Here are outlines of nine issues from my side of
understanding of the situation in the aftermath of the recent Diaspora
political turmoil: the post-mortem. Of course, as you will see below, not all
of them are also the result of Diaspora political crisis.
1. Access Restricted? The speculation that the
Ethiopian government has jammed VOA and German Deutsche Welle Radio appears to
have caused a concern as even evident from Ben’s editorial comment. I know
little about these radio stations since I do not listen to them. My comment
here is based on a general experience of the Diaspora media. First of all, we
better acknowledged that there is a problem. The Diaspora media contains bad
content, only because a minority of individuals, probably about 10-20 percent
of us, write with an intent of disseminating information that misleads and
misinforms reality or even promotes hatred. These individuals can be drawn from
diverse background including OLF, ONLF, Shabia, hooligans and hard-line
intellectuals and ex-Derge officials and innocent young people influenced by
them. They are then the problem. አደፍራሽ
ካለ ማን ንጹህ
ይጠጣል። How many of you really
want the youth in Addis Ababa, where Internet accesses are easy, to access
Diaspora-based online chats full of bad contents? Shouldn’t you be worried
about exposing them to bad influence?
This is not an endorsement of the action of Ethiopian government – quite
the opposite. What I am saying is that we do not appear to hold moral high
ground to blame the Ethiopian government. The government has already imposed
restriction on access to Diaspora media from Ethiopia following the 2005
post-election crisis. If the story about the jamming of Diaspora radio
transmissions is true, there is no doubt that, this time, the government is
angry with Diaspora media for promoting HR 2003, a bill which considers this
proud ancient nation as a “banana republic”. What do we do? We can tell the
Ethiopian government that its action is not acceptable. There is also another thing
that we can do. We can tell the Diaspora media to be more responsible. Read the
editorials of the Ethiopian Reporter, Capital, Addis Fortune and other
Ethiopian-based newspapers and you will easily notice the maturity of
expression in their contents. Another example is Ethiopiafirst web site. Ben
posts everything including sometimes articles that heavily criticize EPRDF’s
policies. Yet he has no problem of getting along with the Ethiopian government;
in fact, he interviews government officials. What does this show? It shows that
Ben has been policing himself by screening out undesirable contents and this
gradually built his credibility as a responsible web site host.
2. Impact of HR 2003 on Ethiopian politics. Whether
we like it or not, HR 2003 is already having an impact on Ethiopian politics.
EPRDF has started a campaign to denounce this bill. Now, Ethiopians are indeed
politically matured and they may not be easily swayed by this anti-Diaspora/HR
2003 campaign, especially knowing that it is waged using the
government-controlled media. Yet Ethiopians will also agree that the Diaspora
has become a political problem. The recent Diaspora political in-fighting
quickly reached Addis, and by now it might have reach regions. Then, assume
that you are an opposition politician or supporter from one of those regional
towns. Even the kids in the street can tease at you, because they hear that the
opposition is working against the national interest of Ethiopians. It should
therefore be understandable if opposition parties in Ethiopia distance
themselves from the Diaspora. If the story is true, W/t Birtukan Medeksa was
not well received during the meeting of CUDP parliamentarians in Addis Ababa,
perhaps a symptom of the situation described above. In a nutshell, we will be
surprised if HR 2003 passes, but, when/and if it passes, nobody will benefit
from it. It will cost the opposition politically. Ethiopia will lose additional
foreign aid resources. And it further
polarize our Diaspora communities, as this bill is the work of only the
minority vocal Diaspora.
3. Sociology of urban politics. Sociology is the study of social phenomena.
We are here interested in using it to explain how the “social” influences
political behaviour. Situate yourself in a rural household, that is, you are a
rural kid. If you are assigned to work on the farm field after school hour, you
have to finish it, even if it means working after sunset, because it will
awaiting you the next day and this competes with your priorities, such as studying.
What this does is instil in you the values of hard work, endurance,
self-discipline and responsibility. Then, consider an urban kid (I am not
talking about the shoeshine boy who must earn money and eat breakfast before he
goes to school). Up on his return from school, he drops his school bag and goes
out to join groups that roam around neighbourhoods. He is with group A this
evening, Group B tomorrow, back with group A the next day and join group C next
time, and so on, just fooling around.
He is always reminded that a government job awaits him if he completes
school, so that he never think of hard work in life. And a bit of socialization
and awareness of survival strategy as well, such as “you must run while others
walk” (= take care of yourself and your extended family first). This then
explains why Diaspora elites are good at going out together like a pack of wild
dogs, to hurry and occupy public space (civic and political organizations), but
only to start fighting soon – just as a pack of wild dogs fight over their kill
–, followed by switching sides here and there and then disintegration. They have no remorse or regret of failure;
for, urban politics in Ethiopia is about self-interest and greed, not about
national interest.
4. Geles (foot soldiers).
In the Diaspora, we also have geles, or whom Tecola Hagos calls
Provincials. Whereas, after the party is over, the top elites and the cheering
urban crowd go their own separate ways to lead private lives, the geles
would remain there awaiting the arrival of new groups of elites. Soon the new
groups would unleash their rhetoric of “Ethiopia”, “unity”, “one-language”,
“one-culture”, and so on, and the geles get back to work – raising money
and spreading anti-“Woyane” propaganda. There is nothing wrong with political
participation. What is wrong is always sitting at the back of meeting rooms
listening to the rhetoric of elites. How about giving a bit credit for the
current government for managing to deliver public services to their relatives? I was actually touched when Meles
Zenawi mentioned, during his speech to the parliament, that he and others were
there when starving people fed on dead animals churned by the drought itself.
This was in 1984/85. I was then a young refugee in Sudan working as a bartender
in a British camp where Europeans lived secluded from the rest of Sudanese
society. The Europeans used to show me media pictures of starving Ethiopians
and they were also sad. But, while this was happening, Derge and bureaucratic
elites were participating in weeks-long festivities to celebrate the formation
of a communist workers party, with their young off springs – now grown up and
proud hyphenated citizens of the West - singing and dancing at Meskel Square.
The interesting thing here is that many of these communist and bureaucratic
elites are now in the Diaspora and perhaps shaking hands with Western
politicians. They get served by the geles
too.
5. Hailu Shawel is the winner! Since coming to the Diaspora, the Engineer kept a low profile
except to make a less-inspirational speech to a friendly audience in
Washington, D.C. As the Diaspora media took sides and kept questioning his
character and capacity as a leader of CUD, the Engineer would still choose to
keep silent. That silence would create public curiosity, and in politics,
public curiosity can result in popularity. The aging man with fragile health
would assert his political and moral authority without the anticipated
political fight. If the story is true, last week’s meeting of CUDP
parliamentarians in Addis Ababa did not challenge his leadership. The stubborn
former revolutionaries, Birhanu Nega et al, screwed up themselves.
Instead of positioning themselves on a head-on collision course with Hailu
Shawel’s group and going around America recounting past EPRDF wrongdoings, they
should have chosen a different approach that focuses attention on
reconciliation as well as dialogue around policy and 2010 election agenda. They
missed a golden opportunity to redirect and lead a political movement. They may
be finished.
6. የራሷ
ሲያርባት የሰው
ታማስላለች (The state of EPRP). This Ethiopian folklore
literally translates as “someone who is unable to keep his/her own house in
order attempts to advise others on how they should manage their household”.
EPRP is just like that. Surely, some of the EPRPs moved on with their lives and
pursued professional careers. Others, however, remained inside EPRP and
persisted on their “struggle” (yah, politics tastes good with a cold beer). The
problem is that this “struggle” has gone nowhere beyond “the politics of
others” – talking and criticizing what others are doing. The leadership of EPRP
has no vision, no policy, no strategy. A clear evidence of organizational decay
in this party is the evolving discourse of democrat EPRPs, reactionary EPRPs, former
EPRPs, EPRPs, new EPRPs, and so on. And the “Woyanes”, who work hard to deliver
goods and services to the people of, say, Assimba, Tselemt, Armachiho or Quara,
remain EPRP’s bitter enemies, while ex-MEISONs, ex-Derges and greedy urban and
intellectual elites become its allies.
Since they have nothing else to do, EPRP leaders got involved in
Diaspora CUD and became implicated in the current crisis. EPRP really needs a
major shake up of its leadership and infusion of new blood. Today’s EPRP
leaders simply cling on the past, such as historical TPLF-EPRP disputes,
instead of accepting inevitable changes and engaging with EPRDF to participate
in the development process of Ethiopia. Tamerat Layne reorganized demoralized
and scattered EPRP members in the Amhara region and gave them political and
administrative posts, although some of them left soon for various reasons. They
will be happy to see EPRP legally registered in Ethiopia and open an office in
Bahir Dar. What EPRP needs is a serious soul-searching exercise to determine
its role in contemporary Ethiopian society. This can start by organizing an
all-EPRP conference very soon and facilitating well-structured discussion. Many
EPRPs still identify with their former political bosses and guerrilla army
commanders. This in itself is a structure that can be used to mobilize
participation for this conference. My last message for EPRP leaders: get back
together, move your fat or skinny a- and get serious about your job!
7. Public participation and revolutionary democracy. Things look good for revolutionary
democrats, especially if they are thinking of winning the next election in
2010. It is just that they see
themselves in the mirror and wonder why they are aging fast. Too much stress!
Compare them with the officials of previous regimes who used to look like
fattened cattle የደለበ
ሰንጋ (yah, they used to enjoy good
food, music and the company of young women). These days the revolutionary
democrats have also set about to organize public forms and avail themselves to
direct participation. This could be a political strategy (since the 2010
election is approaching) or heart-felt commitment to popular participation, but
what is clear is that it is a change of attitude for EPRDF leaders who were
less inclined to listen to Ethiopians believing that they knew what to do and
therefore nobody should ask them questions.
How about us (the Diaspora)?
Seyoum Mesfin told us to read his Ministry’s directives. We have read
those directives a long time ago. What we asked the Honourable Foreign Minister
was to provide us with opportunities to participate in decision-making
processes. An example is consultation in preparation for 2010-2015 national
development plan equivalent of the current PASDEP (Plan for Accelerated and
Sustained Development to End Poverty).
Such consultation can serve two main purposes. First, we will feel good by expressing our views in this planning
process (the convention term used for this is “sense of ownership”). The second purpose will be soliciting good
ideas that feed into the planning process. This is then what we mean by
participation, not having access to directives or other documents written by
bureaucrats and Ethiopian government lawyers.
8. The continuing Ethiopian-Eritrean border stalemate. A
group of technical experts making up the so called Boundary Commission should
not have used geometric x, y, coordinates to draw a border map which divides
houses, property, villages or communities in urban and rural areas – just like
Europeans did to Africa during the 1884 Berlin conference. The position of the
Ethiopian government is reasonable.
This is also a human rights issue. We live in the 21st
century and none of us would like to see people being forced to be part of
either Ethiopia or Eritrea. People must be provided with an opportunity to
choose where they want to live. This is my understanding of the Ethiopian
government’s insistence on «dialogue»
and not just means dialogue among bloody politicians to determine people’s
future. Dialogue should mean, first of
all, giving people the choice of where to live and then negotiations among
political leaders to agree on and confirm people’s wishes. There is also a
simple and lasting solution: leave the borders undefined and let ordinary
people from both sides of the border go about their daily routines. War is not
also an option. The Eritrean regime may even crumble by itself. Let us hope
that this time things will work out ok for Eritreans.
9. On international surveys II. These
days there is an international outcry against a Saudi Arabian court decision to
double-punish a young girl who was gang-raped.
The story is as follows: the lower court sentenced the girl, because she
was out (when she got raped) with a group of non-relative men, which is against
the law. Women are only allowed to go out with their husbands or relatives.
Then the girl’s lawyer went to a supreme court to appeal her case. This appeal
court doubles the girl’s sentence and bans the lawyer from practicing. Why?
Precisely why the international community is so outraged. Yet the 2007 Failed
States Index (a ranking of states that have failed to protect their citizens)
in the summer issue of Foreign Policy ranks Saudi Arabia 83rd, far
better than 82 other countries. Mes amis, oil talks! I have only heard a
similar story in Ethiopia during the reign of Haile Sellassie. A man went to an appeal court claiming that
he should not be punished (by the lower court) because he was a relative of
Emperor Haile Sellassie. The supreme court judge asked “who do you think you
are?” and doubled his sentence. As you
know, Ethiopia ranks 18th in the Failed States Index. If development
practitioners had done the ranking, they would have employed a completely
different methodology or criteria to reversed the trend, perhaps putting
Ethiopia 83rd , higher or lower and Saudi Arabia at the very bottom.
The same caution is needed when interpreting UN human development indexes (HDI)
to assess the performance of Ethiopia. I always take India as an example
because this country was in the same situation as Ethiopia was in the 1980s and
1990s. Indian leaders started the uphill battle of fighting poverty in the
1960s. They heavily invested in agriculture, roads, dams, industries and
education. Despite success in the
transformation of key industrial sectors of the economy and development of
science and technology capacity (making India a nuclear super power – bravo!),
poverty still remains a widespread phenomenon, so that India ranks 128 under UN
HDI. Like wise, to expect Ethiopia to
go up in the HDI statistical ladder soon is unrealistic. For example, Ethiopia
began producing educated people in relatively large numbers in recent years.
Those who jump on to politicize Ethiopian’s low-rank HDI status know this fact.
They are just going political. Don’t mind them.
Getachew Mequanent
Ottawa, Canada