Ethiopians Can Indeed Unite if they Choose, Six (a) of Six

Aklog Birara, PhD

The road ahead calls for sea changes in mindset

I should like to set the framework for the set of specific suggestions promised in Part Five (b) of Six. Unity does not occur by chance. It takes commitment, hard work, a sense of belonging; and cooperation from each of us. We cannot hate the ‘other’ and expect unity. The core principle in a multiethnic society is that one cannot possibly love one’s country without recognizing, accepting and welcoming the interests of others as part of the whole. The missing link in advancing national unity and cohesion is finding common ground and moving from rhetoric to action. What do I mean by that? I will be specific and give this a human dimension.

A child in the Afar, Somali or Gambella area should have the same rights and privileges of access to economic, social and political opportunities as a child in the so-called Tigray, Amhara or Oromia Region.

Good governance enables each to succeed. Discriminatory and tribal governance offers special privileges to its ethnic group disproportionately and steals from every Ethiopian child. It thus invites disaster for itself and its beneficiaries in the long-run. It cannot advance equity or unity. On the contrary, it makes everyone vulnerable and insecure. Ethiopians who wish to reverse this disaster that comes from political and economic capture by narrow ethnic-based elite no longer need additional material evidence.

These narrow elites have become enormously affluent by capturing the state and its institutions to advance and protect their interests. The governing party designs and shapes public policies, laws, rules and regulations to its narrow advantage. It selects who wins and who loses systematically. Parliament, political parties, the executive branch, security, police, defense, the judiciary and ministries all operate in tandem at the exclusion of the vast majority. It bars civil society from influencing policies and investments. For growth to be meaningful, it must be accompanied by public policies that reduce poverty, eliminate hunger, reduce inequality, raise individual incomes and raise individual capabilities to enhance wellbeing. What does the current system do?

The TPLF/EPRDF developmental state’s growth and eventual fair distribution of individual incomes and capabilities after–hundreds of thousands of children and females have perished; thousands have immigrated; and billions of American dollars stolen and taken out of the country illegally will not help the vast majority. By definition, it is discriminatory and inequitable.

The December 5, 2011 Financial Integrity and Economic Development press release says it all. “Illicit outflow (that I had highlighted in Waves last year,” from Ethiopia “nearly doubled in 2009 to US$3.26 billion” from 2008. This “African nation lost US$11.7 billion in illegal capital flight from 2000 to 2009” alone. How did this happen? It happened through “corruption, kickbacks, bribery and trade mispricing.” Remember that Ethiopia is one of the “hungriest, unhealthiest and un-freest” countries in the world, with GDP per capita of US$365. What is really lost? And why should we care?

What are lost are scarce resources that should go to education, health, sanitation, factories, agriculture, private sector development, infrastructure, youth employment and so on. The illicit outflow in 2009 exceeds all export earnings of US$2 billion and net Official Development Assistance of US$829 million combined. This is what led to the conclusion by the co-leader of the investigation, Sarah Freitas, that “The people of Ethiopia are being bled dry.” You dry resources; you deny opportunities to this and the coming generation of Ethiopians. The system is so corrupt that only direct participation and engagement by the vast majority of the Ethiopian people will reverse this morally bankrupt downward spiral for decades to come. Civic engagement is thus urgent and a matter of survival.

The country and its resources must be shared fairly, equitably and justly. This is why, for unity to take deep roots,” humanity is more powerful than ethnicity.” Unity without justice and equity is only a wish. Those of us in the Diaspora should ask simple questions and answer them ourselves. Why are Ethiopians forced to immigrate in droves? Why so much corruption and illicit outflow? There are two principal causes: poverty and repression.

In my view, the destiny of any Ethiopian should not be forced immigration because of lack of opportunities at home and because of government repression, period. No one should accept this verdict of the TPLF/EPRDF core as an acceptable and normal fate. The leadership and its supporters demean, brutalize and character assassinate each of us–even abroad–for a strategic reason: they are the lead beneficiaries of an oppressive system that steals billions. They like the way things are. Look at Burma and how long it took for the Burmese to gain a modicum of freedom that compelled the Obama administration to send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Burma for the first time in half a century. It is freedom. It is common Burmese people and their political and civic leaders who did it; and no one else. Activists were jailed, murdered and forced to leave their homeland for decades.

By the same token, Ethiopians and people of Ethiopian origin must reject imprisonment and forced immigration as a fate and challenge the system that causes it. They must be bold enough to say that no child should go hungry and no one who advocates social justice should be arrested and jailed or forced to leave his/her country. Getting upset and reacting only when a relative is hungry or arrested does not advance unity. This is why empathy for and sustained support to those who fight for social justice and civil liberties, and for unity that embraces diversity in Ethiopia is critical. This is why it would make enormous sense to set aside differences and focus on commonalities. Those differences can be ironed out in public space once democratic change becomes real.

For the person who wrote a rejoinder to my series instead of the usual insult and innuendo that is typical of the TPLF and its kind (to which I am used), I say that Ethiopia must belong to all of Ethiopians. We must be courageous enough to say that plunder, illicit outflow, discrimination, corruption, and repression is not the way to advance national unity, sustainable and equitable development that will put a brake on forced immigration. Sustained, coordinated and unified peaceful resistance is the key. What do I suggest?

The best strategy to save this and the coming generation for every Ethiopian child in the country is to do the unthinkable: to accept one another; to listen to one another; to cooperate and collaborate with one another; to work with one another as citizens. How hard is this to do if we are open and willing? There is another reason why cooperation is vital. The strongest guarantee for peace, stability, security and unity for all ethnic and religious groups in Ethiopia– that has many traditional enemies that wish to keep it divided, poor and weak–is internal unity and sustainable and equitable development. Every Ethiopian child deserves a chance to succeed within his/her country. No government can afford to leave any child or group out, as is the case with the TPLF/EPRDF ethnic policy.

What can the Diaspora do?

I am fully aware that those of us within the opposition camp agree on one thing and one thing only. That is, we oppose the TPLF/EPRDF. This is not enough. Do we agree on the alternatives going forward except on generalities? I am not convinced we do. Those of us who lived through the Imperial and Socialist Military Dictatorship should know. We opposed; we helped depose. Where did we end up? Ethiopia lost its entire sea cost and became land-locked for the first time in its long history. This is the reason for my thesis that there is yet no shared understanding of the problem among opposition groups. This leads me directly to my first suggestion to the Diaspora community that, in large measure, enjoys freedom. This community has no excuse not to appreciate, promote and nurture life beyond ethnicity and parochialism. In other words, it has no reason not to cooperate across ethnic, religious, professional, gender and demographic lines. Yet, behaviors and actions counter cooperation and collaboration. Narrow mindedness reduces the effectiveness of the community in advancing social justice and freedom back home. It undermines social cohesion as Ethiopians, and deters human potential. It makes us less credible globally.

It goes without saying that as individuals and families, Ethiopians and people of Ethiopian origin are highly successful. In my own extended family, I counted six medical doctors and two PhDs in one event alone. We can build on our successes and advance social justice; and leave a legacy for this and the coming generation.

This success is not the same thing as community and country social capital formation and mindset. We are largely aliens to one another, if we diagnose how we relate to one another as people from different language and religious groups. We go to the extent of establishing different churches within the same religious group; and seem to be proud of it. We tend to exclude. This kind of division is exactly what the TPLF/EPRDF strategists want us to do. We do it for them for free, at a cost to the country. We play political theatrics on the country and its hungry and poor population and do not even acknowledge it.

Division that undermines cooperation is selfish. We can do the division debate once the country is free from repression and oppression. I am not convinced we can afford such luxury now. We need to pull together and advance the democratization cause first and provide sustained and coordinated support to those who struggle for peaceful democratic transformation within the country as the Burmese are doing. It goes without saying that support should be based on clarity of alternatives.

Within the above context, below are a set of twelve suggestions for all Ethiopians in general and political and civic groups in the Diaspora in particular. All are action and results oriented.

1. Let us stop demonizing and name-calling one another:

All opponents of the TPLF/EPRDF agree that its governance must go. I am not convinced that they recognize that their own divisions are agreeing are among the lead causes of why it survives. They spend as much time demonizing, demeaning and undermining one another as they do condemning the governing party. The first priority is therefore to look at one self in the mirror and stop insulting, undermining and badmouthing one another. I suggest strongly that we stop this disastrous behavior and practice now. It only helps the governing party. We should listen to one another; work with one another; and focus on the bigger picture of saving the country and supporting its diverse population. The struggle for Ethiopia’s future is not in the Diaspora. It is in Ethiopia. Singular focus on Ethiopia and all of the Ethiopian people strengthens mutual trust and confidence; and contributes to national unity.

There are numerous practical things activists and others in the Diaspora can do. Websites and radio stations can collaborate with one another; civic groups can pull their talent and financial resources and advance the common cause; political groups can set their feuds aside and move in the same direction, urging their supporters to do the same. The rest will follow; and those who struggle back home and the Ethiopian people will have confidence in the Diaspora. TPLF/EPRDF’s agents and paid detractors will have no place to go. They can no longer divide us. It is our division that offers them space to operate abroad as they do at home. Each of us can say no to badmouthing, character assassinations and undermining within the opposition camp if we are willing and daring. Say no to division now and you will see a dramatic shift both abroad and at home.

2. Let us leave a legacy and support the home front:

All Ethiopian activists who struggle for national unity of a diverse population, inclusive social justice and the rule of law–and suffer as a consequence–deserve our undivided attention, financial, moral, technical, diplomatic and intellectual support. If we stop demeaning one another and cooperate in these and other areas, we can leverage our resources and make a huge difference in advancing a peaceful democratic transition. Is it not conceivable for as few as 200,000 members of the Diaspora to contribute just one American dollar per month and channel it to those who advance the democratization process peacefully? It is then that they can influence vision and direction. This will help build capacity and capability.

3. Let us debunk ethnic antagonism:

Priority number one in my book is to debunk the TPLF/EPRDF alien philosophy and debilitating (incapacitating) strategy of irreconcilable differences among Ethiopia’s 80 nationality groups. Ethnic-based political formation, and organization works against national cohesion, optimal economic performance and sustainable and equitable development. Among other things, it deters capital and labor mobility and raises the cost of doing business. It nurtures elite based corruption and nepotism. It undermines national unity and keeps the country in constant suspense. It serves political elites at the cost of constituents. Ethnic-based thinking, political formation and economic mismanagement, civil conflict and wars are among the most devastating episodes in African history: Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo illustrate the human and economic costs. Yugoslavia fractured into tiny states.

In light of these and more, let us start with what each one of us can do; instead of blaming the regime for all our ills. That the regime is corrupt and repressive is well documented. It is what we each can do that is not. We each can take baby steps and reach-out to one another as Ethiopians and agree to disagree in a civil manner. We can stop demonizing other ethnic groups including Tigrean nationals. Why would we, for instance, suspect those who reject TPLF governance? There is evidence to suggest that some of us in the Diaspora who oppose the regime manifest such behaviors. We can stop the toxic like transmission of information to our children and urge them to accept one another as people of Ethiopian origin (humans and individual citizens). We can tell them that we speak different languages and dialects but have something much stronger in common: we hail from one country, Ethiopia, and we are all Ethiopians. We want to save Ethiopia. How hard is this to do?

The Ethiopian Diaspora is a model in some areas and a disaster in others. As individuals and families, we excel. We are almost all educated and owe this education and individual and family success to Ethiopian society, especially the poor. With a tiny exception, a majority of us in the Diaspora who enjoy freedom are cynical and are detached from the agonies of the people we left behind. Political actors are among the causes of this detachment and cynicism. Those who can afford to travel to the country as the ‘new tourists’ return and report the glitz they see as development. They do not engage themselves in a conversation with unemployed youth, beggars in the streets, the homeless next to the Sheraton, the farmer outside Addis Ababa whose land is too small to support a family, the small business person whose shop was just demolished to make room for a high rise owned by a member of the new elite. Some are not conscious of the fact that the mansion they build as a retirement home may contribute to escalating prices. Someone put this paradox of a Diaspora that is detached from the agonizing reality of the Ethiopian people not too long ago thus. “It is a great day in paradise in hell,” so to speak. All these and more are within our control to change. It takes will and determination. We can stop being part of the problem.

2. Let us embrace Ethiopia’s diversity as a national asset.

The premium I place on national unity of thinking as Ethiopians over ethnic-political and economic formation should not be interpreted as a proposal for homogeneity or the supremacy of one ethnic group over others. What I have in mind is the principle and value that my compatriot, Obang Metho lives by: “Humanity over ethnicity.” Ethiopia’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths. Those of us who believe in national unity must recognize, defend, preserve, strengthen and promote the institutionalization of genuine diversity of the unique cultural heritage, identity and interests of each and every nationality group in the country.

If we wish for the country to be strong and prosperous and for all Ethiopians to move out of hunger and poverty, we must safeguard the economic, cultural, social and political interests of all ethnic groups; and make a compelling case of the ultimate benefits of national cohesion over ethnic-fragmentation. Each of us can build on the positive traditions of the country’s diverse culture.

Here is the good news that debunks “irreconcilability of nationality groups.” Ordinary Ethiopians are not inimical to one another. If they were the country would have experienced social turmoil by now. Those who are hungry will go house to house and rob their neighbors. Those angry with repression would go out and kill or murder members of the governing party and ethnic elites who benefit from their misery. Those whose lands are given out to foreigners would go out and destroy large commercial farms and make the lives of the new landlords untenable and so on. Their refrain comes from a strong culture of peaceful coexistence; despite the seeds of animosity the regime tries to sow. I find no substantial evidence of major ethnic hatred or conflict among the country’s mosaic. It is ethnic elites who form ethnic based parties that cause mutual suspicion, mistrust and antagonism. It serves their narrow interests.

The governing party and allied ethnic-elites fuel ethnic and religious conflicts as part of its strategy of ‘divide and rule.’ Throughout Ethiopia’s long and proud history, different ethnic and religious groups have co-existed side by side peacefully for thousands of years; and will in the future. What they need is good, participatory and inclusive governance. Opposition parties, civic groups and individuals who love the country and its diverse population must resolve not to contribute or be party to ethnic-based political organization, leadership and attitudes. They can build on their commonalties.

The Diaspora can and should play a constructive role by promoting multiethnic and religious harmony. Weddings, holiday celebrations, graduation ceremonies, religious services and other social events can bridge relations; promote mutual confidence and trust; break taboos that come from our individual and group ignorance and so on. Those of us who live in the most diverse country (USA) on this planet but cannot even acknowledge and celebrate events with one another as Ethiopians and as people of Ethiopian origin. How difficult is it for us to sit together and to talk to one another in the same event whether we are Afar, Annuak, Somali, Oromo, Tigrean, Amhara or any other? I do not believe that Prime Minister Meles’ government can dictate to us how we behave toward one another; how we can embrace our diversity while contributing to our collective and individual identity as Ethiopians who speak different languages but belong to the same geopolitical space that is Ethiopia. It is our own choice to include or to exclude. Inclusion is fundamental to sustainable and equitable development. The Diaspora can and should take the higher road of social capital formation beyond ethnic, religious, gender, professional and demographic affiliation. I genuinely believe that such change in mindset will contribute to meaningful national unity; while retaining diversity. It will undermine the regime.

4. Let us be courageous enough to defend national unity.

National unity contributes to national cohesion and is the cornerstone for sustainable and equitable development. It is a matter of survival in a hostile world of competing national and group interests. In my view, national cohesion whose institutional foundation is human freedom and political pluralism is critical for durable peace, stability, sustainable and equitable development and prosperity. A new, promising, all inclusive, just and fair and forward looking society will open up enormous possibilities for everyone, especially for the country’s bulging young generation.

The party in power will not advance sustainable and equitable development. Its model works against national unity and cohesion. This is the reason why I suggest that only national leaning political and civic formation, organization and leadership would pose a challenge to the TPLF formulae of ethnic divide and conquer and establish the foundation for national unity that is based on genuine freedom for each member.

Those of us in the Diaspora who enjoy freedom can and should reject narrow self-interest, elite power grab, egos and hidden agendas wherever they emanate. Success can only come from cooperation and collaboration and not from brutal rivalry. There are no substitutes to cooperation across ethnic, religious, gender, demographic and professional lines. If one rejects fragmentation, it goes without saying that cooperation–while embracing Ethiopia’s diversity–is critical if we wish to preserve the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and long-term interests of the country and its population. If we all do this, Ethiopians will overcome poverty and hunger.

Here is the first step that we can take. Let us try to imagine that genuine cooperation and collaboration among political and civic groups and the rest will go a long way in understanding the problem we are trying to fix and in arriving at probable solutions. This will not happen if we do not trust one another; if we do not listen to one another; if we do not talk to one another as ‘adults’ with wisdom. Suppose we all agree that national unity is essential for sustainable and equitable development; and to change the current system. Suppose we endorse a vision of a democratic, just, fair, equitable and inclusive and rule of law based Ethiopia.

What would it take to get there? How do we get there without reaching out and talking to one another? The preoccupation with “Only my vision, my program and my party” will lead us nowhere. Independent thinkers and civil society groups and others in the Diaspora can and must insist that political and civic groups–at least in the Diaspora– must break this silo mentality of “my way or the highway” if they wish to be relevant to those who struggle daily in Ethiopia.

I have had the privilege of listening to and conversing with a new generation of Ethiopians, who possess courage and stamina; who believe in advancing the democratization process regardless of the human cost. It is this new generation that is willing to sacrifice; collaborate among one another; learn from and work with their elders that should give all of us hope. This leads me to the question of relevance opposition groups within the Diaspora.

I suggest that, if they wish to contribute as catalysts to the democratization process–that should be anchored within Ethiopia among Ethiopians–political and civic groups and individuals in the Diaspora should dare to be bold and advocate Ethiopian national unity and identity, always embracing diversity and the rights of all citizens. They should all be comfortable with the notion of one country with a diverse population; and one destiny. They must have the courage, wisdom, perseverance, patriotism and discipline to reject nationality or tribe based political formation, as Ghana has done in its constitution. They must have the courage to apply moral and material pressure on all political parties and civil society organizations such that they recognize the notion that the TPLF/EPRDF formula leads only to a dead end in which no one, except the governing party wins. Unity comes when the rights, social and economic interests of every citizen are recognized and protected under the law.

To be continued.

By Elias Kifle

Meles Zenawi regime’s propaganda chief Bereket Simon released a 4-part documentary video this week that accuses journalists and opposition politicians of plotting to carry out terrorist acts (One only needs to read what the U.S. Gov’t says about who is the real terrorist – click here).

The star witness of Bereket’s fictitious docudrama is popular actor and member of the opposition UDJ Party. The video shows Artiste Debebe talking about various plots and the discussions he had with me and Dr Berhanu Nega. I cannot speak for Dr Berhanu, but none of what Debebe said about me is true. It’s a total fabrication. After hearing what Debebe had to say, I was convinced that he must have been tortured or some thing real bad had happened to him to say all the things he said, because no such conversation had taken place.

Yesterday, members of the Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unity in Addis Ababa sent me a report confirming what I had suspected. According to the report, Meles Zenawi’s deputy head of security, Esayas Woldegiorgis, gave a script to Debebe Eshetu to study and repeat in front of cameras every thing in the script in a convincing way or else his grand children and other members of his family will be sodomized with a bottle. This information is according to a close member of Debebe Eshetu’s family. Debebe has complied and understandably so. I’d do the same thing if I were in his position. There is no heroism in unnecessarily subjecting one’s grand children and other helpless family members to torture and sodomy by Woyanne hyenas. The people of Ethiopia understand that any thing that comes out of Bereket Simon’s lie factory is a lie. Only gullible individuals believe the Woyanne propaganda. Debebe Eshetu remains an Ethiopian hero in my view.

Torturing and sodomizing political prisoners is not a new practice for the Woyanne junta. Various international human rights organizations, and recently Wikileaks, have documented the horrific tortures inside Ethiopian prisons. Among the journalists who have recently been arrested, Woubshet Taye, for example, has been beaten up to the point of losing his hearing, according to his wife.

Sodomizing opponents, which is foreign to Ethiopian culture, is a method that Meles brought from his country Yemen. Victims of sodomy are extremely traumatized and that they are too ashamed to tell even those closest to them. In recent past, at least two prominent opposition politicians I know of who had been subjected to sodomy. I will not mention their names to keep their privacy. But in time, they themselves may be willing to talk about it in public so that the perpetrators face justice.

Those of you who doubt Woyanne’s {www:bestiality}, listen below one of the many messages that is left on my voice mail by Woyanne goons.

[podcast]http://www.ethiopianreview.com/audio/death-threats-against-elias-kifle-jan2009.mp3[/podcast]

For such crimes alone — not to mention the genocide in Ogaden and Gambella — Meles, Bereket and gang must be brought to the International Criminal Court.

By Abebe Gellaw

After the news about the first known politically motivated {www:self-immolation} in Ethiopian history spread across the globe like wild fire, the shock-wave the rare tragedy caused has been unprecedented. As much as 29-year old Yenesew Gebre’s self-sacrifice created a sense of outrage among ordinary Ethiopians, the Meles regime turned no stone unturned to discredit a defenseless dead man, who publicly chose horrific death than being abused and dehumanized in his own country.

The late teacher and activist, Yenesew, paid the ultimate price. And yet the TPLF launched a coordinated fabrication scheme. But the irresponsible reaction of the regime has caused a backlash against the regime.

The activist teacher

Your browser may not support display of this image. Born in Jimma, Yenesew spent much of his teens in Dawro Zone, where his elder half-sister Tadelech Bekele lives. After completing high school, he joined the Awassa Teacher Training College. During the 2005 national elections, his passion for change and activism shined in Awasa. He proved to be an orator and organizer. But his activism attracted unwanted attention from local officials and TPLF’s secret agents, who blacklisted Yenesew and other activists.

Yenesew was said to be exceptionally well-rounded. Close friends and relatives unanimously say that he was a highly intelligent, conscientious, articulate and well-read young man. Though he used to teach English language at Tercha Technical and Vocational College, he was fired around two years ago, reportedly due to his strong political convictions and critical views. Losing his job in one of the poorest communities in Southern Ethiopia, had obviously been a depressing challenge that seriously affected and outraged him.

A former teacher of the late Yenesew, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says that he was not only conscientious but also one of the most outstanding students he has ever taught. Yenesew was an activist in the Waka movement, which was mainly triggered by the injustice and oppression that ethnic Dawros felt at the hands of local and regional officials.

The Dawros have a longstanding issue with the Southern regional administration. According to Dawro activists, a number of futile efforts were made to undermine development and self-rule of Dawro Zone, one of the most impoverished and marginalized communities in Southern Ethiopia. The activists particularly blame Hailemariam Desalegn and his close associates like Alemayehu Assefa, a man who is widely known to be taking highly divisive measures in the so-called “Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region”. Hailemariam, who was the regional president from 2001 to 2006, has been blamed for fanning ethnic animosity between Wolaytas and Dawros that want to assert self-rule and get attention in terms of development,.

Four months ago, the current organized resistance in Waka town began in earnest as a result of administrative grievances. Despite the fact that Yenesew was of mixed Oromo and Amhara parentage, he was one of the grassroots organizers in charge of coordinating the youth. As a result of this, he was thrown in jail by local officials along with other activists and community elders. Some of the detainees including Yenesew were released after a couple of weeks in jails following intense pressure by the community that sent two groups of community elders to the Prime Minister’s office in Addis Ababa to lodge complaints. But many still remain in jails despite the appeals of the community to the regional and federal governments.

A fateful day

In the morning of November 11, 2011 (11/11/11), Yenesew, family members of the detainees and community activists travelled to Mareka Wereda Court, in Tercha town, which is around 17 km from Waka town. There were high hopes that the court would release the detainees. But to the dismay of so many people, the judge accepted the request of prosecutors to keep the detainees for two more weeks for “further investigation.” Yenesew stood up in the packed courtroom and condemned the injustice of keeping innocent people in jails. He loudly demanded the court to end the injustice by releasing the detainees without further delay. He was reprimanded for contempt of court but that never scared the passionate activists who used to lament the oppression and injustice the people of Ethiopia were subjected to under the TPLF.

In the afternoon, there was a meeting of six Wereda administrators and local community representatives chaired by the Alemayehu Assefa, a controversial character accused of pitting one ethnic group against others. Yenesew vented out his anger at the lack of freedom, rampant injustice and maladministration. He told them that it was better for him to die than live in a country where people suffer oppression, indignities, and injustice.

According to British investigative journalist Angus Stickler, Yenesew was quoted as saying: “I want to show to all that death is preferable than a life without justice and liberty and I call upon my fellow compatriots to fear nothing and rise up to wrench their freedom and rights from the hands of the local and national tyrants.”

The hospital that never was

He vented out his anger with a rousing speech. Around 2 pm, it took Yenesew seconds to douse himself with petrol and set himself ablaze . Shocked people on the scene tried to put out the fire. He was rushed to Tercha Hospital. Records show that Yenesew was admitted to Tercha Hospital at around 3 pm. But there are still many issues that overshadow the death of the young activist. Tercha Hospital is not a hospital in the real sense of the word. Despite the fact that it serves well over 550,000 people, it has only two young doctors, Dr. Wondimagegn Sisay and Dr. Bahru Legesse, who is a fresh graduate with little experience. When Yenesew was admitted, Dr. Wondimagegn was on duty. Dr. Bahru was away due to the death of a family member.

Dr. Wondimagegn was reportedly horrified by the severity of the burns that Yenesew had suffered. He recommended that Yenesew be transferred immediately to a hospital with the facilities and expertise of treating horrific burns. But he was reportedly over-ruled by security agents who never worried about the survival of Yenesew. From the moment he was admitted into hospital, i.e. 11th November around 3 pm to his last gasp, at around 2 pm local time on 14th November, he was surrounded by security agents. One can conclude that the security arrangement was a contributing factor to his death.

Tercha Hospital has no burn unit, no maternity unit and not even clean water provision let alone a psychiatric unit. Glimmer of Hope is an anti-poverty US-based nonprofit organization trying to raise funds for Tercha Hospital. On its website, Glimmer of Hope says:

“Tercha is home to the only hospital in the entire region which serves over 550,000 people in the Dawro Zone located in southern Ethiopia… They currently do not have a separate facility for women giving birth or the resources should any complications occur. What is most horrifying is the hospital does not have access to a constant source of clean water or electricity…

Your browser may not support display of this image. “It is hard to imagine a hospital not having clean water, but that is the reality in Tercha. Water must be brought to the hospital. Additionally, the hospital itself needs work. As the hospital in Tercha serves all of the surrounding areas, which accounts for more than half a million people, it is imperative that this hospital has a maternity ward. Currently there is no place for women to get maternal care and this is a pressing and urgent need. In addition to the maternity ward, new equipment is also needed at the hospital so that it can better attend to the hundreds of thousands of people that it serves.”

Fabrication of the highest order

According to reliable sources within Walta, who want to remain strictly anonymous, Bereket Simon and his right-hand man, Shimelis Kemal, gave an order to senior managers to do everything in their power to discredit not only the martyred hero, but also the movement rocking Dawro. So the local authorities as well as members of TPLF security apparatus were involved in the scam.

It was after the news about Yenesew’s death went global that the TPLF regime concocted fabrications. Dr. Wondimagegn was asked to issue a death certificate stating that the self-immolation of Yenesew was linked to the mental illness he patient had suffered. This was intended to say that Yenesew did not know what he was doing due to mental incapacity at the time he set himself alight. A leader of the Waka movement admiringly says that Dr. Wondimagegn was true to the Hippocratic Oath he took as a physician. He threatened that he would rather resign than give a forged document that contains false medical testimony.

But it was Dr. Bahru Legesse who was made to issue the death certificate that contains screaming lies. The fresh doctor did not clearly live up to his oath unlike Dr. Wondemahegn he refused to be part of the scheme. This writer called him on his cell phone and tried to speak to him on the matter but declined a comment. But informed sources say that he is consumed with regret for being used in an ethnical manner.

In what appears to be a wicked act of desecrating the sacrifice of Yeneneh and diminishing the cause for which he gave the ultimate, Walta Information Center, one of the ruling party’s mouthpieces, has stocked anger among the people of Dawro and Ethiopians across the world by going to great lengths to attack a dead man.

Your browser may not support display of this image. One of Walta’s fabricators, EPRDF loyalist Etsegenet Tesfaye, who infamously did a hack interview with Solomon Tekalign and Shimelis Kemal few months ago, was assigned to do a pre-arranged interview and write stories that are contrary to the truth. Etsegenet had already raised eye-brows by eagerly facilitating Solomon Takalegn’s, vulgar Diaspora bashing.

According to an unattributed report, supplemented by an audio file, posted on Waltainfo.com, Yenesew’s half-sister, Ms. Tadelech Bekele, Tercha Hospital’s Administrator, Mebratu Masebo, and Dawro Zone Deputy Commander, Bako Tina, were presented as witnesses. But the story has an interesting twist. ESAT has been able to confirm from various sources that all the witnesses have been compromised and were forced to be part of Walta’s fabrication.

Detained witnesses

After Yenesew passed away, security agents arrested Ms. Tadelech Bekele, who lives with her children in Tercha town. She works at the Tercha administration finance bureau. Her husband, Demissie Dando, heard the tragic news in the regional capital, Awassa, where he works for the health bureau. As soon as he heard the sad news and the troubles his wife was facing, he rushed back to Wako, which is over 315 km from Awasa. The reason why he works far from home leaving behind his wife and children was political. Demissie has been an outspoken critic of Wako town’s officials. As a result, he was transferred to Awasa despite the fact that his wife and children remain in Wako.

Tadelech,who was put in detention and seclusion after the self-immolation of Yenesew, and Mebrahtu Masebo were taken to the Zonal Administrators office escorted by security agents. Tadelech was particularly warned that if she refused to give a statement purporting that Yenesew burned himself out of insanity than any political cause, she and her husband would lose their jobs. The woman who was blaming local officials for the death of her brother was made to change her story. But family members have said that she has been traumatized and haunted by what she was forced to do to trash her brother.

The other testimony came from Mr. Mebratu Masobo, administrator of Tercha Hospital. Local sources say that Mr. Masobo cannot provide a credible testimony regarding hospital matters. Before he joined the Southern region branch of the ruling party a few years ago accelerated in promotion, Mr. Masebo was apparently a health officer who was convicted of stealing and selling medicines that belonged to the same hospital he now manages. He served jailed terms but became trusted enough to be a hospital administrator when he joined the ruling party.

Another thing that has been a talking point among Waka residents was not only being denied to bury their hero, but also the refusal of security agents to have been buried in accordance with the norms of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Despite the fact that he was a follower of the Tewahdo Orthodox Church, the security agents insisted that he be buried at a protestant church cemetery. Informed sources say that Tadelech, a congregant of Kalewihot Protestant Church, was allowed to hold a quick funeral in the presence of a few people. He was buried in an unmarked grave, an action which further provides testimony to the fact that Yenesew’s self-immolation was not an ordinary event.

One can easily surmise from the facts that Yenesew has been a victim of an atrocious regime while alive as well as in death. A government is supposed to treat its citizens, regardless of their opinions, social status, religion or ethnic origin, with respect and dignity. But TPLF never cares for ordinary people but the sustaining the unacceptable tyranny it has imposed on the people of Ethiopia. Whatever the regime says and does, Yenesew Genbre’s self-immolation will loom large in the struggle for freedom, justice and dignity. With his self-immolation Yenesew has raised the bar of self-sacrifice to an extreme level.

Why Ethiopians Must Unite, Part Five (a) of Five

Aklog Birara, PhD

“Give a man a fish and he will eat it for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a life time.”

Confucius

In the previous five commentaries, I provided compelling evidence that Ethiopia’s governance is repressive, exclusionary, discriminatory and essentially rent-seeking. The system reinforces itself and keeps most Ethiopians among the poorest people on the planet. Their country possesses natural endowments such as mighty rivers and streams, ample rainfall, irrigable and other arable lands and a huge hardworking population that only seeks opportunities to thrive and not just to survive.

The Chinese have lived up to their creeds, history and cultures and have transformed their national economy, especially agriculture, so that no Chinese national suffers from the humiliation of needing food to eat and a decent place to live. They have regained their national pride as people and gone further. Nothing is more dehumanizing and degrading to a person than the lack of food to eat. Lack of food has become so ingrained in our culture that we take hunger among millions as a natural phenomenon in this century. The minority-ethnic governing party explains it away in a variety of ways: population explosion, part of the process of rapid growth, no starvation but just hunger and so on. It justifies the unjustifiable. Access to adequate food is a fundamental human right. The vast majority of the Ethiopian people are deprived of this fundamental human right in a country that now feeds Indian and Middle Eastern consumers.

Ethiopia’s hunger and poverty statistics are staggering and defy the imagination. They illustrate disempowerment, marginalization and destitution at their worst. The heart-wrenching story of an estimated 100,000 hungry and homeless children in Addis Ababa is a disgrace not only for the governing party and to its apologists; but for all of us. It is an acid test of our collective and individual humanity as Ethiopians and persons of Ethiopian origin wherever we live. The life of a hungry child or mother or elderly person should inform the global community that poverty is deep and takes a human toll each and every day. As one of these children put it, a hungry child “cannot even talk to anyone” about his or her condition. It is not just shame that constrains normal conversation. The individual is almost emaciated to the point of being just a “skeleton.” An Ethiopian expert on the subject noted with sadness that the environment in the country’s capital of 10 million people where these children live “is like a zoo” where the strongest prey on the weakest. This is the reason why I call the Ethiopian developmental state’s claim of high growth sheer glitz that harbors misery. Glitz serves members of the governing elite and allies.

The BBC and others portrayed the ugly face of poverty with the intent of raising global and domestic awareness. While domestic and international Non-governmental and humanitarian agencies, spiritual leaders and individuals have responded with passion and dedication to improve the lives of these children and adults, it is clear that the problem is bigger and national. It requires the attention of a caring and empathetic government leadership that is bold enough to tackle the fundamental roots of poverty that lead children into this form of destitution. Most of these children come from rural families where conditions are as bad as in urban areas.

Documentary evidence shows that Addis Ababa is a world of two societies: the superrich elites who are cordoned off from the poor and live lavish lives on the back of the poor; and an estimated one million Ethiopians who are hungry and homeless. The rich and super rich do not see that they shame is theirs. The BBC documentary calls the environment in which the one million live and die “filthy, a no man’s land on the banks of Addis Ababa’s rivers.” These Ethiopians are at the bottom of humanity in the sixth dirtiest city in the world. They die from filth and water borne disease, with no end in sight. How do they survive while elites thrive?

Thousands of children, mothers and the elderly survive by accessing anything edible from trash dumps. An untold number die from disease in addition to hunger. This is the reason why the documentary noted that the eyes of hungry children “show emptiness” in the same way that victims of famine do. Hunger is hunger whether caused by drought and famine or by government neglect and poverty. The environment in which these children and the rest of the one million live resembles “A tale of two cities” that is ignored completely by those who control the instruments of power and command the national economy. It is not enough to report on the conditions of the 100,000 so called “street children” and the one million at the bottom of humanity, most of whom are “children, women and the elderly.” Far more important is to understand and diagnose the causes that drive them there in the first place. On this, we all have a moral obligation not just to talk but to act.

What is the first priority of any government?

I suggest that the first priority of any government is to create favorable economic, social and political conditions and to ensure that no citizen goes hungry. I find no substitute to this development paradigm that has transformed poor and famine stricken societies into prosperous ones. The one million in Addis Ababa and the millions across the country who either go hungry each day or rely on international emergency food aid to survive deserve to demand accountability from their government. Ethiopia has been and continues to be the world’s laboratory in poverty alleviation and hunger management, more so under the current regime than previous ones. This is so because, population increase aside (source of excuses for the regime and the donor community), the current government is the biggest beneficiary of humanitarian and development assistance in the country’s history. It has received tens of billions of dollars and is currently the largest aid recipient in Africa and among four or five in the world. If aid alone could help move a country from abject hunger and poverty, millions of Ethiopians would not go hungry; millions would not be homeless or live under conditions that defy human conscience; and hundreds of thousands would not die of malnutrition and hunger each year.

I opine that no Ethiopian should die of hunger and no Ethiopian child should grow stunted due to malnutrition. The country possesses rivers and can scale-up irrigated farming. It has ample arable lands for crop and animal farming. Almost 87 percent of the country’s population relies on farming and related agricultural activities to sustain their lives and to support millions. Only 17 percent of the country is urbanized. Dwindling supplies of farm land, soil erosion and environmental degradation and deforestation drive about 2 million Ethiopians from rural to urban areas with no prospect of finding alternative employment or shelter. By the government’s own estimation, 21 percent of Ethiopians are unemployed and some will never hold a job in their life time. Increasingly, elementary, high school and college graduates find it virtually impossible to find jobs. The limited jobs are handed to those who belong and are loyal to the governing party. The small middle class is getting poorer because of hyperinflation and low incomes. Given dismal prospects, Ethiopia’s youth and the educated immigrate to all corners of the world in search of opportunities. This is the reason why human capital is the largest Ethiopian export today.

The economy is unable to cope with the needs of the population, especially the employment requirements of the country’s growing youth. Ethiopia is still poor and its population hungry and unhealthy for a reason. Some experts argue that Ethiopia’s poverty can be explained by the persistence of subsistence agriculture and recurring drought. Subsistence agriculture may explain part of the problem. Other countries were in the same situation but transformed their “biblical” like mode of production to a high level of productivity and produced enough food and in some cases generated surplus for export in our lifetime. They did this through deliberate government policies and structural changes. Natural phenomenon did not deter them in achieving food-sufficiency and security for their citizens. The Indian government mobilized all of its financial, technical and intellectual resources; and used global aid effectively to initiate the “Green Revolution” and; made famine but all history. Among other changes, it boosted the capabilities of smallholder commercial farmers; empowered them to be owners of assets; and transformed their lives. They became owners, producers and consumers at the same time. Many were persuaded to produce foods rather than cash crops. The agriculture sector was increasingly monetized and produce was marketed domestically to meet demand.

Vietnam offers a most recent example in agriculture transformation under a socialist market economy. After the devastating war with the United States, the Vietnamese leadership focused singularly on the growth and transformation of the entire society for the better. My intent in this commentary is not so much to make laudatory remarks about the Vietnamese nationalist oriented developmental state but to identify and share features that reduce poverty and create a solid foundation for sustainable and equitable development for the entire population. I recall when I was with the World Bank the remarkable expansion and intensification of coffee production that took off in a short time in Vietnam and was surprised about the emphasis on cash rather than food crops, livestock and other consumables. The system was led by flexible and imaginative leadership that recognized domestic needs as well as the need to integrate the Vietnamese economy with a competitive global economy.

Former President Bill Clinton visited Vietnam in 1995 and opened economic and cultural relations between the former protagonists as the late President Nixon did with China, always keeping American interests in mind. The Vietnamese government knew that it needed to open-up its economy but with Vietnamese interests in mind. This is where I make a distinction between the TPLF core led ethnic oriented government that rules Ethiopia and that of Vietnam that is nationalist and keeps national interest always in mind. In Ethiopia, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is free to do what it wishes. In Vietnam, it must contribute to national or domestic capacity. Here is a concrete example of how FDI operates in Vietnam and boosts domestic capabilities while making profits. Subsequently, I will discuss how it operates in Ethiopia as I have done extensively in my newly released book, “The Great Land Giveaway: yemeret neteka ena kirimit.”

The conglomerate, Cargill, is “today Vietnam’s largest domestic producer of livestock feed and a central player in Vietnam’s fast-moving shift from a state-controlled agricultural economy to one where small farmers (smallholders) are encouraged to work private plots for private gain.” These smallholders own the plots and receive consistent government support and encouragement to market their produce competitively, in some cases to Cargill. Here is what astounds me and will astound you. There is no substitute to domestic capacity building.

A few years ago, Vietnam was a net importer of rice, the staple crop or grain for the population as teff or other grain might be for Ethiopians. It imported one million tons of rice each year to feed its population. Last year, Ethiopia imported or received food aid at a cost of over US$1 billion to feed its population. In 2010, Vietnam became the second largest exporter or rice in the world. It met domestic demand by encouraging its own small and large farmers to produce; and it began to export. Here is what a Vietnamese official said that should give you food for thought. It is the “Same people, same land.” What changed then? It is not Saudi, Pakistani or Indian or other foreign investors that transformed Vietnamese agriculture. It is Vietnamese farmers. Where FDI is allowed, it is obliged to transfer know-how directly to Vietnamese farmers and others. Vietnamese producers are encouraged to produce and sell to domestic consumers and to multinationals such Cargill at competitive prices. FDI makes economic and social sense for any country when it strengthens domestic or national capabilities. Otherwise, it serves only political elites and foreign investors.

This is the essence of shared benefit from FDI that distinguishes the Ethiopian developmental state which does not encourage let alone insist that FDI must promote shared prosperity or is not welcome. Private and FDI partnership can work if government leadership is dedicated to citizens whether they are peasant and subsistence farmers or small entrepreneurs in small towns and large cities. This is why Vietnam is different, “The same people and the same land.” Why should Ethiopia and Ethiopian farmers be any different?

One distinguishing factor that makes FDI in Vietnam different from Ethiopia is transparency. In Vietnam, the population knows why Cargill is in the country and what it does. In Ethiopia, citizens do not have a clue why Saudi Star owns hundreds of thousands of ha of fertile farmlands and water basins and whose interests it serves. The people of Gambella do not know why Karuturi is granted lands the size of Luxemburg and what the value added is for the local population or for the country. Unlike Ethiopia where Saudi Star and Karuturi operate insulated from the rest of the community and the country and produce food and other produce for export while Ethiopians starve, Cargill does something entirely different. It “built a network of more than 100 demonstration farms” where local growers can learn. This is genuine technological and knowledge transfer to the population. Can you imagine Karuturi that is importing Indian farmers and workers from Punjab or Saudi Star doing the same in Ethiopia? They do not and they will not. The government does not force them to do so; there is nothing in the agreement that obliges them.

The Ethiopian government tells the world that FDI will build schools, hospitals, community centers and will stimulate agriculture-based factories. I have reviewed several agreements and find no evidence whatsoever that forces foreign investors to do so. They are free to produce what they can sell and sell where they could get the highest prices. They are free to use as much water as they want and clear as many forests and trees as they want. FDI in Ethiopia is therefore bad for the hungry and poor; bad for the economy and bad for the environment. It does not meet any of the criteria announced by the governing party. The typical Saudi Star and Karuturi commercial farm employs 0.005 persons per ha. Imagine what 300,000 ha given to Karuturi can do for the local population and for the country. The average farmer owns half ha of land and supports an average family of 6. Three hundred thousand ha can potentially support 1.8 million Ethiopians. The government accepts the fact that it has, so far granted 3 million ha to foreign investors. My own estimate is double this number. Three million ha will support 18 million Ethiopians.

Just imagine what would happen if the Ethiopian government provides 18 million Ethiopians with the requisite technical, professional and management support they need and empowers them to own their small plots or large farms; and or motive them to form producer cooperatives and produce and market foods for the domestic and surplus for the global market? Imagine too if the Ethiopian government encouraged public and FDI and private FDI joint ventures and scale-up sustainable commercial farming? What would happen? It will modernize and transform the rural economy in a short time; eliminate hunger altogether; reduce poverty; and create sustainable and equitable development. Ethiopian farmers will be in a position to sell to Karuturi and Saudi Star instead of the other way around.

Vietnam illustrates the fundamental principle that FDI can be persuaded to boost the capabilities of smallholders by making them partners instead of laborers. Smallholders become wealthier when they are in a position to own their plots and are able to sell their produce to Karuturi not when they forced to give up their land and work as day laborers for less than poverty wages. In Vietnam, a peasant farmer who now owns four acres of land is now in a position to send his daughters to school.

Capacity building is not the same as political education and loyalty building, a phenomenon endemic as an instrument of control. The Vietnamese government provides extensive quality extension programs to boost the capabilities of smallholders and others in the rural economy. It does not politicize the rural or urban economy to be dependent on the governing party or foreign aid. It is realistic enough to appreciate that FDI does good only if a government does good.

For this reason, the single most important variable that explains hunger and poverty is not nature or subsistence agriculture. It is unrepresentative, unaccountable, repressive, exclusionary and discriminatory governance. The minority-ethnic based single party state decided to maintain state (and increasingly, single party) ownership of natural resources, including waters, lands and mines for strategic reasons: command and control of the pillars of the economy.

The agriculture sector is a case in mind. A poor and vulnerable peasantry that depends on the dominant party to secure critical inputs such as better seeds, fertilizers, credits and lands is easier to control and subordinate than a land owning, independent, self-reliant and well-to-do smallholder community. This is the reason why the wise saying “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a life time” is so powerful and meaningful.

State (party) ownership of all urban and rural lands is a major hurdle not only for peasant farmers but also aspiring national entrepreneurs who wish to pursue private commercial farming, and for the Diaspora. The irony in government policy is the fact that the governing party has literally given up on smallholders and considers pastoralists and others as “primitive.” Instead of empowering them and providing them with all the requisite support, it invites and grants foreign investors from 36 countries and domestic allies millions of ha and water basins for periods ranging from 50 to 99 years. This amounts to effective transfer of natural resource assets from Ethiopians to foreigners. There is no evidence anywhere in the world that FDI would do the altruistic thing of providing good jobs and raising incomes or of enabling the hungry to eat or of paving the way for Ethiopia to be food secure or of safeguarding the environment for sustainability. In fact, these transfers undermine the very essence of citizenship and ownership. This is why the Guardian called these transfers the “Deal of the century.” Investors are free to produce and market all or a substantial portion to foreign consumers. This is what Karuturi of India; one of the new land lords is doing. This is what Saudi Star is doing.

The governing party has effectively privatized farmlands by selling or leasing them for decades at the lowest rents possible. It does this while denying Ethiopians the same privileges and rights. Its developmental argument that foreign investors in large-scale commercial agriculture will jump start the rural economy is a mirage; because the population is not involved in the growth and development process. It propagates the incredible notion that the country’s agriculture is growing at a rapid pace and has kept with population growth. In a research paper, “In Search of a Strategy: re-thinking agriculture-led growth in Ethiopia,” Dercon, Vargas and Zeitin of the World Bank inform us that “Some economists note that the country’s reported increase in cereal production during the past decade are not plausible unless Ethiopia has seen the “fastest green revolution in history.” I leave it to the reader to conclude the integrity of the regime. The Ethiopian government failed to pursue a balanced land reform program that will accelerate agricultural intensification and diversification while keeping the priority of feeding the hungry and food self-sufficiency in mind, as India, China, Vietnam and others have done and are doing. Commercial agriculture that is owned by Ethiopian entrepreneurs and by smallholders does not seem to be its priority. Its emphasis on control rather than empowerment leads to the high probability of a country where a person born poor will be condemned to die poor.

In conclusion, Ethiopia’s double digit growth has not materially changed the lives of the majority. The beneficiaries of growth are elites associated with the governing party. Uneven development and income inequality are more pronounced today than ever before in Ethiopian history. I showed in previous articles that party owned, endowed and favored domestic and foreign firms dominate the national economy and crowd-out and squeeze the tiny domestic private sector. Access to land, credit, permits, information and foreign exchange depends solely on loyalty to the governing party. The government uses development and humanitarian aid as an instrument to reward supporters and to punish opponents. This dysfunction in the management of the national economy and natural resources prompted even conservative and market oriented institutions such as the IMF to conclude recently that the “macroeconomic situation will remain under stress for the foreseeable future.” The World Bank, another donor that has lent billions of dollars, notes this. “Even if donor support is increased, using aid effectively will require Ethiopia to improve governance.” It is easy for the Fund and the Bank to state the obvious; but harder for them to impose conditions on the governing party. Only Ethiopians can do that.

Whether rural or urban, capitalization of assets cannot take national roots without radical reform. The entire system and its intricate linkages need to be overhauled for Ethiopia to alleviate hunger and poverty and to create a solid foundation for sustainable and equitable growth and development. In light of this, I suggest that the lead cause of hunger and poverty is poor, repressive and discriminatory socioeconomic and political governance. Voice, participation and empowerment offer people, including rural smallholders and others, the ability to hold their government officials at all levels accountable for results. Without freedom and participation, economic and social opportunity is closed.

In light of these glaring gaps in good governance, civic and political groups as well as individuals need to recognize that they cannot do anything as solo players. If they wish to be credible and make a difference, they must cooperate, collaborate and partner with one another today. The Ethiopian people will take us more seriously if and only if we strengthen our own capacity by leveraging our talents, monies and diplomatic skills together to serve a common good. My last article in this series will identify and present key areas of opportunity that I believe are practical and doable.