Ethiopia’s newly built Adwa victory Memorial is a practical testament that Ethiopians had inflicted the major blow to colonialism and the industrial world in Africa, a historian said.

The Adwa Victory Memorial, commemorates the historic Battle of Adwa, which took place on March 1, 1896.

The project that was designed to showcase the grandeur and historical significance of Ethiopia, will be inaugurated today in the presence of high level government officials and invited guests.

Majestically perched at the heart of Addis Ababa, locally known as Piassa with its ultra-modern architectural design, the Adwa Victory Memorial is built in a manner befitting the nation’s greatness and its temerarious contribution in anti-colonialism struggle.

The brilliant history of Ethiopian martyrs deserves the Memorial that has become a reality in this new generation, said a historian and archeologist, Tegenu gossa.

Adwa victory immensely changed the history of black people who had been under the yolk colonialism, Tegenu indi
cated.

The victory, which is considered as the beacon for the freedom of humanity, the historian pointed out many African countries and leaders in the continent, including the South African Nelson Mandela were inspired by the victory in their anti-colonialism struggle.

The historian, more importantly added that Ethiopians defeated the white supremacy in African soil.

‘The victory of Adwa is a great symbol of invincibility for black people,’ he underscored.

For Tegenu, Adwa is not only a victory on the battlefield, but the success of the century that could be described in many ways.

Most importantly, he underscored the victory of Adwa is extremely unique which prevented the colonial powers era from achieving a total victory in the African continent and a rocket booster for the inception of Pan Africanism movement.

However, Tegenu, who resides in Israel, said we had no practical memory to show the practical events of Adwa victory during the past 128 years.

In this regard, the newly built memorial wil
l create a new spirit to Ethiopian and other black people as well as to enjoy the real test of Adwa victory, he believed.

‘This (Adwa victory Memorial) is really a great achievement in this modern generation. We have been teaching Adwa at the level of history to our students. But until today, Adwa has not been a special symbol of its own to commemorate. But now there is a memorial where the Ethiopian heroes of Adwa gathered at the heart of the capital Addis Ababa,’ the historian said.

Tegenu further explained that the Adwa victory is not only for Ethiopians and Africans, but also as a symbol of freedom for the people of Caribbean, Latin America and other parts of the world.

Hence, the Adwa victory Memorial will help people around the world to visit the museum which depicts spectacular and the consequential victory in the history of black people.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Mr John Dramani Mahama, former President and the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), says the party will not support any changes made to the voting calendar.

He said the NDC did not find the proposal by the Electoral Commission (EC) for a change in date for the elections from December to November feasible nor helpful and would not support that.

Mr Mahama was speaking in Ho at a workshop to sharpen the skills and enhance the knowledge of the Minority Caucus in Parliament for effective delivery of their mandate.

The former President said the EC must concern itself with getting the basics right and ensure full readiness for the election ‘before seeking to bite what it does not need to chew.’

He bemoaned the fact that the EC had not yet produced a calendar of events for the year, and advised the electoral body to concentrate on getting fully prepared for the elections instead of ‘proposing bizarre changes to the voting schedule.

Mr Mahama said using the Ghana card as the only form of identi
ty for registration would not ensure inclusivity because doing so would deprive many citizens of their right to vote.

‘The Ghana card is a relatively new feature of our national life and had its merits in the scheme of things, however, at the moment, it is being brandish more as a political tool around which all manner of schemes are being fashioned towards elections,’ he said.

Mr Mahama said until full coverage was achieved in the roll-out of the card, space had to be made for those who were yet to be served in order to exercise their democratic right to vote.

‘The National Identification Authority cannot claim to have covered every Ghanaian who should be registered or distributed all the cards printed to those who have been captured in their system.’

On the issues of continuous registration, he said: ‘We demand that the process must necessarily include a system that enables all political parties and relevant stakeholders to possess the capacity to monitor to avoid fraud and exploitation to the undue adv
antage of any of the political stakeholders.’

Source: Ghana News Agency