We Demand Unqualified Apology From Ethiopia

Public Agenda (Accra)

30 May 2011

editorial

Only last Wednesday, May 25, the entire African continent celebrated the 48th birthday of the African Union (AU) with poignant and inspirational messages on the need for African countries to harness their resources and work towards the ultimate goal of building a strong union parallel to that of European Union (EU). In many African countries the day has been declared a public holiday and rightly so, considering the significance of the day in the political history of the continent.

Many African patriots had and continue to bemoan the fact that after close to five decades the dream of a continental government in a United States of Africa with a standing army, the African High Command, still remains elusive.

It is thus rather inexplicable that before the dust of the fun fare and revelry that characterized the celebrations could fall into oblivion, Ethiopian officials could inflict an act of diplomatic blunder on Ghanaian media personnel in no other place than in Ethiopia, the headquarters of the Africa Union. What a paradox!

Media reports have it that, Ethiopian officials last week held hostage for three hours some journalists who were accompanying the Vice President John Mahama on his AU trip for what they described as “Lack of permit to carry professional Video Cameras” into their country. According to the story, not even an official letter from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the staff of Ghana Embassy carried to the airport could convince the officials to release the cameras to the news team.

How can the Ethiopian officials mete out such inconsiderate treatment to journalists who are part of a high powered delegation led by the Vice President of a country in the name of national security and acting on instructions? The officials should have known that it would be highly improbable for the journalists to pose as members of the Vice President entourage amidst such heavy security presence.

What happened is a clear case of talking about African unity in one breadth, then in another we subject our fellow Africans to such unwarranted, emotional torture. Such diplomatic faux pas is counterproductive to the vision of the founding fathers like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as well as the spirit and letter of the AU Charter, as they drive us miles apart. The two leaders, we guess will be turning in their graves over the shameful act of the Ethiopians.

We demand an unqualified apology from the Ethiopians for indirectly slighting the Ghanaian entourage. It also behooves on all those who have something to do with the diplomatic community to be tactful and act with finesse so that they would not be found wanting in the face of challenges.

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