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I will take side this time – Commentary

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

By Asehnafi Alemu

Mistrust Obstructing our Common Sense

The current situation within the opposition leadership and the public reaction that followed are a true mirror into the “post-revolution” make up of Ethiopians: blinded by mistrust and ignoring the light of basic common sense.

I have followed all the reports since the first rumors came out concerning the split/disagreement within kinjit. As it should be, my analysis is based on media articles and especially on the interviews and public meetings directly conducted with the leaders in question. Not many have friends and relatives within party circles; the majority has to restrict itself to public sources of information. However, in a society characterized by low level of trust, the value of such public information becomes less significant. Chasing rumors and wild sagas that support our conspiracy theories become more important. We tend to forget basing our views on direct interviews and communiqués that are publicly available. We get blinded by mistrust ignoring the light of basic common sense.

I will take side this time

If not for such widely prevailing poor level of trust, why should we cast doubt on the touring Kinjit leadership’s and specially that of Dr. Berhanu Nega’s intentions? Thanks to the independent media, we have heard all the concerned individuals. Engineer Hailu Shawel, Dr Taye W/Semayat, Professor Mesfin , Birtukan Midieksa, and Dr. Berhanu Nega have all spoken out. Talented journalists have asked them all the relevant questions and we have heard their answers. Is it so difficult to decide who we should side with?

Many have already scrutinized the unsubstantiated and empty words of accusations that were targeting the 22 delegates. The meeting of October 14th in Washington DC, organized by Engineer Hailu’s camp, was a special eye opener. The level of political sophistication, or the lack of it, was marked with pure trash talk and kindergarten like discussion of “why a certain Ms. X did not get a car while another Ms. Y got a car?” For any well reasoning person, the defamatory speeches toward the 22 delegates of Kinjit and especially towards Dr. Berhanu were not to be expected from any leader that aspires to lead a nation. Do not forget, I only base my conclusion on public sources of information. Here, I would like to remind us that, if we indeed one day have genuine democracy in Ethiopia, we will be limited to base our choices on information that is publicly available. I guess by now you know who I am siding with. I do not know Berhanu; he could be a devil in an angel’s costume. Rumors aside though, he has appealed to me and many others. He appears to be an honest Ethiopian who is committed to the Ethiopian cause. Nevertheless, there is no assurance that he might not fail us in the future. Any leader is prone to failure, but we would have to support and follow their leadership until they prove otherwise. In their struggles for freedom, Neilson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi could also have failed their constituencies; however their constituencies did not wait till the death of these freedom fighters to admire and respect their leadership.

If we based all our analysis on what has publicly happened so far, in which way did Berhanu show his lust for power? On the contrary, besides his obvious commitment for genuine democracy, he has proven that he is well spoken than many others, he is more likeable than the average Ethiopian Politian, and most importantly he is appealing to the youth of Ethiopia. To the disappointment of his critiques, may be he does not need nasty political manipulations to shine as one of the leaders of the new Ethiopian millennium. However, 40 years of mistrust in Ethiopian politics has blinded us from basing our judgment on our common senses.

Personalization of politics

I believe some shine more than others, and Berhanu has been shining. I guess we will be mistaken if we claimed that the Mahatma paid the ultimate sacrifice that was ever paid for Indian independence. Many before him had paid much bigger sacrifices. However, timing, personal skills and his vision made his contribution monumental. We should refrain from worshiping personalities, and by all means, we should not hand out our struggle to the mercy of few individuals. However if our common sense dictates us to respect and side with certain individuals, we should go ahead and do it, until they prove otherwise. We need leaders with character that appeal to a wide spectrum of our society.

Let’s not get blinded by mistrust ignoring the light of basic common sense.
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The writer can be reached at: [email protected]

21 thoughts on “I will take side this time – Commentary”

  2. Ato Ashnafi You said it all.Berhanu Nega is genuine Ethiopian.He is a real democrat,intellectual,civilized,articulated,charizmatic and the shooting star of Kenijit. He is a head of from some shy Ethiopians.he is straight forward and to the point. I am proud of him.God Bless him!

  3. Wow
    Thank you brother for such wonderful analysis. I like this most: “We should refrain from worshiping personalities, and by all means, we should not hand out our struggle to the mercy of few individuals. However if our common sense dictates us to respect and side with certain individuals, we should go ahead and do it, until they prove otherwise.”

    Thank you brother. Please keep it up. It gives warm feeling to read such un-baised writing

    God Bless you.

  4. Ashenafi,
    your presenation and analysis is an excellent one. i have no objection on you in taking sides.
    But,
    Don’t you think they should come to round table discussion to resolve their differences. i am afraid of the consequence of these internal problem among the leaders. Our people back home who are dedicated supporters of CUD are in real confusion. ofcourse their dedication is for the clear manifesto and objective of CUD.

    I STILL URGE ALL SIDES NOT TO GO FURTHER.
    BR//

    Yigermal
    11.04.2007.

  5. Dear Ashenafi, I like your genuine analyis. Days have passed since I sided with the truth, to the group who are respecting the party’s decision.

    Yigermal (#4), I doubt if you have a clearer picture of your people (us). I am writing from HOME. We don’t have confusion at all regarding this issue. Things got clear more than ever. We are weighing things not based on romours, but as Ashenafi said it, we weigh them based on publicly spoken information. Thanks to VOA and other few media outlets. In Ethiopia, there is no more support nor hate based on romours.
    Yigermal, coming to the round table thing is not our issue. It is the party’s bussiness. But I dont know how you didnt see it, didnt the President change even the phone number he gave them? (we heard from VOA interview of Birtukan and Dr Hailu). How do they sit in a round table then? With whom? “Bichachewn Yikemetu”? …. Any way, give them time, at least until they come back to home. But I once more assure you that whatsoever, we support the truth, we tell the truth, no more confusion in Ethiopia.

    Kuru

  6. Ashenafi thank you! Truth always prevails. Dr Berhanu Nega is by far wiser, smarter, well articulated than many on the front line who claim to be leaders. Dr berhanu Nega, together with Dr Hailu Araya, Birtukan Mideksa and many others will surely lead us to the promised land.

    GEDA

  7. It is time to tell the dictators what they are in front of their face. Democracy is just a name if we don’t practice it. Oct 14th Renascence hotel meeting gave us a clear pictur what democracy mean for Egn Shawel and his fellow embezzlers.
    God bless all democracy fighter

  9. ፐሮፌሰር መስፍን በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ዲሞክራሲ እንዲሰፍን በሒወታቸው ዘመን ሙሉ ሲታገሉ ኖረው አሁን በዘመኔ ማብቂያ ጊዜ ላይ የምሰጠው ኑዛዜ ነው ባሉት ንግግራቸው ላይ፣ ምነው ታዲያ ፣ ምን ነክቷቸው ነው የኢትዮጵያን የዲሞክራሲ ትግል ገለው ለማለፍ የሞከሩት ? በጣም በጣም ያሳዝናል ::

    እኔ የቅንጅትን ፓርቲ እንቅስቃሴ ገና ከምስረታው ጀምሮ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እያለሁ ስከታተለው የነበረ ጉዳይ ነው :: በምርጫው ቅስቀሳ ጊዜም ቢሆን ይደረጉ የነበሩትን ቀጥታ የቴሌቪዥን ክርክሮች ግማሹን በቲቪ የተቀረውን ደግሞ በአካል ስብሰባዎቹ ውስጥ በመገኘት ተከታትያለሁ :: በእውነት ለመናገር ከሆነ የምርጫውን ቅስቀሳ ዘመቻ በቀዳሚነት በመምራት ዛሬ በመላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ልብ ውስጥ፣ ህጻን አዋቂ ሳይል፣ ሰፊና ልዩ ቦታ በማስገኘት ህዝቡ በጠቅላላ እውነትም ቅንጅት የወደፊት የኢትዮጵያ የዲሞክራሲ፣ የሶሻልና የኢኮኖሚ እድገት ማስገኛው ትክክለኛው መንገድ ነው በማለት የፖለቲካ ስሜቱ እንዲነሳሳ ካደረጉት ሰዎች መካከል ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ ትልቁን ስፍራ የሚይዝ ብርቅዬ የኢትዮጵያ ልጅ ነው ::

    አንድ የምናፍቀው ቀን ቢኖር ፐሮፌሰር መስፍን በምን አይነት ሁኔታ ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ የስልጣን ጥመኛ ነው ለማለት እንደበቁና ያንንም ምክንያታቸውን አንድ በአንድ በዚህ በዚህ ምክንያት ብለው የሚያስረዱበትን ቀን ነው :: እኔ በበኩሌ አንድም ከአሉባልታ ያለፈ ስሜት የሚሰጥ ተጨባጭ ምክንያት ያቀርባሉ ብዬ ተስፋ አላደርግም ::

    ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ ትልቅ ስልጣን የነበረው ሰው ነው :: የአዲስ አበባ ንግድ ምክር ቤት ፕሬዚዳንት ነበር፣ የኢትዮጵያ የኢኮኖሚክስ ባለሙያዎች ማህበርና የኢትዮጵያ የኢኮኖሚክስ ፖሊሲ ምርምር ተቋም ፕሬዚዳንት ነበር፣ የተባበሩት መንግስታት የአፍሪካ ኢኮኖሚክ ጉዳዮች ኮሚሽን አማካሪ ነበር :: ስልጣን ለ ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ አዲስ ነገር ሆኖ የሚጠማበት ጉዳይ አይደለም :: ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ ስብዕናውን ረስቶ በስልጣን ጥም የሰከረ ሰው ቢሆን ኖሮ ምንም ሳይለፋ ፣ ላይ ታች ሳይወርድ ወያኔዎች ለምነው አንድ የሚንስተርነት ቦታ ይሰጡት እንደነበር ለማንም የኢትዮጵያን ጉዳይ ለተከታተለ ሰው ግልጽ ነው :: እሱ ግን ይህንን አልመረጠም::
    ወያኔዎችን መክሮ መክሮ አልሰማ ሲሉት እስቲ ደግሞ ይህችን ሀገር ለማዳን የፖለቲካ ፓርቲ ውስጥ ገብቼ በዛ ያዋጣ ከሆነ ልሞክር ብሎ የተነሳ ሰው ነው ::

    ከምርጫውም በሃላ ቅንጅት በተዋሀደበት ወቅት የእያንዳንዱ ፓርቲ አመራር የነበሩት ከመኢአድ እንጂነር ሀይሉ ከኢዴፓ-መድህን ልደቱ ለቅንጅቱ ከፍተኛ የስልጣን ቦታ ሲወዳደሩ ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ ግን የቀስተደመና መስራችና ፕሬዚዳንት ሆኖ እያለ ለቅንጅትም ምስረታ ከሀሳብ ጥንሰሳ አንስቶ እስከ ተግባራዊነቱ ትልቁን ሚና የተጫወተ ሰው ሆኖ እያለ ስልጣን ይቅርብኝ ብሎ እራሱን ወደ ሃላ በማድረግ ከራሱ ፓርቲ ሌሎች ሰዎች እንዲወዳደሩ ነበር ያደረገው:: ከዚህም በተጨማሪ የቅንጅት ስራ አጽፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ ውስጥ እንኳን ለመግባት ፈቃደኛ አልነበረም ::

    ይህንን ሰው ነው እንግዴ ስልጣን ተጠማ እያሉ ፐሮፌሰር መስፍን ሊያሳምኑን የሚሞክሩት :: በፖለቲካ ክርክር ተጨባጭ ትንተና (Political analysis) አቅርቦ ፣ የሰከነ ጨዋነት የተሞላበትና ከሃላ ቀር አሰተሳሰብ የተላቀቀ ትክክለኛ ሀሳብ በማቅረቡና በዚሁም ምክንያት የብዙዎችን ልብ ማርኮ የሀሳቡ ደጋፊዎች በማድረጉ ምክንያት ብቻ ይሄ ሰው የስልጣን ጥመኛ ነው የሚያስብለው ከሆነ በእውነቱ ይሄ ዶ/ር ብርሀኑ ሳይሆን በጣም በትልቁ ሊያሰጋን የሚገባው እኛንና ጠቅላላ የሀገራችንን የወደፊት የዲሞክራሲ ሁኔታ ነው ::

    በዶ/ር ብርሀኑ ላይ ያለኝን አስተያየት አዚህ ላይ ላብቃና ወደ ኢ/ር ሀይሉ ወቅታዊ ሁኔታ ልመለስ :: ኢ/ር ሀይሉ ለእውነት የቆመ ሰው ነው የሚሉ ብዙ ሰዎች አሉ :: እኔ ግን ለእውነት መቆምና ግትርነት ሁለት የተለያዩ ነገሮች ይመስሉኛል :: ኢ/ር ሀይሉ በአሁኑ ጊዜ የያዙትን አምባገነናዊ ባህሪና ( ማለትም የኔ ፍላጎትና ትዕዛዝ ብቻ ይጠበቅ ) የኩርፊያ ፖለቲካቸውን ወደ ሃላ ቢተው የሚሻል ይመስለኛል ::

    የሚገርመው ነገር ኢ/ር ሀይሉ በእሳቸው መሪነት ወደ አሜሪካ እንዲጓዝ የተወሰነው የቅንጅት ልዑካን ቡድን ጉዞውን እንዲያደርግ በሁሉም ነገር እየተስማሙና ውሳኔዎችንም በፊርማቸው ሲያጸድቁ ኖረው በስተመጨረሻ ላይ ልዑኩ እንዲዘገይ የፈለጉበት ምክንያት በሀኪማቸው ማስጠንቀቂያ መሰረት በሳቸው የጤና ጉዳይ መሆኑ እየታወቀ ይህንንም እራሳቸው ብዙ ጊዜ በአንደበታቸው የተናገሩት መሆኑ ሀቅ ሆኖ ሳለ በአሁን ጊዜ ከሌሎች ደጋፊዎቻቸው አፍ ተቀብለው መልሰው ማስተጋባት የጀመሯቸውና አምስቱን የልዑካን ቡድን ጥፋተኛ እሳቸውን ንጹህ ለማድረግ የሚሞክር ፣ ጉዞው የተወሰነው ምዕላተ ጉባኤው ባልሞላበት ሁኔታ ነው፣ መጀመርያ የፓርቲው ህልውና መቅደም ነበረበት ፣ የሚሉና ሌሎችም ሰበባ ሰበቦች እጅግ በጣም ትዝብት ላይ የሚያስጥላቸውና የሰውየውንም የማስተዋል ችሎታ ጥያቄ ውስጥ የሚከት ነው ::

    ከዚህ ሌላ ፓርቲውን ሳይወክሉ ለግል የህክምና ጉዳያቸው ባደረጉት የአሜሪካ ጉዞ ለምን አቀባበል አልተደረገልኝም በሚል ኩርፊያ ቅንጅትን የሚከፋፍልና የሚያዳክም ትልቅ አደጋ ላይ መጣል በእውነቱ ከዚህ በፊት ልደቱ ቅንጅት ላይ ከፈጸመው ክህደት የሚተናነስ አይደለም ::

    ይህ ሁሉ ሆኖ እያለ ግን አሁንም ኢ/ር ሀይሉና ሌሎቹ የተቀሩት አምስቱ የልዑካን ቡድን ቁጭ ብለው ተነጋግረው ፣ ተከባብረው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የሚናፍቀውንና የሚጓጓለትን አንድነታቸውን ማስመስከር ይኖርባቸዋል እላለሁ :: ለዚህም ቢሆን አሁንም ሰፊ ጊዜ አለ ብዬ አምናለሁ ::

  11. Good analysis wendime…Altough personality in politics matters, these past few years have tought us to rely more on principles than personalities. Deserters are bound to be themselves. We can’t afford to break hope on our nation. We know the truth and we know who has it right now. We shouldn’t miss the bigger picutre. Individuals might have made mistakes but taking the whole country at ransom for the sake of personal dignity is way out of proportion. Never too late to apologize to Ethiopian people to whom the hypocrates owe it and redeem themselves.

    God Bless Ethiopia

  12. I concur with Ashenafi analysis of Berhanu. It is that scares the power hungry forces led by Hailu Shawl, who see Berhanu a threat to their base than an asset to all Ethiopians. The Hailu Shawl camp believes that they have all God given right to rule Ethiopia whether qualified or not. If you threaten that right, they smear you with a broad brush of attacks and innuendos with the help of their EPRP PR machine. They have been dangerously close to destroying Berhanu Nega’s name and his ability to contribute for Ethiopia. Thank you Ashenaif for not falling these mean, nasty balabats and son of balabats. They have conspired with the help of EPRP in any conceivable way to derail Birhanu, Birtukan and other potential leaders of Ethiopia for selfish and ethnocentric reason. By all defination, they are worse than the Woyanes because they have no bounds in their smear campaing and lies. These scum of the earth make the Woyanes just fine. It is goig to take people like Ashenaif to come and denounce them to move on forward and to heal the wounds they opened, the nastiness they have shown, th lies they have spread and the ugliness they have exhibited.

    H

  13. Thank you Kuru. i have been following up – on each events, interviews given and various comments. The leaders have got problems, no doubt for that. what i am afraid of is, only the timing. this is not the time to ship them back in two different lines. I strongly beieve they need to move together until the next general assembly of the party at its home base. the only option for an immediate solution to save the party is to shorten the schedule for the general assembly. and also strengthen our link with the members and supporters for the best interest of CUD.
    BR//

    yigermal.
    11.04.2007.

  14. While I agree with the overall analysis of the Author, however, personally, I would like to note the importance of continuing with attempts to minimize perceived differences between the Kinijit leaders. The main responsibility lies with the warring factions to rise above personal bitterness. The idea of a power struggle within kinijit is simply a false one. What power? What is power? It is ridiculous to use the
    phrase inappropriately! Kinijit leaders are deprived of the most basic necessity that one takes for granted in a normal society. Yet we talk of a power struggle? I think the fact of the matter is that as with our established attitudes in many instances, the presumed differences between the two groups are based of misunderstanding and personal style that have been heightened by gossips.

    I am comforted that at least the diaspora has not given up on the Kinijit leaders. Our next step has to be identifying neutral elders/men
    and women of wisdom to attempt to effect reconciliation/mediation. Both Dr Berhanu Nega and Eng Hailu Shawel represent very well Ethiopians’ aspirations for freedom from slightly different emphasis and own personal experiences. I am proud of their respective achievements so far. But, both of them need to listen to reasons and disregard the advice of the gossip tellers. That is what Ethiopians expect them to do and do that now, not tomorrow!!

    Judge Birtukan Mideksssa and Muluneh Eyoel have already proved that they have great potential to chart a cautious pathway to heal the rifts and to refocus Kinijit on issues that matter to Ethiopians. They deserve our supports.

    Hoping for the best

    Biri

  15. What an artcle! Throughout this debacle, I looked hard and tried to see if I missed anything about this man, Dr Berhanu. I looked hard to see if indeed he was thirsty for power. However, every where I looked, the accusations wouldn’t make sense at all. If that was the case, why didn’t he make himself vice president and allign himself for the next round of presidency? Why didn’t he challenge the chaimanship position from the get go? Or why didn’t he attempt to do this back home when Hailu Shawel was even weaker? The truth of the matter is Dr Berhanu never wanted power. As a matter of fact Hailu Shawel craves power. This has been demonstrated in his behavior in the past few months.

    The other issue I strongly disagree with almost everyone is the notion that kinijit will be doomed if it splits now. I think that is a misguided idea. If what we have seen in the last few weeks is any indication, kinijit is filled with elements that are totally anti democratic. Unless it gets rid off these forces, CUD will collapse again even if the current situation is fixed with reconciliation.

    Mind you, our struggle is not to win the nexr election or score a few points against our opponents. This is about democratizing Ethiopia. For that to happen, we have to organize a party that is democratic in its nature, and that can deliver democracy to the people. CUD has to fall back, look hard into itself and re-introduce itself to the ethiopian people. Hailu Shawel and his gangs will never allow for this to happen. Therefore, the present kinijit leadership should cut all ties with this dictator and deliver a true kinijit to the people. Go back to Ethiopia and organize the people under the new democratic kinijit. It will be a rough road, but a strong base for a genuine democracy.

  16. Dear compatriot!
    I agree with your analysis of the capacity that Dr. Berhanu has in expressing himself and a clear idea he has. He is also well placed to bridge the possible gap between the old and the young. I say this despite the fact that both the old and the young have an equal concern to the well being of the people as Ethiopians.
    My problem is that he did not use his capacity to bring change from within kinijit itself. I do not belong to any side but follow developments frequently. I take Kinijit as one of the positive factors to bring change in Ethiopia. Had he fought for change within Kinijit, all the garbage that we have witnessed in the past two months would have not been utterred against people within the struggle and led to the further division of the supporters and focus on trivialities rather than the real issue at hand. Thank you for strong statements, though

  17. Asehnafi,
    You did a good job, but why it takes you so long to take a side. Nega is the real Doc. He knows the disease, treatment and cure medicine for Ethiopia. As you said “he does not need nasty political manipulations to shine as one of the leaders of the new Ethiopian millennium”. Yes Asheu, absolutely right, No reason for Nega to do that because he is very bright open mind & practical person. Nega don’t play b/c he is practical.
    Keep it up for a good work
    Thanks Asheu

  18. Reference to the points raised by Mekuanint #15, our aim should be to win next election and democratize Ethiopia. There is now to miss this chance. CUD should all possible organize itself and its members and followers to repeat history done in May 2005. There should be differences in any party but reconciliation is unavoidable.
    br//

    yigermal.
    11.04.2007.

  19. Very good and timely analysis of the state of the opposition! We should learn to express our own thought and observation like you.

    Commenter #4 PLEASE DONOT make blancket statement like “Our people back home who are dedicated supporters of CUD are in real confusion.” unless you can support your statement by fact, scientific surveys /sample survey/pool etc.

    Commenter #5 makes his observation indicating Ethiopians back home are more sophisticated then we give them credit for.

    Last, if political leaders are not worthy of the leadership they are called for they should not have our suppoer. Those who we think reflect our aspiration for democracy we should support and give our mandate. No leader is for eternity

  20. The writer did an excellent job. We cannot wait forever for the perfect leader accetable to all of us to emerge on the political scene of our troubled Motherland. So, I am on the side of Kinijit Delegation to NA, which Hailu Shawel has shunned, unfortunately to his own demise.

  21. Guys pls lets not forget what Eng. Hailu did to the development and strength of CUD. Its also very important to note that there is still plenty of time for him to wakeup from his illusions and ask himself where is my britukan?? where is my birhanu?? where are all those good people?? and give the right answer to himself and join the whole lot of democratic force. I don’t have a fraction of doubt about it. if u have, think again!!!! Therefore its better to pray for the coming togetherness of our freedom fighters than thier bloody separation with a winner and a loser. Lets all give our Engineer some time, time to justify his stand on the issue at stake, time to identify the who is who of the people around him, time to recover from his physical illness then we will see what will happen together. Let God be with Ethiopia!! Let God help the geniune democratic force

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