By Alethia
All the articles that I mean to contribute are written as some small contribution to what is going on in Ethiopia today and I’m a person who does not have any political ax to grind, no political party affiliation, extinct or extant, in Ethiopian history, nor do I have any desire nor any calling to be in any political position. I share the above warning so that those who jump to any unacceptable and indefensible conclusion about the writer need not waste their time thinking and saying anything irrelevant to me. I hope this warning would be taken seriously and we make some progress in public discussion and debate about what is best for the Ethiopian people, us.
In my previous piece, in my brief reflections on Dr. Birhanu, I tried to focus on some of the values he stands for and practices amidst his fellow Ethiopians: the value of truth, esp., love for truth, and virtuous character traits that reflect the life of a person who loves truth and the force with which he enjoined his fellow Ethiopians to join a movement he’s part of as people who care about truth and of virtuous character.
When a public figure who is also in a political leadership position embodies and also consistently demonstrates such values in action it’s time to take note of what is happening and to celebrate the beginning of a future for our nation that knew nothing even remotely similar in the lives of its political leaders before. There is something sufficiently different about the future of Ethiopia if we give a chance for people of truth and character to lead us in truth and character. In another article I hope to show a very intimate relationship between truth and character.
The fledgling democratic movement in Ethiopia, which is in its infancy, has more promising figures at its fore front as millions of fellow Ethiopians are keenly following. I want to take this moment to say a few things about who’s who among them. What does distinguish the two young men and one young woman in Kinjit whose names have become household names over the last couple of years? Short answer: the values they stand for and their commitment to devote their lives to a cause that is noble and far greater than them, a cause that will outlive them and all of us alive now.
First a few things about Muluneh and Sileshi: I know these two young men very, very closely. They’re among my close friends and I can speak volumes of great things about them as a friend. I’m not here to do that at this moment. This is not the place to do such a thing now. But what I’m sharing now is part of my knowledge of these young men with whom I’ve shared so much over the last many years.
The first time I met with Muluneh and Sileshi, in the sense relevant to this piece, they were discussing with their like-minded fellow Ethiopians, with intensity and passion, how they could contribute something to the Ethiopian society. I was very impressed, to say the least. I was not sure whether their love for the country was even reasonable and acceptable at the moment. I said in my previous piece I’m skeptical by nature and more so due to my academic training. I was patriotic when I was only 10 or younger, if that makes sense. That means I’m not a patriotic person and have never been in my adult life. When I met Muluneh and Sileshi, two young men who loved their country so much, I was encountering such passion for Ethiopia in their lives with vision and commitment to bring about their vision for their country.
Muluneh and Sileshi would passionately talk about Ethiopian economic problems as it’s befitting for economists, their background being in economics, and they would also argue, with passion and intensity, that the solution for Ethiopia’s economic impoverishment was nothing less than ushering in democracy. By the time I met these young men they were already unflinchingly committed to going into politics knowing full well all the prices that they would pay if they followed their commitments. Follow their commitment they did for all to see and behold. That now is history. I was witnessing this history before it unfolded in the noble commitments of two of my close friends for a cause that is far greater than them but that called for people who’re willing to pay such exacting prices, with their lives and in death, if need be.
In short, Muluneh and Sileshi knew what they wanted to do with their lives. They knew their callings. They thought out loud and clear the costs and consequences of being in politics in Ethiopia as Ethiopians. These are friends whose lives have been bound by love for freedom, democracy and economic prosperity for the people of Ethiopia. They decided to risk losing the invaluable things they vowed to win for the people of Ethiopia: freedom, and promising lives of personal prosperity as young people with reasonably well paying jobs in their hands when they joined their fellow Ethiopians who also risked losing their all to bring about the same invaluable goods to the people of Ethiopia: democracy, freedom, human life with dignity, and economic prosperity.
Those moments that I shared with these friends were moments when they were working hard on, investing enduring values in themselves in the sense of what it takes to be a political leader for the people of Ethiopia. These young people have also made a commitment to embody truth and speak the truth, no matter how much that would cost them. They are doing that and have done that and will continue to do so as I’m firmly convinced. A political leader without virtuous character traits such us humility and integrity and transparency and love for truth is the source of all political misery for a nation and these young men have made a vow to live a life of accountability to the people they mean to serve with integrity and humility and transparency and truthfulness.
I could go on and on about what I know about these promising young friends for the future of Ethiopia. Now I want to say a few words about Birtukan Mideksa who’s another heroine and another household name for millions of Ethiopians everywhere. I’ll be brief about her since there is more information out there about her than the previous two who make my trio.
I’ve known Birtukan for about 14 or 15 years. My memories of her from the university days are vivid: Birtukan was a young woman with unusual degree of audacity and far reaching aspirations that rarely anyone would take seriously then for she’s very young and she would sound as another day-dreaming young woman who did not know what she’s talking about. Many of those who thought that way are simply wrong for Birtukan proved us wrong by following her visions and mission in her life with vigor and principles and discipline.
One of Birtukan’s thirst and hunger as a young woman was (as it’s now) to see justice reign in Ethiopia and in the Ethiopian courts. It’s now history as to what happened to her hunger for justice in the Ethiopian courts. She went on to become among the most celebrated young lawyers/judges in Ethiopia for the reason all of us know. Birtukan is relentlessly pursuing her long-standing dreams to see justice reign in Ethiopia now as ever as she continues to fight more vigorously for justice and human rights and the rule of law to reign in the whole of Ethiopia, not only in the confines of the Ethiopian courts.
Fellow Ethiopians, the trio above make powerful promises for the fledgling democratic movement in Ethiopia. I’ve personally seen promising lives in these young people for a long time and now I commend them to fellow Ethiopians who stand for freedom, democracy and human dignity with intense passion that this trio embody and demonstrate in their lives.
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Alethia can be reached at [email protected]