Plunge In, No Straddling a Political Fence

By Tecola W. Hagos

"Cowards die many times before their death;

The valiant never taste death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come.�

               William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Act II, Scene II

I. Introduction

A famous Ethiopian educator, who was a high official during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and who also survived the purging of Haile Selassie�s High Officials by the Derg in the 1970s, and who became a sought after executive for the Derg too, when asked about the secret of his longevity surviving such horrendous obstacles, he is reported to have answered, �quzimzim simeta gonbese belo masalef naw.� [In translation: When a boomerang is aimed at your head, the best way to survive such attack is to hanker down very low.] Such words are pragmatic solutions to an impending danger; however, disappointingly, such approach may not carry the high idealism of the uninitiated in the ways of the World�the more immediate the impending doom, the more hankering down. But life does not afford to have such simple solutions. [Incidentally, I have great respect for the unnamed Educator mentioned above on several other matters of public interest.]

Nature itself provides leaders. �Mequebat� by God in our understanding of Kingship seems to be supported by biology.  One has to read works by Dutch biologist (ethologist) Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologists (ethologists) Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch. Even more so much closer to home one ought to study on the behavior of primates the research-work of the great Jane Goodall of Britain in order to understand to realize the system of Darwinian evolutionary natural selection, even though individual based, has also a species wide content. How else could we be able to explain altruism in our human communities and also in animals as well. Desmond Morris and Robert Ardrey�s thoughts may be used as the bridge from the animal to the human (Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape (1967); Robert Ardrey, The Social Contract: A Personal Inquiry into the Evolutionary Sources of Order and Disorder (1970) ). They may even provide us, laypersons, bridges between disciplines.

It seems to me that in Ethiopia , the line between the coward and the cautious is hopelessly mangled and blurred. And straddling a political fence seems an art form for a number of Ethiopians. In fact there is a remarkable chores line for  a popular sing-along in the area I grew up: �Gobez, minale Ggobez? Ayitenew gudoon, Aha! Aytenew gudoon, Aha! Wedmiadelaw! � Such straddling does not help resolve or direct our energy in a direction useful to all. True, our kind of solidarity and consolidation does help us build critical political mass, but because of our fear and straddling our community is at a loss what to do with all that momentum. Such situation seems to me the result of thousands of years of systematic elimination or marginalization of those individuals who could have provided unique leadership to our Ethiopian community. They were choked by conspirators of flawed personality or diminished leadership capacity and who lacked that unique characteristics that nature had forged over millions of years. How else could we account for the down ward spiral in the quality of leaders we have to suffer through for centuries? Judging on the basis of individual character of courage and high moral content, we really have very few leaders.

There is nothing wrong with using the insights of E.O. Wilson (On Human Nature, Harvard, 1979) on sociobiology as long as one is fully aware of the danger of slipping from the science platform into a deranged system of false generalizations in order to exterminate other human beings that are different in culture, social and economic standing from the dominant culture or society. Since I am not a biologist, I will not argue the finer points here, but use sweeping generalizations and observations. In other words, I contend there will always be someone who will stand out and courageously confront tyrannical individuals. The problem here is that in as many times Nature supplies leaders, such leaders may be as fast clobbered down by pretenders and thereby extend the mediocre life of a community.

II. The responsibilities  very few willing to assume

In the last three months I paid especial attention how Ethiopian Diaspora politicians and �scholars� were engaged in anticipation of the May 23, 2010 National Election.  I hoped against my rational judgment that there will be colorful all inclusive call to support political Parties and Organizations  that are fielding candidates all over Ethiopia . Except for a flash of bright light of the visit of Medrek Leaders for a Week-long visits of five major Cities, where most Ethiopian �migr�s are concentrated, there was not much by way of solidarity and openly enthusiastic support of the many other political Parties. It is amazing also to me that there was no overt showing of support for other political parties other than for Medrek. Even those who had established beachhead in the United States Ethiopian Diaspora community did not inspire any large demonstration of support for their candidacy for the 2010 National Elections. What we have had from the few ever destructive individuals instead was gossip and ethnic based conspiratorial blabbering by in chat groups, tweeters,  and bloggers.

How wonderful it would have been if Diaspora Ethiopians, almost a million strong, would have organized massive show of support of those courageous Ethiopians fighting the tyrannical and traitorous Meles Zenawi and his Government and his Political Party, the EPRDF/TPLF. To me it is an eye-opening experience to witness well entrenched individuals in the lives of many Diaspora Ethiopians, wasting their energy and time trying to exclude and undermine a couple of individuals at the cost of the unifying call that was repeatedly sent out by such individuals. Those individuals who are viciously divisive, but who wrap themselves in Ethiopian Flag as the paragon of virtue of Unity and historic Ethiopia, are the very same people who lived all of their lives attempting to regain power for their minuscule group that had for generations undermined, dehumanized, and underdeveloped our Community. What do we have to show for our hundreds of years of independence and being masters of our destiny under the leadership of such group?  The answer is the turmoil since the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie whose selfishness plunged us into political and economic disaster of the last thirty five years.

However, Ethiopia seems to lead a charmed life; in as much as my disappointment cuts deep into my soul, there is also a great upsurge of great hope and Ethiopiawinet in the young generation of Ethiopians where such manipulators� divisive and hegemonic efforts were soundly ignored or at best only tolerated as a sign of respect for seniority and advanced age, since most were retired octogenarians and thereby were allowed to occupy a platform for short duration. There is no point in trying to teach an old dog new tricks, specially a very old dog. There is no way that the old order of hegemonic dominance by a select few could be revived. Setting aside the issue of Ethnicity, the old system, simply put, was not conducive and does not have the tools necessary to run a modern state being pushed by all kinds of forces within and without. To have democratic form of governance leaning towards liberalism on politics and market-driven system on the economy may remedy our unique transitional problems.   

The one decent group I know of that had tried tirelessly to create a forum open to all Ethiopians is the Ethiopian Unity Diaspora Forum [EUDF]. This group has been consistently and courageously calling the unity of all Ethiopians to form a forum to promote the Sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia and the human rights of all Ethiopians. This group of individuals followed an open forum approach where all Ethiopians and their political and civic organizations were invited to participate. With that in mind, the EUDF did approach several organizations and individuals who were already in the public�s eyes. What happened next by those who were approached was laughable and juvenile activities to borrow the ideas and the programs developed by EUDF and recycle and use it to call meetings and conferences that are divisive, polarizing, and manipulative thereby totally distorting the purposes and goals aimed at by the EUDF.  

III. The fight for the Soul of Medrek

Medrek was �the prize� to win for a number of people for varying reasons. To some it was a new beginning thereby shaking off ethnic division of Ethiopia and starting a truly democratic system of Government with fair economic system. For others, Medrek was just the latest  political organization to be manipulated into becoming an extension of a hegemonic power that had wrecked Ethiopia for hundreds of years. But thanks to righteous and savvy leaders such as Dr. Negasso Gidada, Judge Birtukan Mideksa, Engineer Gizachew Shiferaw, Professor Beyen Petros, Professor Merrara Gudina that Medrek was kept above any murky political manipulation and away from some opportunist Diaspora �intellectuals.� Such cut-throat effort has no place in the new Ethiopian political future. The input of Gebru Asrat and Seeye Abraha is incalculable, for they pulled together groups that would have drifted along aimlessly or lived in perpetual animosity.

It is a fact known to few that some of the Diaspora Ethiopian intellectuals have made their own tenuous individual connections to some of the Leaders of Medrek under the cover of night and in secret unknown to their fellow hegemony disciples. And yet they try to give the impression that they are with the old hegemony or  above it all�what silliness. There is nothing wrong in openly supporting Medrek; I urge such compatriots to declare their support of Medrek openly.   

In my judgment, most Government officials from both Haile Selassie and Mengistu�s era were simple bureaucrats, white collar laborers. Even more tragic for all of us is the fact that most Ethiopian �intellectuals� were insensitive, even brutally vulgar and presumptuous in their relationships with the common man. Very few educated  Ethiopians from the old generation as well as from my generation have ever impressed me with their civility, statesmanship, standing for principles, or academic output especially in the social sciences. How many educated Ethiopians went back to their rural roots and helped the development aspirations of our people? The exception being the student body of Haile Selassie I University, but they are not included in my assessment. The unnecessary infighting by Ethiopia �s educated few on behalf of absolutely useless and corrupt political leaders (from our past as well as in our own time) is still persisting to this date. I could only count on one hand�s fingers the number of enlightened and politically savvy Ethiopians the likes of whom would be the incomparable Hadis Alemayehu.

It is a disconcerting situation that is facing us all Diaspora Ethiopians. We seem to learn less and less from experience as we grow older. How is it possible that when the rest of the world is built on the accumulation of experience that we Ethiopians alone seem to be affected by experience in the opposite direction? Five years ago, these same issues of dissonance in the Diaspora community was at fever pitch, and yet five years later we are embroiled in the same type of political caldron right now. In five years period we should have matured enough to set aside our divisive ethnic and hegemonic politics and focused on how best to get rid of Meles Zenawi and regain our lost civil rights and dignity and our wealth including our Afar Coastal territories and our patrimony of the Red Sea.  

A few years back I wrote an article asking similar questions. [Tecola W. Hagos, �Ethiopian Reality: quo vadis opposition? Ethiopian Reality: where to from this point on?�]  I have extracted some of the essential and timely ideas from my previous article and blended them with timely new ideas to benefit us all by way of a reminder to those who are in the forefront laying the foundation of a democratic Ethiopia . I have outlined herein some of the pitfalls the Leaders of Medrek may come across in their important undertaking to restore Ethiopia to her rightful place as a democratic, wealthy, and powerful nation. The most subversive pitfalls facing the opposition that must be avoided by all means are the following:

a) the possibility of vicious infighting among the leaders of the opposition for power instigated by Meles Zenawi, outsiders including foreign governments;

b) the polarization and corruption of the process of political change due to the participation of Mengistu�s lieutenants and supporters both in Ethiopia and in the Diaspora;

c) the continued infiltration of Meles Zenawi and/or Issayas Afeworki and/or their political organizations in the political life of Ethiopia ;

d) the acceptance of the demands of foreign nations without due consideration of the Sovereignty, territorial integrity, and all other vital interests of Ethiopia ;

e) the continuation of international charity and the presence in large numbers of international organizations and international personnel in Ethiopia ;

f) the financing of programs that grossly benefit a limited number of Ethiopians in a limited area such as urban centers;

g) problems of ethnic based political organizations; the persecution of people on the basis of their ethnic identities;

h)  the issue of property ownership including land ownership free of encumbrances and limitations in fee simple;

i) the continuation of the degradation and abuse of Ethiopian young Ethiopian females in Ethiopia and in Arab nations;

j) the recapitulation or compromise of Ethiopia �s right to its Afar Coastal territories and the Territorial Waters on the Red Sea .

IV. Reflections: intimate matters

I still read in Websites, after all this up and down and having written scores of articles on Ethiopian sovereignty and territorial integrity, silly statements asserting that I am supporting Medrek because Seeye Abraha is a member. For the record let it be known that my reinvigorated inspiration started with the Rainbow Ethiopia-Movement for Democracy and Social Justice (Rainbow) coalition before the birth of Andinet [Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ)],  and the later coalition that turned out embodying the primacy of Ethiopian sovereignty and territorial integrity in its well debated and espoused  minimum program: Medrek. Rainbow was started in 2005 by Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, way before his destructive behavior took over his better judgment now attacking Medrek/Andinet. Thus my support of Andinet and Medrek has a history and years before Seeye Abraha was released from Prison and way before he joined Andinet.

In 2005 before the Elections, I spelled out my reservation on Kinijit in a  number of articles due to its hegemonic oversimplification of the ethos of the Ethiopian people who hungered for democratic representations. I was particularly concerned by the fact that Mengistu�s former officials were pulling the political stings of Kinijit, I was informed in particular that Kassa Kebede (a direct link to Mengistu) was involved behind the scene. Such unhealthy association of some Red Terror legacy was both immoral and political self mutilation. Even then my criticism was to purify such aggregation and association and not to marginalize or destroy Kinijit. We must understand that even if such individuals are camouflaged or buried away from people�s scrutiny, they remain the worst toxic individuals in Ethiopia �s political life. They will continue to use upright and patriotic Ethiopians as cover for  their own political comeback. Nevertheless, it should be known that identifying criminals does not mean prior exclusion from political participation. I saw merit in the movement of Kinijit, for it had elements of unity against Meles Zenawi and his brutal Government. My criticism was about membership.

As a group, we older Ethiopians  have lost our sense of perspective when we allow such criminals to stand next to us shouting the horrors of EPRDF/TPLF draining the voices against them for their Red Terror activities. Those same individuals must be living in a dream-world for their poorly designed opposition attempt was crushed very easily without political repercussions by the brutal regime of Meles Zenawi in the 2005 National Elections. What those political desperados do not seem to appreciate or care about is the fact that Ethiopians have gone through several revolutions over the last thirty five years. There is no going back. Moreover, Meles Zenawi and those who have betrayed Ethiopia �s vital interest, and who committed brutality and violence against fellow Ethiopians will not go free. There will be a time for justice.

It is tragic that we spend our limited precious time trying to trip over fellow Ethiopians by labeling them ethnicists, Woyanes, et cetera. Rather than pushing away people who may have a different perspective on Ethiopian history and on being Ethiopian from the views of the members of the dominant culture, we ought to try to bring individuals together in order to create an atmosphere that is indusive for constructive discourse. As far as I know, the worst narrow ethnicists are those who are trying day and night to restore the status quo ante that existed during the Imperial regime of Haile Selassie, in collaboration with their arch enemies, Mengistu�s former officials and supporters. For that group found their hate for EPRDF/TPLF eclipsing their own vicious in-fighting among themselves, and they were willing to overlook even the crimes of the murderous Red Terror culprits for hegemonic power.

Conclusion

We have now far more informed and dedicated young Ethiopians who seek solutions beyond ethnicism and power hegemony for  a particular interest group. A clear example for me in that direction is the dedication and sophistication of the members of Andinet Support Group in North America and their coalition group members from the other Medrek Member Parties. What I witnessed recently, in the activities of organizing and guiding the tour of Medrek Leaders around the United States , was the group effort of very capable young Ethiopians who organized the most successful tour for Medrek Leaders in the second Week of April 2010. Those young men and women work together quite well and relate to each other genuinely.  There is no doubt in my mind that future survival of Ethiopia is guaranteed, but there are certain roles we still need to fulfill in that direction.    

The signing of the Code of Conduct did not benefit anyone except Meles Zenawi and not even Lidetu Ayalew, for he had been complaining against EPRDF�s activities on several occasions. All the others who signed so eagerly that farce have not achieved the type of political influence they were aspiring for. The sad fact is that all political parties would have gained greatly if they had not split into two groups of signers and non-signers of the Code of Conduct. Later acclamation or accession is not of much of a significance, for the backbone of the unity of the opposition had already been broken or at the very least fractured. Solidarity, the closing of ranks, unity of goals et cetera are not simply plays on words, they have solid contents helpful to our struggle against tyrannical regimes like the current Ethiopian Government.

Somehow, we Ethiopians have to overcome the type of inertia we have been experiencing for centuries now. The first step in that direction is for older Ethiopians to restrain themselves from manipulating the budding young Ethiopian leadership. We must avoid imposing on the young upcoming leaders our distorted dreams by vicariously trying to relive past hegemonic power. Let the young people who had proven themselves capable on their own so far develop their leaders and followers. The best help we may be able to render to our children is to let them be. Of course, we have a duty to pass to them our long history as a record of our struggle for survival in very difficult times. For example, if we keep up the current divisive political structure of the Killil system, within the next five years, especially if Meles Zenawi continues as Prime Minister of the Ethiopian Government, the members of the new generation of Ethiopians would have no common ties to hold them anchored and connected with each other or the nation anywhere. They will have no emotional or physical connection with �an Ethiopia � we know�damnation to us all.  Where will Ethiopia be?

There is also another reason why our young people be given tremendous responsibilities right away; they must find a way to reverse the rampant sexual promiscuity that had resulted in dangerous level of over population threatening the very survival of the nation. Morality, self discipline, and social responsibility must be forced upon and chiseled into the loose, immoral, and corrupt Ethiopian society. Our economic progress is tied to our control of the rate of population growth in both Ethiopia �s rural and urban populations. In turn, such national goal requires new political leadership.

We Ethiopians in the Diaspora need to pledge our loyalty to our Motherland in the manner the Hebrews directed their dedication every year promising to return one day to their Motherland from wherever, as lamented by King David in Psalms 137: 5-6: �If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you. If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.� By the same token let us pledge and dedicate our lives to unite, and to solidify our patriotism in promoting the Sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia .  To that end let us all pledge to continue our struggle against the oppressive anti-democracy regime of Meles Zenawi at all times. Support and Vote for Medrek! Ω

Tecola W. Hagos

Washington DC

May 20, 2010

E-mail: [email protected]