Ethiopian Review
July 31, 2006
ER’s integrity and credibility have been questioned by a few individuals who are angered by some of its critical views towards the Kinijit North America Support Committee (KNASC). They ask why ER is concerned about the Coalition for Unity & Democracy Party (CUDP/Kinijit) since it is not affiliated with the organization. There are others who say that ER should express its concerns directly to the party’s leadership. Some angry Kinijit supporters have accused ER of working for Woyanne. They also say that ER’s publisher has a personal grudge against a few of the KNASC officials. These accusations are coming from: 1) individuals who have not embraced Kinijit’s fundamental principles, prominent among them is citizens’ democratic right to ask questions and criticize their political leaders–i.e., freedom of expression; 2) those who lack civic education and have no understanding of what freedom of the press is, forgetting or ignoring the fact that hundreds of journalists are suffering in Woyanne jails for criticizing the regime; 3) those who do not want to face the truth and hide their heads in the sand like ostriches; and 4) those who view Kinijit as their personal private club, or cult, and not as a political party that is elected by the people of Ethiopia to govern the country. In their transparent ignorance, these uneducatables say that only Kinijit members can talk about the party. They seem to prefer that the problems facing Kinijit is ignored rather than Woyanne knows about it, demonstrating their ignorance that Woyanne knows more about Kinijit’s internal affairs more than most people do. We call them “uneducatables” because apparently many of them have lived in a democratic society such as the United States, but never learned what democracy and freedom are all about. Some are Woyanne cadres who are trying to exploit the situation. Since Woyanne is a dying regime we should not worry about them. Kinijit’s greatest threat is not Woyanne, but its own internal problems caused by weak leadership. For the individuals who are described above, ER is not the right journal. ER is for those readers who believe and practice freedom of speech, who appreciate the value of press freedom, and fully understand and appreciate Kinijit’s democratic principles. This particular article is intended for Kinijit members and supporters around the world who are willing to try to find out if ER’s concerns are valid, and try to come up with solutions.
Back to the main topic
ER is terribly concerned that as the problems facing Kinijit are ignored, and its leaders and members are unwilling to find solutions, the party is heading for self-destruction. We have been trying to bring to the attention of Kinijit supporters that the party they elected is being led in the wrong direction since its top leaders were thrown in jail last November. We have expressed our concern that the Kinijit leadership abroad that is now in charge of the party is paralyzed by weak leadership, internal frictions and naked power struggle. We have argued that the party is not doing enough to secure the release of its jailed leaders. We have tried to point out that the struggle at home is being neglected. We appealed to Kinijit members around the world to take immediate steps to fix the problems. Unless immediate corrective steps are taken, we are afraid that like Professor Asrat, the jailed Kinijit leaders will die one by one, betrayed by the individuals they trusted to act on their behalf, and neglected by the party they built. Unless Kinijit is back on the right track, the struggle so many fellow Ethiopians paid the ultimate sacrifice for could be derailed.
What are the problems?
The main problem facing Kinijit is lack of leadership. The chronic lack (it can even be said “absence”) of leadership entails several problems–power struggle, incessant bickering, lack of activity, declining support, demoralized members, financial impropriety, break up of civility, lack of accountability, etc. The absence of leadership has also allowed the emergence of factions and renegade individuals that are accountable to no one. These factions pose a grave danger to the survival of Kinijit as a viable democratic party. (We stay away from naming names at this time.)
Kinijit was known for its brilliant leadership. It was a party led by scholars and skilled politicians. Its diverse, but highly competent leadership was able to mobilize millions of Ethiopians through out the country in a short time. As human beings they also made mistakes. They made a grave mistake of neglecting to form a strong leadership abroad that could carry on the struggle in the event that the Meles dictatorship attacks the party and imprisons them. While they put in place highly competent individuals to run Kinijit branches through out Ethiopia, they failed to see the need for a strong political leadership abroad. So they created support committees and appointed friends (whether they have political skills or not) to run them. Instead of allowing Kinijit supporters abroad to become full-fledged members with the attendant right of electing their local representatives, the Kinijit leaders limited their participation to only providing financial support. Building a strong organization abroad is of paramount importance for the well-being of the party and the continuity of the movement. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, and as many had predicted, when the Meles dictatorship threw all the top Kinijit leaders in jail, the leadership had fallen on the Kinijit support committees abroad, particularly the Kinijit North America Support Committee (KNASC). The KNASC’s incompetence turned out to be more of a problem for Kinijit than the all out attack by Woyanne to destroy the party. The incompetence of the KNASC allowed the dying regime to continue tormenting the people of Ethiopia. During the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa, when the government threw the opposition leaders in jail, the overseas branches of the African National Congress (ANC) under the leadership of Oliver Tambo carried the torch and continued to lead the struggle from abroad. In Kinijit’s case, let alone leading the struggle from abroad, it is not even able to govern itself–despite what the ostriches are saying.
Betrayal
The failure by the jailed Kinijit leaders to see the importance of strong organization abroad should not have caused the current state of paralysis inside Kinijit. This is where the betrayal comes in. Following the arrest of Kinijit leaders, when it became obvious that the KNASC leadership was not upto the task of carrying the torch, they should have convened a conference of all representatives of Kinijit support committees around the world and formed a strong leadership. But some of those officials inside the KNASC were more worried about preserving their little power than ensuring the safety of the jailed Kinijit leaders and the continuity of the movement. However, local support committees in the United States who were concerned about the weakness of the KNASC leadership demanded a conference to discuss how to strengthen the organization. The KNASC leadership agreed and a conference was scheduled for January 2006. There was a lot of hope and anticipation that the conference would resolve the root cause of the party’s weaknesses. But the KNASC officials maneuvered to extend their leadership until the month of May, and promised that there will be an election.
In the days leading upto to the May 13-15 conference in Washington DC, some of the KNASC officials left no stones unturned to find excuses to remain in their position, and also to let their allies to be selected for the executive committee. When the conference was convened on the weekend of May 13-15, it was filled with intrigue and drama–a drama that made a mockery out of democratic process. Many of the participants were left disgusted by what they were witnessing. But fearing the danger of division, representatives of the various local support committees acquiesced to a compromise that allowed all the ten KNASC officials to remain in their position, and added five more members to the executive committee. Thus the KNASC has betrayed the Kinijit leaders in jail and sabotaged the movement by failing to come up with measures that could have strengthened the party. Representatives of local Kinijit support committees also committed betrayal of trust and dereliction of duty by agreeing to allow only cosmetic changes fearing the threat of division by a few power mongers. Majority rule and democratic process gave way to decisions influenced by fear and blackmail.
Intervention by the leaders in jail
The leaders in jail were well aware of the problems inside the KNASC. They were worried that if the KNASC leadership continues to be weak, the struggle will be negatively affected. So after long discussions among themselves, the top leaders decided to appoint six individuals whom they deemed competent and trustworthy enough to act on their behalf. The decision was communicated to the KNASC leadership and the media. They asked that their decision should be announced at the May 13-15 conference in Washington DC.
Short-lived hope
The news of the Kinijit leaders’ decision renewed the hope that Kinijit will be back on the right track. Unfortunately, the hope was a short-lived one. The KNASC officials refused to announce the decision at the May conference. When confronted by participants who learned about the decision from Ethiopian Review and other sources, the KNASC chairman said he is trying to make sure that the decision was not a hoax before announcing it, even though it arrived through the same channels that they use to receive other important decisions from the Kinijit leaders in jail. It was a misinformation that created a great deal of confusion inside the organization. What really happened was, when the decision came, a few but influential members of the KNASC asked the chairman to put off the announcement until they contact the leaders in jail and try to convince them that they made an unwise decision. These powermongers think that the decision was “unwise” because they were not part of the new Kinijit International Leadership. The KNASC chairman and executive committee members, through their timidity and indecision, allowed these few individuals to successfully block the implementation of the Kinijit leaders’ decision.
To placate the renegade individuals, the Kinijit leaders in Kality jail allowed six more people to join the International Leadership (IL). The six additional individuals were selected by the chairman and the vice chairman of the KNASC. This quieted things down momentarily until those who were left out of the IL regrouped and started challenging the decision, creating a great deal of havoc and confusion inside the party.
Anarchy inside Kinijit
After learning that their decision was blocked by a few trouble makers (naming them here is not necessary at this time), the Kinijit leaders in jail were deeply saddened. They were disappointed that the KNASC chairman and the majority of the executive committee members were unable to enforce decisions and bring order to the party.
Following this debacle, the KNASC executive committee’s timidity and refusal to conduct business through a democratic process emboldened one of the renegade groups that is based in California to hijack the party’s web-site. The official Kinijit web site now posts only what this group likes, not what the leadership decides. The fact that Kinijit’s official web site is outside the control of the Kinijit Intentional Leadership (IL) and the KNASC is just one more proof that the party is indeed in disarray. The head-in-the-sand crowd may refuse to believe this fact, but fact is fact.
To make matters worse, a few weeks ago, Kinijit’s auditor resigned without giving any official explanation. Later on, ER learned from Kinijit sources that these few renegade individuals made it impossible for the auditor to perform his duties according to the law. Further inquiry revealed that except two or three individuals in the KNASC executive committee, all the other officials are now in the dark about Kinijit finances. Some of the money that is being collected by Kinijit is being diverted to bank accounts that are unknown to KNASC’s executive and finance committees. Neither the auditor, nor the executive committee cannot account for hundreds of thousands of dollars that were collected from supporters for the movement. This is one of the reason why the families of the jailed Kinijit leaders who are suffering from financial difficulties have received little or no assistance. Asked why the executive committee members have allowed this financial impropriety (and possibly even corruption) to continue, the answer ER has been able to get doesn’t make sense: the executive committee members fear that the renegade individuals who are diverting the money are threatening to split up the party if they don’t get what they want.
The most serious of all the disorders inside Kinijit is the inability of the KNASC executive committee to carry out the decisions of the jailed leaders who are elected by the people of Ethiopia to govern the country. The majority of the executive committee members are willing to carry out Kinijit leaders’ decision, but they are unable to do so for the same reason that they are unable to take control of Kinijit’s finances, web sites, diplomacy, etc. Apparently, appeasing a few traitorous individuals is a preferred way of preserving Kinijit’s unity and viability. Democratic process and rule of law were sacrificed for appeasement and unity with scoundrels.
Because of all these problems, some frustrated members of the executive committee are now contemplating resignation. Already the auditor and another prominent member of the KNASC executive committee have resigned unable to execute their duties. Unless solutions are found, there are more resignations to follow soon, and Kinijit will be completely taken over by the rogue elements.
By their inability to enforce Kinijit’s policies and decisions, the twelve IL members, and particularly the chairman, are ultimately responsible for allowing renegade individuals to bring disorder to the party. They turned Kinijit into a party that is not able to govern itself, let alone a country.