By Getachew Mekasha
It all seems unreal. Four months into the Transitional Government’s administration, Addis Ababa still remains an enigma. Apart from the removal of the disgraced top echelons of the former Derg regime, and the wholesale incarceration of the remnants of what used to be “the mighty” armed forces of Ethiopia at various concentration camps around the city, little seems to have changed. Addis Ababa still maintains the air and trappings of a drab and gloomy Marxist city. The outdated and faded slogans and banners are still in display on old and dilapidated arches and public buildings. These are the silent and symbolic legacies of the Mengistu era.
In a way this is not at all uncharacteristic of the administrative life of the country since the EPRDF takeover. Virtually none of the Derg laws, edicts or decrees, however unjust or offensive, have been lifted or repealed. The bureaucracy is paralyzed and uncertain about what is expected of it in the absence of clear and decisive instructions. The courts, municipalities, local and provincial offices are in a state of suspended animation.
The sense of jubilance and euphoria that was clearly visible 3 months ago is now gone. Skepticism, pessimism and cynicism are overtaking public attitude. The EPRDF is slowly learning that it is much easier to fight a war than administer a nation.
The question of Eritrean secession has been a catalyst of public opinion. There is considerable controversy surrounding the Charter, the organic document, adopted by the Council of Representatives. It is an open secret that the Meles administration regards Eritrea’s secession as an accomplished fact, and treats the matter as closed, “as it was already decided by the 30 years war.” To the administration the planned referendum in 2 years is a mere formality. They are intolerant to suggestions that the matter might legitimately concern the rest of Ethiopia. Such views are dismissed as “warmongering.”
The Charter for the Transitional government contains a clause which grants all ethnic groups in Ethiopia the right of self-determination, including total independence. This clause is borrowed from the Stalinist constitutions of the Soviet Union and its former Eastern European allies. It has never been actually practiced in those countries. Most Ethiopians regard the clause as a direct invitation and blatant encouragement of secession and national fragmentation.
Needless to say, this particular provision of the Charter has offended the sensitivities of many mainstream national political groups. All of the political parties that recently mushroomed into existence in Addis Ababa in preparation for the projected general elections have categorically rejected the Charter on account of this clause. They have called for a total boycott of all those who approved and signed the Charter. They have also refused to have anything to do with all those who were signatories to the charter, and have gone to the extent of calling on the original signatories to disassociate themselves with it as a condition for their cooperation and collaboration.
On the other hand, the Oromos and other ethnic groups who are clearly favored by the EPRDF seem to have gone somewhat overboard on the issue. These leaders are busy conducting vigorous campaigns interspersed with divisive and inflammatory speeches attacking other ethnic groups, especially the Amharas. In some cases this has triggered serious intercommunal violence. All this, of course, is blamed on the EPRDF, the principal authors of the Charter.
Now, the main challenge to the EPRDF administration in this regard comes from the National Democratic Unity Party (NDU) led by Ato Tsegaye Abiye. Ato Tsegaye, who was born in Eritrea, has emerged as one of the most articulate and dynamic leaders in the Ethiopian political horizon. Ato Tsegaye’s party stands for one, undivided Ethiopia. It strongly opposes and condemns any attempt at dismembering the country through what they regard as underhanded and manipulative machinations. Ato Tsegaye openly accuses the EPRDF administration of not living upto its promises of maintaining a free climate conducive to exercising full democratic rights, especially in the area of free speech, access to the media and freedom of assembly. So far, he claims to have been twice refused permission to hold public meetings and mass rallies in Addis Ababa. His rallies attract huge crowds and his ideas seems to have a wide appeal among the general public. The authorities are clearly alarmed by Ato Tsegaye’s personal popularity and wide appeal. His public rally recently attracted over 10,000 people. EPRDF troops dispersed the crowed by shooting firearms in the air. Ato Tsegaye’s popularity is rising so fast, it is rumored that the EPRDF government will disallow him from participation in the process. If this should happen it will be a sad day for the fledgling democracy in Ethiopia. Others are following EPRDF’s actions against Ato Tsegaye’s party with keen interest. Similarly, General Jaggamakello’s party, unlike his other fellow Oromos, strongly stands for Ethiopia’s unity and integrity.
Ethiopia’s present officialdom is threatened by the “U” word. For the government and those in the circle of the administration “Unity” is a subversive word. And anyone advocating it is regraded as a suspect. No wonder a few had the courage of their convictions to come out openly and talk about the age old unity and integrity of Ethiopia. It is, however, clear where the people of Ethiopia stand on the issue unity. The main problem is EPRDF’s monopoly of the mass media. Despite the government’s claim to the contrary, press censorship is still very much a fact of life.
In such a climate it is impossible to show the overwhelming support that the forces of unity and national cohesion generally enjoy in the population. Foremost among the forces enjoying a central and unique position is, of course, the Ethiopian Monarchy whose time has now come. This is recognized by all sides, which is both a source of joy and worry, depending on which side of the fence you are on. In pursuit of its goals, Mo Anbessa continues to make considerable strides in maintaining close links with all mainstream national parties. To this end Mo-Anbessa has already acquired pledges of support from most of them, based on unequivocal mutual commitments, and binding common interests and principles. But it is a long process which demands a lot of patience, hard work and sacrifice.
In other developments, in a recent press release President Meles Zenawi strenuously denied Libyan President Qaddafi’s “allegation” that Meles was a Yemeni, and that Ethiopia was an Arab state. The irrepressible Qaddafi’s riposte to that is no doubt being anxiously awaited.
The former regime’s top officials (with the exception of Tesfaye Gebrekidan, Addis Tedla and Berhanu Bayih, who are still enjoying the hospitality of the Italian Embassy as “uninvited guests”) are all undergoing interrogation and indoctrination at the Yekatit 12 Political School under the Derg (the former Crown Prince’s compound) near Sidist Killo. Interestingly, most had managed to send their wives and children abroad before the collapse of the regime. The task of hauling food and other essentials to them had fallen on the shoulders of relatives and mistresses, who apparently were overdoing it by lavishing them with luxury items such as whiskey, choice beef, and other delicacies at the start of their incarceration. However, when Addis Ababa residents expressed their outrage, the authorities tightened the condition of their imprisonment. No date has been set for their trial.
Tollei, Tatek, (Gaffarasa), Sendaffa, Holetta and Urso are among the scores of places which have become notorious overnight. Detainees, former soldiers and officers, in their tens of thousands are held at these locations. Relatives voice bitter complaints about conditions at these camps. Inadequate food and water for drinking or washing, poor sanitary conditions, wide spread illness and even outbreaks of epidemics resulting in deaths are reported in this camps. From the general outcry it appears every family in Addis Ababa and other major towns seems to have someone (usually the breadwinners) detained in one of these congested concentration camps.
On a recent T.V. interview given on two separate occasions Ato Seye Abraham, the Defense Minister, talked in detail about the military situation prior to the collapse of the Derg, and leading to spectacular victory of the EPRDF forces. Among other things, Ato Seye gave some highly interesting statistics, and provided an insight into EPRDF policy for the future defense posture of Ethiopia.
According to Ato Seye, even though his Ministry’s record books show a figure of a million and a half for the total number of Ethiopia’s armed fores, the actual figure never exceeded 530,000. The Derg allegedly pocketed millions of dollars paid out by way of salaries to this nearly million-strong non-existent fanthom army for over 15 years! The Derg allegedly inflated the number to justify the overhead in order to loot and plunder the already over strained resources of the national treasury.
Another piece of information provided by Ato Seye was that out of the 530,000 soldiers, nearly 250,000 were now under custody as prisoners. Nearly 200,000 are presumed dead. The remaining 80,000 are unaccounted for (presumably they are still in the bush scattered all over the place). Questions about the possible inclusion of these surviving forces into a reconstituted future Ethiopians armed forces dismissed by Ato Saye who said he saw no possible future role for an army of “cowards, mercenaries, and killers and butchers of brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers!” “They are a totally demoralized lot, and they have proved themselves useless as a fighting force.” He said, as Ethiopia “has no external enemies, the country, has no need for a large standing army anyway.”
Asked as to what he would do in case of external aggression from any quarter, the young and cocky defense minister confidently assured his T.V. audience that after they saw how easily his forces had crushed the bloated Derg army, none of Ethiopia’s neighbors “would dare to challenge our awesome
power.”
Ato Seye also said that the total cost of the war was nearly 20 Billion dollars, out of which 18 billion birr was spent on “salaries” alone, and another 9 billion dollars was spent on imported military hardware and equipment. He concluded his comment with a sad but painfully true observation that “it would have been much better to throw all this money into the sea, rather than spend it on decimating
our people and wasting our nation.”
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Dr. Getachew Mekasha is currently in Ethiopia.