A Great Nation and Noble People
Let Down by its Greedy and Bloody Elite, for a Third Time in just Three Decades
By: Chissu
I have always been reluctant to write on political
issues for various reasons. For one, I am not an expert, and I often think I am
too naïve to be a politician. For another, having followed Ethiopian politics
for some time now, I am of the opinion that my country appears to be endowed
with too many political "experts" for her own good. Most importantly,
I do not like the emotive and poisonous way these self-appointed
"experts" conduct the political discourse. It is high time I break my
oath, only to say that enough is enough. I should admit I did break my oath
once before.
I am deeply concerned about the current situation in
As such and according to my tradition, if two
parties can not resolve their differences in a peaceful manner, I would have to
condemn both (antem tew, anchim tey),
even when I have sympathy towards the cause of one of them. I am also writing
because I do not accept violence (of any form), for principled reasons. And, I
believe that there is always a peaceful way of resolving differences should the
parties choose to be calm and civilized. History shows that no lasting solution
comes from violence. I am not here to preach Jesus or play Ghandi, albeit I get
comfort from their teachings. On the very unlikely event that I have no other
option for freedom (but violence), then I would have to be part of it if I have
to condole it. Because, it would be cowardice, Hippocratic and irresponsible of
me to encourage others to take part in an act of violence that would put them
in harm's way, especially when I am thousands of miles away (living abroad). Above
all, I do not only condemn, but also despise anyone whose myopic political
interest and irresponsible authority causes unnecessary bloodshed, particularly
along ethnic and religious lines.
A couple of months ago I happened to read an article
which practically accused the "vocal Diaspora" of bullying the
majority. The naughty few in Diaspora, on the other hand, often express their
frustrations about the public at home being victims of opportunistic and
parasitical cadres of the government, and monopoly of public media. The message
from both groups is crystal clear, if not the motive, that the other side is
not representative of the public in its domain of influence. My concern is
mainly with the implicit assumption behind these accusations that the public
(both abroad and home) is taken for a ride. At times blatantly saying that
Ethiopian people are ignorant and are not ready for democracy. That all
Ethiopians would have to change attitudes is not at dispute, but how about the
attitudes of the self-appointed jury and "democrats"? Who is really
bullying whom? And why? Most of all, who is lacking civility and democratic
culture?
My fear is that there is some element of truth in
the characterization of the "vocal Diaspora". Indeed, most of us have
been victims of a few influential elite (I would rather call them
politico-maniac and Hippocratic Diaspora), who strongly believe that if
politics gets right, everything will smoothly follow suit. Some of them are so
obsessed with power that they have been doing everything to get one for nearly
3 decades now. Some have been rulers, some supporting incumbent ruling elite,
others supporters of opposition. In my opinion, all of them belong to a
generation of intellectuals who were unanimous in their deafening call of
"land to the tiller", and were intoxicated by Leninist-Stalinist
ideology of self-determination. Three bloody decades later they somehow found
themselves into two camps (partly owing to the end of the cold war), one
campaigning to reverse it, and the other determined to hold on to it,
apparently at any cost. Some of them are telling us that political freedom
should come at any cost. But they do not seem to care as much for anything
else.
They are so obsessed with politics that they have
never attempted to engage the public in issues that matter most to Ethiopian
people. The media they control, particularly, radios are there to criticize
government policy, more often for the sake of criticizing. Nor do they attempt
to build and communicate viable policy alternatives in a systematic and
constructive manner. If the opposition parties and their supporters complain
about government monopoly over media back home, I could not see why this would
be the case here. Don't get me wrong. I am fully aware of the financial
constraints under which they operate. But the question is whether or not they
have the will and ingenuity to use their limited resources and time (through
public gatherings and their websites and radios) to elaborate their
socio-economic policies. Why would not they take some time to strengthen their
financial and political support for a little a while? Why the rush and the
impatience? My concern is poverty (and peace) and I would have rather liked to
write and engage in discussions about these and other socio-economic issues
that matter most to the Ethiopian people.
I dare give the "powerful" elite of a
lesson in their own history. One of the reasons for failure of African
governments to bring about meaningful changes in the economic well being of
their subjects is because of the outdated attitude of power mongers like these
elite. Their motto: take over political power first by whatever means, and only
then start to wonder how to run the economy. In the old days of the cold war,
this strategy seemed tenable, as it was easy to get the attention of one or the
other camp. We all remember how and why the military junta was forced into
wedding with
There we had it, the Derg for 17 years, and its
successors desperately trying to find policy equilibrium for 14 years. Why?
Only because they have been reluctant to listen to others and consult the wider
public. What about the "leaders-in-waiting"? Are they any different
or they only have the experience and missed the meaning like all the others?
After all, most of them are veterans of the stillborn and Che Guevara
revolution of the 70s that has resulted in loss of thousands of lives (for
which they have never had the courage to take responsibility). They would not
know how to talk to each other, let alone listening to the "spiritless and
ignorant" majority, the peasant. Note that these are the people who could
not agree even when they shared same ideology and policies, resulting loss of
tens of thousands of innocent lives. Apparently, they do not seem to agree on
anything as we speak. I keep on asking if they could ever come to their senses
and make
I would like to clarify a few things. First of all,
I cherish the sacrifices made by tens of thousands of Ethiopians in the
struggle for freedom in the 70s and afterwards, by students and Tigrayan people
alike. I am deeply saddened by the political elite who do seem to forget
history and choose to bicker on endless accusations and hatred towards each
other, poisoning the public and encouraging more bloodshed. Secondly, whose
ideology and policy is reasonable is beside the point, at least for now. As I
have argued elsewhere, there is no right or wrong policy, nor ignorant public.
Only there is patronizing policy and forgiven elite, or else ignored public and
excommunicated policy maker. The point I am trying to reiterate is that
government is not the only entity to be blamed for lack of democratic culture
among Ethiopians. It is the lack of such culture and civility on the part of
the "elder" elite (on both sides) that is mainly responsible. Thirdly,
I am fully aware of the fact that there are reasonable and concerned people on
both sides of the political spectrum (EPRDF and CUDP), some belonging to my
generation. I personally know a few of you
(some as my teachers, others as ex-colleagues, even classmates). I would only
hope that you will do your best to
prevent an ugly history from repeating itself.
Fourthly, I am not trying to say everyone belonging
to that generation is guilty. In fact, I have been inspired by the matured and
responsible discourse of some (albeit a few) members of that generation over
the years. I was particularly touched by a series of articles by Assegedech
Mekonnen (I do not know this lady but got the impression from her writings, my
sincere apologies if I got you wrong). She has been sincerely appealing to both
of these selfish gangsters, to which none of them properly replied. Here are
selected extracts of what she had to say in one of her appeals:
"reasonable people want bygones to be
bygones. History is useless unless it is used as tool to learn from the past…we
are engulfed with in-fightings and trivializing the issues that matter to
Ethiopians most…let's eradicate this artificial divide between 'pure' (netsuh)
and 'not so pure' Ethiopian…"
I was also fortunate to have been a student of the
late Dr. Eshetu Chole, who remarked the following in 1992, right after EPRDF
took power:
"
Can you, or will you waste it for a third time in a
row, and in just 3 decades? One could be forgiven for being young and
irresponsible, that is what you were in the 70s, hence forgiven by Ethiopian
people (including me). Believe me; if you mess it up this time around you will
be hounded by the very people you think you are rallying behind. True,
Ethiopian people are thirsty for freedom, but they will be asking for decent
water, as soon as they have got one, not to quench their thirst for power but
for survival. Are you ready for that? Why the rush then? In a nutshell, do not
be intoxicated by the rally of the moment. Some of you may remember what Meles
Zenawi replied, in his first visit to the Clinton White House, when asked what
his vision of
I have come to believe that many Ethiopians in
Diaspora belonging to my generation have been shying away from politics largely
as a result of poisonous and pathetic ways this bunch of elite have been
handling the political discourse. Some of us trusted them as our
"elders" and at times taken their advice at face value. We respected
their titles (e.g., the intimidating PhD before their names) though we know
that "a PhD is a license to a dancing hall, but it can not guarantee that
you dance well", as an ex-colleague (a PhD himself) once said to me. Some
of us shied away, lest they would dub us EPRDF's fan. I know they will bombard
me and give me names to intimidate me, but I have a duty to be myself and say
enough is enough. We have let them to poison our minds and inculcate distrust
among us, perhaps for so long. These people accuse the ruling elite of being
divisive (which it is by its nature), but their subtle ways of division and
ethnic-politics should be exposed. We do not have to be as articulate and Machiavelli
as these people, but we need to stand up to be heard. We need to tell them that
we are disgusted and ashamed of them. They would have to be told (boldly too)
to grow up (like Bob Gildof did a while ago), and violence of any nature is
both untenable and unacceptable in the 21st Century. That the days
of Che Guevara are gone, and for good!
I may be angry right now, please be aware that my anger
is genuine, I am sure I am not the only one. I hope you would have the courage
to soberly read my anger, rather than reading between the lines.
No more bloodshed! Not in my name! Stop bullying my
country and people! All of you.