13. May 2011 by Assimba.

Obo Arada Abashawl   -  May 13, 2011

The signs of the time: Cooperation or Confrontation (CC)?

Introduction

On April 22, 2011, on Good Friday, I have attended a book signing ceremony by Professor Bereket H. Sellasie. The book is titled “Wounded Nation” with reference to Eritrea.

In his presentation, the professor informed the audience that he has abandoned his ambition for power due to his old age (octagerian). I thought he was an intellectual meaning that his C-brain will not cease until his death. In other words, he was struggling in the war of liberation physically and emotionally all these years like that of “Hafash” who only use his/her D-brain. I can understand that the “Hafash” of Eritrea can arrest its political activity due to its weak physical condition. But I would never believe that this M’hur Akal professor would come to this conclusion – having distracted the causes of Eathiopian for almost half a century. I presume that he has - as well - resigned from his teaching career.

When asked about the Eritrean opposition in the Diaspora, he told the audience verbatim that “they come together to disperse.” He did not know the reason. Again, I was puzzled by this professor’s statement. Was he emotionally or intellectually involved in the Eritrean struggle? A lawyer turned into rebel? Everybody can observe that there is lack of unity in the Diaspora Community. The question is why? The audience had expected reason for disunity from the professor or confession on his part.

Ato Kebede D.Yimam aka “Esatu” has posed a fundamental character issue about the professor. Professor Bereket in his presentation repeatedly said that the leaders of Eritrea were less intelligent than their Ethiopian counterpart and essentially had been referred to “immaculate conception” derived by deception and greed. Kebede’s challenge came as a surprise to professor Bereket’s anatomy of leaders. Kebede admitted that his political story was similar to Bereket H. Sellassie. I believe, at one time both Professor Bereket and Ato Kebede have been delegated as spokesmen for EPLF and EPRP in North America respectively.

In fact professor Bereket said to Kebede “this is an astute observation” nevertheless instead of admitting his mistakes of evaluating the leadership of EPLF and TPLF, he attempted to explain that he has been studying them for many years – a study based on information from their friends and families. Dr. Bereket is not a sociologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist or any of the –gist. He is a lawyer and a constitutional lawyer at that.

Due to the credit of Esatu, poet of struggle, he said he had almost read all Professor Bereket’s books while I have read none of his books. And I asked Ato Kebede if he is satisfied with the professor’s answer to his question. “Professor Bereket is too partisan to be African” quipped Ato Kebede. The professor’s main theme of the night apart from selling books was to show how true an African son he was/is. It was like Colonel Ghadafi’s pronouncement for African Unity. I guess Howard University is the right place to make such announcements.

The signing ceremony was arranged by Professor Haile Gerima, owner of Sankofa, books, videos and film firm.

Collaboration and cooperation (CC): ADWA I

As most Eathiopian readers know, Professor Haile Gerima is known for his film making. With the exception of the “unfinished journey”, I have not seen any of Haile’s films so far. So I should refrain from making any judgment about Haile’s film making or professor Bereket’s constitution making conceptions and procedures.

The sure thing about these two individual professors that I know is the fact that both do not see eye to eye on the issue of Eathiopia (Ethiopia & Eritrea). The film maker perceives and evaluates Eathiopia from the victory of ADWA “I” whereas the constitution lawyer perceives and evaluates Eritrea & Ethiopia (Eathiopia) from the prism of abandonment by the Emperor of Shewa, Minilik II.

So why and how did these two professionals come together for a joint venture? From what I observed professor Haile were the coordinator and commercial announcer for the book signing. I have not asked them personally but that was what I saw.

My main theme of this article is the fact that two educated Eathiopians became comrade-in-arms so to speak as to disseminate information, knowledge and perhaps wisdom not only to the Eritrean, Ethiopian or African communities in the Diaspora particularly in Washington DC. That for me is ‘the last straw that broke the camel’s back’.

As I said in previous paragraphs, I have neither read the lawyers books and nor seen the film-makers films. But what I was sure of these two individual M’hur Akals objectives and goals in regards to their respective birth places. The lawyer was born in a village called Adi Nefas (country of winds) in Hamasien Awraja; the Artist was born in Gondar town. As knowledgeable elders, I want them to educate us what Hamasien and Gondar meant (call me by my name!). Instead, both of them have been fighting tooth and nail to tell us about the “victory” of Adwa I.

Adwa I for the Artist is the basis of Unity for Ethiopia whereas for the lawyer, Adwa I was the basis for “Separation” of Ethiopia. These antagonistic approaches by both professors have led to all Ethiopian and Eritrean deaths and migration for almost a century (1896-1991). I am glad to see these 95 years of feud by these two professional came to an end.

Without keen noticing on their part, Adwa II – a group of individual leaders have come to rule Ethiopia for good or for worst. The professors should take close look at these groups’ intentions and motivations before they regret producing books, films and cds.

Confrontation and disintegration: Adwa II

Adwa II is about the coming of groups of individuals who are ruling Ethiopia and Eritrea separately for twenty years (1991-2011). I think that the lawyer true to his profession is deeply worried that there is no rule by law (as opposed to rule of law) in Eritrea and the Artist similarly believes that the application of the rule of law in Ethiopia is totally missing. Both professors will join the Diaspora opposition in rectifying the situation in both Eritrea and Ethiopia which I call Eathiopia.

I believe that these two professors have passed the argument and counter argument of ADWA I – in terms of forgiveness. The only doubt I have is in their ability to forget about ADWA “I” for at the end of the discussion, Professor Haile Gerima challenged Professor Bereket for his saying that the American Revolution was peaceful. Professor Bereket declared that Thomas Jefferson gave the Americans a “peaceful and perfect constitution.” At this juncture Professor Haile Gerima was agitated about the statement for him the American Revolution was never peaceful and perfect. In fact, Professor Haile said emphatically that Jefferson had slaves and was cruel and bloody. Here lies unnecessary argument and side issues that we had inherited from these elders and professors. How do we pass the truth about ADWA I to our children? I hope these professors will answer my question in joint venture via films and books.

According to Professor Tesfatsion Medhane, political scientist and a lawyer wrote that Thomas Jefferson had never given Constitution to the American people but the “Declaration of Independence.” And so there is a gap of knowledge and lack of wisdom on the part of our educated leaders. Of course, I am referring to the Eway Revolution of Eathiopia and I am hoping that these two professors will learn about the “Ethiopian Revolution” in its true context. Professor Haile is on the way to getting acquainted to the Eway Revolution as he is gradually collecting data from individual EPRP members on why they joined the “true Revolution” as opposed to the fake Revolution by the DERG.

Concluding Remarks

One of the amazing things that I found it necessary to tell is the fact that the concepts of communication and intelligence in the Eathiopian Communities and societies are deeply unrecognized. For instance, Professor Bereket stated that PM Meles is more intelligent than President Issias. This fundamental flow is the basis for a lot of the educated mistrust by the Eathiopian masses.

For the majority of Eathiopians, communication is about listening and intelligence is about the willingness to learn. Both these traits are rampant in the Eathiopian societies.

In Melese’s case, he is not willing to learn what is/will happen to the country or to its people. He is just lecturing or giving instructions every now and then. In Issais case, his lack of communication is poor. He is not listening to any body but to himself. This is the dilemma we are in. And that is why the majority do not want to follow the educated Drs or Professors. We hope they will change their attitude before they delivery information, knowledge or wisdom.

Intelligence and Communication skills are no alien to Eathiopians. AADWA III will demonstrate these characteristics in due course and time.

TRUTH WILL PREVAIL

For comments and question

woldetewolde@yahoo.com

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13. May 2011 by Assimba.

Hama Tuma

Back in 2006, I wrote a short story called The Case of the Criminal Walk in which I lampooned the Meles Zenawi regime’s ridiculous ethnic bantustanization of Ethiopia. In the story, a man who had walked outside of “his region” was accused of being a criminal and a saboteur. And the prosecutor was interested in the type of walk the man had engaged in. Here is how that prosecutor in the story asked his question:

“Was he strolling arrogantly? Walking briskly? Were his lips curled in disgust as he walked? Were his eyes narrow like a chauvinist? Was he pounding at the pavement or moving surreptitiously like a spy? Did he dodder, falter, lumber, stagger, totter, trudge, hobble or plod? When you saw him walk did you see an innocent man like say someone rushing to church not to miss Mass? Or did you see a suspicious man with a saintly smile like all criminals, puffed up with arrogance, happy at the mere thought of having trampled on yet another sacred law, angrily pounding on our poor road? Did he prowl, tiptoe, slink away or stalk? Was he shuffling, slouching off or creeping? Did he march, surge or meander? A lot depends on that walk…Was it leisurely like a stroll, the pastime of a lazy man propagating unemployment? Was he moving briskly like a criminal trying to distance himself from the scene of his foul crime? Was he lifting his legs up like the parading soldiers of the former regime and pounding hard on our pavement to dig potholes? Or was he trying to be smaller than his shadow and walking stealthily?”

In the end the prosecutor in the story gives his own definition of the criminal walk:

“The criminal walk as we all know combines the rush and the prowl with the swoop and stomp, the trudge and the swagger, and all this accompanied by a maniacal chuckle.”

Did Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Beisgye wear a maniacal chuckle as he walked to work in opposition to the Museveni regime? Did he just walk or did he trudge and swoop on downtown Kampala? How did the authorities determine his walk was criminal and then resort to arresting and beating him up? By the way did the good doctor, who was Museveni’s personal physician in the past, get the idea of turning a walk into a political protest action from my short story? Seriously though, the intriguing question to most Africans, who are fortunate enough to have a job in the first place, is how come walking to work becomes a protest as more often than not they all walk to work? Early morning Nairobi, a stream of humanity trudges out of the notorious Kibera slum to go to or to search for work. With price of petrol skyrocketing and the price of transport too expensive to ponder many have been forced to walk not as a protest (heaven forbid) but as a necessity. Have Ugandans turned as rich as Museveni claims and are driving to work or take public transport in their thousands every day? Who cares if Besigye walks to work? For all we know, as a doctor, he may be doing it for health reasons? If walk to work is a protest Ethiopians have been protesting for decades without even knowing it.

But Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a frightened man, haunted by the specter of a popular revolt against his dictatorial rule and his tearing up of the Constitution to be “elected” as fourth time president of Uganda. An Ethiopian proverb says no one dies looking as good as he was. Alas, things and human beings change and in most cases in Africa for the worst. Yoweri Museveni was a progressive militant, a better and promising breed than the Obotes and Amins that Uganda had to bear. In the first years, his rule was not also that bad (in Africa we do not easily say good knowing what we know) despite creeping corruption, ethnic favoritism and alarming demagogy on his part. Museveni’s declared “modernization” drive and his penchant for power clashed with tradition and customs (the place of kings in Uganda for example) and the call for a better deal by Ugandans suffering from economic hardships. Museveni wrote a book in which he identified one of the major malaise of governance in Africa as being the tendency of the rulers to stay in power for long and went on right away to cling to power for 25 years now even by changing the Constitution to run as a presidential candidate for the fourth time. Over the years, Museveni turned into a run of the mill African dictator, relying on his control of the repression apparatus and family circles and engaging in repression of any dissent. Besigye’s call for walk to work as a protest could have been taken as a patriotic gesture to save on fuel but Museveni had to rile and rant against it and turn it into a big cause and thus spurred the opposition leader to come up with walk to prayer calls.

The Museveni clan, much like the Meles Zenawi clan in Ethiopia, is controlling Uganda like their private property. None of them walks to work by the way. Museveni holds absolute power and is involved big time in the economic sector. His wife Janet Museveni, admired for not wearing western wigs ever, is a minister for Karamoja region and the owner of the Gemtel mobile telephone service that has extended its activities into Juba too. His half brother General Caleb Akandwanaho (also known as Salim Saleh) is presidential advisor on defence and a man accused of gross corruption including the plunder of gold and minerals from Eastern Congo. His brother in law, Sam Kutea, is Foreign Affairs Minister while his daughter Natasha Karugire is his private secretary. Janet’s nephew Justus Karuhanga is Museveni’s secretary for legal affairs while his son Lt. Colonel Kainerugaba Muhoozi is commander of the Special Forces guarding the newly discovered oil fields. The colonel also leads the elite presidential guard. As one Kenyan journalist recently commented– Ugandans are not all amused by the “familiarization of the State” as much as Museveni says he is not pleased with walking to work as a sign of protest.

Museveni is bound to be history, the past—perhaps sooner than he may expect. Yet, he owes his ongoing survival, as much as Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia, to the fact that he has slavishly bowed to the superpower and became cannon fodder in the so called war against terror. His regime is a minority one and his claim to be a messiah from the Munyankole/Bahima unconvincing to the majority of Bagandans. The LRA still roams murderously uncontrolled filling the pockets of the general who are the real beneficiaries of the ongoing war. Museveni has opened up Uganda for American special troops, has rushed into Somalia to fulfill America’s order (much like Meles Zenawi before him) and proved an ally of the West. That has assured him financial help and security protection and overall backing and support against a Revolution that may turn nationalist/Ugandan and throw out the foreign agenda and diktat. After all, Idi Amin was also an Israeli and British baby before he grew a shark’s teeth and became a nuisance. But will Washington’s backing save Museveni from impending doom? Judging from Egypt and what is happening elsewhere it does not seem likely and Museveni, who has outlived four US presidents, may not outlive Obama. Still, his rule and his ministers have given other tyrants very many valuable lessons. For those tyrants who kill their people and suffer their blame Museveni’s Internal Affairs State Minister, Kirunda Kivejinja, has come out with a gem of a self defense. Admitting that people were killed and hundreds wounded or arrested in the protest demonstrations he, however, said the government is not taking responsibility for those killed and he advised Ugandans to blame the deaths “ on the British and the Americans who manufacture bullets”.

Now we know the real culprits!

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