The Rise of Power Sharing Government in Africa

Tedla Asfaw

Today on Straight Talk Africa TV program(Sept. 17) there will be a discussion on this week power share deal between Mugabe and his main opposition parties.  Similar such deal was possible at the beginning of this year between Kenyan warring parties and it is legitimate to debate if such mechanism can be a blueprint for other African countries.
Last week I called the program's host Shaqa and I commented that  the situation in Ethiopia is much different than the Zimbabwe's situation. In Zimbabwe similar to Kenya the quarreling parties accept one fact. Both accepted the existence of their country no matter who leads it. In current Ethiopia, the regime in power, only accepts the existence of a country called "Ethiopia" if it rules it and if not the country is designed to disintegrate into language driven so called states/Kilil.

The so called Article 39 of  the "Ethiopian Constitution" that was forced on our people gives  nationalities to go their  way and declare independence whenever they choose so. The ruling party TPLF in Ethiopia can  activate this mechanism whenever its hold to power is challenged or for that matter asked by its Western financiers to share power.  We have no such  wicked article in both Kenya or Zimbabwe for that matter in any other African countries.

The closest we have to Ethiopia's situation is the agreement signed by Sudan south rebels and Beshir which calls for referendum down on the road and arranged some kind of "power sharing" in the interim. Such deal in Sudan,however, is complicated because there is no agreement where the  boundary of future referendum in south to take place. The recent fight in Abeye in south is the sign of big trouble to come without even adding the Darfur problem.


The minority ethnic dictatorship in Ethiopia  will rule indefinitely and when its hold to power is threatened as it is now it will finally go to "north" to rule its own enclave if it can. The only thing on its way is Ethiopian nationalism that is still burning after seventeen years of anti-Ethiopia propaganda by the Meles apartheid rule.