The Afaris fought tooth and nail to ward off TPLF in its misadventure of choking Ethiopia by controlling the road to the port of Djibouti. But the Afaris were supposed to have been allies of TPLF that ostensibly brought them federalism and this and that. But why did they fight and paid so much sacrifice?
(1) Afaris know how TPLF bigwigs controlled the region as if it was a Woreda of Tigray with no real political autonomy.
(2) Afaris also know that the economic muscle of the region was under TPLF control.
(3) Afaris know TPLF is an untrustworthy entity. Look back to its history and you can’t count its friends with the fingers on your one hand. It always thinks in zero sum game - just like an infant gets into frenzy seeing candies (ayneawaj), TPLF also can’t control itself when it sees benefit and advantage and could dump you to get that candy.
(4) Most people think that Meles/TPLF preached about the “colonization of Eritrea by Ethiopia” out of principle. But the goal of TPLF was to make sure that the Eritreans are separated from Ethiopia because if EPLF stayed in, TPLF would not have full control over Ethiopia’s riches. This shrewd cheerleading fooled a lot of Eritreans into thinking Meles’s haste to sign Eritrea off was out of love whereas in fact it was to dump EPLF from sharing power and diminishing TPLF’s domain over Ethiopia.
(5) the Afaris were also a victim of this TPLF intrigue and selfishness. Afar people are Kushitic like Oromos or Somali or most Southerners. So when TPLF devised its future after fall of Derg, its view was (a) to control Ethiopia for as long as possible (forever) and/or (b) to establish Tigray/Tigrign after eliminating Isayas and having control of the Red Sea predominantly under TPLF direct or indirect control.
As a result, in negotiations during the twilight of the Derg, TPLF took the position to suppress any claim of Afaris getting united and having claim over Assab/Red Sea. Meles infamously said to Herman Cohn on the question of access to sea to Ethiopia “Never mind, never mind, we will take care of that with EPLF ourselves.” As an Ethiopian, one would have thought he would have secured unhindered access if not laying claim to a port as a tool of negotiation. But TPLF thought instead of Afaris having any claim as Kushites, TPLF dreamt that when they toppled Isayas, they’d control everything. So Afaris know what TPLF is made of-intrigue, betrayal, untrustworthiness.
What do you think?