH and all other justice-seeking, pro-democracy Eritreans Diaspora.
The Need for the Formation of a Political Body.
One of the glaring weaknesses of Eritrean opposition groups in the Diaspora has been and continues to be the lack of a legitimate Body that has the mandate to speak on behalf of those who have been opposed to the dictatorial regime in Asmara. So far, Eritreans in the Diaspora have been operating in a fragmented manner that proved them to be ineffective to bring about positive political changes in the country. Countries which are sympathetic to the plight of the Eritrean people need a representative group that can speak and act on behalf of the Eritrean people.
To this end, forming a Body that can speak for all pro-democracy and justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora and who can provide BNH guidance, legal and financial support is long overdue. More importantly diplomatic and lobbying effort will go a long way to make the slogan from “Diaspora to Asmara” a reality. The need for this representative Body is becoming more critical and urgent now given the risk of the Abiy Government that is poised not only to annex the coastal areas of Eritrea but is also threatening to obliterate Eritrea as a sovereign nation.
Hence, in light of this dark cloud hovering over Eritrea, Diaspora Eritreans in the opposition camp should urgently form a Body that can speak on their behalf and save their country.
Make BNH a Formidable Force.
My first advice to BNH is to make BNH a formidable force through an intensive registration campaign. BNH has attracted the attention of Eritrean youth all over the world. As they say, “Strike the iron while it is hot”. Don’t lose the momentum! Urge those who are supportive of BNH and who are eager to play a role to change the regime, to register and be part of the BNH movement. The Eritrean opposition media outlets, should also play an active role in the registration campaign. This can be done expeditiously through an online registration process.
There are Eritrean IT professionals who will help in designing an online registration process that will ensure the confidentiality of the registrants. Membership fee should be charged to those who can afford. A control mechanism should be created to weed out agents of the regime who may try to infiltrate BNH. This can be done easily by forming BNH task force that will monitor and verify the authentication of those registered in every locality. Hence, concerns of government agents infiltrating the registration process should not be a deterrent to the process of conducting an intensive registration process.
Election of a Legitimate Representative Body. Once the registration process is over, in a reasonable period of time, an Election Committee should be formed to conduct elections. The Election Committee should establish criteria for nominations and encourage the registered members to nominate individuals who have the caliber, experience, and integrity to serve as a representative body. The Election Committee should also encourage self-nomination of those who have the qualifications and the passion to serve as members of the representative group. Details on the number to be elected should be determined by the Election Committee.
After a reasonable time for nominations and campaigning, elections should be conducted online, in a democratic and transparent manner, on a one-person, one-vote basis. The Election Committee should devise an alternative mechanism to those who do not have access to the Internet. It is also important for the Election Committee to ensure that the elected Body reflects the diversity of the Eritrean population by having the discretion to exercise positive affirmative action.
It must be remembered, that a Facilitating Body that has been formed by members of Kufut Meadi Zete and other activist groups whose goal is to form an Eritrean National Force for Democratic Change (ENFDC), has been making presentations on the need and the process of how to form the ENFDC. The role of the ENFDC, as presented in the documents of the Facilitating Body, which I have listed below, with slight modification, is what I believe should be the role of the Political Body of BNH. Hence, in my view, it is prudent for the BNH to reach out to the Kufut Meadi Zete Facilitating Body to collaborate on the modalities of electing the Political Body.
What Should the Role of the Political Body be?
The primary goal of the Political Body should be is:
- To help map-out an effective strategy that will expedite the transformation of Eritrea to become a democratic nation.
- To represent BNH and all justice-seeking, pro-democracy Diaspora Eritreans – in any national, regional or international forum – be it at the African Union, United Nations, European Union, and the Arab League, etc.
- To speak with one voice to the International Community on behalf of the Eritrean people.
- To conduct diplomatic effort and lobbying particularly with governments, such as the United States and the various governments in Europe and Africa, to support the Eritrean people.
- To help prepare the groundwork required for orderly transition to democratic rule in the aftermath of regime change. The representative body will also be expected to help prepare a Transition Charter to ensure a smooth transition to a democratic rule.
- To work towards the establishment of a constitutional government through the drafting and preparation of draft codes for the forthcoming Constitutional organs.
- The Political Body should be able to raise funds through registration fees, soliciting financial help from well-to-do Eritrean professionals, and businessmen to cover the operating expenses of the Political Body and BNH and to provide financial assistance to the forces of change inside the country. In addition, the Political Body should approach NGOs, governments and International Organizations that provide can funding to promote democracy. The Political Body should particularly approach countries that are concerned about the possible influx of Eritrean refugees.
- Another important role of the Political Body is to partner with the UNHCR and other international organizations to assist Eritrean refugees who are facing extreme hardship in Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia and other countries.
- One additional important responsibility of the Political Body should also be to reach out to every justice-seeker Eritrean and encourage them to join the BNH movement.
- To represent BNH and all justice-seeking, pro-democracy Diaspora Eritreans – in any national, regional or international forum – be it at the African Union, United Nations, European Union, and the Arab League, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the time has come for BNH, in collaboration with all those who share the same aspiration, to form a legitimate body with the mandate to represent justice-seeking, pro-democracy Diaspora Eritreans. This Body is what BNH and all other justice-seeking Eritreans need to achieve regime change in Eritrea. I hope and trust the process outlined in this unsolicited advice will go a long way in achieving our collective dream – transforming Eritrea into a democratic nation.
Noble advice! but we are behind the 8 ball in this endeavor, the nation is already in multiorgan failure. Sorry, I am not trying to sound pessimistic.
‘Regime change’? that is not what this devastated little nation needs, over 5 decades of social, cultural, psychological, and political degradation… the deliberate and calculated pulverization of collective identity… this beleaguered nation needs reconstruction, a total makeover, a fundamental transformation of its national psyche and a painstakingly long rehabilitation. This will require a bold, committed, unrelenting, smart, educated, and skilled…leadership that talks the talk and walks the walk.
We are still the agar on which the HGDEF mold blooms, we have to deprive him of that lifeline.
We have work to do and time is of essence.
The geopolitical situation in our neighborhood is fluid.
Happy New year y’all.
Subject: “Unsolicited Advice to Brighed N’Hamedu (BNH)” by
Prof. Araya Debessay. ,
Humble Opinion, 29 Dec 2034a).
a). Dear Prof. Araya: You said it all
b). And one hopes that Eritreans have read it and heard it all
c). But Eritreans — universally known as hard worker as they are —
seem to have natural tendency to have dead hearing aids!!!!
d). It seems, Eritreans are mysteriously hypnotized by their own-self
to hurt themselves.
e). How else can we described the strange phenomenon of being the enemy of thy-self?!?!?!?
f). Even the Good Lord Up in Heaven, seems to be incapable of
being helpful to be NICE to Eritreans!!!!!!
g). And so, We Eritreans. will keep on going in the direction of
complexity and full of tragedy. We seem to like it !?!?!?!?
h). YES, YES, YES WE ERITREANS, CANNOT HELP IT. IT IS IN
OUR “SYSTEM”
i). I am happy to be WRONG, WRONG, WRONG from toe to the top
part of my hard-head.
j). WE ERITREANS ARE WHAT WE ARE. PLEAE PROVE THE
WORLD WRONG i.e. leaving aside the usual insults and ‘jahra’
[ ‘men kemmana’] ——-etc
————— FULL STOP. ————-
.
ሰላማት ኩቡር ፕሮፈሰር ኣርኣያ
ሰላማት ኩቡር ዶቶረ k.tewolde
ሰላማት ኩቡራት ኣሕዋት
“… forming a Body that can speak for all pro-democracy and justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora and who can provide BNH guidance, legal and financial support is long overdue.”
“ It is also important for the Election Committee to ensure that the elected Body reflects the diversity of the Eritrean population by having the discretion to exercise positive affirmative action. ”
ብብርገድ ንሓመዱ ዝፍለጥ ምንቅስቃስ መንእሰያት ፣ ኣብ ሃገርና መሰረታዊ ለዉጢ ንምምጻእ ዝገብሮ ዘሎ ጻዕሪ ብጣዕሚ ዝናኣድ ኢዩ።
ዝገበርኩምሉ ምኽሪ ኣብ ልቦም የሕድሮ።
ብዘይ ብቅዓትን ተመክሮን ዘለዎ ማእከላይ መሪሒነት ቀጻልነቱ ምዉሓስ ኣይካኣልን።
ከምኡ’ዉን ንኹሎም ለዉጢ ዝደልዩ ደቂ ሃገር ኩፉት ኮይኑ ንኽቅጽል ፣ ዘድሊ ሃዋሁዉ ክፈጥር እንተ ዘይኪኢሉ ፣ ምስ ግዜ ክዳኸም ሙዃኑ ምግንዛብ የድሊ።
ገለ ካብቶም ከም መራሕቲ ወይ ኣበገስቲ ዝፍለጡ ሰባት ፣ ቡዙሕ ኢዩ ዝጎድሎም።
ከምኡ’ዉን ፣ ኣብቲ መንቀሳቀስ ዝረአ ግደ ዘለዎም ገለ ዉልቀሰባት ፣ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝድለ ዘሎ ለዉጢ ፣ ምስ ትግራይ ግድን ዝተኣሳሰረ ክኾዉን ኣሎዎ ዝብሉ እዮም።
ስለዚ ፣ ኩሎም ሓደ ኢዩ መደቦም ሞባል ኣይካኣልን። ምስ ግዜ ፣ ብሓደ ክኸይድ ዘይክእል መደባት ኣብ ባይታ ከይተራእዩ ፣ ሞኽርኹም ክሰምዑ ተስፋ እገብር።
ብርገድ ንሓመዱ ፣ ንሃገራዊ ሓድነት ማእከላይ ዕላሙኡ ገይሩ ፣ ሰፊሕን ጹኑዕን ዝኾነ ስርርዕ ኣካይዱ ፣ በትምህርትን ተመክሮን ቡቁዕ ዝኾነ መሪሒነት መሪጹ ፣ ነቶም ድኽመት ኤሪትራና ሪኦም ንኽበልዑዋ ዝልዝዩ ዘሎዉ ፣ ቀዲሙዎም ኣብ ቦታ ንምጽናሕ ክቀዳደም ኣሎዎ።
ሩሑስ ሓድሽ ዓመት ይግበረልና።
‘ነቶም ድኽመት ኤሪትራና ሪኦም ንኽበልዑዋ ዝልዝዩ ዘሎዉ..’ W.H. NAFIQEKA… yes indeed! salivating like my American bulldog who drools at the mere smell of the chicken parmesan at the kitchen table.
If we all love our homeland from the same perspective and candor as Wedi Hagher, we all would have been dancing together ab Jira Fiori a long time ago.
FIQAD AMLAK KOYNU HIJI NIFALALELONA
BETATINUS AYTERIFIN KEYAKAKEBENA…
Folks! let’s take back what was stolen from us. QUMAR ILOMUNA.
ኩቡር ዶቶረ
ኣነ’ዉን ናፊቀካ መምህረይ። እቲ ኩሉ ዝካኣሎ ኣምላኽ ይኣኻኽበና።
ብዘይ ሓድነት ደቂ ሃገር ዓወት የለን።
በብዘለናዮ ፣ ካብ ምዕዶን ምኽርን መንእሰያትና ኣይኑብከር።
ተስፋ ዝመለኦ ሓድሽ ዓመትን ፣ ሩሑስ ልደት ይግበረልና።
Amen is not enough.
Hello everyone, I don’t know much about Erisat or the men and women who run the Eritrean opposition media outlet, but one thing for sure, I am proud and admire the stellar work they do to be the voice of those who are asphyxiated by the barbaric regime in Asmara. It seems there has been internal administrative strife going on within the organization which was aired on the social media recently, a friend of mine calls me and said, ‘here we go again.’ I knew exactly what he meant by that; it is coming from the mind of decades of HGDEF’s contamination.
On the contrary, I listened to the panelists with admiration and reveled on how far we came from the archaic authoritarian culture adopted in the field to demand our incapable leaders, in this case (the board) to abscond their post.
This move should be hailed, embraced, it shouldn’t be viewed as weakness or fracture, because it is through these bold actions that we can be able to practice and build our democratic institutions for the future… Yes! we can sack ‘THE BOARD’, no one is above the law, I wish we have done it decades ago, there won’t be MENDEF leading QONDAF AADI today.
Brigade Nihamedu is still dusting off some of the hamed carried from the field on their back, it is a budding young movement with recent untreated PTSD that was cultivated and nurtured in a rich authoritarian soil, every now and then this manifests outwardly in some form or another… I am being realistic and fair, we should be careful of individual characterization, measured in our expectations and readily available to give a hand and guidance if we can like Amanuel Iyasu’s unrelenting pursuit for prudence and justice.
That said, this Blue Revolution is one of the best thing that ever happened to our nation and let’s not it slip away through our hands, it’s Forto’s mutiny in steroids without the guns, if handled properly, it has the potential for the best outcome to realize our collective dream.
Mother! spread the tapestry of green olives in the front door, your children are coming home.
ሰላማት ኩቡር ዶቶረ
ጹቡቅ ክትህሉ ተስፋ እገብር
ብሪገድ ንሓመዱ ሓያል ድሪኽት ዘለዎ ምንቅስቃስ ኢዩ። ህዝባዉነቱ እናዓበየ ይኸይድ ኣሎ።
ገለ ካብቲ ብቁልጡፍ ክሕሰበሉ ዝግባእ ዝብሎ ጉዳያት ወስ ከብል ኣፍቁዱለይ።
– ብኹሎም ተቀባልነት ረኺቡ ዝጸደቀ ፣ ሕጋዊ ሰነድ ፣ ከም ናይ ስራሕ መወከሲ ምጥቃም።
– ብኡ መሰረት ሓደ ዓይነት ስርርዕ ክህልዩ ይግባእ።
– ብግዜ ዝተደረተ ፣ መሪሕነት ናይ ምቅያር መስርሕ ክህልዎ ግድን ኢዩ ። ብዘይ ምጽብጻብ ጹፉፍ ስራሕ የለን። መለኽቲ ዝሰርሕ ህዝቢ ባዕሉ ኢዩ።
መራሕቲ ምንኣድ ገዲፍና ፣ ምንቃፍ ንልመድ።
– ሃገራዊ ሓድነት ወሳኒ ሙዃኑ ዘይተረደኦም ዉሑዳት ኣይኮኑን። ምምቅቃል ዉጺኢቱ ሓባራዊ ፍሽለት ጥራሕ ኢዩ። ደቂ ሓደ ኣዉራጃ ወይ ተኸተልቲ ሃደ ሃይማኖት ፣ ንበይኖም ከመዝግቡዎ ዝኽእሉ ዓወት የለን። ናይ ኩሎም ደቂ ሃገር ተሳታፍነት ምትብባዕ የደሊ።
– ኣብ ጉዳይና ነተኩር። ምስ ጎረባብትና ፍቅርን ሰላምን ንዘምር። ኣብ ናይ ነንሕድና ዉሽጣዊ ጉዳይ ምትዕድዳም ከስዕቦ ዝኽል ጸገማት ብጉቡእ ምርዳእ የድሊ።
ወዳሓንኩም
Dahan Aloku W.H. Egzihabiher Yimesgen.
‘መለኽቲ ዝሰርሕ ህዝቢ ባዕሉ ኢዩ።’ indeed, the one we chiseled with a perfect mustache is still telling us decades later to wear shida and azhaf all the way to Burkina Faso and beyond, taunting us, ‘if you really want it bad, come and get it’, ‘ you want democracy, go to Mars’, ‘there is no one left here who can piss standing like me.’, ‘ KUNTRAT zihabeni yelen’,… the humiliation keeps coming year in and year out, like a battered woman it became part of our persona affecting our lives way after we broke off the poisonous relationship.
‘መራሕቲ ምንኣድ ገዲፍና ፣ ምንቃፍ ንልመድ።’… can this be hereditary? in our DNA?
W.H. can you tell me how one feeble man reek so much havoc to a sea of humanity who wrestled once and made a nation a reality? Can you fool somebody for 5 decades?
Hito abzihelka aythazeley, your posts always evoke these irrational emotions buried within me.
Dehan hider zihawey.
ኩቡር ዶቶረ
“W.H. can you tell me how one feeble man reek so much havoc to a sea of humanity who wrestled once and made a nation a reality? Can you fool somebody for 5 decades?”
k.tewolde
መምህረይ ፣ ካባኻ ንላዕሊ ኣጸቢቀ ዝፈልጦ ጉዳይ ኣይኮነን። ከምኡ ከኑሱ ፣ በብዘለኻዮ ኩርናዕ ፣ እንታይ ከም ዝመስል ምንጋር ቡዙሕ ኣገዳስነት ኣሎዎ።
ነዚ ሰራም ሰብኣይ ፣ ደረት ዘይቡሉ ሓይሊ ከም ዝህልዎ ዝገበሩ ጉዳያትን ፣ ታሪኻዊ ኣጋጣሚታት ፣ ዓሚቅ መጽናዕቲ ዘድሊዮም እኳ እንተ ኾኑ ፤ ገለ ዉሑዳት ካብኤን ክጠቅስ ምደለኹ።
– ኣብ ስሳታት ፣ ኣብ ዉሽጢ ሰዉራ ዝነበረ ፍልልያት ብምብላሕ ፣ ከም ታሓላቂ ደቂ-ከበሳ (ሓልዮት ዘለዎ መራሒ) ተመሲሉ ክቀርብ ኪኢሉ። ኣብቲ ግዜ እቲ ፣ ተሓኤ ዝመርሑ ዝነበሩ ፣ ኣስላም ብምንባሮም ፣ “ንሕናን ንሶምን” ኢሉ ክጉስግስ ምስ ጀመረ ፣ ቡዙሕ ንቅሓት ብዘይ ምንባሩ ፣ ተቀባልነት ረኺቡ።
– ኩነታት ሰዉራ እንዳ ተማሓየሸ ከይዱ። ኣብ መጀመርታ ሰብዓታት ኣብ ዉሽጢ ህግ ዝተፈጥረ ዉሽጣዊ ጎንጺ ፣ ኣዉራጃዊ ኣንፈት ንምትሓዙ ቡዙሕ ጺዒሩ ፣ ሚስጢራዊ ስርርዕ ብምጥቃም ድማ ኣብ ስልጣል ክቅጽል ኪኢሉ ።
– ኣብ ዝተሓላለኸ ጉዕዞ ናይ ሰዉራ ፣ ንሱ ዘፍረዮም ፣ ደም ኑጹሃን ዘፍስሱ ገበነኛታት፣ ብጣዕሚ ቡዙሓት ኮይኖም። ንዖኦም ኣብ ወሰንቲ ናይ ስልጣን ቦታታት ብምቅማጥ ፣ ብሽም ህግ ፣ “እታ ናጽነት ዘምጸአት ዉድብ” እንዳ ተባህለ ፣ ህዝቢ ኣብ ምብትታንን ሃገር ኣብ ምዕናዉን ይርከብ ኣሎዉ።
– ክሳብ ቀረባ ዓመታት ፣ እንታይነት መሪሕነት ህግ ዝፈልጥ ህዝቢ ብጣዕሚ ዉሑድ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ንሱ ይንበረልና ዝብሉ ባሃማት ክሳብ ሕጂ’ዉን መሊኦም ኣሎዉ። ደቅና ኢንዲዮም እንዳበልካ ዝተዓሸወ ህዝቢ ዉሑድ ኣይኮነን።
– ብዘይካኻ ካልእ መራሒ የለን እንዳ በሉዎ ዝተፈጥረ ጣኦት ኢዩ። “ምሽክናይ ንበይኑ ኾይኑ … ” ዝብሉ ዝነበሩ ፣ ሎሚ ፣ እቲ ዕድለኛ ኮይኑ ብህወቱ ዝተረፈ ፣ ኣብ ስደት ይበኪ ኣሎ።
ንሕና ፣ ባዕልና ፣ ሓደ በላዒ-ሰብ ፈጢርና … ከቢድ ዋጋ ኣብ ምኽፋል ድማ ንርከብ። ንሱ ሰይጣናዊ ባህሪ ኣሎዎ ፣ ግን ብዘይ ድጋፍናን ድሌየትናን፣ ብዕድመ ተሰኒፉ ቀይ-ቀይ እንዳ በለ ፣ ብጅምላ ከጥፋኣና ኣይምኻኣለን ።
ኩሉ ዝካኣሎ እዝጊ ፣ ባዕሉ የርሁዎ።
‘ኩሉ ዝካኣሎ እዝጊ ፣ ባዕሉ የርሁዎ።’… yes indeed!
I handed all my problems to the Lord to sort it out in faith a while back.
I heard somebody say, ” 99% of our problems and misery is created by ourselves’.
Guess who was toasting chianti with his lieutenants close to Lampedusa yesterday.?
There ought to be a law!
The seasons unwind and the landscape changes color, the birds migrate and nature bursts into a symphony of hallelujah praising THE ONE who put all together.
Oh! my birthplace do you see what I see? are you living or just existing?
you look gaunt, disheveled and outright neglected.
Your avengers are still working on their differences tens of thousands of miles away.
I guess you have to wait and endure the wrath of your tormentors.
Hopefully there will be some of you left by the time they are done with their squabbles.
You can’t beat your enemy with his own playbook.
You can’t walk, talk, think and swag like him.
The agar is still abundant, and the toxic mold keeps thriving on it.
Do you see what I see my fellow citizens?
We can suffocate and kill this mold if we deprive him of us.
As simple as that.
Happy Valentine’s Day.