Brother Mesfin Hagos was one of the most influential and important political figures in the Eritrean struggle. As I wrote it down in my book The Curse of Being and Living It our struggle’s success in destroying the ‘strongest mechanized army unit in Africa’ of that era (NADEW EZZ) in the battle of Afabet and the liberation of Massawa soon after was impossible without the gut and the mind of this exceptional fighter who sacrificed most of his life in the Eritrean struggle for independence and far beyond, for democracy.

Brother Mesfin joined “the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1966 as an ordinary member. He eventually would become Deputy Commander of ELF Zone 5. [He] left the ELF in 1970 with Isaias Afewerki [and] was a part of the founding leadership of the EPLF. Mesfin Hagos briefly served as the Chief of Staff in the EPLF. He was one of the commanders of the battle of Af’abet that destroyed the back bone of the Ethiopian army. In the middle of that battle, he was ordered by Isaias Afwerki to retreat to Nakfa but he turned off the radio message and liberated the town of Afabet. He was Eritrea’s first Minister of Defense after independence. In 2001 he joined the G-15 which among other things suggested the constitution of Eritrea to be implemented and undertake presidential election”; the rest is history.

I believe any Eritrean that disrespects this brother ignoring what he did for his country irrespective of the mistakes people talk about (that can wait for historians to write in free Eritrea) is shallow and terribly wrong in the scale of the TRUTH. I, however, justify people’s frustration on Mesfin’s insignificant contribution in the resistance given his potential and popularity because he was expected to be and could have been more effective in unifying it at leadership level of its confrontation against the dictatorship. He should have personalized it enough to strongly impact the resistance through the combined power of flexibility and compromise because individuals in this classification lost twice in the unforgiving Eritrean experience: denied simple living at home and their struggle produced dictatorship instead of democracy. The direct involvement of our veteran liberators in this movement serves their interest at the highest point of the comparison for it is extremely sad to see the fruit of their sacrifice ending up making them political refugees and producing this ridiculous dictatorship. Although it is hard to remotely judge on what might have stagnated the brother’s activities for such a long time, I believe, he depreciated the momentum of his movement which had solid support from our people during his first few years of political activities against the regime for reasons beyond my command.

God has now given him another chance through the Vaccaro movement to revitalize his challenged or tainted character towards everlasting legacy. I advise the readers to communicate maturely in this forum with maximum compassion, respect and reason to make a difference in the resistance. Please try to understand the emotional and physical consequences of fighting for decades in the struggle and that of betrayal on our veteran fighters to partially justify their stagnation at this not-too-young stage of their lives. Mesfin’s participation in the Vaccaroian movement is critical to say the least and let us use this forum to modestly and respectfully encourage him towards that direction as much as possible. This does not mean you have to flatter him, nevertheless, but that you should communicate in a civilized manner and express your grievances if you have any in productive attitude. This is not the right time to point fingers against each other to the blessing of the enemy but rather to collect the fingers into a unified punch that neutralizes it once and for all. Remember that living in the past is waste of life and we should live in the moment. We have a future to decide together irrespective of the past and our differences and let us start it right now because NOW is the most significant and powerful component of our existence and TIME at large!

Concentrating on what we can do together now instead of antagonizing on what we did in the past is the theme of the moment because we cannot afford to isolate anybody in this resistance should we aim at defeating the enemy in a short time. Unconditional unity means unconditional unity and we should apply it in practice.

According to my very limited information, it appears that the reason Mesfin’s EPDP did not join the EDA when his partner brother Adhanom did was mainly because of difference inmethod of removing the regime. I am only telling you what I heard from some people and the information can be wrong but it is said that the EDA supports violently removing the regime while Mesfin supports the opposite (peaceful change). If this was the only difference for the division, I can tell you right now that it does not sound right at all.Method of removing a regime is a tactic but doing it through unconditional unity is a strategy. Agreement on the strategy should have manipulated the value of the relationship between the EDA and the EPDP more than their difference in tactic. This is so because a STRATEGY substantially remains constant while a TACTIC as a variable element is naturally subject to change based on circumstantial realities.I support both means of removing the system, for example but this should not stand in the way of our unification based on the merit of our common FOCUS for it remains being a mere opinion difference with those who exclusively advocate one of the methods of executing the task.

Therefore, it should not have created the drift between the two forces of the resistance and the reason it didn’t produce anything tangible the last few years is because it was fundamentally wrong. I believe the stalemate has tremendously damaged the resistance to the point of total dormancy for a long time as of today. I hope lessons have been grasped out of this extraordinary mistake to help us moving forward with extra care and wisdom as it clearly appears in the recent development within the EPDP. I will pass this hoping to learn more about the issue from its actors ahead, going to the most important challenge on the ground:Unconditional Unity for change.

In ምኒስተር ምክልኻል ነበርን ኣባል ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝኾነን ኣቶ መስፍን ሕጎስ ብዕለት 22መጋቢት ኣብ ከተማ ፕሪቶሪያ ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ ንኹሉ ኤርትራዊ ክፉት ዝኾነ ሰሚናር ኣካይዱ: ASSENNA: He discussed seven points in the occasion. My translation of Mesfin’s messages to English reads as follows:

1)      Every political party/group/Civic Organization/movement, etc. should hold its political program within until the system is removed and replaced by a constitutional democratic government. No one should involve its program in this process until a constitution is erected upon the people’s referendum. This is not the time for discussing the political programs of the parties/groups but to ignore them in favor of building a democratic government in Eritrea.

Comment: Clear and correct position in my opinion and thank you. The brother is simply advocating UNCONDFITIONAL UNITY of all Eritrean individuals and groups. The autonomy of political groups or parties staying intact, we should unite unconditionally until we install democracy in the country. Discussing the political programs is ahead of schedule for the current reality and priority of the resistance that requires unconditional unity for democracy says the distinguished gentleman.

2)      We need a common vision; a guide line by which all opposition forces will work unified under. We need to collectively answer what may be the common vision that may unite us all to accomplish our objective with our differences in place. Overthrowing the anti-democracy regime should be our common vision in this process as the first stage of the resistance towards democratizing the country.

Comment: The common vision the brother is talking about on top of overthrowing the regime translates to me as being a TRANSITIONAL FORMULA in my understanding. I believe this is the answer that we should collectively work for unless one provides a practical alternative. This is the only way a society transits from dictatorship to democracy and we should not waste time any longer on this issue: the human race does not know another answer to problems like ours. While the brother gives his correct opinion in the expression, he appears shaky pointing it out precisely probably because of uncertainty. I don’t blame him if he does not have a research oriented idea to precisely entertain so said answer but it must be the transitional formula that gives us the chance to form a transitional government to democracy. To my grasp, Mesfin firmly believes that we should go from this situation to democracy through unconditional unity based transitional government but has no answer to how we can make it. He does not have the component that links the puzzle into a complete solution to the problem. The void here should be filled by research based TRANSITIONAL FORMULA because it is what serves as the foundation of the desperately needed transitional government in the country. We cannot have a transitional government without said formula. Reducing the formula to practice of course is impossible without getting rid of the dictatorship, thus this task becomes the priority and the prerequisite for our democratic journey.

3)      Prioritizing tasks: According to the commonly agreed upon guideline or vision, we need to prioritize our tasks towards the successful end of the effort.

Comment: Another important point by brother Mesfin! But to prioritize tasks we must first know our final destination in the process of managing our immediate priority (changing the government). The final destination must then be defined in written format for our priorities to be specified and practically materialize: This subject is an integral part of said TRANSITIONAL FORMULA which I sometimes call VISION or FOCAL POINT in my writing. We cannot work by prioritizing tasks without clearly defining the destination said tasks would get us to. This is like riding backwards in a sense. Knowing the project that we are trying to manage is a prerequisite for defining the tasks that effectuate it. A project for democracy from dictatorship requires a transitional formula that specifies the necessary tasks that carry a given society to that destination (democracy). Therefore, an Eritrean transitional formula precedes the tasks that must be performed to produce democracy in the country, meaning that the formula has to be produced first before its associated tasks are specified for prosecution. Unconditional unity, however, precedes the formation of said transitional formula, meaning that we cannot have that formula unless we unify and agree to work on it. The journey therefore looks like “Unconditional unity through-transitional formula-to-transitional government-to democracy”.

4)      Differentiating differences and similarities: We need to identify our similarities and work harder to build common understanding on. We need to use our differences for the strength of the fight against the dictatorship. We should consider our differences as our strength and rather working hard on the similarities to the point of clearly evaluating important steps to be taken in dislodging the regime from post. To do this, we need to ignore our differences now until we create the right situation to utilize them for competition towards power grab through election under a constitutional government of Eritrea.

Comment: This is sweet and a correct position because the struggle is not to intensify Eritreans’ love for one another or to tune the people at a common frame of mind but to create a decent society where differences are tolerated through agreements based on the common grounds. The common goal is clear: overthrowing the regime and democratizing the society through a transitional body based on unconditional unity of the people. These common grounds can only be managed by a TRANSIONAL GOVERNMENT which is equally beneficial to every member of the Eritrean society but it should be directed by internationally accepted standard procedures (which I sometimes call transitional formula in my writings) to convince the universe,.

5)      The youth did not play its role effectively till this time therefore it must intensify its participation and organize better in the process; in order to get a chance of leading the society as a vanguard through the experience. For this to effectuate, we need to give it a special attention as a package.

Comment: The observation is correct but the remedy once again is a WRITTEN GUIDE or FORMULA that directs the youth to a certain direction. The resistance must first clearly define its destination for the mobilized youth to travel the journey. Therefore, expecting the youth to help without a WRITTEN COMMON GUIDE is contradictory needless to say it is confusing as well. We the elders and most experienced are supposed to show the youth its direction and we shall do this quickly because we can.

6)            Until we are able to erect a constitutional government, we will have to go through a transitional period as the second stage of the resistance. This needs good preparation. We should not stop at removing the system point of the process. We need to define well the roles of the transitional body within the transitional period. A smooth transition from dictatorship towards democracy is expected from this stage. The priorities of the transitional stage should be clearly defined and effectuated.

Comment: Another sweet and optimistic message: The brother has pin pointed the remedy by stating that we are now in the second stage of the resistance where we must clearly define our objective to arrive at the last stage of the confrontation. Here are the steps he is talking about: MOBILIZATION—DEFINING THE FOCAL POINT—FINAL ACTION.

To my sensation the brother assumes we were in the second stage today and I agree. The first stage of mobilization is done. The second stage where we are today requires definition of the vision or strategy (written Guideline for a transitional government), and the last stage becomes officially forming the government according to the guideline and aggressively working on DEPLOMACY and ENTERTAINING OUR TACTIC OF ELIMINATING THE REGIME. Through this process we can smoothly transfer the society to Democracy like the Liberians did theirs through the ACCRA PEACE ACCORD.Once again, the so far missing guide or formula that connects the second and the third stages of the resistance is the main obstacle of the resistance.

7)      Integration between the Diaspora opposition and the internal potential should play a very important role of this process because the oppressed domestic force is more significant bringing change in Eritrea than the Diaspora.

Comment: This is wonderful but can only be done successfully after defining the strategy because only this can lift the confidence of our people inside the country and motivate them to act in collaboration with the Diaspora resistance.

In conclusion; I congratulate brother Mesfin for clearly defining his position which perfectly coincides with ours and that of the Vacaroian movements’. We are now in the same page and therefore we should work it out together. Brother Mesfin’s open declaration of his position is very productive to the resistance and more than welcome. Apparently, this optimistic venue has to be practical through direct engagement with the movement which Vaccaro should effectuate in the near future. He will hopefully do what has to be done with substantial help from the rest of us. What is apparent from the situation of the resistance that reflected from the brother’s message is that there was an important void that he was not certain about: He eloquently specified everything that needed to be done but was stuck at the mysterious void that has been the biggest puzzle in this resistance to date; The Transitional FORMULA my dear people. This is the secret that we should overcome.

I sincerely believe that that missing mystery is today resolved through the light inside the Accra Peace Accord that I have been working on. The only difference between our societies was that there was a civil war in Liberia that the Accra Accord had to deal with. With this in mind, I have prepared the modified document in full for exposure.

We will have my version of the formula for transitional government of Eritrea very soon: I have already forwarded it to few individuals in my circle for review. I am sure everyone in this struggled will officially receive it for review and possible amendment most preferably through brother Vaccaro. I expect brother Mesfin to encourage us on this through transparent communication because we are in perfect harmony on this subject matter. The end product of this work is a modified version of the Accord soon to be called as Unification Accord for the Transitional Government of Eritrea only upon acceptance from the forces in the resistance. I will give brother Vaccaro my version of this document and leave the rest for him to decide. I am willing to be part of the process if Vacarro welcomes this offer and we will see what happens soon. Otherwise, Vacarro is welcome to do it with individuals of his choice as long as we communicate transparently. It does not matter who does it as long as it is done and God help us in this journey to completely prepare it within this year.

Answer: It will give us the legitimacy to form a TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT OF ERITREA officially. Forming the so said government was impossible without this document. We have now a material to show international politician for recognition and assistance. We have now a document that affects all groups in the resistance camp to unit for a common government. Through this document, the resistance can now enter the third stage (Diplomacy and forming the government) with intellectual confidence.