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The Future of the Maturing African Diaspora

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

Sharing my Night Memories of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution and the Purpose of my Departure

By Maru Gubena (Ph.D.)
May 20, 2006

Among the multiple sources of Africa’s chronic economic poverty, social and political instability, and the persistent backwardness of the educational and health sectors is the exodus and permanent settlement of Africans: the brain drain. Indeed, millions of highly educated and skilled Africans in the Diaspora today are maturing and living in a world in which they have not been born – in their countries of asylum or immigration. As my own profile clearly illustrates, a large number of the currently maturing African Diaspora left their countries of origin carrying in their minds not just a bag of goals conducive to improving their own personal lives and those of their families back home, but also with a solid aim of returning home within a brief period – a maximum of one or two years. In reality, however, that has not been the case.

Night Memories of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution and the Purpose of my Departure

As is true for every child, I too had my own personal ambitions, ideas and visions about what I wanted to be and how to become an active and productive member of society – a contributing force to the growth and development of my country, where I had no doubt when I was a boy that I would remain as an inseparable part of Ethiopian society. Oh, yes, I was convinced that Ethiopia was the place where I would spend my entire life. I was not just ambitious but I was also a boy devoted to my studies – to what I wanted to be in the future – and well known for being assertive. As far as I can recall, during the nostalgic period of my childhood, I was often engaged with expansive plans about what I wanted to be, including becoming a famous international attorney and at the same time a moderator of TV and conference debates. Seriously considering and exploring the possibilities to one day become a well-known and highly respected advisor to the head or heads of the government of my country of that memorable period were my sleeping tablets.

The vivid visions and night dreams I had during my childhood related to future socio-political and economic roles and responsibilities were compounded with sweet and tender dreams. Although I never told any of my best friends or family members, I was madly in love with my little neighbour girl named Gonaye, whom I always call “my Goni,” which can roughly be translated as “a good part of me.” As Goni repeatedly told me that she too was in love with me and her future life would be meaningless without me, I wanted to belong to her forever and spend the rest of my life with Goni. To me, at least at that period, there were no any other beautiful girls on earth as beautiful as my little Goni girl. She was not only beautiful, but also soft, loving and most generous. And despite being so young, the words and statements of Gonai were always carefully and wisely crafted and expressed in the most affectionate fashion. Love letters exchanged through trusted family house-guards were our main source of communication.

Whenever there was an opportunity, we met each other in late afternoon or early evening in a shop that was located in our neighborhood. With the limited time Goni and I were allowed to be outside, we made all possible efforts to make our time together enjoyable. We shared our bottles of soft drinks, but never kissed each other in the shop or in public places. We kissed each other through the fence that divided Goni’s house from mine, but only in the evening, when it was getting darker. We never dared to even to talk about sex. And consequently, Goni and I never even saw each other’s bodies without clothes. But since we knew that we loved each other so deeply and belonged to one another, there was no hurry at all for sex. We knew that as soon as Goni and I had completed our studies and had found jobs, we were going to get married, to have a joyful life and have our lovely children. I always lovingly expressed my desire to Goni to have at least six children – four girls and two boys. Goni preferred to have fewer children, only four – two girls and two boys. When we quarreled heatedly and emotionally about the number of children each of us would like to have, the charming and powerful words of Goni, “stop it now my love! You know that time will tell,” had the power to immediately end the discussion.

Indeed, as a teenager, I thought my many plans and vivid visions would make me a productive and responsible member of Ethiopian society. I also I had sweet and loving dreams of becoming a proud husband of my Goni girl and the father of my dream children, living in my own country. Most unfortunately, however, all my plans and night dreams, including the immeasurable true love I had for my Goni were abruptly interrupted by the upheavals of the 1974 Ethiopian revolution.

The 1974 Ethiopian Revolution and the Purpose of my Departure

I left Ethiopia during the upheaval that overthrew the Emperior Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, who had ruled my country for some forty years. Immediately after coming to power, the Ethiopian Revolutionary Provisional Government suspended the longstanding Ethiopian constitution, and arrested all former Ethiopian ministers, army and police generals and those associated with Haile Selassie. Finally, Haile Selassie himself was arrested and killed. The highly accelerated changes that accompanied these events, including the course and direction of the Ethiopian revolution, were appalling – even in some cases most terrifying. Yet, despite witnessing many fearsome events, I initially never thought of leaving my country. Besides, at that time I had no idea how to leave Ethiopia even if I wanted to do so. It was the events of just one night that decided that my life would be spent outside my country – Ethiopia. It was, I think, the second of October 1974. I was not at home; I had gone to spend the night not with Goni but with my best male friend – Melku Bezugeza. As it was then very normal in Ethiopia to sleep in one bed with a male friend, I was sleeping together with my friend in his bed. Yes, Melku was a friend of my childhood and my best friend. We did everything together. When we were together we usually talked almost the whole night, and listened to the news from minute to minute. Because of this habit and our persistent curiosity to know about events and developments both at home and abroad, Melku and I were probably among the first Ethiopians to hear about the murder of about 60 Ethiopian assets of Haile Selassie’s government, including ministers and other officials, from the Ethiopian radio news transmission in the early morning of the 23rd of November 1974. The country was full of fear, tension and uncertainties. No one knew when the soldiers would come, knock on the door as forcefully as they could and snatch one or more family members from a household, including our loved ones or us. During this fearful and most memorable period, Melku and I also became more fearful and dependent upon each other, unwilling to spend a day without seeing one another. Due to the accelerated tempo of structural changes in all areas, the continuing and most indescribable upheaval and the increasing number of young people being taken away and never coming back, Melku and I would go to sleep holding each other as tightly as we could. In those dark and terrifying days, my best friend Melku and I also used to pretend that we were both courageous and determined to defend each other as relentlessly as we could. Yes, Melku and I were good friends, prepared to give everything we had and to die for each other. Especially during the darkest hours each of us used to do our best to give words of encouragement to the other – “don’t be afraid, my best friend. No one will touch you while I am with you, as long as I am alive. Don’t be scared, I am here to defend you,” I said to him. And Melku Bezugeza responded with almost the same words, coming from stammering lips. “Listen, Tilo, someone will dare to touch you only when they see my dead body – when they perceive that I am dead and you have no one to defend you. But as long as I am well, alive and with you, no one is going to do anything to you. I am here to defend you until the end of my life.” These were Melku’s unforgettable words. Someone listening to our talks at that time could have easily seen that the words and statements we made to each other were purely a sign of fear, of being totally terrified by the actions we were witnessing.

Our fears were not baseless. Much to our shock and panic, the soldiers, about seven to nine of them came, started screaming and breaking down doors and everything they found in front of them. Melku and I did not know what to do or where to go. The soldiers were everywhere. But when we began to listen quietly and more rationally, the soldiers were not at our door. They were breaking the doors and property and terrifying the family of Melku’s neighbour. We heard the soldiers asking the mother of the family to tell them the whereabouts of two of her sons – the ones they were looking for. This lady, who was the mother of seven children, insisted that she did not know where her two sons were. I was standing and looking through a small hole in the door of Melku’s bedroom. I saw one of the soldiers pulling out a pregnant daughter of the woman and dragging her outside along the ground with all his power, then standing with his big shoes on her stomach, though one could see clearly that she was carrying a baby. She and her five-month old baby died immediately.

It was that night I made up my mind to leave Ethiopia. Although I have never in my life heard of a more beautiful, a better country with kinder or lovelier people than Ethiopia, I just wanted to disappear. Besides, many of the children of my uncles and aunts who were in my age group, and many of my friends, had already left Ethiopia without saying a word to me, to their friends or family members. Yes, I also felt lonely and helpless without most of my friends.

At the time, as for almost all Africans now living in the Western world, when I finally decided to leave my country I thought it would be just for a few months, or a maximum of one or two years – until the dust of the upheaval that was the Ethiopian revolution had settled. Given the ambitious socio-political and economic plans I had in my mind, combined with the joyful and affectionate relationship I had with Goni – whom I actually had considered as uncontested part of my future life – I never thought, never dreamed of spending a quarter of a century of my life in another country without her and the family members I was fond of, and in a country where I will never be in a position to say “this my county.” But I left Ethiopia without delay and without saying goodbye to my Goni girl, whom I still miss today.

The Future of the Maturing African Diaspora

Almost all of the currently maturing African Diaspora living permanently in the West have stories that are more or less the same, with short-lived plans that were as simple as mine. They initially left their countries to study for a few years, or immigrated thinking it was just for one or two years; they planned to return, get married, and live a better life in their own country or countries. As in my case, the great majority of Africans were forced to leave their motherland by political repression at home. However, in general people who initially thought they would definitely go back home within a few years never did. The reality is that almost all Africans who are now effectively settled in the west are living the same way of life as westerners, with a proper income and proper housing – in some cases a luxuriously organized way of life. Their new habits, combined with the day-to-day personal freedom of the west, mean that reintegration in the culture back home on a limited salary, with uncertain political conditions and limitations on freedom of movement, would not be an easy process.

What is more tragic in recent times is that while almost all of us left our hometowns with the intention of returning as soon as possible to the place where we belong, the possibility of fulfilling the old dream seems now to be very remote, even untouchable, due to the changing political maps in our countries of origin – with the deterioration of political stability, the persistent repression of political opponents and massive human rights violations. Consequently, some Africans may not even want to think about either going back or investing in their countries of origin.

The worsening political trend in recent times in countries like Ethiopia is reaching its climax in an irreconcilable fashion. On top of the existing internal, deadly political instabilities in the countries of the Horn of Africa, we observe new and mounting political turmoil in Ethiopia, in particular due to the measures undertaken by the vicious and power-thirsty regime of Meles Zenawi, aimed at eliminating political opponents and eradicating the people’s political parties from the land of Ethiopia. The killings of over one hundred innocent Ethiopian citizens since the May 2005 national election; the incarceration of our elected leaders; the unlawful mass arrests and torture, the terrorization and beatings of the mothers, wives, sisters and children of those suspected of supporting opposition political parties, have been instrumental in sending a clear message to the maturing and highly educated Ethiopian Diaspora, discouraging any idea of returning to their country of origin and contributing to the alleviation of poverty and helping to improve and expand the much needed educational sector and other aspects that will support the economy of the country.

The forces of political turmoil currently lashing much of Ethiopian society, clouding the economic and political map of my country, and the unacceptable measures undertaken – including unusually cruel methods of arrest, torture and killing – by Meles’s cadres, which have already been denounced both by Ethiopians and the international community at large, are not only becoming a bottleneck to the incalculable potential contributions of the very resourceful Ethiopian Diaspora to the development of Ethiopia. Instead, these forces have created an inextinguishable energizing focus on crafting and shaping complex mechanisms and strategies to challenge the unlawful measures being employed by the ruling party and to wage a peace-oriented diplomatic war against Meles, intend to weaken the economic and military power of the EPRDF and to isolate Meles himself from the wider international community upon which he and his ruling party are exclusively dependent.

It is additionally true that for some of the maturing Ethiopian Diaspora, the prospects for returning home have been darkened by the ongoing massive, atrocious crimes being committed by the ruthless cadres of Meles, as demonstrated by the arrival of the newly produced exodus of compatriot refugees who are joining the maturing Ethiopian Diaspora in their countries of asylum. Indeed, by accelerating the spread of fear throughout the country, the ruling party and its cadres are currently forcing the indispensable economic forces of Ethiopia to leave their country and loved ones. Just as we have seen in other countries with repressive regimes, the ruling TPLF party has been and is still intensively preparing the ground for western governments and private firms, who are unashamedly going directly to Ethiopia and other Africa countries with the aim of bringing more Africans to the west, draining African of brains by bringing out African doctors, nurses and other professionals.

What is most shocking and has in fact become an energizing and harmonizing force for a good number Ethiopians of my generation, whether in Ethiopia or residing in the Western world, those who experienced the unforgettable and painful periods of Mengistu’s era, however, is the fact that in our wildest dreams we had never thought that the spirit of Mengistu’s terror would once again come back to our country to haunt our children – the generation of my daughter.
___________
Dr. Maru Gubena is a political economist, writer and publisher. Readers who wish to contact the author can reach him at [email protected]

Third World cash exodus ‘points to laundering’

Posted on by Elias Kifle

By Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent
The Independent

Money flowing into UK bank accounts from developing countries has surged in the past few years, dwarfing Britain’s official aid budget, figures show.

The amount flowing in from poor countries in areas such as Africa and South America surged more than $115bn (£61.2bn) last year to $385bn.

The scale of the exodus of capital from countries with major social problems will raise fears of massive corruption and money laundering that will hurt the welfare of the world’s most vulnerable people.

The New Economics Foundation said deposits had risen noticeably over the past five years, with inflows from Cameroon up 516 per cent, from Ethiopia rising 103 per cent and Nigeria up by 47 per cent. The UK aid budget has also risen sharply – 37 per cent between 2000 and 2004 – but the $6.4bn paid out in 2004 is tiny compared with the inflows.

Andrew Simms, the NEF policy director, said: “There’s a huge irony that the UK’s aid budget has gone up while there is this scale of money coming back. This is the first time the scale of capital movements has really come to light. It raises the potential for a scandal.”

He said the volume of cash coming out of Africa pointed to the existence of an “awful alliance” between the giant mining companies, the elite in the developing world and agents in rich countries such as the UK. “If there’s evidence of the fingers in the tills of developing countries, the feet are usually well planted in the West,” he said. “There are some legitimate questions to be answered.”

The UK Treasury said financial liberalisation could lead to significant gains for developing countries. “The same process of liberalisation that leads capital to flow to the UK also leads to significant flows from the UK to developing countries,” a spokeswoman said.

She said total UK bank claims on South Africa have risen from $1.8bn to $54.1bn in the three years to September 2005, and on India from $9.6bn to $19.3bn over the same period.

The NEF said all the issues magnified the need for transparency in countries benefiting from debt relief and greater aid payments to ensure the money was reaching the intended destination.

It also said the outflows from Bolivia, which recently elected a left-wing leader, had raised the possibility of a repeat of the exodus of money from Brazil after the election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Third World cash exodus 'points to laundering'

Posted on by EthiopianReview.com

By Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent
The Independent

Money flowing into UK bank accounts from developing countries has surged in the past few years, dwarfing Britain’s official aid budget, figures show.

The amount flowing in from poor countries in areas such as Africa and South America surged more than $115bn (£61.2bn) last year to $385bn.

The scale of the exodus of capital from countries with major social problems will raise fears of massive corruption and money laundering that will hurt the welfare of the world’s most vulnerable people.

The New Economics Foundation said deposits had risen noticeably over the past five years, with inflows from Cameroon up 516 per cent, from Ethiopia rising 103 per cent and Nigeria up by 47 per cent. The UK aid budget has also risen sharply – 37 per cent between 2000 and 2004 – but the $6.4bn paid out in 2004 is tiny compared with the inflows.

Andrew Simms, the NEF policy director, said: “There’s a huge irony that the UK’s aid budget has gone up while there is this scale of money coming back. This is the first time the scale of capital movements has really come to light. It raises the potential for a scandal.”

He said the volume of cash coming out of Africa pointed to the existence of an “awful alliance” between the giant mining companies, the elite in the developing world and agents in rich countries such as the UK. “If there’s evidence of the fingers in the tills of developing countries, the feet are usually well planted in the West,” he said. “There are some legitimate questions to be answered.”

The UK Treasury said financial liberalisation could lead to significant gains for developing countries. “The same process of liberalisation that leads capital to flow to the UK also leads to significant flows from the UK to developing countries,” a spokeswoman said.

She said total UK bank claims on South Africa have risen from $1.8bn to $54.1bn in the three years to September 2005, and on India from $9.6bn to $19.3bn over the same period.

The NEF said all the issues magnified the need for transparency in countries benefiting from debt relief and greater aid payments to ensure the money was reaching the intended destination.

It also said the outflows from Bolivia, which recently elected a left-wing leader, had raised the possibility of a repeat of the exodus of money from Brazil after the election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Shimagle reflects on May 15

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

GETZ # 6–A

By Donald N. Levine (aka Liben Gebre Etyopiya)

May 15, 2005 was marked by an extraordinarily large voter turnout for an unprecedentedly open multi-party election. As we know, the sweetness of that event turned sour; a year later, we suffer from its traumatic aftermath. From the perspective of a caring observer, I propose to take stock of the situation, to ask all to acknowledge possible mistakes, to express appreciation for what has been done, and to begin a year of constructive efforts toward national development and further development.

Let me start with my own deeds and mistakes.
During visits to Ethiopia in January and February of this year, I was able to mediate some communication between the Kaliti prisoners and the Prime Minister; to help secure medical help for some of the prisoners; to discuss with the Prime Minister ideas for furthering democratization and economic development; and to help establish in Awassa a peace center for youth which MP/Professor Beyene Petros described as offering a “novel approach to peace making in this troubled land.”

At the same time, I made a number of mistakes. I said things at various points that upset a number of Ethiopians whom I count as my friends. This led them to accuse me of being a stooge of the EPRDF, an enemy of Tigrayans, an ill-informed partisan of the opposition, and in one case even “the number one enemy of the Ethiopian people.” If I had expressed myself more carefully, some if not all of those hurt reactions could have been avoided.

Let me now mention some achievements and mistakes made by the EPRDF regime, the opposition parties, and the EU observers.

In contrast to previous elections, the EPRDF regime made efforts to offer opposition parties access to the public media. They also took the initiative to invite a number of international observers to monitor the elections. Despite their perception that certain CUD leaders had conspired to change the government by unconstitutional means, the EPRDF leadership encouraged them to take their seats in Parliament and thereby secure immunity against charges. And when CUD electees failed to do what was necessary to take over the administration of Addis Ababa, they extended the deadline for such accession more than once.

On the other hand, the government sent away some of the legitimate election observers. They made a rash decision to impose martial law the very evening of Election Day. The provocative event at Addis Ababa University that led to the first violence in early June was not investigated. Their security forces reacted too extremely to post-Election protests, when government security forces killed or wounded a great number of innocent civilians. They escalated antagonism with dangerous statements likening the opposition to genocidal forces elsewhere in Africa.

In contrast to previous elections virtually all the opposition parties participated in the 2005 election. They thereby set a wonderful precedent for future engagement in the national political process. They also showed statesmanship in their decision not to make resolving the disputes over contested seats a precondition for their participation in the Parliament.
On the other hand, to the detriment of that process, some winning opposition candidates cut their participation short. They refused to take the seats in Parliament to which they had been duly elected, despite the unanimous judgment of two public meetings in July with the most educated and mature elements in their constituency that they should do so. They refused to assume their official responsibilities for governing the city of Addis Ababa. They called for protest actions in November that led to the deaths of several civilians and policemen.

Some of those who refused to take their seats in Parliament are now in prison. Insofar as anything they did was actually in violation of the law, I believe it important to respect the forms of a systematic, independent–and, we hope, speedy–judicial review of their deeds as a step toward advancing the role of an independent judiciary in this country. On the other hand, following the trial and its outcomes they should publicly and officially be encouraged to rejoin the national political process.

It is important, finally, to acknowledge the contributions of all those Ethiopians and foreign observers who undertook the arduous task of serving as observers in that historic election. To be sure, some members of the European Observers Election group erred by rushing to judgment prematurely and otherwise acting in an unprofessional way, committing violations of their code of conduct which officers of the EU subsequently acknowledged. Those actions had significant adverse consequences for the aftermath of the election, for which I believe Ethiopian citizens have had to pay an enormous price.

It is understandable that each of the parties holds on to the injuries suffered in this complicated historic episode. My recommendation would be to follow the example of forgiveness that Ethiopian leaders have traditionally shown to those who harmed them. All must forgive, because the nation must move on.

Ethiopians must work together to face their daunting challenges: poverty and unemployment; food insecurity and famines (see Getz #6); poor and insufficient education; distressingly inadequate medical care; inter-ethnic conflicts; environmental degradation; and cultural renewal. Ethiopia must strengthen her position as a voice for peace and stability in one of the most tragically conflicted regions of the globe. These great challenges require the collaboration of Ethiopians of every ethnic and religious background and every political persuasion, including numerous fellow citizens in the Diaspora.

Despite the upsurge of ethnic politics in the past generation, it is abundantly clear that the bonds of Etyopiyawinet are alive and well. Indeed, they may in many quarters be stronger than ever. I salute the people of Ethiopia for maintaining those bonds and for carrying on with their traditional attachment to justice, their cheerfulness in adversity, and their determination to carry on. I say with all my heart: Idme le-hulatchu, idme le-Etyopiya!!

Kinijit leaders in Kaliti prison selected new Kinijit international leadership

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

The Kinijit leaders who are unjustly languishing in Kaliti jail are sending out a message this weekend to all Kinijit worldwide committees announcing their selection of a new leadership that will lead the party until they are released.

The new leaders are Ato Daniel Assefa (a prominent member of the 60-member CUD council in Addis Ababa, currently on a working visiting in the U.S), Ato Andargachew Tsegie (member of Kinijit-Europe leadership, who was instrumental in designing Kinijit’s organizational structure before the May 15 elections), Dr. Gebrye Wolderufael (a prominent physician residing in the Washington DC area), Major Joseph Yazew (current chairman of the Kinijit North America), Ato Berhane Mewa (current secretary general of Kinijit North America), and Dr. Moges GebreMariam (a physician and current treasurer of Kinijit-North America).

The new leaders will divide responsibilities among themselves, but previously the Kinijit leaders in Kality made it known that Ato Andargatchew Tsige, with his intimate knowledge of Kinijit’s organizational structure and manifesto, as well as his personal knowledge of all key Kinijit activists through out Ethiopia and around the world, is best suited to head the leadership group.

The Kinijit leaders made this decision on Friday.

Important weekend for Kinijit North America

Posted on by Elias Kifle

This weekend, May 13-15, Kinijit’s North America Support Committee will hold a very important meeting to discuss and decide on the future of the committee and its organizational structure. Since Kinijit is a popular party that most Ethiopians look upto to lead the struggle to remove the Meles fascist regime–in collaboration with Hibret– Ethiopian Review has been trying to focus its readers’ attention on the upcoming meeting, which will start tomorrow. Some of the valid, fact-based criticisms by Ethiopian Review were taken by a few supposedly Kinijit supporters who did not understand Kinijit’s principles and vision reacted negatively. All the TPLF cadres in the Diaspora also were mobilized to use this opportunity to fan the disagreement and cause division. But most focused on the crux of the matter, and now as a result, there is a healthy public discussion underway regarding Kinijit’s future. The discussion must continue in order to guarantee that Kinijit will stay a strong party that will help fulfill the aspirations of the people of Ethiopia.


In order for Kinijit to archive that, all its branches and support committees must be democratized. Currently, even though most of the Kinijit committees around the world are genuinely democratic, the Kinijit North America Support Committee is far from being one. It is this lack of transparency and democracy that is the root cause of all the problems and the frictions that spilled over onto public forum. What we are hearing currently is not encouraging. Reportedly, instead of democratizing the North America Support Committee, the current executive committee officials drafted a proposal that will allow all ten of them to remain in their position, but add one member from each time zone. This is not democratic, and will hurt Kinijit’s democratic culture. All of them must be up for election. The Kinijit delegates who are coming to Washington DC for the two-day conference need to make sure that they reject this proposal and demand for a genuinely democratic structure, the same as the Kinijit Support Committee in Europe, or Kinijit support committees in Canada and other countries. Ethiopian Review also encourages Kinijit members to contact their representatives and voice their opinion before the conference takes place–today and tomorrow. The trust of millions of Ethiopians is placed on Kinijit, and every one must try to make sure that this party stays strong.


The above is a personal opinion of ER Publisher.


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