By Obo Arada Shawl – April 1, 2009

It was a comedy of the King to be an investor in education

It is a tragedy for Dictator Essayas to invest in education

It is a double tragedy for Tyrant Meles to be an investor in education

 

ምሁራን M’huran refers to the Professional servants

Versus

ጽንሐተ ምሁራን Ts’nhate M’huran refers to the Public servants (politicians)

BACKGROUND DATA

• 49 years ago, during the coup d’etat by the Neway Brothers, there were less than 100 students in the University

• Over 90% of the Eathiopian population were illiterate in Latin alphabets

• Less than 15% of the population used to go to school

• Only 5% had completed grade 12

• Some 60% were made to fail the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate (ESLC)

• Only a half-million students were enrolled in elementary school

• There were about 170,000 students in High School.

Source: The Generation by Kiflu Tadesse

POLITICS

Everybody knows that people are the most important assets in any organization more so for EPRP. The struggle for Labor versus Capital was well known for EPRP member organizations and allied supporters. Contrary to many elitist elements that oppose the EPRP, the active members of EPRP have always attempt to merge politics, science and technology in their endeavor to revolutionize Eathiopia. The Eway Revolution was meant to change the Monarchy, to separate the Clergy from the state and to encourage those so-called “Nobility” class to join the working class. A political decision!

There is nothing more unpredictable than politics. Some Eathiopians see politics as hopeful and as essential to achieving humanity’s dreams and potentials. For other Eathiopians, politics is a necessary evil, or a conspiracy of the elite. Don’t we all know that both views are correct?

But what is politics? It is about people and it is about power. No one can be safe with either one. EPRP is in the business of peoples’ power, which is embedded in DEMOCRACIA and not in the power of the gun. This can only be done via investment in education a la M’huran and Tsinhate M’huran style.

EPRP leaders and members recognize both Chairman Mao’s dictum that “politics is a war without bloodshed” and in Winston Churchill’s words “that in war you could be killed only once, but in politics you can be killed many times”.

What is education after all?

Education normally is an act that refers to any experience that has a formative effect on the minds, character or physical ability of an individual. Technically, education is a process by which society, via schools, colleges and universities and other institutions transforms cultural heritage, accumulated knowledge, values and skills from generation to generation. That was the aim of the Student Movement.

The right to education is a basic human right. Civil and political rights, life, liberty, freedom of expression, equality for social and economic rights, rights to participate in culture, to work and so on, are all Human Rights Issues.

Modern education was introduced into Ethiopia with the full support of Haile Sellasie I. No doubt modern education was due to him. In fact, he became a patron of the University. He had eleven colleges named after him.

Was he wrong to be a patron? Was it symbolic or substantive should be the right question? What about now? Can we say the same of the prime minister of Ethiopia and president of Eritrea?

To be a patron of Education, one has to be aware in the relationship of concept-theory-and practice in Educational Investment. Haile Sellasie was appointing ministers who were armed only with theories and at that – merely acquired from college’s books. In other words, there were almost no ጽንሐተ ምሁራን አካል involved in Haile Sellasie government.

 ONE MANDEFRO

As I recall Ato Mandefro was an officer in the Central Personnel Agency (CPA). As part of his task he used to ask the graduates who came to apply for a job whether they have done some research/study about their country – Eathiopia. If the applicants did not possess thesis or dissertation papers written on Eathiopia, Ato Mandefro will hand them plain papers and ask them to write what they know about their country-Eathiopia. It was a good device for the recruiter man to distinguish the educated class namely ምሁር እና ጽንሃተ ምሁር አካል.

However, during the DERG era, most graduate applicants were from the Socialist countries and as they were caught off guard, they had no clue what he was demanding of them and as retribution the disgruntled candidates labeled Ato Mandefro as anti-revolution and as a result he was sent into prison. What a tragedy it was for Eathiopia!

MILLION MANDEFROS

In today’s Eathiopia, we are all Mandefros. We want to know about Eathiopia. Thousands are attacking the educated or disrespecting them. Why? Because many of them are unable to write about Eathiopia’s core problems, though most of them can discuss, analyze and suggest solutions for other countries.

Most of the educated class gives two main reasons for not writing about their country:

• No data on Eathiopia

• No access or freedom to write

As to the first reason, unless they initiate to write, how could there be any data. The population is the data. The Eathiopian population is the primary source of data. Those who have written about Eathiopia and for Eathiopians are called ጽንሃተ ምሁራን አካሎች….

As to the second reason, it is good enough to fight for their political rights and focus on their respective change of government. Nobody will do it for them; they have to take the lead. They ought to lead and not to follow the illiterate body.

MAIN REASON FOR NOT LEADING

Governance is a craft (secret power), not merely a talent (genius). It involves careful sorting of ideas and priorities. The Eway Revolution entailed knowing the foundations upon which the Monarchy, the Clergy and the Nobility (MCN) were based. EPRP’s first priority was to install a Political Institution i.e. a system of governance of the Eathiopians, by the Eathiopians and for the Eathiopians firmly stamping an idea and a trademark known as DEMOCRACIA. From the start, it was very clear for EPRP to believe in that

• The Monarchy was outdated and was destined to be replaced

• The Clergy had become subservient to the Monarchy and that the Church should distance itself from the Patriarch

• The Nobility would be transformed into working class or Bureaucrats i.e. progressive ones.

For this EPRP was and is being isolated politically and sanctioned economically by the so-called “Nobility” who are still confusing the working class and the peasantry.

CONCLUSION

Long before EPRP was formally formed, there were many graduates who had undermined the crucial role of alumni associations. A would have been a vibrant function of alumni association was curtailed due to elites like Samuel Alemayehu who was the president of the Alumni Association during the reign of Haile Sellasie. The other culprits were the president of the university, the academia and some professors. The Tsinhate M’huran Akal were barred subtly from running institutions and research centers that could have contributed to the over all development of Eathiopia

The Tsinhate M’huran Akal including Debteraw had faced multi-faced obstacles. Though in general, the college student body were opposing the administration of the University along with the lecturers mode of operand, the would be EPRP leaders and members were mainly agitating against the subject matter that was being taught in the university college of Haile Sellasie. The struggle was not targeted against the administration or the professors per se; it was rather to bring a new understanding of the Eathiopian reality show.

Today, The main reason why DEBTERAW is in prison is simply because he is the leader in Tsinhate Muhur Akal. His usual rhetorical question is to ask questions of WHY and HOW? If any individual asks such questions, he/she would have to succeed not only personally but also professionally. That was DEBTERAW’s belief.

 

 

 

 

It’s time to believe in it

(Education/information)

It’s time to absorb it

It’s time to translate it

And it’s time to abandon titles

But to embrace Tsinhate Muhur titles

 

Let us heed

President B. Obama’s call

“The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens.”

In order to save our children and our people

TRUTH WILL PREVAIL

For comments and questions

woldetewolde@yahoo.com

On March 15, 2009—San Jose has hosted a discussion forum on the Ethio-Eritrean issues. The honorable invited guests on this topic were Professor Tesfatsion Medhanie from the University of Bremen, Germany and Professor Daniel Kendie from the University of Henderson in Arkansas, United States. Both scholars have written books on the Ethio-Eritrean issue. The meeting has driven lots of participants and it was a successful event. The Amharic version of what the first speaker, Professor Tesfatsion, presented to the audience will soon be posted on the Internet in its entirety.

In brief, his presentation focused on confederation as the framework for the closest relations possible between the two countries. He dwelt at length on the difference between confederation and federation. But even for this confederal union to be realized, there are some prerequisites. They include political changes in both Eritrea and Ethiopia; this means, among other things, that there have to be governments of national unity in both countries. Besides, there are also psychological barriers on the part of Eritreans as well as Ethiopians that have to be addressed. The elites of both countries have a big role to play in this regard. Professor Tesfatsion emphasized that if the peoples of both countries are satisfied with the process of the confederation, they can in the future voluntarily decide in favor of a closer relationship including federation.

Following that, Professor Daniel Kendie’s presentation focused on the role played by Egypt and other Arab-nations for the secession of Eritrea. He favors not only reinstating the Federal system to Eritrea but also to implement it in other Ethiopia’s sub-regions. In addition, he argued that a confederation allows two countries to sit side by side and is too weak to deal with major issues. Therefore, he stressed that a strong central government is a requirement. His vision of the federal structure also calls for the inclusion of Djibouti, Somalia, and perhaps Sudan.

The discussion was really very interesting and a milestone that brought both Ethiopians and Eritreans under one roof for discussions. On the other hand, both lecturers admitted that this vision may be supported by neither the current Eritrean nor Ethiopian governments. A democratic government is a prerequisite for its possible implementation. Therefore, one has to think beyond the era of the present regimes.

Professor Daniel also told participants that a meeting between Eritrean and Ethiopian intellectuals will be held in the coming days. It includes 15 participants on each side of the isle and he promised to inform us about its outcome. And finally, on the strength of Professor Danel’s recommendations, 3-people on each side were selected to facilitate at least social interactions between the two communities here in San Jose. It’s actually is the first of its kind since the 1998 major conflict between the two countries or even after the separations for that matter.

In sponsoring this discussion forum, we—the event organizes—strongly believe that we’ve brought this crucial issue to the forefront. At the same time, we also know that it’s highly controversial. But taking a step towards peace and reconciliation as well as developing vision is a historical obligation. Let other people take it from here.

Forum organizers in San Jose, California

 

Community and its Future Initiatives: The Search for Alternative Mechanisms

By Maru Gubena

Before anything else, let me just say a few things in simple, straightforward words: my thanks to those who have expressed their views directly to me, sharing their opinions and frustrations. My thanks also to those who posted their constructive and most helpful comments on various Ethiopian websites in response to my recently posted excerpted text and article. This has been an encouragement, helping to pour some fuel into me to remain engaged in my writing, as a part of the voice of Ethiopian politics. Yes, it is indeed true that some of the comments I received were extremely powerful and penetrating; in particular two long comments written in Amharic and one in English managed to awaken my long hidden feelings and painful memories in a highly accelerated fashion – feelings and memories that arrived surrounded by clear images of the cruel and inhuman era of the 1970’s – as experienced by a disproportionately high number of my generation. An era that successfully obliterated the long existing morale and feelings of patriotism of Ethiopians, to the point that these seem immensely difficult, if not impossible, to restore, and an era that is responsible for the disintegration of our country – Ethiopia. Though many of my compatriots who were a part of that most vicious regime, with its hostile, dreadful political machines and mechanisms, might have a different view of the atrocious and untold crimes committed by our own people, it was also the Ethiopian military regime of that particular period that made my country a killing field. The impact of that period is still profound in our lives, making everything impossible, including working together and finding a political solution to the ongoing multiple problems in Ethiopia.

To be honest with you, while reading the comments mentioned above, but also afterwards, I became a bit emotional; not surprisingly, I suddenly ran out of my study, going downstairs in search of someone – someone who carries more or less the same wounds and scars as many of my generation, and someone who can understand my pain and is willing to listen to me and share my emotions. Yes, I went running as fast as I could to be with someone who is willing to hold me as closely and firmly as possible and is capable of offering me the solace and comfort I needed so badly in those remarkably disturbing but most memorable hours. What more can I say, other than thanking the authors of the e-mails and posted comments, except that that I am delighted to have published my text. Had I not posted it, I would have missed the opportunity to share my views and read these memorable, painful but wisely expressed comments.

Most of the questions raised, either in the e-mails I have received or the reactions posted by readers, in response to the recently posted first part of my article entitled “Reviewing the Damaging Effects of Ethiopian Diaspora Politics on the Wider Community and its Future Initiatives: The Search for Alternative Mechanisms,” were about when they would be able to read the rest. In response, as promised, here is the second part of the article. For those who have not had a chance to read the first part – published between the last days of February and the first two or three days of March 2009 – it is advisable to download and read part one before proceeding with part two of the article.

As outlined in part one of this article, for methodological purposes and to provide a clear, effective review of the interlinked topical issues and questions raised there, two critically important terms, functional and dysfunctional will be employed in relation to community or society. In this paper the use of these terms will be strictly limited to the Ethiopian Diaspora community and its involvement and role in areas of politics. A good many of the issues and topics outlined in part one have been included and examined in this paper, in the section on “Contemporary Ethiopian Diaspora Politics in Historical Perspective.” The remaining critically important questions and concerns will be incorporated and highlighted as a part of the remaining three sub-themes; these will form the third and fourth chapters, which are yet to be written and published.

 The Changing Face of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its Impact on Politics, the Wider Community and Future Organizational Hopes and Initiatives

 Revisiting the May 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election and its Role in Generating a Spontaneous Mood of Unity Among the Diaspora Community

 Can Democracy take Root in a Country where Family, Group Orientation and Regionalism are entrenched and Political Culture is lacking?

Finally, I must mention the lack of helpful written materials or study guides regarding the history of the Ethiopian Diaspora community and how its politics began and developed. As a result, this paper will be based primarily on highly limited personal participation and observations of three decades ago, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to present a proper, relatively balanced overview. And in fact, examining any history – not just the history of the Ethiopian Diaspora community and its politics – and presenting it in a way that is compact and can be followed and clearly understood by the intended readers is tricky for most people, if not for all writers. It is certainly difficult for me. I am nevertheless determined to confront myself, to refresh my memories, and to make every effort to take a brief, close look at the historical processes and growth of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its role in Ethiopian politics. Also, as we Ethiopians are so good at having a variety of views – which can actually sometimes be healthy – I am quite aware that the experiences and observations of others, even if they had an opportunity to be in the same place at the same time, may be far different from my own experiences and observations, and from the views I express here. I would therefore kindly request and encourage my Ethiopian compatriots of my generation to put together their own helpful experiences and views, so that I and many other Ethiopian compatriots and friends of Ethiopia can share and learn from them.

Contemporary Ethiopian Diaspora Politics in Historical Perspective

As long-time Ethiopian political activists and historians of Ethiopian politics know, it would not be wrong to argue vigorously that the history of Ethiopian Diaspora politics is inseparably linked to the early Ethiopian student movement, made up of members and activists who had the opportunity to come and further their studies in North America and Europe. They gradually established their own Ethiopian Students’ Association in North America (ESANA) and The Union of Ethiopian Students in Europe (ESUE), with firm determination to maintain their working partnership with their compatriots back home and help to debate the issues pertaining to Ethiopian political and economic issues and political systems. They also wanted to speak out as loudly as they could concerning the exceptional growth in income inequality, poverty, and urban-rural gaps that plagued the majority of Ethiopians, along with many other socio-cultural problems of their time. It is said that these early Ethiopian student activists also saw a change in leadership, accompanied by radical structural change and socio-political and economic transformation, as paramount among their many objectives.

Disappointingly, however, despite these most ambitious plans, the government of Emperor Haile Selassie –which the Ethiopian students had hoped to see replaced by new political leadership and by the radical socio-political and economic policies they had envisioned – was suddenly deposed in 1974 by yet more radical, inexperienced and self-centred members of the Ethiopian armed forces. Upon learning the bad news about the emergence of the new enemy, only a very few of the large number of the Ethiopian student activists in North America and Europe returned to Ethiopia to join their compatriot comrades who were engaged in political and armed resistance against the untimely and uninvited newly emergent military junta. This government, with its 120 members, called itself the Provisional Military Administrative Council, (otherwise known as the Dergue, or Committee), became the undisputed ruler of the entire nation and the subjugator of the Ethiopian people. The majority of Ethiopian students remained in the USA and Europe, some by extending their studies and others by applying for a new form of living permit – political asylum, which was scarcely known to most Ethiopians of the period. However, some returned home and even those who did not began to focus their interest and energy exclusively on the political events and processes in Ethiopia. A good number of the student leaders and well known political figures within the Ethiopian students’ association and their union in both North America and Europe joined either the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP) or the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement (MEISON) in Ethiopia. Both the day-to-day activities of ESANA and ESUE and the respect they had enjoyed were eroded, and both organizations were destroyed.

Almost all students and political activists in the early Ethiopian student movement were relatively young, probably on average between the ages of 18 and 25. Also, probably due to the relatively easy life in Ethiopia during the period in which the Golden Period Generation was born and grew up, and because most came from well-to-do families, the majority of the early Ethiopian student activists were relatively tall and good looking, with their rather long hair worn “Afro style.” Yes, life in Ethiopia before the upheaval of the bloody 1974 revolution was easy – and rather cheap as well – and the movements of individuals were not restricted. There were hardly any internal tensions or wars, and external wars were sporadic: the Golden Period Generation never experienced continuous war nor witnessed columns of tanks in their cities and towns, especially in comparison to the experiences of the War Born Generation in the period under the Dergue (for extended information see my two-part article, The Revitalization of Ethiopia’s Most Tragic, Nightmarish and Painful Memories of the 1970s: The Clash of Generations, published in November – December 2006).

As the policy of the military regime became exceptionally harsh and heinous, and widespread atrocious crimes continued throughout Ethiopia, the early Ethiopian student activists in North America, Europe and Africa were joined by new groups, arriving in massive numbers – Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees, the victims of the Dergue. These new arrivals included a good number of EPRP urban political activists, as well as those from Assimba and surrounding areas and towns, who had been engaged in direct armed struggle with the ruthless military regime of Ethiopia. Refugees from Ethiopia had been periodically registered, selected and admitted as refugees by the immigration authorities of the United States and by some European governments to come and live in their countries. They arrived from their countries of first asylum, such as Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, but also some Mediterranean or South European countries, such as Italy and Greece. Asylum seekers, on the other hand, are individuals who arrive at any port of entry of a given country and apply for political asylum based on widespread political, religious or other forms of repression in their country of origin. A disproportionately high number of the Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees of the period, probably over 98 percent, were high school and university students, recent graduates or teachers. Also, due to the severely restrictive policy imposed by the new military regime on those leaving (or trying to leave) Ethiopia illegally – considered to be a huge crime, tantamount to treason – and in addition to the newness and uncertainties, for Ethiopians, of becoming an asylum seeker or refugee in another country, almost all of the victims of the atrociously cruel regime of the Dergue who managed to escape were males. Consequently, like the students, the Ethiopian refugee population of the period was almost exclusively male. Whatever refugee status or student residence permits Ethiopians were given by other countries, however, no member of the community in this period had ever thought, even in their wildest dreams, that these new countries would be where they would be maturing, spending the majority of their years, dying and perhaps being buried. No, no one had ever predicted or even considered remaining a landless people forever. Everyone had a solid plan of returning home within a brief period – probably after a maximum of three to five years (see also: The Future of the Maturing African Diaspora: Sharing my Night Memories of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution and the Purpose of my Departure).

As the political and military positions of EPRP became progressively weaker on both urban and rural fronts, hopes to overthrow the new military regime continued to fade and the number of Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees arriving in other countries continued to increase. The accelerating decline in the political position and military power of EPRP also began to cause or contribute to internal tensions, feuds and conflicts among its important organs and supporters in Europe and North America; anxiety grew as the organization became weaker. Despite these problems and the uncertain future of the EPRP, discussions and debates continued during its short life, and political meetings, and study groups were established to collectively follow political developments and other events that were underway in our country, and to actively explore Marxism, Leninism and other relevant theories. In those days meetings of the various study cells always took place face-to-face. This was probably due to the importance of personal and group security as well as the fact that today’s technological possibilities were not yet available: other forms of interaction such as teleconferences or discussions using paltalk software while sitting in one’s own house, perhaps in bed or while cooking, were totally unknown to the early Ethiopian students and political activists who were soon to become known as “Ethiopian refugees” or “the Ethiopian Diaspora community.” Attending a politically oriented meeting and becoming a well known participant in such gatherings and debates were seen by most activists, at least indirectly, as important – just as it would be important, for example in top educational circles, to be associated with the activities of a well known and highly respected educational institution. Also, being familiar with and readily employing Marxist terminology, such as “sectarianism” or the “sectarians,” the “proletariat” or “proletarians” and the “remnants” when speaking in meetings and conferences, was often associated with being a revolutionary who had a profound involvement in and understanding of the fundamentals of Marxism and Leninism. Presenting the communist manifesto and explaining its content and meaning, and talking in great detail about the 1917 Russian revolution and the irreconcilable ideological differences between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, including the deep-seated animosity between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, were all seen as hugely important and a sign that the Ethiopian political activists or cell members involved were educated and knowledgeable in Marxist and other relevant theories associated with socialism and communism – most likely someone who had attended one of the highly respected universities in Moscow or Beijing. Having a number of personal books in one’s room, preferably hardcovers (red in colour) bearing the names of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Frederick Engels or all three, and carrying one or more of these books while walking, was used to signify some sort of intellectuality and a deep involvement in the concepts of the socialist and communist mode of production.

Unsurprisingly, although almost all of the Ethiopian students and political activists who opposed the regime of our country were residing safely in the western world, either as students or as asylum seekers/refugees, they neither appreciated nor valued the political and economic systems of their countries of residence, including their mode of production. Participants in the various study groups were repeatedly encouraged to study Marxism, Leninism and related books, and to become devoted forces towards socio-economic and political change in a truly revolutionary future Ethiopia. On the other hand, however, the high-ranking individuals in these groups did not appreciate or value time spent by members of the various cells in social or other activities related to personal wellbeing. Even though (as mentioned above), the population of early Ethiopian students and political activists was predominantly male, the desire or temptation to have a girlfriend, or to talk about sex or sexuality was seen as undesired and unhealthy – something that could weaken the group. Such activities were, therefore, socially discouraged and forbidden, not just by the leaders of the group, but also by most participants in the various cells. Yes, as interdependence among Ethiopians was phenomenal, the social control was extremely heavy. There were very few Ethiopian girls, perhaps two or three among the thirty to forty members of each group, and they were usually associated with well-known, dominant figures. Probably because of the limited number of female Ethiopians and because most of the early Ethiopian students and political activists were young, in their early lives, terms such as engagement, marriage or wedding were unfamiliar to most of them. As result, there was little or no talk about such ideas, and no one among us was either engaged or married. Most used to sleep quite often with their Marxist and Leninist books.

Yes, the period was indeed remarkable, and is painfully full of memories, including difficulties and homesickness or nostalgia – difficulties and homesickness experienced by the early Ethiopian students and political activists. Technological communications were less advanced than today, and the number of Ethiopians in Ethiopia who owned landline phones was far more limited, but also the risk of communicating with family members back home was enormously great. Making contact with those who were considered to be enemies of the regime and the country it ruled was seen as reason enough to be arrested, tortured or even killed, so direct contacts with family members and friends were extremely and painfully difficult, if not impossible. Even letters sent from Ethiopians living abroad to families back home were often returned to the senders by the cadres of the ruthless regime with a list of possible messages stamped on the envelope, including: “the person to whom this letter has been addressed has disappeared.” Or “the person to whom this letter has been addressed has been imprisoned or executed,” and so on. In reality, however, the messages received from the cadres of the regime were not always true. Yes, after repeatedly writing to family members and friends most students managed to discover that that those who had been declared to have disappeared, or to have been imprisoned or executed, were actually well and alive!

The exchange of information related to political developments in the country, especially exchanges with those who were engaged in the struggle against the military regime, was limited to the high ranking members of the study groups or cells. The majority of the group knew little or nothing. Remarkably enough, however, whenever there was bad news, such as arrests or killing of important members of the resistance or their leaders in the war front, it could be read in the faces of the group leaders who received or heard the news. Yes, as the measures being undertaken by the military regime of the time against both urban and rural EPRP activists, its supporters and sympathizers, became more atrociously inhuman, the awful and depressing news continued to reach Ethiopians living outside Ethiopia. Though it was difficult to verify the accuracy of the news or to know exactly what had happened, the ambush and assassination of a group of high ranking EPRP leaders by the death squads of the military regime were said to have been the most decisive factors in discontinuing all political activities and engagements, and disbanding the various study groups or cells (for further reading see the article, “Evaluating Three Decades of Ethiopian Resistance, its Challenges, Achievements and Failures: Perspectives for Political and Leadership Change”).

In my recollection, it was in early or mid 1979 that a three day international conference intended for all Ethiopians residing in Europe and North America was called to discuss and debate the future, and probably also to see if anything could be done to arrest the total disintegration of their party – the EPRP. The conference was held in Europe, in Amsterdam, the capital city of The Netherlands. As far as I can recall, participants came from as far as what were then the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block countries, from Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Great Britain and many other countries. Even though most of the debates were heated, emotionally loaded and conducted in revolutionary tones, in general terms, the conference, which marked the end of political activities, study groups and any other form of political meetings, was rational, friendly, full of closeness among participants and indeed pleasant. Also, as Ethiopians of the period were still fond of being together and sleeping in a single room, five or even ten or fifteen together, there was no need to book hotel rooms. Yes, though we Ethiopians can often be allergic to agreement and to working together in areas related to national issues, sleeping in one room and talking the whole night about Ethiopian politics is undeniably among our favourite pastimes. However, except for some small sporadic educational seminars organized at the national level by universities or Ethiopian community associations, the international conference held in Amsterdam was to be the last gathering on Ethiopian political issues for almost a decade. All political activity halted for what was then an unknown period, while individual Ethiopian activists went on with their studies and personal lives. Yes, it took almost a decade for the political spirits and morale of the early Ethiopian political activists to revive, and for them to return to Ethiopian politics.

Paradoxically, and for most of my readers perhaps strangely, even unacceptably, it was nonetheless the unexpected military strength, as well as the successes and political strategies of the enemies of Ethiopian unity – the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation

Front (TPLF) – that, in combination with the rapid decline in the military and political power of the Ethiopian military regime, contributed significantly to the reviving, reenergizing and regrouping of the Ethiopian Diaspora political activists. The surviving EPRP and MEISON leaders and their supporters and sympathizers who had often joked and talked so disparagingly about TPLF, never believing it could succeed in defeating the military regime and become the unchallenged ruler of the entire land of Ethiopia, finally reappeared from their Diaspora fortresses around 1988 and 1989, after almost a decade of silence. The few leaders of these two historical enemies, EPRP and MEISON, who had managed to survive the killing fields constructed by the inhuman leadership of the Dergue regime, made a marriage of convenience almost immediately after their reappearance in 1991. They announced the formation of a new alliance, the Coalition of Democratic Ethiopian Forces (CODEF), aimed at either forcing the TPLF leadership to form a coalition government with them, or failing that at collectively voicing their opposition to TPLF’s single-handed rule. Knowing the scattered nature of the Ethiopian opposition, their non-existent power base and the disorganization of their parties, however, the TPLF leadership remained determined, continuing to rule Ethiopia and its people single-handedly, under its own terms, desires and policies. As result, despite never-ending feuds, divisions and deep-seated wounds and hostilities (some historical, some freshly inflicted) among the opposition groups, Ethiopian Diaspora politics, whether functional or dysfunctional, with members or without, with a leader or leaderless, with financial resources or not, have persisted to the present day. They have continued in spite of the ineffectiveness of Ethiopia Diaspora politics and the direct or indirect damaging effects these politics have had on the wider Ethiopian Diaspora community, including the harm to current and future political and organizational hopes and initiatives. Additionally, the repressive policies directed by the TPLF regime at conscious and concerned Ethiopians, including human rights activists and the press, along with its arrogant, thoughtless retort that “if you don’t like me and if you don’t agree with my policy, you can go and live anywhere you wish,” have produced a massive number of new Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees, who in turn have dramatically changed both the composition and the face of the Ethiopian Diaspora community, including the process and direction of its politics.

 

Maru Gubena

Readers who wish to contact the author can reach me at info@pada.nl

 

• As pointed out on page three, the issues, questions and concerns raised in part one will be included and examined together with the remaining three sub-topics, including, •The Changing Face of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its Impact on Politics, the Wider Community and Future Organizational Hopes and Initiatives; •Revisiting the May 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election and its Role in Generating a Spontaneous Mood of Unity Among the Diaspora Community; and •Can Democracy take Root in a Country where Family, Group Orientation and Regionalism are entrenched and Political Culture is lacking? when I come back to work on chapters three and four of this paper.

 

 

By Maru Gubena

 

As can be recalled, even though Ethiopian students were in Europe and the United States earlier, the history of the Ethiopian Diaspora began with the upheaval of the bloody 1974 Ethiopian revolution. This can be characterized as the beginning of the darkest years in the history of Ethiopia itself and its people. Over time, internal strife among individuals and groups seeking power continued and became a permanent source of political instability and a bottleneck to the formation of civil societies and the rule of law, including processes of democratization; the fragile economy continued to deteriorate considerably; the number of Ethiopians suffering from poverty and disease increased substantially; and the Ethiopian Diaspora grew to a remarkable level. It has grown not just in numbers but also in socio-economic potential and influence, which extends to both national and international bodies and to influence on both peace and war, through the roles those in the Diaspora play as scientists and academics and in discussions with diplomats.

Regrettably and disappointingly, however, and despite our considerable expansion in numbers, the increasingly percentage who have a high level of education, the economic resources we have been able to earn and are still earning – and despite the respect we have gained from our countries of asylum or immigration as honest, peaceful and hardworking people – the Ethiopian Diaspora lives in a manner comparable to rural or semi-urban Africans who work in industries located in a country ruled by a totalitarian regime where workers are not allowed to establish their own labour unions. Yes, even while living in the so called “land of the free” and in the face of needs that are enormous and urgent, to this day the Ethiopian Diaspora lacks professional organizations and institutions of its own that are capable of operating internationally from their own buildings, with office spaces and trained personnel where socio-economic and political strategies to further the well-being of the many-sided interests of the Ethiopia Diaspora and the complex issues facing our county can be discussed, developed, formulated and carried out. The Ethiopian Diaspora does not have such vitally important and respected organizations and institutions, although they would be conducive to reviving our morale and the lost feelings of patriotism, love and respect that our ancestors had for their country and for each other. They are also needed to help to restore or develop a culture of working and living together in a responsible way, so that we can directly influence and be an indispensable part of the forces of socio-economic and political change in our country, playing a substantial role in defending each member of our community in times of unexpected difficulties. That is, our current situation is not because we lack the necessary knowledge, professional skills and economic resources, but rather due to the tragic division and disunity that began at the time of the cruel period known as the “Red Terror.” The forces of division and disunity that came into being during the early years of the Ethiopian revolution were gradually expanded and became rife in the hearts and minds of a huge section of Ethiopian society, both at home and abroad, after the failed struggle waged by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Party – the EPRP – in an attempt to crush and overthrow the fascistic enemy – the military regime known as the Dergue (Committee).

While stressing with full conviction the urgent need to establish such organizations and institutions, I am absolutely not saying that we should attempt to dominate the societies in which we live, as some feel the western Jews have done. Nor am I saying that the Ethiopian Diaspora requires hundreds of office buildings with tens of thousands of employees in Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, London and many major cities of the US. What I am simply suggesting is that given the slim prospects most, if not all, Ethiopians living abroad have of returning home, and given the increasing numbers of the Ethiopian Diaspora due both to new arrivals from Ethiopia and to children born into the Diaspora, the creation of means and tools to help in strengthening the bonds we have with our people back home and the culture into which we have been born is indispensable in establishing organizations and institutions to meet this need – at a minimum, one in Washington DC and one in London, with the necessary financial resources and personnel who are trained in diplomatic and other educational skills – can be a source of pride to all Ethiopians, and a source of hope for the future especially for those defenseless Ethiopians who have not had an opportunity to arm themselves with modern education. Above all, the establishment of professional organizations and institutions of our own will not only decrease the extent of our dependence on devoted volunteer compatriots for day-to-day activities and responsibilities, and serve as a focus – a source of education, a meeting point and an adjudicator for community members in conflict – but also can serve the Ethiopian Diaspora in particular as an indispensable bridge with our people at home. This will be instrumental in accelerating the collapse of the unelected enemy of Ethiopia, and can be employed as a power base to challenge in courts of law those who are responsible for changing the entire face of our country, for killing many innocent Ethiopian citizens, and for the unlawful and repeated incarceration of elected leaders and human rights activists.

Maru Gubena

Readers who wish to contact the author can reach me at info@pada.nl

 

• The above portion of text has been excerpted from a longer paper of about 15 pages, published in early spring, 2006, under the title “Lessons for Ethiopians from the Downfall of US-Supported Dictators: An Urgent Need for Mature Mechanisms.” The issues discussed are still current, educational and fresh. In particular, as you undoubtedly know, the need to establish an Ethiopian Diaspora House is currently under intense discussion within the Ethiopia Diaspora community. This short text was written to loudly ring the bells, stressing the urgent need to organize members of the Ethiopian community under a single umbrella – and in an institution that belongs to each of us, as well as to the Ethiopian community as a whole.

 

 

By Hama Tuma

The controversial International Criminal Court has finally come out with an arrest warrant for President Omar Beshir of the Sudan. The warrant is out for war crimes and/ or crimes against humanity but not for genocide—a point that would surely not matter that much for the accused.

Let me say from the outset that I have little or no sympathy for the tyrant in the Sudan who, aside from causing the slaughter of so many in South Sudan and Darfur, has deported many Ethiopians to their deaths or diappearance and has sent his troops to occupy Ethiopian land. That said, the decision by the ICC and the clamour it has engendered from quarters that have proven contempt for Africa calls for some reflection. As I tried to point out in my previous article, “Of Courts and Hypocrisies”, the ICC seems to be in reality the ACC, the African Criminal Court, as it seems hell bent to deal ONLY with alleged African war criminals (up to now) from the Congo, Sudan, Central African Republic and Uganda. From Milosevic to Charles Taylor and the Congolese war lord, that court in The Hague has yet to deal with notorious war criminals from the West.

The ICC arrest warrant for Omar Beshir thus leaves a bitter taste in our mouths not because the accused is innocent or does not deserve to be tried (which should be done by the people of Sudan and not by others for that matter) but because it is one more clear contemptuous action directed against Africa and signifies the nauseating double standard and hypocrisy that has been so damaging to the oppressed peoples of the world. War criminals abound all over the world and the top ones are the very ones manipulating the ICC prosecutor and making all this hue and cry. Just a look around shows that while in Cambodia one trial for genocide is in progress the butchers of Indochina from Henry Kissinger to so many American generals and CIA officials are not only free but honoured. In Iraq, where war crime of huge proportions has been committed by Bush and Cheney we hear no whisper of a court action against them or any other suspects other than the speeded trial and execution of Sadam and his officials. Even in Africa, pro-West butchers are hardly bothered. The war criminal in Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, is untouched and even rewarded with aid and praise for his crimes against the Ethiopian and Somali peoples. The tyrant in Equatorial Guinea is enjoying Western protection by those greedily taking that country’s oil. Omar Beshir’s political and ideological position brought on him this wrath and not his bloody actions against his own people. Had he been pro-Washington or pro London, the ICC would have ignored him no matter how many he may have killed. Did London and Washington criticize Mugabe when he ran rampage in Matabeleland to “deal with an insurgency”? There is presently a cry out for the arrest of former Chadian dictator Hissen Habre but his replacement Idris Deby also deserves to be tried but the oil factor comes in to grease the ICC silent. How many war criminals are enjoying comfortable exile in the USA, France and England? Wasn’t Sadam the dear friend of the West for so many years as he killed so many Iraqis and gassed Kurds and waged war against Iranians?

The shame of the past seems to be carried by the ICC now. Real crimes and criminals ignored. Has Germany paid for the brutal massacre of the Hereros? Italy for the death of one million Ethiopians? Belgium for the butchery of 15 million Congolese? Britain for all its crimes of Empire all over the world? Britain, France and America for the slave trade? France, Spain and Portugal for their colonial crimes? Can we say Lebanon? Sabra and Shattila? Chechniya? Dare we even mention other recent crimes perpetrated by the powerful on hapless and defenceless people? Africa is shamed again and again and that dead body called the AU has yet to be buried with indignity. A frustrated Revered Desmond Tutu once said young South Africans ‘should not listen to Desmond Tutu”—I find his recent comments on Zimbabwe and Sudan not worthy of an African ear, young or old. Anyway, the ICC warrant against Beshir will mainly serve to complicate the problems of the troubled region and may even gain him some support from angry Sudanese. Other victims of Beshir may rejoice but it would only be a pyrrhic victory. The real victory is when the people bring the tyrants to their own court of law and when all war criminals, white or black, rich or poor, are brought before a proper court of law. The parody and political machinations by those who should be tried themselves is only a continuation of the injustice, a cruel and crude joke, against oppressed peoples.

 

Community and its Future Initiatives: The Search for Alternative Mechanisms

By Maru Gubena

Before commencing with the thematic issues to be discussed, let me just express my personal views, disappointments and embarrassments related, not just to the untimely and sensational end of the working partnership among the imprisoned, then released, opposition leaders and the sudden split of their political party, but mainly to the appalling (and still persisting) war of words, with intolerable insults against innocent Ethiopians from the unorganized interest groups who support the now divided political leaders – leaders who became divided and hostile to each other, not for reasons of Ethiopia’s short and long term interests, its territorial integrity or the multiple tragedies plaguing our people at home, but for personal reasons. This has been extremely sad and disappointing to see, and indeed beyond the capacity of most of us to comprehend. Though time has elapsed and the embarrassing war of words between the then Kinijit leaders and their followers in late summer and early fall of 2007 may have become blurred in our minds, many of us have remained in a state of shock, disappointment and complete disbelief. The unexpected split among Kinijit leaders and the distasteful war of words have undoubtedly been and are still a major reason for the sudden disappearance of a large number of concerned political activists, participants and article contributors, including myself, from the troubled Diaspora political stage. The shameful events are also unequivocal evidence that the process of merging and constructing what was to have been Kinijit’s house took place hastily and irresponsibly, without first creating the necessary understandings, as well as mechanisms for working together and guiding the organization.

As for some of my compatriots (and as can be read in my previous articles), I in fact have never, from the very outset, anticipated that there would be a fertile ground for Kinijit to exist and grow as a functioning political party in the land of Ethiopia, as long as Ethiopians remain reluctant to rise up against a prolonged economic impoverishment and persistent political repression. Bringing a new political party into existence and having it function well is not just a question of people at the top and a particular party platform. Fundamental changes in the mindsets and perceptions of the people, and in the case of the Ethiopian people an irreversible desire for freedom, equality and democracy, would be required. The willingness of Ethiopians to remain divided and keep their heads buried in the sand, while women and children are being shot to death on the streets of Ethiopian cities and towns and opposition political leaders and artists are being endlessly harassed, arrested and convicted, shows clearly that Ethiopians are most concerned with their personal and family wellbeing, and that the winds carrying the torches for collective wellbeing, freedom and democracy are far remote from the skies and high mountains of Ethiopia (see: The May 2005 Ethiopian Election, part I; The May 2005 Election and the Missing Ingredients, part II)

Even though, as can be remembered, I was one of a few staunch opponents of the participation of Kinijit and other opposition political parities in the parliamentary election held in May 2005, and criticized the formation and function of KIL (Kinijit International Leadership), as well as the establishment of the carefully and strategically named Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD), I nevertheless did not realize how tragic, divisive and embarrassing the effects and repercussions of the demise of Kinijit would be. I had always had believed – as I had been taught – with great conviction, though perhaps foolishly, that Ethiopians were kind and generous to one another and even to foreign visitors. I certainly never, even in my wildest dreams, thought that Ethiopians could also be so hostile, so outrageously cruel and so humiliating to one another. Yes, even though I was one who occasionally accused Ethiopian political leaders and activists of recklessness and of leading weakly organized and dysfunctional organizations housed in shaky buildings constructed from cane and bamboo, with supporters who are lawless, scary militants, blindly following in the footsteps of their political leaders and of activists those who are not in peace with themselves and with each other, much to my astonishment and naïveté, however, I never envisioned that the sudden waves of optimism that existed between the spring of 2005 and the early months of 2006 might be replaced by additional shackles of hatred. I honestly did not know that we Ethiopians could be so inhuman and so ready to obliterate those who refuse to be blind followers, who disagree with our self-centred and hidden ends and our feeble, vague organizations or political parties – political parties that have little or none of the necessary fundamental political structures, strategies, political maps and legal foundations. Nor did I know that we Ethiopians could be so terribly stubborn and jealous – unashamed liars who appear determined to trash and eliminate our own compatriots – not to maintain the territorial integrity of our country, to realize carefully planned socio-political and economic transformation, or to help educate Ethiopians about the terribly necessary modern political culture (a political culture that is entirely absent in the land we call Ethiopia and among the Ethiopian Diaspora community) or about the meaning and significance of democracy and accountability. Instead we do this for the most hazardous and frightening reasons – to support personal, family and group status and interests. Isn’t this extremely frightening and depressing? What is most disturbing is that these cruel and shameless individuals call themselves “the gallant and true children of Ethiopia,” and do everything to convince us that they behave the way they do – engaging day in and day out in character assassination and false charges against known and unknown innocent individuals – because, they argue, they love their country, Ethiopia, enormously – more than anyone else. They also continue to insist that they are the ones who are capable of scaring Meles Zenawi’s regime, preventing them from handing over Ethiopia’s fertile land to Sudan and continuing the repression of our people at home (see also: Sharing the Sources of my Anxiety: A Critical Look at the Responses and Strategies of Ethiopians to Decades of Political Repression, and The changing face of Kinijit.)

Although we will know little about the views and conclusions of Ethiopian and other political historians before their books reach our bookshelves, it would nevertheless not be an overstatement to say that the May 2005 parliamentary election and the subsequent turmoil not only dashed the incalculable hopes and expectations of Ethiopians for relative freedom and a smooth process of democratization, but also added more heavy clouds above the skies of our country. This prolonged any future process of democratization and contributed greatly to an increasing suffocation of the already scarce freedom of speech and movement for each and every individual Ethiopian, and the already scarce freedom of the press encountered yet more widespread repression. More importantly and depressingly, however, the political events of May 2005 have magnified the long existing unhealed wounds and darkened the prospects for positive, relatively civil and respectful communication within the Ethiopian Diaspora community and Ethiopian society at large. Yes, even though most Ethiopian political activists and the unorganized interest groups would prefer to tell us otherwise – saying that the May 2005 election helped to expose the repressive nature of Meles Zenawi’s regime and weakened its political and economic position, both nationally and internationally – in fact in concrete terms, for the majority of Ethiopians both at home and abroad, the direct and indirect repercussions of the May 2005 election and the subsequent turmoil of the past four years have been costly, dreadful, tragic and full of disappointment and embarrassment.

Outlining the Purpose of the Article

Having aired my disappointments, which continue to smoulder in the minds and hearts of many Ethiopians, let me now try to give a brief rough outline of the purposes of this paper. After a time of absence from the tragically wounded Ethiopian Diaspora politics and debates, I am here again to share my views with you regarding the damaging effects of Ethiopian Diaspora politics and media outlets on future organizational hopes, aspirations and initiatives for socio-political and economic changes in Ethiopian society, both at home and in the Diaspora. Also I hope to briefly formulate and present some alternative mechanisms, which I deem helpful in addressing and redressing the long-existing negative images of our troubled Ethiopian Diaspora politics. The absence within Ethiopian Diaspora politics and in the community in general of organizational culture and its most valuable components, such as organizational norms, guidelines and organizational expectations, will also receive its share of time and attention. Yes, I am here again, at least for a while, and I hope to briefly and clearly review the historical background of Ethiopian Diaspora politics and how it began. I will do my best to explain, not just why Ethiopian Diaspora politics remained dysfunctional, but also why many in the Ethiopian Diaspora community came to regard it as either a leisure time activity or as a pastime of “Serafitoch/bozenewoch,” those who have little or nothing else to do. This description has particularly often been used by a good number of Ethiopian wives and girlfriends who loudly, confidently and sometimes angrily accuse their husbands or boyfriends of spending too much time in fruitless politics instead of doing something meaningful in the house – fulfilling their properly expected household roles and responsibilities as loving husbands and fathers.

In addition to outlining alternative policy strategies and new directions that might help to redress and redirect the exceptionally chaotic and negative images that have affected Ethiopian Diaspora politics for many years, my unexpected appearance towards the end of a fading political era is also intended to provide a review of the most important factors and actors that have persistently, perhaps even permanently, prevented the Ethiopian Diaspora community from becoming a collective, harmonious force with a single face, a community that is both respected and proud of itself and its activities, and has kept it from playing a meaningful role that contributes to mending bridges among community members and to alleviating Ethiopia’s multiple, prolonged suffering. More essentially, this paper will make every possible effort to dissect and deal with many of the complex, entangled issues and causes that have led to increasing tensions and gaps among individuals and groups in the community, including the conditions that have given the Ethiopian Diaspora political activists, along with their apparatus and mottos, the reputation of being nothing more than “barking dogs that are unable to bite.” It will also raise questions of why Ethiopian Diaspora politics and media outlets have become and continue to be a force of division among members of the wider Diaspora community, a damaging and in fact paralyzing factor in contemporary Diaspora politics and social relations, freezing out the possibility of new future organizational processes, hopes and aspirations, including many types of potential initiatives.

An additional vitally important – and probably the most difficult – question, which most of us prefer not to discuss, not even to hear about, will be incorporated and examined: can democracy and its most essential components take root in a country where modern political culture is entirely absent; whose people appear to be historically and culturally family and group oriented, regionalist and undemocratic, with little or no feeling or love for a nation state; and who, paradoxically enough, choose remaining in conflict with each other above forging bonds and working peacefully and harmoniously together with those across the entire land of Ethiopia. Though painful, relevant questions such as why Ethiopians seem to remain addicted to repeatedly splitting apart and prefer to “go it alone” in Ethiopian politics, while each and every one of them knows perfectly well that they cannot make or remake politics by associating only with family members and personal friends – those with whom they can easily agree – and while they also know that such disappointing and fruitless political activities are not just a waste of time, but are also hurtful to themselves and to the community, and have divisive and demoralizing effects on current and future political initiatives, will be included and discussed. Also, to help me understand the repeated tragic debacles of Ethiopian politics and their subsequent repercussions, and also to be able to get some insight into the mindsets, behaviours and political cultures, outlooks and political strategies of the present political activists, an attempt will be made to look closely at the interrelated historical sources and causes that have shaped and reshaped contemporary Ethiopian politics, Ethiopian political culture and our society at large.

It is perhaps necessary to give a brief introductory note related to the text above. It is quite possible that some of the questions raised and the major issues and concerns stated here will seem sensitive or even a bit offensive to some or even most of my Ethiopian compatriots. This is because, I imagine, we Ethiopians quite often choose to think only about the positive side of our history and culture, preferring to walk with a profound feeling of pride, leaning heavily but irresponsibly upon the ceaselessly fascinating history of Ethiopia, proud of simply being the children of those who fought gallantly and decisively against foreign powers, despite their relatively modern, deadly firearms. For known or unknown reasons, however, we are unaccustomed, perhaps even allergic to confronting ourselves and engaging with the other, negative side of the coin – facing our own historical and cultural processes, errors and realities and relating them to the contemporary political challenges, personal and group acrimonies that are all sources of the persistent tragedies that plague us in our never-ending attempts and struggles to free ourselves from the shackles of longstanding impoverishment and from successive repressive regimes. In our persistent endeavours to democratize our country we attempt to imitate the systems, political and democratic models of other nations, to implement them in our own land and incorporate them into our minds, but we fail to first understand and deal with the cardinal foundations and requirements of the many-sided components of democracy and democratic patterns and principles, and to consider and study their appropriateness to our situation, the openness of our culture and our socio-culturally molded attitudes and mindsets.

It is therefore vitally important, especially given the infrequent nature of debates and discussions involving such sensitive issues, to have an open mind and pay the necessary attention, so as to comprehend both the primary and wider purposes of this paper: not just to initiate new discourses and educate ourselves, but first of all to stress the urgent need to think and look critically, either individually or collectively, at the historical components that have shaped Ethiopian culture and molded our uncompromising, irreconcilable and sometimes vindictive attitudes and uncaring behaviours. Only then will we be able to meaningfully and effectively address and redress the family socialization and group orientations we have had, including our regionalist mentalities, and to envision and cultivate the new political culture that is essential for the entire land of Ethiopia. This engagement with our history and culture is, in my view, indispensable, and will be highly conducive to redirecting our discourse into more mature, logical ways of looking at the sources of the persistent feuds, infighting and divisions among us. Through such engagement, after addressing the root causes of our inabilities to forge bonds, live and work together and find the remedies we need, and after inculcating concepts of respect, trust, confidence, accountability and shared responsibility for each other – combined with a mindset among the members of our society that includes a sense of belonging, a feeling of nationhood – we can achieve a basis for democracy and democratic systems to gradually take root in the land of Ethiopia. Only then can the needs, desires and aspirations of the people be realized – to live together, side by side and peacefully, as children of a single nation state under a democratic system and under collaboratively achieved, agreed and accepted rules and socio-cultural values and norms.

Let me now outline a few remaining primary intentions of this paper. One important additional objective is to consider the composition of the Ethiopian Diaspora, including the increasing differences within the community in terms of educational background and the extent of involvement in Ethiopian Diaspora politics. A more crucial element in relation to Diaspora politics, which I would like to see taken under consideration by the Ethiopian Diaspora community – especially if we are willing to make a serious attempt to forge bonds among ourselves, become a socially and politically influential community and play a meaningful role in helping ourselves and possibly also our country – is to again issue my previous repeated calls underlining the urgent need for the establishment of a common, single House for the Ethiopian Diaspora, a professional institution, free from any direct or indirect influence from any political party, with visions and strategies, systems and rules – systems and rules that reward and obligate its members to serve, provide support and comply. This would be an institution within which we can all educate ourselves; provide the means and the required material and educational tools to help in the development and expansion of civil society in our country; rebuild the badly needed trust, confidence and accountability among ourselves; engage in positive and constructive discourse and research about the many sided positive and negative cultural elements of our society; redress previous wrongdoing; and fashion new and helpful tools and strategies that will help to heal wounds, whether long existing or freshly inflicted, upon particular sections and generations of Ethiopian society. Within such an institution we can produce acceptable, maturely written policies relevant to our contemporary political challenges and debates about the process of democratization, the development and role of civil society and the future face and direction of our country and its people, and we can rebuild the badly needed respect and love among ourselves. Such an institution is also needed to help maintain and expand our long-established positive cultural elements and use these to fashion a new political culture, extending our cultural patterns to include habits of working and living together with accountability and responsibility. This will allow us not only to influence the forces and processes of future socio-economic and political changes in our country, both directly and indirectly, but to play an indispensable part, with a meaningful, positive, substantial role in helping and defending each member of our community in times of personal or collective difficulty, no matter how severe (see the last page of my article: Lessons for Ethiopians from the downfall of US-supported dictators.)

For methodological purposes and to provide a clear, effective review of the interlinked topical issues and questions raised above, two critically important terms, functional and dysfunctional will be employed in relation to community or society. In this paper the use of these terms will be strictly limited to the Ethiopia Diaspora community and its involvement and role in areas of politics. All of the issues and topics outlined above will be incorporated and highlighted within the following four sub-themes:

• Contemporary Ethiopian Diaspora Politics in Historical Perspective

• The Changing Face of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its Impact on Politics, the Wider Community and Future Organizational Hopes and Initiatives

• Revisiting the May 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election and its Role in Generating a Spontaneous Mood of Unity Among the Diaspora Community

• Can Democracy take Root in a Country where Family, Group Orientation and Regionalism are entrenched and Political Culture is lacking?

My brief remarks, conclusions and alternative suggestions will be incorporated at the end of the paper, together with the fourth sub-topic. This concluding remark will include some concrete alternatives and helpful suggestions about what precisely needs be done – a new path, including new socio-political mechanisms conducive to freeing Ethiopians from family, group-oriented and regionalist politics, helpful in forging bonds among ourselves

Finally, I must note that there are few helpful written materials or study guides regarding the history of the Ethiopian Diaspora community and how its politics began and developed. Therefore this paper will be based primarily on highly limited personal participation and observations of three decades ago, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to present a proper, relatively balanced overview. I am nevertheless determined to confront myself, to refresh my memories, and to make every effort to take a brief, close look at the historical processes and growth of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its role in Ethiopian politics.

Maru Gubena

Readers who wish to contact the author can reach me at info@pada.nl

• The issues, questions and concerns raised above will be included and examined, together with the remaining four sub-topics,  when I return with chapters two and three of this paper.

Community and its Future Initiatives: The Search for Alternative Mechanisms

 By Dr. Maru Gubena

 

Before commencing with the thematic issues to be discussed, let me just express my personal views, disappointments and embarrassments related, not just to the untimely and sensational end of the working partnership among the imprisoned, then released, opposition leaders and the sudden split of their political party, but mainly to the appalling (and still persisting) war of words, with intolerable insults against innocent Ethiopians from the unorganized interest groups who support the now divided political leaders – leaders who became divided and hostile to each other, not for reasons of Ethiopia’s short and long term interests, its territorial integrity or the multiple tragedies plaguing our people at home, but for personal reasons. This has been extremely sad and disappointing to see, and indeed beyond the capacity of most of us to comprehend. Though time has elapsed and the embarrassing war of words between the then Kinijit leaders and their followers in late summer and early fall of 2007 may have become blurred in our minds, many of us have remained in a state of shock, disappointment and complete disbelief. The unexpected split among Kinijit leaders and the distasteful war of words have undoubtedly been and are still a major reason for the sudden disappearance of a large number of concerned political activists, participants and article contributors, including myself, from the troubled Diaspora political stage. The shameful events are also unequivocal evidence that the process of merging and constructing what was to have been Kinijit’s house took place hastily and irresponsibly, without first creating the necessary understandings, as well as mechanisms for working together and guiding the organization.

 

As for some of my compatriots (and as can be read in my previous articles), I in fact have never, from the very outset, anticipated that there would be a fertile ground for Kinijit to exist and grow as a functioning political party in the land of Ethiopia, as long as Ethiopians remain reluctant to rise up against a prolonged economic impoverishment and persistent political repression. Bringing a new political party into existence and having it function well is not just a question of people at the top and a particular party platform. Fundamental changes in the mindsets and perceptions of the people, and in the case of the Ethiopian people an irreversible desire for freedom, equality and democracy, would be required. The willingness of Ethiopians to remain divided and keep their heads buried in the sand, while women and children are being shot to death on the streets of Ethiopian cities and towns and opposition political leaders and artists are being endlessly harassed, arrested and convicted, shows clearly that Ethiopians are most concerned with their personal and family wellbeing, and that the winds carrying the torches for collective wellbeing, freedom and democracy are far remote from the skies and high mountains of Ethiopia (see: The May 2005 Ethiopian Election, part I; The May 2005 Election and the Missing Ingredients, part II)

 

Even though, as can be remembered, I was one of a few staunch opponents of the participation of Kinijit and other opposition political parities in the parliamentary election held in May 2005, and criticized the formation and function of KIL (Kinijit International Leadership), as well as the establishment of the carefully and strategically named Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD), I nevertheless did not realize how tragic, divisive and embarrassing the effects and repercussions of the demise of Kinijit would be. I had always had believed – as I had been taught – with great conviction, though perhaps foolishly, that Ethiopians were kind and generous to one another and even to foreign visitors. I certainly never, even in my wildest dreams, thought that Ethiopians could also be so hostile, so outrageously cruel and so humiliating to one another. Yes, even though I was one who occasionally accused Ethiopian political leaders and activists of recklessness and of leading weakly organized and dysfunctional organizations housed in shaky buildings constructed from cane and bamboo, with supporters who are lawless, scary militants, blindly following in the footsteps of their political leaders and of activists those who are not in peace with themselves and with each other, much to my astonishment and naïveté, however, I never envisioned that the sudden waves of optimism that existed between the spring of 2005 and the early months of 2006 might be replaced by additional shackles of hatred. I honestly did not know that we Ethiopians could be so inhuman and so ready to obliterate those who refuse to be blind followers, who disagree with our self-centred and hidden ends and our feeble, vague organizations or political parties – political parties that have little or none of the necessary fundamental political structures, strategies, political maps and legal foundations. Nor did I know that we Ethiopians could be so terribly stubborn and jealous - unashamed liars who appear determined to trash and eliminate our own compatriots – not to maintain the territorial integrity of our country, to realize carefully planned socio-political and economic transformation, or to help educate Ethiopians about the terribly necessary modern political culture (a political culture that is entirely absent in the land we call Ethiopia and among the Ethiopian Diaspora community) or about the meaning and significance of democracy and accountability. Instead we do this for the most hazardous and frightening reasons – to support personal, family and group status and interests. Isn’t this extremely frightening and depressing? What is most disturbing is that these cruel and shameless individuals call themselves “the gallant and true children of Ethiopia,” and do everything to convince us that they behave the way they do – engaging day in and day out in character assassination and false charges against known and unknown innocent individuals – because, they argue, they love their country, Ethiopia, enormously – more than anyone else. They also continue to insist that they are the ones who are capable of scaring Meles Zenawi’s regime, preventing them from handing over Ethiopia’s fertile land to Sudan and continuing the repression of our people at home (see also: Sharing the Sources of my Anxiety: A Critical Look at the Responses and Strategies of Ethiopians to Decades of Political Repression, and The changing face of Kinijit.)

 

Although we will know little about the views and conclusions of Ethiopian and other political historians before their books reach our bookshelves, it would nevertheless not be an overstatement to say that the May 2005 parliamentary election and the subsequent turmoil not only dashed the incalculable hopes and expectations of Ethiopians for relative freedom and a smooth process of democratization, but also added more heavy clouds above the skies of our country. This prolonged any future process of democratization and contributed greatly to an increasing suffocation of the already scarce freedom of speech and movement for each and every individual Ethiopian, and the already scarce freedom of the press encountered yet more widespread repression. More importantly and depressingly, however, the political events of May 2005 have magnified the long existing unhealed wounds and darkened the prospects for positive, relatively civil and respectful communication within the Ethiopian Diaspora community and Ethiopian society at large. Yes, even though most Ethiopian political activists and the unorganized interest groups would prefer to tell us otherwise – saying that the May 2005 election helped to expose the repressive nature of Meles Zenawi’s regime and weakened its political and economic position, both nationally and internationally – in fact in concrete terms, for the majority of Ethiopians both at home and abroad, the direct and indirect repercussions of the May 2005 election and the subsequent turmoil of the past four years have been costly, dreadful, tragic and full of disappointment and embarrassment.

 

Outlining the Purpose of the Article

 

Having aired my disappointments, which continue to smoulder in the minds and hearts of many Ethiopians, let me now try to give a brief rough outline of the purposes of this paper. After a time of absence from the tragically wounded Ethiopian Diaspora politics and debates, I am here again to share my views with you regarding the damaging effects of Ethiopian Diaspora politics and media outlets on future organizational hopes, aspirations and initiatives for socio-political and economic changes in Ethiopian society, both at home and in the Diaspora. Also I hope to briefly formulate and present some alternative mechanisms, which I deem helpful in addressing and redressing the long-existing negative images of our troubled Ethiopian Diaspora politics. The absence within Ethiopian Diaspora politics and in the community in general of organizational culture and its most valuable components, such as organizational norms, guidelines and organizational expectations, will also receive its share of time and attention. Yes, I am here again, at least for a while, and I hope to briefly and clearly review the historical background of Ethiopian Diaspora politics and how it began. I will do my best to explain, not just why Ethiopian Diaspora politics remained dysfunctional, but also why many in the Ethiopian Diaspora community came to regard it as either a leisure time activity or as a pastime of “Serafitoch/bozenewoch,” those who have little or nothing else to do. This description has particularly often been used by a good number of Ethiopian wives and girlfriends who loudly, confidently and sometimes angrily accuse their husbands or boyfriends of spending too much time in fruitless politics instead of doing something meaningful in the house – fulfilling their properly expected household roles and responsibilities as loving husbands and fathers.

 

In addition to outlining alternative policy strategies and new directions that might help to redress and redirect the exceptionally chaotic and negative images that have affected Ethiopian Diaspora politics for many years, my unexpected appearance towards the end of a fading political era is also intended to provide a review of the most important factors and actors that have persistently, perhaps even permanently, prevented the Ethiopian Diaspora community from becoming a collective, harmonious force with a single face, a community that is both respected and proud of itself and its activities, and has kept it from playing a meaningful role that contributes to mending bridges among community members and to alleviating Ethiopia’s multiple, prolonged suffering. More essentially, this paper will make every possible effort to dissect and deal with many of the complex, entangled issues and causes that have led to increasing tensions and gaps among individuals and groups in the community, including the conditions that have given the Ethiopian Diaspora political activists, along with their apparatus and mottos, the reputation of being nothing more than “barking dogs that are unable to bite.” It will also raise questions of why Ethiopian Diaspora politics and media outlets have become and continue to be a force of division among members of the wider Diaspora community, a damaging and in fact paralyzing factor in contemporary Diaspora politics and social relations, freezing out the possibility of new future organizational processes, hopes and aspirations, including many types of potential initiatives.

 

An additional vitally important – and probably the most difficult – question, which most of us prefer not to discuss, not even to hear about, will be incorporated and examined: can democracy and its most essential components take root in a country where modern political culture is entirely absent; whose people appear to be historically and culturally family and group oriented, regionalist and undemocratic, with little or no feeling or love for a nation state; and who, paradoxically enough, choose remaining in conflict with each other above forging bonds and working peacefully and harmoniously together with those across the entire land of Ethiopia. Though painful, relevant questions such as why Ethiopians seem to remain addicted to repeatedly splitting apart and prefer to “go it alone” in Ethiopian politics, while each and every one of them knows perfectly well that they cannot make or remake politics by associating only with family members and personal friends – those with whom they can easily agree – and while they also know that such disappointing and fruitless political activities are not just a waste of time, but are also hurtful to themselves and to the community, and have divisive and demoralizing effects on current and future political initiatives, will be included and discussed. Also, to help me understand the repeated tragic debacles of Ethiopian politics and their subsequent repercussions, and also to be able to get some insight into the mindsets, behaviours and political cultures, outlooks and political strategies of the present political activists, an attempt will be made to look closely at the interrelated historical sources and causes that have shaped and reshaped contemporary Ethiopian politics, Ethiopian political culture and our society at large.

 

It is perhaps necessary to give a brief introductory note related to the text above. It is quite possible that some of the questions raised and the major issues and concerns stated here will seem sensitive or even a bit offensive to some or even most of my Ethiopian compatriots. This is because, I imagine, we Ethiopians quite often choose to think only about the positive side of our history and culture, preferring to walk with a profound feeling of pride, leaning heavily but irresponsibly upon the ceaselessly fascinating history of Ethiopia, proud of simply being the children of those who fought gallantly and decisively against foreign powers, despite their relatively modern, deadly firearms. For known or unknown reasons, however, we are unaccustomed, perhaps even allergic to confronting ourselves and engaging with the other, negative side of the coin – facing our own historical and cultural processes, errors and realities and relating them to the contemporary political challenges, personal and group acrimonies that are all sources of the persistent tragedies that plague us in our never-ending attempts and struggles to free ourselves from the shackles of longstanding impoverishment and from successive repressive regimes. In our persistent endeavours to democratize our country we attempt to imitate the systems, political and democratic models of other nations, to implement them in our own land and incorporate them into our minds, but we fail to first understand and deal with the cardinal foundations and requirements of the many-sided components of democracy and democratic patterns and principles, and to consider and study their appropriateness to our situation, the openness of our culture and our socio-culturally molded attitudes and mindsets.

 

It is therefore vitally important, especially given the infrequent nature of debates and discussions involving such sensitive issues, to have an open mind and pay the necessary attention, so as to comprehend both the primary and wider purposes of this paper: not just to initiate new discourses and educate ourselves, but first of all to stress the urgent need to think and look critically, either individually or collectively, at the historical components that have shaped Ethiopian culture and molded our uncompromising, irreconcilable and sometimes vindictive attitudes and uncaring behaviours. Only then will we be able to meaningfully and effectively address and redress the family socialization and group orientations we have had, including our regionalist mentalities, and to envision and cultivate the new political culture that is essential for the entire land of Ethiopia. This engagement with our history and culture is, in my view, indispensable, and will be highly conducive to redirecting our discourse into more mature, logical ways of looking at the sources of the persistent feuds, infighting and divisions among us. Through such engagement, after addressing the root causes of our inabilities to forge bonds, live and work together and find the remedies we need, and after inculcating concepts of respect, trust, confidence, accountability and shared responsibility for each other – combined with a mindset among the members of our society that includes a sense of belonging, a feeling of nationhood – we can achieve a basis for democracy and democratic systems to gradually take root in the land of Ethiopia. Only then can the needs, desires and aspirations of the people be realized – to live together, side by side and peacefully, as children of a single nation state under a democratic system and under collaboratively achieved, agreed and accepted rules and socio-cultural values and norms.

 

Let me now outline a few remaining primary intentions of this paper. One important additional objective is to consider the composition of the Ethiopian Diaspora, including the increasing differences within the community in terms of educational background and the extent of involvement in Ethiopian Diaspora politics. A more crucial element in relation to Diaspora politics, which I would like to see taken under consideration by the Ethiopian Diaspora community – especially if we are willing to make a serious attempt to forge bonds among ourselves, become a socially and politically influential community and play a meaningful role in helping ourselves and possibly also our country – is to again issue my previous repeated calls underlining the urgent need for the establishment of a common, single House for the Ethiopian Diaspora, a professional institution, free from any direct or indirect influence from any political party, with visions and strategies, systems and rules – systems and rules that reward and obligate its members to serve, provide support and comply. This would be an institution within which we can all educate ourselves; provide the means and the required material and educational tools to help in the development and expansion of civil society in our country; rebuild the badly needed trust, confidence and accountability among ourselves; engage in positive and constructive discourse and research about the many sided positive and negative cultural elements of our society; redress previous wrongdoing; and fashion new and helpful tools and strategies that will help to heal wounds, whether long existing or freshly inflicted, upon particular sections and generations of Ethiopian society. Within such an institution we can produce acceptable, maturely written policies relevant to our contemporary political challenges and debates about the process of democratization, the development and role of civil society and the future face and direction of our country and its people, and we can rebuild the badly needed respect and love among ourselves. Such an institution is also needed to help maintain and expand our long-established positive cultural elements and use these to fashion a new political culture, extending our cultural patterns to include habits of working and living together with accountability and responsibility. This will allow us not only to influence the forces and processes of future socio-economic and political changes in our country, both directly and indirectly, but to play an indispensable part, with a meaningful, positive, substantial role in helping and defending each member of our community in times of personal or collective difficulty, no matter how severe (see the last page of my article: Lessons for Ethiopians from the downfall of US-supported dictators.)

 

For methodological purposes and to provide a clear, effective review of the interlinked topical issues and questions raised above, two critically important terms, functional and dysfunctional will be employed in relation to community or society. In this paper the use of these terms will be strictly limited to the Ethiopia Diaspora community and its involvement and role in areas of politics. All of the issues and topics outlined above will be incorporated and highlighted within the following four sub-themes:

• Contemporary Ethiopian Diaspora Politics in Historical Perspective

• The Changing Face of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its Impact on Politics, the Wider Community and Future Organizational Hopes and Initiatives

• Revisiting the May 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election and its Role in Generating a Spontaneous Mood of Unity Among the Diaspora Community

• Can Democracy take Root in a Country where Family, Group Orientation and Regionalism are entrenched and Political Culture is lacking?

 

My brief remarks, conclusions and alternative suggestions will be incorporated at the end of the paper, together with the fourth sub-topic. This concluding remark will include some concrete alternatives and helpful suggestions about what precisely needs be done – a new path, including new socio-political mechanisms conducive to freeing Ethiopians from family, group-oriented and regionalist politics, helpful in forging bonds among ourselves

 

Finally, I must note that there are few helpful written materials or study guides regarding the history of the Ethiopian Diaspora community and how its politics began and developed. Therefore this paper will be based primarily on highly limited personal participation and observations of three decades ago, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to present a proper, relatively balanced overview. I am nevertheless determined to confront myself, to refresh my memories, and to make every effort to take a brief, close look at the historical processes and growth of the Ethiopian Diaspora and its role in Ethiopian politics.

 

Maru Gubena

Readers who wish to contact the author can reach me at info@pada.nl

 

 

• The issues, questions and concerns raised above will be included and examined, together with the remaining four sub-topics,  when I return with chapters two and three of this paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Tegga Lendado, PhD

This article is dedicated to the victims of the recent drought, disease, malnutrition, famine, and others who are facing premature death in Southern Ethiopia. The purpose is to induce rational, religious and humanitarian response with its readers. From the outset, I beg that it should not be construed as a sectarian or political motivation. My intention is to inform readers to pray intelligently, donors to give responsibly and the government to engage pro-actively. It short, it is a call for environmental justice. Let it be clear that I am presenting these brute but humble thoughts as a concerned moral agent, simple-minded thinker and an international development professional as well as an environmental advocate. The article is based on brief observations and discussions with concerned individuals to whom I am grateful.

Southwestern Ethiopia used to boast of its green vegetation. Just over a century ago, 40% of the land was covered by forest. When Emperor Haile Sellasie reigned in 1930, the forest had dwindled to 10%. By the time he was deposed in 1974, it had reduced to 4%. With advent of Dirgue’s public ownership policy of the rural land, the peasants recklessly abused state forests. In 1978, the estimated amount of the forested land mass was only 3%. The current estimate is only 2%.

With desertification effect of the Sahara Desert, commonly called the Sahel and other major factors such as deforestation, Ethiopia’s climate has changed to more arid and hotter, only varied by the higher altitudes and the Danakil depression served by the monsoon wind and precipitation. The moisture content of the hot air of the bright and scorching sunlight is so thin that an elderly person may experience shortness of breath in the highlands. The heat wave may seem unbearable in the lowlands as well. The eco-system has been adversely affected due to continuous neglect and abuse of forest conservation, development and management. Apart from the recent millennium tree-panting effort, apparently there have not been any major forestry development projects in the last two decades in the region. Contrarily, hundreds of acres have been arbitrarily cleared for farming in Gamo and Kaffa. Wild fires in Bale and Arsi Zones had irreplaceably damaged sizeable natural forests in recent years.

There are also other factors that contribute to un-productivity of the farmland including over-population, over-grazing, soil degradation due to erosion and over-utilization, wild wind, improper application of commercial fertilizers, lack of land use policy such as propagating and maintaining traditional peasantry as a way of life for the rural population, in lieu of modern and mechanized farming, urbanization and industrialization. Peasantry, with its primitive means of production such as hand tools and animal traction does not permit the weak peasant to produce more than s/he or the family consumes. Except in Gamo area, terracing and irrigation are hardly known in the region. For years people have depended only on seasonal rain alone. With all these shortcomings, it is simply absurd and unethical to expect the undernourished poor peasant to produce surplus. Communal labor-intensive cultivation like the debo system used to be very effective in the past when land was plenty and powerful oxen were readily available. But now family holdings have diminished and the number of oxen per household is 0.45, according to my small short-lived sampling for estimates in Wolayita, Sidama and Kembata areas a few months ago.

Thus, recurrent drought and famine are attributed to such phenomenon as deforestation, topsoil depletion, excessive grazing, etc. Scanty and erratic rainfall is also to blame. Fast growing vegetation can mislead a tourist’s eye but not so with a native observer. Bushes may bud and the grass may grow for a short while and everything around the peasant’s garden may look green. The peasant may plant traditional crops only to harvest unripe and inconsumable products. Such was the case in Southern Ethiopia when I had visited Wolayita and Kambata in early 1992. The land was lash grassy and the plants on the fields were strikingly green. The soil was moist and muddy. But the peasants were skinny and weak. The kids had bulgy belly and blurring eyes denoting signs of malnutrition or undernourishment. One could be misled to conclude that those peasants were lazy and unproductive.

In the 1970s, the student-led revolution had “land for the tiller” as a motto. I never advocated for it then and would never do now. For the most part, the tiller was the poor peasant. Of course, I could agree on allotment of land to the few landless serfs who deserved the ownership of occupied by absentee owners. The government seems to be stuck with the communistic “land-for-the-tiller-revolution” even if communism had long proved unproductive in the era of mixed or so-called free-market economy. In Federal Democratic Ethiopia, all land is public property such that all peasants may occupy, but not own it. Peasants possess only primitive and rudimentary means of production. The little holding of the peasants are shared with their adult children through the years such that little is left to produce any thing substantial. This vicious circle is conspicuous in densely populated areas like Guraguae, Kembata, Wolayita, Timbaro, etc. Amazing techniques of mountain tilling is observed in Kembata alone. What admirable and courageous peasantry! But, we must note that the people are in the brink of famine and disease prone. Can someone “bail out” these populations before they totally collapse In light of the multifaceted chronic and recurrent problems, what should be done?

Famine is the worst form suffering leading to slow death. A couple of shoeshine boys told me, “We prefer to go to the warfront rather than dying the slow death here”. Traditionally, southern Ethiopians produced surplus food. They were content with their life and did not opt for nomadic or migrant life. Other people come from elsewhere and settle among them enjoying the kind hospitality. Interestingly, the new comers excel their hosts bringing freshness and vitality but sharing the little resource the hosts have. Such social intercourse was being promoted in the south to the extent that, whenever and wherever there was famine in other parts of the county, subsequent governments used to resettle the affected populations in regions such as Gamo, Keffa, Wolayita, Bale Arsi, Gofa, etc. This created some pressure on the peasants as the new comers scrambled for the scarce resources. Thus, famine became another misery the people had to share. In reality, the outcome of socialist Ethiopia (1974-1991) was simply a shared life of poverty and all the curses attached to it.

In Halaba, and Northeastern Hadiya areas, along the Shashemanae-Soddo Highway, the landslide is scary. Apart from the erosion of the topsoil, the ground cracks leaving crevices of about 2-3 meters wide, 4 meters deep and hundreds of meters long. The same phenomenon is observed near Lake Abaya and other Rift Valley depressions. A thorough integrated study may be needed to alleviate the condition.

 

Let us not forget blaming apathy and ignorance in our brief analysis of the green famine. Drought-resistant tuber crops such as enset, boyna, boye, sweet potatoes, cassava, etc., are not popular in some part of the south. Recently, I visited a farm in Tikur Wuha area of Awassa town. I spotted three species of sweet potatoes. I asked a female Guragae farmer where she got them. She told me her husband brought them from Wolayita Zone. She introduced them for the first time to her neighbors. Soon many peasants started planting that species of sweet potatoes in Sidama district.

Generally, Ethiopians do not consume much tuba crops, fruits and vegetable except for the people of the enset culture. Some vegetables take little time to grow and less effort to cultivate; yet, multitudes of peasant do not seem to know that. So, a concerted dietary education needs to be offered to the public to diversify consumption habits.

Peasantry and farming are two similar careers of rural life. A peasant is a small holder who produces for his/her family’s subsistence. A farmer is an entrepreneur who produces food for commercial consumption in large quantity and better quality. Apparently, we do not have peasants in USA. Here, only less than 4% of the population is engaged in commercial/industrial farming. These farmers are the ones that produce surplus for the local and international markets. They use machineries and implements, skilled labor, improved variety of seeds, scientifically and technologically advanced mechanisms, techniques and systems of input and output. Farmers own or lease a large piece of land for commercial and industrial farming employing sophisticated machinery and equipment. Ethiopian peasants do not merit the name “farmers” because they do not have all those qualities the name is attached with. However, all the rural population in Ethiopia, 85% has traditionally been called “farmer”. In the last four decades, Ethiopian peasants have been unable to feed themselves, let alone producing surplus for urban consumption.

Cash crops such as sisal, sugar cane, cotton, coffee, flower, tea, nuts, eucalyptus, tea, etc., have discouraged the production of staple foods. Some staple products such as teff, sorgham, barley, and corn are now becoming cash crops that the peasant may not afford to use for his family’s consumption. During Janhoy’s time the hundreds of acres of land along the Shashemane Awassa High Way was allotted to sisal production. Wonji and Matahara sugar plantations have occupied massive land. Dergue cleared Bebeka area in Kaffa for coffee and tea plantation. The current government introduced flower production en masse to attract foreign investment. Apart from competing and interfering with cereal production it has yielded millions of foreign currency income. However, given the fact that it may lead to soil degradation, which leads to low productivity, it might be advisable to moderate or alternate such production. Besides, would it not be wise for Ethiopia to be food self-sufficient before venturing to flower production in this persistently sluggish global economy?

 

Cited Problems and Pro-active Solutions

1. Environmental Justice: Climatic change associated with global warming (due to industrial pollution) and poverty (due mainly to resource misappropriation, unscrupulous exploitation, mismanagement or corruption seem to be major global problems, necessitating global attention) mineral depletion, forest decimation, wildlife exploitation, soil and water resource degradation, etc., (need regional planning). Nations that are victims of global pollution should be recompensed for the loss of life. On the contrary, nations that do not pollute the environment should be rewarded, if globalization is to be real and fair. Western industrial nations and other emerging economic powers including China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Australia, New, Zealand, etc., should eliminate or radically reduce pollutant technologies for the welfare of the “global village”.

2. Population Explosion: Cultural and moral education/legislation to check irresponsible and immoral childbearing and rearing; health care and life-skills education, motivational education, etc. For example, it is immoral to produce children only to pass the responsibility to adoptive parents, agencies or public institutions. Forced under-age marriage, uncontrolled libido (distribution of plastics to kids as a way of HIV prevention and prostitution as a cope-out way of life, etc.).

3. Land Policy: The peasant should not be held hostage of his/her small unproductive land. Capable peasants should be allowed to purchase properties, develop their holding, sell and resell their land so that there is transfer or exchange of wealth. Most monetary systems such as insurances and banks base land as real asset. Peasantry should be replaced by industrial urbanization so that proper land use planning could be executed. Land for food production, cattle grazing, industrial site, forestry and wildlife reserve and development, etc. should be allocated for voluntary tillers.

 

4. Mode and Means of Production: Peasantry and farming should be clearly distinguished so that proper attention should be given to the rural communities such as subsidized communal farming, industrial development, cottage industrial development and structured private production of cash crops and staple foods.

5. Paradigm Shift: As such, I do believe, agriculture should be industry-led, not the other way round, for Ethiopians to “starve-no-more”. Mass production and food preservation mechanisms such as refrigeration technology, food processing, proper food handling and delivery schemes, etc, would reduce famine and dispel the stigma of starvation from Ethiopia. For this to happen, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the minds of national and regional political leadership.

6. Kind of Production: Cash crops such as sisal, sugar cane, cotton, coffee, flower, tea, nuts, eucalyptus, etc., have discouraged the production of staple foods. Some staple products such as teff and corn are now becoming cash crops that peasant may not afford to use his family’s consumption. During Janhoy’s time the hundreds of acres of land along the Shashemane Awassa Highway were allotted to sisal production. Wonji and Matahara sugar plantations have occupied massive land. Dergue cleared the natural rain forest in Bebeka, Kaffa for coffee and tea plantation. The current government introduced flower production en masse in the heartland near Modjo to generate the much needed foreign currency. Unfortunately, all the three governments seem to have been driven by such short-term goals without giving due consideration to the vulnerability of the environment. The flower production is competing with cereal production despite the fact that it is yielding millions of foreign currency. It should be noted that soil degradation leading to low productivity might be caused by such cash crops besides de-incentivizing the poor peasant, thereby further reducing national food sufficiency. I suggest that food production take priority over cash crops in view of food security of the country.

7. The myth that southern Ethiopia is the breadbasket of Ethiopia should now be dispelled and proper attention should be given to the region’s relapsing food shortage due to unreliable rainfall. Proper regional planning should take into consideration utilizing the major rivers and lakes such as the Omo, Bilate, Abaya, etc.

 

8. Centralization of Industrial Sites: Many industries have been established in Addis Ababa and its vicinity in the last decades. The rural towns such as Arba Minch, Dilla and Soddo are over-populated with able-bodied and educated youngsters looking for employment. Light and heavy industries should be relocated and/or started in those rural towns in view of diversifying the economy and check undue urbanization.

Conclusion

For the sake shortening the article, let me quickly move on to my concluding remarks. We can endlessly blame the governors, the people, the facilitators, NGOs and the victims. Certainly, we have done that many times and for too long. The time has now come for the silent intelligentsia, the withdrawn Diaspora and the subdued professionals to take responsible actions and play practical roles according to the dictates of their hearts and minds. It is easy to be part of the problem by blaming others or staying aloof forever.

The Ethiopian Diaspora and other concerned entities can get involved with the local governments or non-governmental organizations (if there are any remaining in the country, owing to the perceived ordeal of the recent regulation) working in southern Ethiopia at the following levels.

 

Relief: Governmental, non-governmental, humanitarian, ecclesiastical, religious, non-religious, domestic or expatriate entities should collaborate in the effort of saving life. Individual donors should give whatever resource to avert famine, be it financial support, imperishable food, means of transportation, medicine, clothing, etc. Contacting persons or organizations engaged in the effort would reveal the need of the time.

Rehabilitation: Once the relief work is done, rehabilitating takes over. Without interrupting the relief effort, rehabilitating the victim can take place in light of extending to his/her short-term person-centered resettlement goals. This may involve recuperation of lost items, namely housing, health care, rationed food and other essentials, etc. to the point where the person can take care of himself/herself.

Development: If the person were rehabilitated well, he/she would want to think of his/her long-term goals. Thinking along with the person, one may provide him the necessary tools, implements, seeds and techniques. Specialized agencies may give micro-loans, etc to transform the sustenance of the victim. A benevolent giver may sponsor a family or a child through established humanitarian agencies engaged in the affected areas.

 

 

Tegga Lendado, PhD., a development consultant based in Atlanta, USA, is a former Director of Forestry for the Central Region, Ethiopia and worked as Forestry Engineer for the UNDP/FAO and others in Southern Africa. He can be reached at tlendado@aol.com

By Obo Arada Shawl  – February 23, 2009

For whom the bell tolls

Ethiopiawinet is abstract

Ethiopianism is concrete

Since there seems no agreement

What about the alternative medicine of Aagmelago as inspired by DEBu!

The unfinished journey of DEBTERAW

Versus

EPLF, TPLF and OLF

 

The why and the how’s: Today is the beginning of Fasting…

 

 COLONIALSM?

Colonialism is as old as society itself. However, the term colonialism took a more sharp and specific meaning during the 19^th century when colonialists saw it as an extension of “civilization” from Europe to “backward societies”. ? Was Aethiopia a backward society with no so-called “civilization”?  What is the stand of EPLF, TPLF and OLF as at to date? Perhaps regret! Call me by my name, what is my name, colonizer or colonized?  Explanation is required!

 

In addition colonialism was seen as a search for

• Raw materials,
• New markets and
• New fields of investment.

What about MMI (material-market-investment)? Was Aethiopia fit for colonization to take place based on these criteria? EPLF, TPLF and OLF, please tell us more on these issues.

 

At other times, colonialism was colonization that desire to physically settle people from the imperial country. Who was imperial in the Aethiopian case? More explanations, please! Resettlement or migration tells us different stories.

 

Typical aspect of colonialism include Racial and Cultural between the ruling and the subjects such as the followings

• Political
• Legal domination                                 = Your action speaks louder than words
• Exploitation of the subject people

 

Colonialism was seen as a key cause of uneven development. What is the stand of EPLF, TPLF and OLF concept of uneven development? Is ignorance bliss in this case?

 

Finally, contrary to the EPLF, TPLF and OLF claims of being colonized, the term colonialism may also be used to refer to an ideology or a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote the system. As such the colonizers of Aethiopia seem to be the EPLF and the TPLF in concrete terms and the OLF in abstract terms.

 

Colonialism was often based on the ethnocentric belief that the morals and values of the colonizer were superior to those of the colonized – otherwise known as Racism or pseudo-scientific. What is the purpose of ethnicity? It is either racism or something else. All Aethiopians demand explanation.

 

AETHIOPIANS?

• Those who were born in geographical Ethiopia alias MAKK
• Those who have and still are struggling in the Eway Revolution
• Those who are married to Aethiopians and
• Those who were adopted to be Aethiopians and
• Others who qualify for any other reason not mentioned above

 

DEMOCRACIA?

It is in our culture to judge and be judged. In Aethiopia it is of judges, by judges and for judges? The culture of WE is deep in our culture as a result we have been judging others by our standard. Aethiopian strive to behave in virtuous morality not by edicts and votes.

 

Interestingly enough, President Kennedy’s speech at the time “ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country” reverberated in the Student Movement which really touched the CIA Opportunists. The radical student movement, not only were aware of their culture of voluntarism but also they were ready to sacrifice for their country. They did not need President Kennedy’s appeal.

 

DEMOCRACIA – the political organ of EPRP has been published its 34th and 35^th year this month. The first call is for the youth to take charge of their beloved country Aethiopia (USAE) while the second issues is about Yekatit የካቲት ግም ሲል.

DEBTERAW’s call for action

• Know what the Americans and Israel’s want out of Aethiopia
• Know the interests of the Chinese and Russians
• Know where the interests of Europeans lie
• Know why the Arabs and Muslims want to be involved in the game of chess
• Strategize how the leaders of EPLF and TPLF abdicate their power.

 

A hint for removing the leaders of EPLF and TPLF.

• 1. The EPLF leader is a dictator for he does not believe in the concept of democracy let alone DEMOCRACIA
  2. The leader of TPLF is a Tyrant who cheats in the name of democracy but exercises his power in a tyrannical way
  3. Ask for justice in the name of DEBTERAW for Shaebia claims that their main objective is searching for justice while Woyane knows very well that they are keeping the rare Revolutionary/Patriot incommunicado for fear of flourishing open and free DEMOCRACIA in ኤትዮጵያ .

 

NB: This month of Yekatit has seen many adventures, many sharp changes of fortune. Since 1974, all Aethiopians have seen war, revolution, execution, madness, sexual scandal, power corruption, religious conversion and attempted assassination but not POWER ABDICATION. Why, why and why? Can one find it by fasting?

 

Truth will prevail

 

woldetewolde@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Alex Birhanu – alexbirhanu@yahoo.com

While reading a series of heated discussions on cyber-space in recent weeks, I came across flaring, fuming and flexing comments coming from Eritrean readers who request Ethiopian writers to abstain from including Eritrea and Issayas Afeworki in their descriptions; and only focus on contemporary political situations in Meles Zenawi’s TPLF regime. I found this Eritrean complaint as improper since the actual source of our troubled Ethiopia emanates from Afeworki’s ethnocentric political craftsmanship, which he does not allow to be experimented within Eritrea while at the same time subscribing it to be vigorously applied by his junior Meles Zenawi within Ethiopia. Secondly, there are yet unresolved matters pending between Eritrea and Ethiopia as part of the Afeworki-Zenawi unfair deals and leadership styles. So in order for us Ethiopians to get into the synthesis and anti-thesis of the whole matter in the open, we need to unveil the events and conspiracies that took place behind closed doors and left both the Eritrean and Ethiopian public in intricate political legacy yet to be rationally resolved. Following suit of Issayas Afeworki’s consistent indoctrination, Meles Zenawi keeps on running Ethiopia and its politics contemptuously under ethnocentric politics and ethnic-mobilization. But this experimental policy practice of setting-up an ethnocentric federal regime actually has not won popularity. Nearly 2-decades after its experimental sessions, Zenawi’s ethnocentric federal regime seems doomed to failure. Now that Meles is talking about stepping down from his premier position, we are all left to ponder as to who will make a bridge over our troubled water; and respond to these confusing riddles of political legacy. In order to arrive at a solid and timely way out from the trouble at hand, we need to build a bridge over our troubled political stance by examining the roots of the troubles we are faced and left with. So in what follows I will raise 11-crucial viewpoints:

(1) The roots of the ethnocentric political crisis in Ethiopia lies in the hands of 2-self-appointed despots – Afeworki and Zenawi – who take charge of governance at their will; but never delivered even a fraction of what they promised before they ascended to power. For instance, Afeworki’s Shaabia regime in Eritrea prohibits “ethnic-self determination up to secession” doctrine for its nine ethnic-sub-regions. Contrarily, Afeworki continues to preach for national unity and integrated Eritrea. Needless to say, Issayas Afeworki, who has sown the seeds of recurring ethnocentric political conflicts to deeply wreck Ethiopia into smaller mini-states, is today reaping from his own workings and tied to his own crafts that left young but not yet formally stable Eritrea in perpetual crisis and isolation from most global ties. Consequently, the Eritrean elite group has refrained from reaching its hands to quench Afeworki’s wolf-cries. Besides, untold mass exodus of Eritrean youth is continuing in all directions of the world.

(2) To accomplish one of the lethal promises made under-oath to Issayas Afeworki while under training in the Eritrean heart land Meles Zenawi promulgated in his TPLF-constitution an ethnocentric and divisive policy in the pretext of the right to self-determination, including and up to secession as written in article 39, No. 1. This initially Afeworki crafted ethnocentric article reads: “Every nation, nationality and people in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession.” From the outset this article may seemingly lead to generate the feeling that an unlimited political right is granted to each of the 80 major and 223 small ethnic groups in total inhabiting Ethiopia so that each can create its own mini-state. Ironically and in practice however, Issayas Afeworki, the father of ethnocentric politics has no concession to ethnic-forces with the same demand among the 9-ethnic groups inside Eritrea. To the contrary, as late as recently, Afeworki declared war on the Afar people that don’t accept their population and land to be included within the bounds of Eritrea. One wonders about the selective use of the right to self-determination. After 18 years in practice, TPLF’s ethnocentric socio-political base remains aloof as it is solely restricted to elites selectively hand picked from within the TPLF circle; but with a population of about four million in a vast country of 80 million people this TPLF framework is not fit to mobilise or organise a nation of diversity. Without having critically examined through of its application and having failed to anticipate the consequences of its actions thereof, Zenawi’s TPLF regime hastily declared the right to self-determination including secession and invited all ethnic groups in Ethiopia to organise on ethnocentric political principles. Naively, Zenawi hoped the newly formed ethnic organisations, which understandably lack the necessary organisational experience and strength to run their own affairs by themselves, would rush to join his TPLF-regime, thereby to draw support and develop legitimacy to rule the country.

(3) The leadership styles of Afeworki and Zenawi are profoundly rough and heavy handed authoritarianism. Although Afeworki’s EPLF-regime claims to be a diehard communist and TPLF in turn seems a half-baked-capitalist, these 2-regimes basically lack accountability and transparency. More so, Afeworki and Zenawi are seriously entrenched in clearly-open nepotism and corruption. Their government tops are immensely filled by an elite-group, which is hand-picked and indoctrinated to fragment itself on “ethnic-divides”, “religious- affiliations”, and “peer’s vested political and economic inclinations” and interests. Except for the EPLF and TPLF ethnocentric groups that hold the steering wheel, the rest of the members of the ethnically federated parliamentary assemblies in Ethiopia and the hand-picked EPLF membership in Eritrea are all indoctrinated to remain loyal-opposition groups (if any) to the regime administration on power. In actual fact, these groups are disempowered and find the working of the lofty parliamentary assembly and its political atmosphere difficult to work in and defend their respective political interests collectively; or even influence the Afeworki and Zenawi styles of governance to listen to their options. In particular, in Zenawi’s amputated “ethnically federated Ethiopia”, one observes a combination of TPLF-regime’s untold methods of repression, disorientated elite-groups grumbling to realize (a) divisive ethnic-indoctrination, and (b) an authoritarian cultural legacy both inherited from Godfather Afeworki.

(4) Looked at in retrospective, by 1991, in collaboration with EPLF, Zenawi’s TPLF regime and its affiliate-organisations went on unilaterally to capture power in Addis Ababa and restructured today’s amputated Ethiopia just in the way as aspired and promised under oath to Issayas Afeworki during TPLF’s infancy in the bushes of hinterland Eritrea. With Zenawi at the driving seat of leadership and at the helm of the new political set-up TPLF capitalized its commanding heights by virtually consolidating a supreme power for no body but all alone for Zenawi. As a result, the Ethiopian public that was already exhausted by 17-years of previous repressive Derg regimes legacy are helplessly left to face all the anticipated dangers that Zenawi’s political impasse entailed; including those of the formation of the Eritrean state and the give-away of Assab port and its assets to Eritrea by 1991. Thus the political arena crafted by Meles Zenawi reflects much of conflicting political, social, cultural and economic interests. The key ones include, but not limited to, the following:

1. Lack of fair political play by not allowing space for compromise or broad-based consensus;

2. Nominally crafted TPLF-regime’s local governance platforms implemented in the 6-regions proceed without deliberation or consultation at the broad-mass levels;

3. Lack of harmonious working and livelihoods environment between TPLF and the masses that eventually sustain and cement a long-term peace;

4. To this day, Issayas Afeworki’s initial indoctrination and the seeds he provided to germinate continue being sown by Zenawi’s TPLF-regime.

(5) With TPLF in power, ethnocentric national regions in Ethiopia have officially entered into a new twist; where irreconcilable political games are being perpetuated to eventually weaken the already amputated Ethiopia to its demise. Zenawi and TPLF echelons continue to follow suit Issayas Afeworki’s ethnocentric-politics as a viable political pathway without enquiring and getting consensus from Ethiopian opposition leaders and the general public. Dependent on Afeworki’s initial indoctrination and military backing, Zenawi and TPLF hastily imposed a highly ethnocentric political experiment upon the Ethiopian society. Ironic enough, without consulting some of the TPLF’s-gallant fighters that resisted the Derg in most parts of hinterland Eritrea; and without the consent of the people of Tigray, Zenawi advocated for Eritrean independence and gave to Afeworki a full-fledged free ride for a unilateral succession where Afeworki is left to govern the 9-ethnic groups with no mention of self-determination or succession. But when the coin is flipped to Zenawi’s Ethiopia side, ethnic-led political experiment became the icon and the centre-piece of the day; where every ethnic group is allowed to experiment with self-determination up to a point where it may ask to secede and form its own independent mini-state; thus Afeworki’s strategy of dismantling Ethiopia from the face of the globe could eventually be ascertained; but in vain. This ill-conceived ethnocentric experiment was meant to allow Ethiopian ethnic groups forming no less than eighty ethnic-based mini-states at best or 223 mini-states at worse. Imagine how tough such situation would be for the rest of Africa if Ethnocentric mini-states were to be crafted everywhere by following the example set by these two despots. In any case, Issayas Afeworki’s ethnocentric politics indoctrination carried further by Meles Zenawi is ostensibly meant to draw support and legitimacy for the TPLF regime from the numerous Ethiopian ethnic groups within the 6 regions but in vain. Unexpectedly Zenawi’s ethnocentric federal governance turned out to expedite the emergence of a wave of inhuman and barbaric ethnic-conflicts, while leaving the entire-multiethnic, multilingual, multi-religious Ethiopian population in a state of confusion and stalemate between ethnic groups residing within those 6-regions.

(6) Once after Zenawi captured power, he skilfully utilized TPLF’s political and military organs as steppingstones to consolidate power over the whole of Ethiopia; but TPLF’s power is hanging in limbo without penetrating and building effective and efficient socio-political base across ethnic lines throughout today’s Ethiopia. To make matters worse, unfortunately, the innocent Tigrayan population that have generations after generation been paying dearly for all the major political appraisals hitherto happening inside Ethiopia, is trapped between Zenawi’s erroneous policy and perceived by all other ethnic groups in both Ethiopia and Eritrea as an partner in crime of the TPLF-regime. Sad enough Tigray and its population that is the hub of homo-sapiens, the source of Tigre people in Eritrea (previously known as ‘Bahir-Negahs’ or part of Greater Tigray); the cradle of old Ethiopian civilization since the Biblical times; the home of Zion Mary of Axume, generous people known for its humane and religious faithfulness and hospitality, is merely held tight under a gun-point by Zenawi’s conspirators TPLF-regime. Otherwise we have seen signs of nationalist Tigrian individuals in Diaspora coming to the fore and speaking their minds defending Ethiopia. For that matter what is Ethiopia without Tigre and Tigray after all? Amidst all these twisted riddles to consider, to this very day, the key reason why no opposition party, other than TPLF, is allowed to work inside Tigray Region is simply to claim undivided Tigray support for Zenawi’s ruling party; to bury the burning national fillings of Tigray people against the unilateral give-away acts Meles Zenawi has committed in parts of the controversial border dispute areas between Eritrea and Northern Tigray; and thus trampling over the democratic rights of the Tigrayan people to organize an opposition; or nominally allowing an opposition group that ascertains its faithfulness to TPLF – as labelled by Zenawi in Amharic – KIN TEKAWAMI – literally meaning loyal opposition.

(7) When Zenawi entered Addis Ababa, most Ethiopians welcomed TPLF without much resistance, genuinely hoping that whoever comes to power after the horrible communist Derg Junta regime of the 1970s and 1980s may not be dreadful. Besides looked at Ethiopia’s fate from foreign affairs perspectives, in the early 1990s, the key concern of the US-led Western powers was mainly focused on arresting the expansion of Islamic Fundamentalism (perceived to pose serious political threat to the Western cultural values and material interests in and around the Middle East and Eastern Africa). Especially, Sudan, where Al-Turabi-indoctrinated Islamist regime is gaining momentum, and occupying strategic political and religious positions in the wider region had to be checked from Al-Turabi’s sphere of influences. Consequently Herman Cohen of the USA found a plausible means in both Zenawi’s TPLF and Afeworki’s EPLF as these 2-sisterly front-leaders were seen as better-organised conducting manageable military forces within a federated Ethiopia that could possibly accomplish the strategic tasks the USA wanted to pursue in the region.

(8) Initially, despite their leftist-communistic rhetoric, both Issayas Afeworki and Meles Zenawi swiftly came into terms with Herman Cohen, the then US-Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. And as TPLF and EPLF forces were coming closer to Addis Ababa and Asmara respectively, in London, on 27 May 1991, Mr Cohen, met with Afeworki, Zenawi and leaders representing OLF. Other key political forces including EPRP that have clear stakes on Ethiopian affairs and could have affected Ethiopia’s future make-up undoubtedly were deliberately ignored. By so doing a golden opportunity for an all out political settlement was pushed-aside in favour of military and US-led solutions. In fact, before a negotiated settlement was reached, at the end of May 1991, Meles Zenawi, after spending a night in the American Embassy in Khartoum, suddenly showed-up in Addis Ababa and started to head his TPLF-regime in his own way; eventually, he outsmarted the political arena and backed as one of USA’s strongest allies in the region. The USA and its allies delayed no time granting Zenawi’s TPLF regime diplomatic recognition, financial aid, military and technical experts. Within months of taking office the one time Albanian Communist branded TPLF turned to claim itself as a capitalist by stand. Likewise within months, USA hooked and cemented TPLF as its dependable ally in its globalisation loop for which Zenawi’s TPLF regime consistently got remunerated in millions worth of military and financial support.

(9) Internally, Zenawi started to systematically spread his offensive campaign and silenced opposition elements within the country by denying their freedom of expression that could lead to mobilise people against his unpopular policies. Particularly, at one point, persuaded by opposition parties within and outside the country, many Ethiopian newspapers came-out in mass. Yet, whenever these papers become critical of TPLF-regime, their respective editors, journalists and publishers were immediately pulled into prison accused of negative campaigning against Zenawi’s TPLF regime. Over time, several journalists and publishers of private newspapers and magazines in Addis Ababa became arrested.

(10) To date, both Afeworki’s and Zenawi’s rigid, self-righteous and uncompromising EPLF & TPLF-regimes and their apparent determination to hold the monopoly of power by any means can be matched by the foiled peace efforts thus far and by the frustrated ambitions of the opposition parties who remain loyal at the country’s respective parliaments. From day one in power, both Issayas Afeworki and Meles Zenawi and their respective TPLF-EPLF-cohorts apparently remain unpopular; basically because these two groups came to power not only by supporting each other while in the bushes; but also by the will of the US-government. Now that both leaders remain in power by using the same military force they had previously, the keep on exercising gross militaristic actions. This partially explains why Afeworki and Zenawi are equally engaged in gross violation of human and democratic rights by simply putting it on paper for formality reasons that camouflages the true nature of their bandit-tricks, intrigues and ethnocentric leadership. The so-called constitutions, crafted by Zenawi and Afeworki regimes are neither legitimate nor regulate the roles of a stable state. These formal papers simply remain personal and programmatic constitutions adored by Zenawi and Afeworki alone. Indeed their nominal constitutions, no matter what was inscribed in them are no more than a piece of paper granted by two hated autocratic leaders that could only serve the interest of their respective ruling group whom they hand picked from time to time.

(11) Today, 2-decades later, all these factors stand as shield against the Ethiopian society from acquiring empowerment leading to egalitarian governance and access to the sea. Much so, the Afar population remains artificially divided by Afeworki & Zenawi crafted complots. A lesson learnt from EPLF and TPLF hatched ethnocentric experiment is the following: Contrary to the expectation of Afeworki and Zenawi, the Ethiopian population at large is determined to regain what it has lost during the last 18 years. With no less than eighty major ethnic groups inhabiting inside Ethiopia, ethnocentric policy can’t hold substantive results. And without an inclusive politics no governance can function feasibly in a country where the link between the interwoven grassroots and the power base are tied-in by an authoritarian leadership, fragmented elite and strangled civil society left at bay. Indeed, a government that runs by contempt and empty pride is doomed to failure. Hence it is high time for us concerned Ethiopians and Eritreans to make soul searching efforts in order to find timely viable solutions as regards who will make a bridge over our troubled water and its Afeworki-Zenawi-legacy. When all is said and done, Ethiopia will prevail while Afeworki and Zenawi will be thrown into the dust-bin of history.