Hailu Shawel’s AEUP Youth League Bole Chapter in action

[To those who lack sense of humor: This is a satire (joke).]

By Jeffrey Gettleman

NAIROBI, Kenya: With the results from Kenya’s closely contested elections still up in the air and evidence growing of election mischief, riots erupted across the country on Saturday.

Columns of black smoke boiled up from the slums ringing Nairobi, the capital, as supporters of Raila Odinga, the leading presidential challenger, poured into the streets to protest what they said was a plot by the government to steal the vote.

The demonstrators clashed with police officers in riot gear and tore apart metal shanties with their bare hands. The scene replayed itself in Kisumu, Kakamega, Kajiado, Eldoret and other towns across Kenya, with several people killed.

Just 12 hours before, Odinga, a flamboyant politician and businessman, had been cruising to victory, according to preliminary results. He was leading Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, by about one million votes in an election that was predicted to be the most fiercely fought in Kenya’s history and perhaps the greatest test yet of this young, multiparty democracy.

But that lead nearly vanished overnight. On Saturday morning, the gap had been cut to about 100,000 votes, with Odinga still ahead, but barely, with 47 percent of the vote compared with 46 percent for Kibaki. By Saturday night, with about 90 percent of the vote counted, Odinga’s lead had shrunk to a mere 38,000 votes.

But those results may not be valid. According to Kenya’s election commission, which is considered somewhat independent from the government, at least three areas from Kibaki’s stronghold of central Kenya reported suspiciously high numbers. In one area, Kibaki received 105,000 votes, even though there were only 70,000 registered voters. In another, the vote tally was changed, at the last minute, to give the president an extra 60,000 votes. In a third area, the turnout was reported at 98 percent.

Samuel Kivuitu, the chief of Kenya’s election commission, said his officers would investigate.

“We have powers to refuse results if they have obvious defects,” he said. He delayed announcing final results until Sunday.

Kibaki’s party denied it did anything wrong and said it had simply gained many votes from areas where the president is immensely popular.

But the sudden reversal immediately ignited suspicions, especially after results showed that many members of Parliament close to the president — including the vice president, the military minister, the foreign minister and more than 10 other cabinet members — were voted out of office in a wave of seeming dissatisfaction with the government.

Several foreign observers said they feared that the government was using its muscle to swing the election and stay in power, which could be a recipe for chaos, with the results rejected by millions of people and Kenya’s cherished stability in danger of collapsing.

Kenya is one of the most developed countries in Africa, but this election has exposed its ugly tribal underbelly.

Odinga is a Luo, a big tribe in Kenya that feels marginalized from the country’s Kikuyu elite that has dominated business and politics since independence in 1963. Kibaki is a Kikuyu, and the voting so far has split straight down tribal lines, with each candidate winning big in his tribal homeland.

On Saturday, the first signs of a tribal war flared up in Nairobi, with Luo gangs sweeping into a shantytown called Mathare and stoning several Kikuyu residents. In Kibera, another huge slum, supporters of Odinga burnt down kiosks that they said belonged to Kikuyu businessmen.

“No Raila, no Kenya!” they screamed, with the fires crackling behind them.

The streets were a collage of destruction, strewn with burning tires, broken bottles, fist-size rocks and fresh shell casings from soldiers who fired in the air to scare the demonstrators off. Some men sharpened machetes on the asphalt, vowing to shed blood should Odinga lose.

Kikuyus responded by forming packs of vigilantes to patrol their neighborhoods. As night fell, the gangs waited on corners, armed with machetes and lengths of wood.

Many Kenyans seemed distressed about what was happening. In Kibera, one man in a suit guided a young girl, her face a mask of panic, through the embers of burning tires.

“Unless they announce the winner soon,” said Lionel Joseph Ochieng, a Kibera resident, “this will only get worse.”

Election officials seemed to feel the clock ticking. They said they were trying to count the votes from Thursday’s election as quickly as possible but that they have been hampered by logistical problems and a record turnout, possibly upward of 70 percent.

Both political parties declared victory on Saturday, saying that by their calculations they had won the most votes. But by 1 p.m., the election commission had counted only 8 million votes out of a projected 10 to 11 million. The hush inside the heavily guarded election headquarters was a marked contrast to the raging street battles not far away.

The foreign diplomats who initially praised the election as being free and fair were beginning to change their tone.

Michael Ranneberger, the American ambassador to Kenya, rushed to the election headquarters at midnight on Friday because he said he had heard reports about vote rigging, though he declined to provide details. He urged voters to remain calm.

“This is a time for Kenyans to come together,” he said.

The head of the European Union’s election observer mission said that several election officials in the pro-Kibaki areas of central Kenya had initially kept their poll results secret, which is against Kenyan law.

“This is something we witnessed ourselves,” said Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, chief of the European delegation. “It’s clearly disturbing.”

The European Union is also investigating the high turnouts in the Kikuyu highlands north of Nairobi, where few have broken ranks with Kibaki’s party and some areas have voted nearly 100 percent in favor of the president.

The scenario that may be unfolding is the exact one that many foreign diplomats were dreading: a questionable razor-thin margin for the president, who had been trailing in just about every pre-election poll. It is not that Kibaki, 76, is so disliked himself. He has been in government since independence and is known as a courtly gentleman and economics whiz.

But he is seen by many Kenyans as continuing an unfair political system that has favored the Kikuyu at the expense of Kenya’s 30-plus other ethnic groups. Odinga, 62, boosted his popularity by tapping into those frustrations and building a coalition of many other tribes. His party has already demanded a recount in several districts and said it will not concede defeat if it loses.

The executive committee of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) had made a second attempt today (Saturday) to convene the party’s supreme council at its temporary office, but could not hold the meeting because a quorum (31 out of 60 members) was not reached as expected. Only about 25 members showed up today. With 11 members who are currently abroad giving their consent, the executive committee could have went ahead with the meeting, but Judge Bertukan Mideksa, the acting chairperson in the absence of Ato Hailu Shawel, and the other members of the executive committee insisted that the organization’s rules must be strictly followed. Kinijit spokesperson Dr Hailu Araya said the executive committee will convene the supreme council again tomorrow (Sunday) and establish a quorum with what ever number of members present. Read more by zikkir News Service here. (Read the executive committee’s letter to members of the council here)

የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ ስራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ ለዛሬ (ቅዳሜ) የጠራው የላእላይ ም/ቤት ስብሰባ ምልአተ ጉባኤ ባለመሟላቱ ባይካሄድም በህገ ደንቡ መሰረት በነገው እለት በሚገኙት የላእላይ ም/ቤት አባላት አብላጫ ድምጽ መሰረታዊ ውሳኔዎችን እንደሚያሳልፍ የፓርቲው ቃል አቀባይ ዶ/ር ኀይሉ አርአያ ለዝክር ዜና አገልግሎት ገለጹ፡፡

ዶ/ር ያቆብ ኃ/ማርያምንና ዶ/ር ብርሃኑ ነጋን ጨምሮ በተለያየ ምክንያት በአገር ውስጥ የሌሉ 11 የላእላይ ም/ቤት አባላት በነገው እለት በሚካሄደው ጉባኤ ላይ የሚተላለፉትን ውሳኔዎች እንደሚደግፉ በላኩት ደብዳቤ አረጋግጠውልናል ያሉት ቃል አቀባዩ ወሳኝ የፓርቲውን ስራዎች የምናከናውንበት ምእራፍ ላይ ደርሰናል ብለዋል፡፡

በተጓደሉና ሪፖርት ባላደረጉ የላእላይ ም/ቤት አባላት ምትክ የሚደረገውን ምርጫ አስመልክቶም ይህ የሚታወቀው በነገው እለት በሚካሄደው ጉባኤ ላይ አመራሩ ውሳኔ ከሰጠበት በኋላ መሆኑን ጨምረው ገልጸዋል፡፡

By Fekade Shewakena

A recent call by Professor Messay Kebede for an honest dialogue about the Kinijit crisis has come too late and after the crisis has taken its toll. In my view, the problem at this stage is anything but salvageable. The problem progressed beyond the breaking point the moment it started. I don’t even think the central problem is the absence of enough dialogue for that matter. For any dialogue to take place there has to be competing ideas between contending groups. There is no political or philosophical difference to talk of or start a dialogue on. More importantly, there is hardly any secret in the crisis that we need to explore. Everything, including a lot of dirty laundry, is out in the open. All sides to the conflict have told us their side of the story. I think we have regurgitated a lot of material already. I for one had enough. There are hundreds of audio, video and written records for anyone to see. I lost count of the number of Ato Hailu’s interviews and speeches after the 20th. What else do we need? If we cannot see the problem through this mass of evidences and see where the problem and the solution lie, then we are simply cheating ourselves. There is enough information for anyone interested to arrive at a verdict. The pathogen causing the sickness can be very easily isolated. Some of it is too glaring to miss unless we willfully close our eyes.

In my view this whole thing lacks one serious input from the public. It lacks enough outrage — enough outrage at the senseless wrecking of an organization that millions of our fellow citizens have made huge emotional investment and sacrifice for. We are aiding and abating this problem to fester more than it should. We are simply providing it a fertile ground to flourish. Let’s face it. It is the failure of those of us who wish democracy, good governance and civilized politics for our country that are a huge part of the problem. We have an amazing tolerance for white lies, hearsays, innuendos and the character assassination of good people and even fan some of these back as truths. I really don’t know where we got this from. A community of people often places boundaries and declares some things unacceptable and off limits in its normal social or political discourses? When something goes off limits, normal communities often express outrage. I cannot understand why we don’t. In our case, it is this complacency and our inability to call wrongs by their name that is killing and humiliating us.

There may be enough blame to go around in this crisis. But we the people that are letting this happen to us and to our country have to take a chunk of this blame. By tolerating lies, corruption and arrogance in our midst, we are letting ourselves be insulted and degraded. People who want to feed us false and obscene information with the hope of changing our mind basically think we are stupid.

Our history is replete with instances where we as a people, particularly the Ethiopian elite, failed our country in many ways. But the saddest part is that we have also become a country and people that does not learn from its past mistakes. What has happened to us as a people and where is all that pride in ourselves of rich heritage and cultural decency and honesty and age old religious morality gone?

Look at one case, for example. Some individuals who apparently support Ato Hailu Shaul have thought it is ingenious to call and exploit those poor families of victims of the June and November 2005 massacres to make their faction’s case. One of them is here, on the website Kinijit.org. If you listen to it and that doesn’t make you sick to the stomach, I don’t know what will. This is obscene and should disgust every sane person, political or not. I have literally begged another person from the other side who decided to retaliate by calling other victim families he knows have misgivings about Ato Hailu Shaul’s actions. Have we become a society without thresholds and limits to allow ourselves to be invaded by such nauseating indecencies and lies? There are always cheap people in society who are capable of doing this. That won’t surprise me. But what kind of people are the people who put it out as a headline on a website which claims to be the official organ of Ato Hailu’s faction? I know there are some “educated” people and others in white hairs that manage the site. Shame on them!

Then the question is what should we do other than dialogue? First, we have to realize that there is no middle ground to stand on between irresponsible recklessness, on the one hand, and decency and reasonableness, on the other. There is only one ground to stand on in the Kinijit crisis and that is to stand against this recklessness.

I will do mine here. I will talk straight. I am sure some would accuse me of pushing factional interests or supporting some individuals against others. Some of you may think I am defending Mrs. Birtukan or Dr. Berhanu and the rest on the other side. These are people who are capable of defending themselves. They don’t need my help. That is the least of my concerns. First among my objective is to keep my moral authority to be able to criticize Meles Zenawi and his authoritarian leadership that is wrecking havoc in my poor country. I do these often as most of you who read my articles know. I will be a hypocrite if I keep my mouth shut when I see a Bokassa or a Mengistu creeping inside the organization I support. My second reason is fear. I fear that young women who see Birtukan being demonized would be reluctant to come forward and join the struggle. They will be discouraged. Women in politics are already rare and I fear we are destroying an entire future for the women being inspired by her. I also fear that bright, reflective and passionate intellectuals may reconsider joining the struggle by looking at what the irresponsible reckless among us are trying to make off of people like Dr. Berhanu and Dr. Befekadu. That should worry us more than what is being done to these individuals personally. That should worry all of us the most.

Let me do my part of a straight talk here and do my responsibility. I know for some this may be like a taboo. The central problem, the pathogen, in this sickness and crisis in Kinijit is clearly and unambiguously Ato Hailu Shawul. Yes, I repeat, the problem is Ato Hailu Shaul. By virtue of his position as chairman of the organization, Ato Hailu has had a lot of leverage to command in the organization and solve many of the problems. His position comes with a lot of responsibility. He has failed to measure up to that. Add to that also his age which is an additional asset of respect at his disposal. He has enough authority to convene any discussion on any issue and challenge the rest of the leaders or supporters. What use do we have for a leader who refuses to talk to the committees he leads and allows deliberations at a time of a crisis?

Here is an example of his recklessness from a firsthand experience. As most informed people know very well, the geographic location and inception of the problem for Kinijit is North America. As an active supporter of Kinijit, I know Ato Hailu was fed with a lot of misinformation by a group in North America while he was still in prison. These are public secrets detailed elsewhere and I don’t want to rehash them here. Among other innuendoes, we know that Ato Hailu was told that Dr. Berhanu was going to overthrow him using his friends in the KIL (Kinijit International Leadership) and a lot of other crap. I never had any personal encounter with Ato Hailu, but I have always trusted and believed the problem would unravel as soon as he arrived in Washington DC and everything will be ok. I trusted he had the desire, training and quality of leadership to do that. I expected he would talk to and ask questions of all sides to the conflict and make an informed decision like any leader must. Instead, he did the unthinkable. He went straight into the hands of one group of people who have been mismanaging the support movement and feeding him with their side of stories. He sat fenced there and also placed aids to screen even his phone calls to select the kind of people he would talk to. His favorite radio station was one run by an outcast thief who stole public money from fund raised to help famine victims in Ethiopia. Many of us in Washington DC who put the bulk of the fight for their release and raised the funds they needed were locked out from talking to him. I also know that he was begged to attend the September 16 gathering in DC along with the five other delegates. He refused. I know this for sure but to my surprise and to the determent of my respect for him, I heard him repeatedly say that he has not been invited. That in plain language is a lie. Thousands of Ethiopians gathered in Virginia on that day, a size that I have rarely seen, but Ato Hailu was full of his egos to even come for five minutes and say thank you for supporting Kinijit. What kind of politician does refuse to talk to you when at the same time he uses the money you raised and the labor you put in to help his organization? This is the peak of feudal arrogance and hubris that should be detested by any self respecting Ethiopian.

Even for a casual observer of his actions, it is clear that Ato Hailu is a stubborn person who wants to run Kinijit like a foreman of daily laborers rather than the democratic and modern political organization that Kinijit told us it was. As much as he deserves respect for his position and age, he should also show respect for the younger people in the leadership who, whether he likes it or not, are going to replace him tomorrow. Ethiopia’s problems are not going to be solved during his life time and he should be the first to understand that encouraging younger people must be a vital duty of a responsible person of his age and position.

But in all of these cases we as a people and community appeased him. Because of our failure to ask him to account, Ato Hailu grew more corrupt and continued to gallop from one reckless action to the other. When he saw he could get away with public badmouthing of his colleagues, he flew some of the most venomous attackers from Addis Ababa to Washington DC and had an entire afternoon of feasts on their fellow prisoners without saying any word about the real problems in the country. We sat and listened to that without any outrage. When Ato Hailu saw he could get away with that recklessness, he tried to suspend the organization’s laws and attempted to suspend the key leaders of the organization. When many good people kept silent again and refused to be outraged he went even further. He thought of running the organization like a private company, and appointed an acting president until he gets out of his hospital. See this document (here). Ato Hailu and his friends are acting like feudal barons because they found complacent people that do nothing and never get outraged. Look further and see one of the accusations he made against the individuals he tried to suspended – refer to accusation number 11 of 20. He says the 5 delegate he suspends made the crime of failing to receive him at the Airport in Washington DC when he arrived from Minnesota. Is this the kind of issue a responsible leader of a party bases the fate of a nationally respected democratic organization? Think about it. What would a man with this propensity do if he gets to a position of leading a country and commanding an army? Maybe we would have saved some lives had we shown some outrage when Mengistu massacred 60 people in one day the first time. I think we paid for our complacency.

Bringing in civilized politics, resolving political problems through open dialogue and building the country along the path of mutual respect and love were the common themes we repeatedly heard inside Kinijit. I for one decided to support Kinijit on these grounds as I am sure many did. I never knew it was being lead by such an irresponsible and abusive person. Many people confuse courage and stubbornness and portray him as a courageous person I heard some people call him by Mengisu’s favorite names – “koratu”.

I do not see a classical kind of faction making inside Kinijit. I see two groups inside it – a backward and out of date force led by Hailu Shaul and a progressive visionary force trying to wrench itself off of this and move forward. Ato Hailu wants a party that he can run like a private company and call it Kinijit. This is the little sophisticated strategy being pursued.

I think it is time to see Kinijit the organization and the Ethiopian democracy movement separately. There is a huge and unstoppable quest for democracy in Ethiopia which lacks leadership. In my view, the democracy movement must be led intelligently by a carefully crafted program and competent leadership. I think we need to focus on that and spend more time organizing. The kind of thinking I see from the “thinkers” around Ato Hailu is incompatible with the kind of leadership this democracy movement needs. Even if you let them have their way they will soon implode into a disaster. They have not shown us the ideas and alternatives they have offer for this movement. I am sorry Ato Hailu is not in good health and I wish him fast recovery. But he is the last person I will go anywhere near to look for solving the huge and complex problems of Ethiopia. Those of us who sincerely want our country to change have to understand that our complacency and indifference will have long term negative consequences on the aspirations of our people and tormented country. We need to assert our respect for our people and our own individual dignity by refusing to be a part of this recklessness.
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Fekade Shewakena can be reached at [email protected]

Islamist insurgents say they now control Guriel, where Ethiopia Woyanne had a big military base to secure the road linking the two countries.

A BBC correspondent in Somalia says it is not clear why the Ethiopian Woyanne troops withdrew without any fighting.

Guriel was a stronghold of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which lost power to Ethiopian Woyanne-backed government troops a year ago this week.

The BBC’s Ayanleh Hussein in Guriel says residents have been cheering the Ethiopians’ Woyannes’ departure.

During the occupation the local hospital was out of use as it was used as the Ethiopians’ Woyannes’ military base, he says.

Meanwhile, unrest continues in the capital, Mogadishu, where most Ethiopian Woyanne forces in the country have been based since last year’s invasion, which ended the UIC’s six-month rule.

The bodies of four civilians were discovered after battles between insurgents and Ethiopian Woyanne troops on Thursday around the animal market in the north of the city.