Ethiopian Review has asked scholars and prominent individuals what 10 things they would do immediately if they are elected president or prime minister of Ethiopia. The following is by Dr Dejenie A. Lakew. (Click here to read what others wrote.)

If I have been given an opportunity to serve Ethiopia as a leader, I will accept it humbly but with great responsibility, declaring:

* Leadership is service ship but with vision.
* No person or group can declare he/it is more serving than others.

And determined to do the following:

1. Establish a political system that will be stable and hence will become a culture to all its citizens at all times:

a. Impose term limit (constitutional) for an elected leader with no more than two terms: no elected leader stays in office more than the tenure time allowed. Political systems are more stable, beneficial and progressive when they are cultures, than having a supposedly “strong“ leader or “leaders” at times.

b. Allow elections to be just free, deleting the term fair from free and fair.

c. Craft political parties that share power in the central government based on programs that are designed to work for all peoples of Ethiopia, not for a particular ethnic group or groups.

d. Make our country a melting pot.

2. Promote a cultural philosophy that promotes:

a. Tolerance (which for technical reasons I prefer it to be patience) and peaceful coexistence for the benefit of all.

b. Culture of debate to solve differences by peaceful means.

c. Healthy leaving of all citizens with some level or standard of a modern life: in using clean water, electricity, school, clinics or health centers.

3. Education is one of the most cardinal things that all societies take seriously and invest immensely on it. It is a guide that prompts a society where to go in the future, and helps to solve current problems. It is also equalizer on international plat forms. Therefore it is imperative to develop an education system that:

a. takes care of the returns on its investments — it’s learned citizens paying a better salary that matches the standards of living of the time; allowing financial or market systems so that these citizens can buy cars, homes and therefore they value and appreciate what their country provides to them and the country appreciates what they do to their fellow citizens.

b. facilitates and establishes conditions to the learning of all its citizens emphasizing the fact that learning is a privilege but at the same time a responsibility.

c. Oriented towards solving problems of its citizens and facilitating conditions to its citizens to have a decent and better life.

d. Engages higher learning institutes to produce trained citizens with global knowledge that cooperate and compete in global platforms.

e. Promotes research in higher learning institutes by establishing state of the art research centers that coordinate such activities within and from outside.

f. Helps in crafting policies for the central government based on findings and recommendations from research centers and higher learning institutes .

4. Policy of Economic Development: Establishing effective infra-structures of communications and transport. In this particular category, constructing high ways, railroads across the four corners of the country and developing effective information technologies that are vital and timely. Having access to red sea is as important as having a door to a house and it is therefore imperative that we have that access to the red sea.

Developing means to utilize the most abundant natural resources the country has : minerals, water, natural gas, oil, wind power, solar energy, etc. . To promote a free economy policy and encourage investments by its citizens and foreign nationals.

5. To develop a constitution that guarantees the rights of all its citizens — giving emphasis on the fact that to be a citizen is a privilege but with more responsibility.

6. To establish a judicial system that is completely independent and free from any political power and influence.

7. The boundaries of Ethiopia should not be put to constant delimitation. Therefore, it has to be settled once and for all in order future generations should not be burdened by what we left to them as unfinished business. Particularly I will use all legal means available so thatEthiopia regains its rightful share of the red sea: it is vital for both economic and political reasons. I read a saying in Arab tradition that a country with no sea outlet is like a house with no door, but a house with no door is just a bird nest and I do not want our country to be that, after losing its century standing long sea boundary.

8. Establish a press law that guarantees a complete freedom of expression. There will not be what is called political prisoner during my term of office.

9. Foreign Policy and diplomacy:

a. Diplomats are molecular representatives of the country and hence much is expected from them. Therefore these offices should have not only effective diplomats, but also effective personnel on things the country needs from that particular country in terms of culture, politics, education, investment.

b. Promoting peaceful coexistence with our neighbors, condemning governments who have confrontational stances and promote conflicts.

10. The military is one of the most important sections of the country with all its duties and responsibilities in safeguarding the peace and territorial integrity of the country, but should be neutral to everything that is political and its compositions of files and ranks should reflect the diversity of its citizens.

(Dr Dejenie A. Lakew is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Virginia Union University. He can be reached at [email protected])