A Toast to the Modernday Shepherd

Centuries before there was the internet, long before there were newspapers bearing editorials and readers’ opinions, when the kings and princes of Ethiopia wanted to know what their subjects were thinking, they ask a trusted servant to go out to the villages and listen and report the newest songs of the shepherd boy. Much as is the case in rural Ethiopia today, in those bygone years, shepherd boys perched on their lookout posts at the top of the hill, normally serenade their herd grazing in the valley below with songs of new found love and of the sweet nothings a lover tells his enamored. At times, the shepherd sings of pride and devotion to the family honor. He sings of his incomparable village and of his dedication to protecting it.

When times are difficult and especially when the difficult times owe their origins to bad governance, the shepherd boy retools his songs. He sings of the shame of the shepherd who betrays his flock and abandons his charge when darkness comes, an obvious reference to the failings of those in authority. He sings of the ‘agasses’ that focuses on filling its ravenous belly and forgets to take note of the pack of hyenas circling to devour it. The shepherd is but a trumpeter who gives words to the pain and suffering of every family in his village. His songs seek to shame those in authority to wake up to their responsibility. They warn of the shameful end of the house that misrules its subjects.

As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same. About one hundred years after the first newspaper in our country came into being, the modern day counterpart of the shepherd who now wielding a microphone is still the most reliable witness of the mood of the people. Yes, some things have changed. Where once you had to be right there in the fields to catch the shepherd’s creation, today, technology makes it possible for you to enjoy songs sung thousands of miles away and renditions recorded years ago. Yet, now as was then, the Ethiopian musician captures the sentiments and soul of our people in his songs better than any reporter, editor or social commentator had ever achieved through the written word. I would dare argue that over the last fifteen years, collectively, Ethiopian musicians have been the conscience of the land and the voice of the people. Their lyrics faithfully and meticulously record the nature and causes of the complex problems we face. The current crop of musicians, the proud heirs of the old shepherd boy, do not stop just at vocalizing our pain and pointing to what is broken, they also point us in the direction of our salvation.

The new breed of shepherd is our newest kind of philosopher, teacher and preacher. Readers know what I am speaking about. If you are the average Joe, you have been moved to near tears more than once by the poetic lyrics of a string of musicians, young and old, male and female. Each of us has our favorites. I have mine, but I will not single one out for I know each of them to be equally heroic. Some have taken up the cause on a fulltime bases and use their music to rally the people to our common cause. Others have substantial repertoire woven into their regular acts that remind revelers of the unfinished business which await just outside. Nearly without exception, today every Ethiopian performer tells the story of a people consumed by the cannibals among them. These days, in song after song, nearly every entertainer reminds us of our shared values and shared history and goads us to dig deep within our souls to find that which unites us instead of obsessing on what divides us.

Today’s entertainers, much like their predecessors who whistled from every “mama” and every hilltop in years gone by, serve as the Harris Poll of Ethiopian society – reporting the mood of the nation for the benefit of anyone who cares to listen. These men and women witness and agonize over the cries of our people and lend their voices to the voiceless. Working at times in a cappella groups, sometimes in solo renditions, they have responded to the call of their forbearers. At substantial costs to their careers and at great personal risk, each of them has had the mettle to step forward and take up the role that tradition bestows and love of country demands. If you doubt their effectiveness, if you sometimes wonder whether that their songs may be promotional gimmicks, just take a look at Mr. Meles’ “list of the virtuous Ethiopians” – that list which includes the men and women most feared by Mr. Meles. Our glorious new shepherd boys have proudly assumed they positions on that list of heroes and heroines.

For that, I toast each and every one of them.

The Newest Props in Ethiopian Political Theatre

So we are now in the stretch drive, in the last few innings of the contest for the soul of Ethiopia. Lined up on one side are the disjointed and sometimes dispirited remains of opposition parties, the unrecognizable remnants of what once were civic society organizations and the tarred and feathered but always resilient public trying to save the day with a last ditch effort. Crouching on the other side is none other than the badly wounded and terribly humiliated Mr. Zenawi, the Hurricane Katrina of African politics. His is hunched over from exhaustion, having just run roughshod over everything in the field of play, over the other team, over the arbiters, over the cheer leaders and over the spectators. Yet he is swinging away hoping that the opposition will be tired of serving as his punching bag, worn out from taking all of the arrows and bullets coming their way and submit to his will, and declare “No mas, no mas” ala Roberto Duran in that 1980 boxing classic.

If one forgets where we came from, if one does not look back and recall where we were even a year ago, it is quite easy to be discouraged by the current scene. But take a look around the internet and examine what the prognosticators, our cyber talking heads, were saying last year this time. Examine what was the consensus view just three months before Election’05 and you will recognize the unmistakable progress we have made in the march towards our final destination. If truth be told, last year this time, few of us outside Ethiopia even knew just when the election was to take place let alone take active roles in its orchestration. Most of us had a vague idea of a forthcoming election. All of us believed that Meles and company would not allow any serious opposition to organize let alone seriously challenge for the people’s vote. A year ago this time, most of us had so little respect for the strength of the opposition, we would not donate money or read its literature. A year ago this time, most of us in the Diaspora had little idea of the extent of disdain the voting public had for the EPRDF gang. We traveled back home, saw the shinny airport terminal and pretty people walking around with cell phones stuck to their ears and falsely concluded that Ethiopia was on the rise again. We wrongly assumed that people felt secure, comfortable and positive about their prospects and about their government.

Our travails over the last ten months have helped us attain one of the key requirements for ultimate success. A well known maxim stipulates that to succeed in battle you must “know yourself and know your enemy”. That we now have done.

We now know what lied beneath the façade of political serenity and appearance of emerging economic prosperity. Today, we also know that our people are determined to be free of fear, free of poverty and free of tyranny and are united in their pursuit of freedom. A year of watching, reading and listening later, we now know that there are among us many men and women who have the vision, the intellect, the tenacity, the love of country and the bravery to lead us in our struggle. Today we know that those who come everyday face to face with their oppressor, with their brother’s killer have no fear of their adversary – only disdain and ever intense determination.

Nine months after their election victory was stolen, eight months after the other side declared an open season on them and launched a campaign of harassment, beating and killing, and three months after they were unceremoniously rounded up and thrown into prison, the leaders of the opposition show no sign of surrender. Today we see the ONC reduced to a shadow of its former self, all of the offices of the CUD closed and the CUDP practically band as a domestic organization and the OFDM apparently destined to meet the same tricky fate as the ONC. The other side is busy trying its utmost to break up and frustrate the opposition. Yet, the leaders of these organizations and the people who support them take every thing in stride and march forward undeterred.

The other side did not stop at reversing the peoples’ will expressed in Election’05. It has dug in and is putting to use the power which comes with sitting in Menelik’s Ghibi in its effort to stay in office well beyond 2010. As always, the other side is playing smoke and mirrors in its effort to weather the political storm it unleashed trying to cow a determined citizenry. It is setting up an elaborate stage with all the customary props as it gears up to orchestrate a grand show – a show of “fair trials, outside observers and independent investigations”. Only the very uninitiated will believe the story line that would be told in this stage production to be anything but a grand show rivaling in its wizardry anything a Broadway production could come up with.

The stakes are very high for the producers and directors of this planned show. Yet they know that for them to survive and indeed to thrive, the show does not have to be a hit. It just has to be staged. It matters not whether the plot line is convincing. They care very little whether the patrons or the critics find the show enjoyable. What matters is that there is a show. They have had a long laid plan to take care of the rest. They have a network of very effective apologist who can spin anything. They are the ones who were able to get the outside world to get hang up on the point that the opposition increased its presence in parliament ten fold or twenty fold. Never mind the obvious flaws in the process; much progress has been made in the democratization process just because the opposition has won more than 200 seats.

All they want is a chance to stage the show. The show actually has multiple plot lines unfolding concurrently – just like one of those Law and Order episodes. One of these plots will have a group of independent investigators review the Addis Ababa massacres of June 6-8, 2005 and of November 1-4, 2005 with a view to vindicating the commander in chief who ordered the security forces of the country to shoot into crowds of unarmed civilians. This plot will conclude by finding Mr. Meles to have had good cause for killing several dozen of his subjects who were threatening no one or nothing. Perhaps, the investigation would even stumble on to some “critical clue” which would be helpful for the other plots that will be running concurrently. And if they stumbled onto something, they are sure not to sweep it under the rug. After all, these are independent investigators who were selected by the independent parliament to look into two very disturbing outbreaks of state directed violence.

The second plot line calls for “a fair” trial of those accused to have been engaged either in an act of treason and genocide or in conspiracies to engage in treason and genocide. Perhaps this is the most difficult act for the producers and directors of this play to launch. Their problem is not because they would not find “a fair district attorney” who would agree to prosecute the case. It would not be for lack of a “fair judge” to hear the case. Nor would it be for lack of “fair and reliable witnesses” or a fair amount of evidence. The biggest problem the director of this play is going to have is finding those who would be cast as villains in the show to agree to take part in staging their own vilification.

We saw a couple of weeks ago, the leaders of the CUD who find themselves in the grip of the producers and directors of this show refuse to take up their assigned roles. They announced that they are not going to take part in this show which is masquerading to be a trial. Certain in their knowledge of the law which insists that the court try criminals, not citizens who hold political views different from the prime minister, the CUD leaders concluded that to continue to participate in the charade is to legitimize the show. They announced that they will not give cover to the political cabal or afford even an appearance of legitimacy and pretext to the spin-misters by agreeing to take up the roles of criminals in Meles’ grand show.

So Meles and his gang have been huddling to come up with a strategy for disarming the CUD leaders. As luck would have it, one Louis Michel, EU Commissioner for International Development, came strolling to town this week and seemed to agree with Meles’ plan to prosecute the leaders of CUD and their compatriots who are unjustly jailed and illegally denied bail. Or perhaps it is not luck at all; perhaps that is what Meles trekked to Brussels last week for. In any event, Meles dropped the other shoe, the other piece of the puzzle, and gave us a hint of the third plot line. He suggested and Michel anxiously agreed (or was it the other way around) to have “independent outside” jurists to observe the “fair trial” by a “fair court” following the “fair and independent investigation”.

The only problem that the Great Leader must now solve is getting these patriots to agree to the plan and to play their roles. If they refuse to acquiesce to the demands of the producers of this show, if they stand firmly on their announced decision not to take part in the exercise henceforth, they will throw a monkey wrench into that plan. The show would then have to be canceled. In that instance, the plan for 2010 would also need to be revisited.

Yes, we have come a long way, indeed. We have taken the tiger by the tail and we won’t let go. Mr. Meles has no idea how close he comes to the truth every time he brags about how Ethiopia is nearing to be a real democracy. And when you think that only last year we would have settled for a few more seats and just a little more opening up of the economy. We have come a long way, baby!

A Picture is worth a thousand words!

In baseball, they call it the stretch drive. It is the middle of the second half of a very long and boring game. The excitement of going to the ball park and sitting in the sun with friends or sons is wearing out. The conversations are dieing down. The effect of all that beer is making you feel woozy. As is always the case in baseball, there is not much action, a strike out here, a ground out there and little real excitement. So by the sixth inning, you begin to think about the office and worry whether it was wise for you to call in sick from work today. You second guess the wisdom for taking your son out of school just to sit through another boring game, score tied 1 to 1.

The stretch drive is the late hour of a baseball game when a manager earns his keep by making the right call: whether it is sending in thee right pinch hitter or bringing in the pinch runner before the sure hitter comes to bat. A nice bunt here and a sacrifice fly there, a relief out here or an intentional walk there and you have the game won or lost with the last at bat or the last pitch. If excitement was the sole purpose, baseball would have been played over three innings. But, baseball is both a test of skill and a test of will and so it is played over 9 or more innings. To flourish, you have to be at the top of your game even during the boring stretch drive when there is little action, but a repetitive defensive struggle. And although it would be hard for you to believe this while you are sitting through the stretch drive, that is actually why you keep coming back to the ball park.

The struggle of our people too is in the stretch drive. There is much action without real movement and much movement without real progress. The game plan seems to change every day but it is really the same. All sides including the refs seem to have shown their hands, but then you see each side taken by surprise by the other’s maneuvers. It promises to be a long and ugly stretch drive. It is all part of the game – only the naïve would have thought this game to be played clean or to be brief.

I suspect it is this feeling of unease that our now regular contributor, H. Gabriel was sensing when he put together yet another well articulated piece. I invite you to enjoy his take on developments over the last several days. As always, I have reproduced his contribution in its entirety.

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I have a confession to make. Like most Ethiopians, I routinely (almost daily since May 15th) check the various Ethio-websites. Most of the time I am encouraged that the demise of the neo-apartheid system in Ethiopia is very near. I feel that way not just because of the candlelight vigils in DC or some demonstration in some part of the globe; nor because I read about some incredibly brave students saying enough is enough to occupation and slavery or because the EU yanked their direct budget support. I feel optimistic because the combination of all I see, read and hear tells me that the rope is tightening around the neck of the evil that is eating away at my country, my home, my birthplace.

Some times however, like this last week, I get discouraged by what I see, read and hear. First, I read the melancholy letter of Berhanu Nega’s sister. The letter appears to be a sober assessment of the Ethiopian reality. Simply put, I believe her assessment is that vigils, letter writing, marching down Pennsylvania Avenue etc. alone are not going to bring down the EPRDF. We need to intensify the non-violent struggle even more. Although, I agree whole-heartedly with her assessment the tone of her letter reminded me that it may take a lot more that what most of us think, to tighten that rope.

Then, the invitation of Meles to the “Summit of Progressive Governments” was very disappointing. What more does this animal have to do for the world to see him for what he is? How many more innocents does he have to kill for them to say I will not break bread with someone whose hand is drenched with the blood of children? It’s like we are watching the same movie but they think it is a “Drama” while we know it is a “Horror”, with Meles playing Freddie and Jason combined together.

Then last night I saw the BBC video of the summit and really understood what the various print articles meant when they said, “Behind the icy diplomatic exchange, however, the body language told a different story”. Meles was no longer the little Napoleon with the designer shades and the arrogant frown on his face. He looked like a little boy who was ready to pick up his marbles and go home. He had his chin in his hand with an ugly scowl on his face. Blair was huffing and puffing and looking at Meles sideways. The body language did say it all. Blair’s body showed his disgust with Meles. Meles’s shriveling demeanor showed the verbal whipping he has been getting for two days.

This video made my week. It made me realize, albeit slowly, the world is seeing Meles for who he really is. Yes, it is not just one method of struggle that is going to get rid of the EPRDF. It is the combination of the letter writing, Pennsylvania Avenue marching, budget support yanking, One Ethiopia bloging etc. that is going to tighten the noose around the neck of the EPRDF. Some are paying the ultimate price while most of us are just cheerleading. However, anyone who has gone to a football game understands that cheerleaders (band and all) are important arsenal for a team to win.

You got to watch this video. It will make your week!

H. Gabriel

Readers' Comments on My Concerns Regarding the OLF

My last post http://oneitiopia.blogspot.com/2006/02/tiptoeing-around-2000-pound-gorilla-in.html asking readers to share their views on whether there is reason for Ethiopians to be concerned with the designs of the Oromo Liberation Front netted us the most thoughtful responses I have ever had the pleasure to receive here at One Ethiopia. I am grateful to readers who responded with their sobber assessments of the work and ambitions of the OLF but also of the proper role of ethnics politics in today's Ethiopia.

Many of the most impressive responses were posted to the site as comments at the end of the post. I am so impressed with the maturity a couple of the respondents exhibited, I have decided to publish a few of these as a separate post. We trust readers will not be disappointed.

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H. Gabriel said...

What is to be an Ethiopian? Thank you for your post about this critical issue. I have also been thinking a lot about this issue. Why is it that all the PDO and LF’s want to destroy the spirit of Ethiopianism that is shared by the great majority of Ethiopians and not just the so called Amhara’s. What is it about this sense of pride in being an “Ethiopian” that drives them nuts? Why do they constantly try to denigrate the history (at least the positive part) of the only black nation that defeated European colonialists? Why are they constantly trying to dismantle the positive aspect of nation building that has taken place? The culture of central Ethiopia especially is not just the Amhara or Oromo but a malange that also includes the Tigre, Adere, Gurage and many others. Every nationality had participated in the greatness of Ethiopia. Life in Addis was and still is where the Eritrean, Tigre, Amhara, Oromo, Gurage, Somali and Adere colassed and created their own urban social and political outlook.

I recently saw a video of Mohamud Ahmed and Ali Birra singing together “Almaz meneda new” in Amharic and Oromigna. It brought tears to my eyes. It took me to the days of my youth. I remember when Ali Birra first did his rendition in Oromiga. A lot of non-Oromos learned that song because it hit a nerve. It hit that something inside that tells you this is part of your cultural heritage also. The same with many of Mohamud Ahmed’s guragega songs. They don’t just belong to the gurage. Just like the kitfo, they belong to all of us. That is what people call a melting pot. There certainly was and still is the urban and rural divide, like anywhere else in the world. The city slickers jokes were equal opportunity. It was equally dished out to the Gondere and Menze as well as the Oromo and Gurage. Ethiopia was a feudal empire just like all of medieval Europe. However, the Scottish are as proud of British history as the English. Why can’t we equally be proud of Dej. Balcha Aba Nefso as Atse Menelik, as men who made the white man shake in his boots! By the way, my screen saver for many years has been a fierce picture of Dej. Balcha. When I see his eyes I see the eyes of all our forefathers that gave their life protecting our country.

Meles &Co. and all the LF’s would like us to think the struggle is between the center and the periphery; between the Neftega Amhara’s and other oppressed nationalities. To create the new democratic federal Ethiopia the “old” system has to be dismantled and a new one based on the ethnic and linguistic differences has to be created.

It is certainly true that there needs to be devolution of political and economic power from the center to the regions. The feudal (not necessarily just Amhara) economic relationship basically ended with the 1974 revolution. Unfortunately, the government became the new “feudal” landlord under the Derg and now under the EPRDF.

By now, we know Meles is playing smoke and mirrors. The EPRDF is in fact strengthening the center while pretending to push power to the regions. Although, the regional institutions look democratic on paper (just like the constitution) they are merely tools for Meles & Co. to control the daily life of everyone in the nation. As to the rhetoric against the Neftega Amhara, that is just the rallying cry of raising the ghost of the past to demonize any political opposition. If there are any “Neftegas” today, they are the Agazi troops that are terrorizing the nation from one end to the other.

Ethiopia is a nation where the major ethnic and linguistic groups have a common historical and cultural reference points (good and bad). The PDO and LF’s are focused on what divide us vs. on what unite us. They are more interested in telling us that one’s Addis Ababa is another’s Finfene. We can’t be as proud of the Geda system as the Axumite Empire and so on. I appreciated Berhanu Nega’s (dully elected mayor of A.A.) response to this divisive ploy of the EPRDF. He welcomed the Oromo regional government to Addis as a source of revenue for the Addis Ababa government. If the people of Addis Ababa want to change the name to Finfene, that is their prerogative. Not some PDO or LF’s unless they plan to ethnic cleanse five million people from their homes of generations!

That is why they all hate and demonize the CUDP. As Birtukan Mideksa said Kinjit is a “spirit”. A “spirit” of a federal democratic Ethiopia. An Ethiopia, that is ready for the new while preserving the good of the past.

Anonymous said...

Thanks One Ethiopia.

You expressed the feeling of most Ethiopians who believe that all our problems will only be solved through a united, democratic Ethiopia.

The position of OLF is clear to every one. I do not see them changing it soon. On the other hand, there is a tendency to exaggerate significance of OLF.

I do not believe that OLF is a legitimate representative of Oromos, nor do I believe the Oromo question can only be solved through OLF. I know there is a growing sentiment in favor of OLF among young Oromos but one can't be sure how deeply rooted it is. It is more like an act of defiance against Melese’s tyrannical regime. I remain to be convinced that the young demonstrators who raise OLF’s flag agree with the extremist position of the party, i.e. secession of Oromo zone.

Moreover, OLF is a hallow organization which has been splitting again and again and changing leadership every time they face an obstacle. Since the debacle with TPLF a decade ago, OLF has deteriorated in size and political significance. It has been ridiculed even by its members, and lost too many leaders and supporters. Even now there are two independent groups who claim ownership of the party.

Abdisa

Ethio-Wolqait said...

There is nothing that causes me pain deep in my heart every time I hear, read or see somthing that is intended to divide our Ethiopia. These days the issue of the Oromo particularly of OLF sympethisers is worrying me more than anything. Some of them have even went as far as claiming that they are not Ethiopians. I think this is a deliberate way of trying to create an Oromo nationalism and state. Thus, playing the same game the EPLF and TPLF played during separatist movement.

During my time in Addis Ababa just about 5 years ago,I did not see anything that can be compared to what I am hearing and reading on the cyber world.

All in all I keep asking myself...Is it really that bad on the ground?? Do the Ethiopian people, be it the urabn or rural residents hate this much? Do the Oromo people really want to secede? Does the secession of Oromo solve the root cause of the Oromo people? Can the Oromo problem be solved with out solving the problems of their counterparts? Assuming that Oromo secedes, can it really exist peacefully and develop economically? What is the guarantee that the OLF is not going to be another dictator just like the current day LFs? What is the input of the rest of he Ethiopian people in the dicision making?

Dessalegn said...

I think most of us, understandably, have a lot of trouble relating to ethnic nationalism. I know I did, for a long time.

But as the years have passed by, and I have seen ethnic nationalisms in all their manifestations throughout the world, including the country where I live, Canada, I have come to accept the phenomenon has part of human reality.

I find it helpful not to look at the organizations that push ethnic nationalism, but the people who feel pulled towards ethnic nationalism. What makes them tick? What is it that attracts some Oromos to ethnic nationalism? Is it purely a top-down movement of propaganda fooling the masses? Surely not. There must be some grassroots sentiment that is being harnessed.

The reasons behind this grassroots sentiment are complex, but the solution always involves empowerment through some sort of democracy, democracy defined as the leadership being a reflection of the people's wishes.

Further, it involves accommodation of ethnic nationalist sentiments to some extent. Accommodation comes through negotiation, which requires tact. The LF knows all too well that it has emotion on its side, and that any action than can be interpreted as alienating is to its advantage. Therefore the other side must be sensitive to this and be careful what it says and does.

This is how ethnic nationalisms have been successfully managed throughout the world. I think it's a lesson we ought to learn from the Canadas and Indias of the world.

Abdisa said...

Dessalegn,I agree with you the solution is a democratic system in which every Ethiopian has a stake. For that to happen, the system should guarantee individuals right for free speech, association, ownership of property including land, religious belief, etc.What is the role of OLF in this context?

No one argues the fact that ethnic nationalism is a legitimate issue and any political solution to the crisis in Ethiopia should include organizations with ethnic agenda. However, a number of questions need to be answered regarding OLF.

Is it the one and only party that can represent Oromo people? Is it really possible for one party to fully represent any ethnic group? What is the role of ONC and OFDM? Does OLF have the proper agenda and capacity to solve the problem? What should be done about its misrepresentation of the crisis in Ethiopia between Oromos and other Ethiopians?

Abdisa

Gooch said...

Abdisa,It's difficult to know what the OLF's role should be because we don't know the extent of public support for it. We can guess, but we'll never be sure until it participates in elections. Its role will be defined by the people.

A free election with the participation of the OLF would be fascinating. I think the performance of CUD, ONC, and OFDM in Oromia really surprised everyone in these past elections. I would suspect that the OLF would have its work cut out for it if these parties play their cards right. On the other hand, there may be a re-alignment of forces that we can't foresee at the moment. Ah, it's all guesswork.

One thing for sure, though, the moderating effect of democracy and elections will work on the OLF, too.

Tiptoeing Around the 2000 Pound Gorilla in Our Living Room

I first came to Addis in the mid-1960s to attend Bede Mariam Laboratory School on the campus of what was then HSIU as a seventeen year old high school senior. I was raised in a small farming town and went to school in a provincial capital which did not enjoy piped water or electricity until the year before I left for Addis. So, when I arrived in Addis my senses were overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of everything new in the big city. From high rise buildings to paved shinny roads, from flashing neon lights offering all sorts of tempting goodies to the endless stream of traffic on the roads – everything I saw, everything I came across as I explored the streets of Addis was new. The experience was exciting and intimidating all at the same time.

I was excited to be in the middle of all of the action. My excitement was further enhanced with the knowledge that what is keeping me from being one of the big city boys was only my age. Like all college bound young men of the day, I knew that in time I would be one of them – a big city cat. But part of me was also scared because I was an outsider not familiar with the ways of the city people. I have never seen more than one car at a time. If truth be told, the only time I rode on a wheeled means of transportation was when I took the bus to come to Addis. So there was plenty to spook me. I was scared of crossing the street. I was scared of city folks cheating me out of what little money I had. I was scared because I stood out like a sore thumb with the way I was dressed and the way I gawked at everything. City folks looked to be so all-knowing cool. Even the students who came from other provinces seemed to be hip and much more knowledgeable of the ways of the city. (I promise this is not really about me. I am actually going to make a point about the current conditions in our country.)

When school opened on September 28 as it always did back then, thousands of students flooded the campus, a few of us belonging to Bede Mariam, most of them attending the university proper. As we shared the same campus and facilities with university students, I was in awe with my surroundings. Although I did relatively well in the classroom from day one, I felt as though I was not ready for college. Intelligent and purposeful discussions on the fate of our country pervaded the entire campus. Much of what was talked about in formal and informal settings seemed to be well beyond my grasp. The key doctrines which under gird the endless discussions among students were totally alien to me. I felt doubly ashamed both because I had not read any of the doctrinal material which was obviously well known to everyone else but also because I could not intuitively follow much of the logic of the student debates.

I found two particular threads in these debates to be especially bothersome. One thread was engaged in a discussion of the relative suitability of three alternative political systems for organizing Ethiopia’s social, economic and political affairs. In point of fact, there was little real discussion on the nature and merits of the traditional feudal system. Observations on feudalism were made only to serve as points of departure for highlighting the virtues of one or the other of the modern alternatives. So the debates boiled down to whether our country would be best served by transition to capitalism or socialism. It seemed to me that the most confident and enlightened among the students had already made up their minds on two related points. These individuals, of whom I must admit I was in awe, eloquently articulated the view that the country had already transitioned or was well on the way to transitioning to capitalism and that capitalism was incapable of resolving the peculiar problems Ethiopia was facing at the time.

The second thread deliberated on the issue of Ethiopia’s nationalities. Most discussants sought to explore alternative approaches to ending all vestiges of unequal or exploitative relationships among and between Ethiopia’s diverse people. A vocal minority championed the Leninist doctrine regarding the rights of Ethiopia’s nationalities to determine for themselves whether they wish to continue to be part of the Ethiopian state and what role the Ethiopian state would have in their lives if they chose to stay a part of it.

None of these arguments sat well with me. Yet I sat quietly through countless hours of debate. By the Christmas break, I had decided that I did not have what it takes to be in the company of these bright young men (few women in their company) who impressed me with the breadth and depth of their knowledge of things that I never had the occasion to contemplate. So, like many other students, I stepped aside and left the playing field to those who were engaged in a debate about the future of my country, my future, even though much of what they said grated on my sensibilities.

I did not understand nor feel right with the emerging consensus that our traditional system must be thrown out in its entirety instead of being reformed. I did not understand or feel right that no one was exploring whether it would not be either possible or preferable to fix those aspects of that system which make it difficult for more Ethiopians to enjoy greater liberty and more prosperity and to retain those aspects which defined our national character and represented the sum total of our shared experiences as a people and as a country. I did not understand why these bright young men believed that the best alternative to our traditional system must be the one system which affords its citizens even less individual liberties and less room for personal ambitions just because it held the promise for the quickest transformation of the country from a traditional agrarian society to a modern industrial one. I did not feel that socialism was the best choice for my country and for me. Yet, I did not express my sentiments for I did not believe I had anything worthy of sharing with such very enlightened company.

What I found even more bizarre was the very notion that it was ok for a nation to splinter into any number of little Bantustans instead of working on resolving any inter-community grievances. As a child, of the many stories I read in those Amharic readers (yeminibab metsahift), nothing caught my attention or stimulated my senses like the stories which were meant to nurture patriotism and love of country. I found particularly enjoyable such books as “Araya”, “Ato Temachu” and the like, which recount historically accurate fictionalized events of what our ancestors had to do to keep the country intact and to fend off invaders. Throughout my childhood, when I read one of those stories, I would dream of taking part in a campaign to help save my country or to assist a hero facing a particularly difficult situation. Like many children of my time, I was raised and taught that I had a duty to defend my country from all enemies foreign or domestic. Consequently, I found the very idea of secession to be obscene and not appropriate for debate among Ethiopia’s most privileged group of young people. But, I said nothing because I believed those who spoke with such confidence and swagger either knew something which was beyond my limits of comprehension or would shout me down and expose me as the imbecile that I might be.

It took ten more years of growing on my part and observing the country descended into a gut wrenching fratricide for me to realize that my intuitions were right on the mark in the first place. Thirty more years later today nearly all Ethiopians agree not only with my surmise that socialism was an utter failure but also with my belief that we should not have kept quiet and allowed those bright, brave and naïve young men to take us down a path that they did not fully understood and we did not fully agree to. I now hold a firm belief that I should have stood up and shouted down those hot heads when I first heard that foolishness. I also believe that there was a real chance to cut all of that experimental foolishness in the bud. What is more, if the sentiments of my circle of friends are any indication, most Ethiopians have also surmised as such.

At about the time the socialist revolution got in full swing, the country descended into a complex multi-pronged civil war. Among the protagonists were those who had been articulating the Leninist doctrine and advocating dumping the traditional feudal system in lieu of socialism. Just when the country was on course to join the world socialist movement, these people went to the bush for all sorts of reasons including for the declared purposes of “liberating their nations” or fighting for a more perfect form of socialism. Then it all began to make sense. I had it right all along. The end game of those who spoke so eloquently and tirelessly about a people’s right to self-determination had always been secession and not liberation. Their driving ambition might as well have been the breakup of Ethiopia in to several smaller fiefdoms for the purpose of providing more ego maniacal individuals with more chances for lordship.

Why is this story worth telling today?

Right about now, if you have not already quit on me, you are probably asking why I bring up this nearly forty years old story when today the country is in the throes of another convulsion. The short answer is this. We are once again at the cusp of another radical transition and once again I am beginning to feel uneasy about key threads in our national discourse. I can list several areas of concern but I will limit myself in this post to just one issue regarding which we need to come together in short order lest we lose another opportunity to avert another ye-igir-isat.

Nearly forty years after I first came to Addis, my hair is mostly gone and my teeth will soon follow. I have gone more than once around the globe and feel more secure with my instincts. I refuse to hold back when I see wrong done to the country and to the people I love dearly just because somebody might disagree with me. I no longer fear other men. I fear only my God and our forefathers who might be looking down at all of us. So, I will speak my mind. Besides, one good thing about cyberspace is that I can get things off my chest without being booed or shouted down. So here it is. The first issue which has me worried is the Oromo Liberation Front. Its name and its propaganda grate badly on me.

The name of any organization is its trade mark, the carefully crafted catchphrase that is meant to tell a great deal about the nature and purpose of an organization. It is for this reason that many organizations jealously guard and protect their names through registered copyrights and trademarks. I do believe, therefore, that the Oromo Liberation Front selected its name carefully because it describes its mission, its vision and its purpose well.

On my part, when I hear the name Oromo Liberation Front many questions and much discomfort pops in my head. First among these are the questions: liberation for whom and liberation from what? I am astute enough to know what a liberation organization does. Just the same, out of basic respect for the right all people have to define their mission and ambition, I referred to the official documents of the OLF. These documents state that the mission of the OLF is “to lead the national liberation struggle of the Oromo people against the Abyssinian colonial rule.”

It is all right there, in black and white. I know our people are as good as any when it comes to playing with words. So, I am sure there are many interpretations of this credo doled out by the OLF depending who they are talking to. Yet when you strip all the semantics away, what is left is an organization which defines its mission in exactly the same terms as the ELF and EPLF did when they set out to break up Ethiopia. Reasonable people can only surmise that the ultimate purpose of the OLF, its rason d’etre, is to bring about the secession of Oromia from Ethiopia.

Once during my second year at HSIU (which in my case meant during my freshman year), I got the courage to ask one of those all knowing Maharajas why the rest of us should be supporting or even standing idly by when it was obvious that the Eritrean students were only interested in breaking up our country. He responded by asking me why I would wish them to share in our misery instead of letting them break free and fend for themselves. Others told me that the threat of secession was actually a negotiating ploy intended to force the masters of the feudal system to loosen their grip rather than an expression of a real desire to permanently separate from Ethiopia.

I am sure these days there are equally noble and high sounding reasons offered to explain why we should all focus on the main problem confronting Ethiopia today instead of being sidetracked by the minutiae in the political philosophy of one of the opposition organizations fighting the common enemy of the Ethiopian people. I am aware that the OLF is one of those angafa organizations of the land whose motives and methods an ordinary mortal like me is not supposed to question. However, I sense that I am being set up to fall into the same snare for the second time.

I ask my fellow Ethiopians if we are willing to yet again sit quietly and watch the same disastrous scene replayed once again? I, for one, am not going to be tiptoeing around the 2000 pound gorilla sitting in the living room and pretend that it is not there. I am not a bright eyed seventeen year old innocent child from the farm anymore. I have been bitten by this snake once before. I insist that we address it and address it now.

I find the very idea of an Ethiopian liberation front that does not seek to fight for all oppressed Ethiopians to be rather offensive to my sense of citizenship. I also find any suggestion that I have no right to speak on this matter except if I were an Oromo to be an affront to my intellect. Speaking of the Oromo identity, I find the OLF’s notion of what constitutes the land of the Oromo to be an affront to the right of a people to self-determination it recites ad nauseum in its manifesto.

I was reassured by comments made about the OLF both by Ato Bulcha Demeksa and Dr. Merera Gudena during the debates which preceded the 2005 election. Ato Bulcha emphatically stated that the political agenda of his organization differed from that of the OLF only on their respective choices of the method of struggle – armed struggle vs. peaceful and legal struggle. Dr. Merera essentially characterized the OLF in the same terms – a body fighting for the rights of the Oromo to enjoy democratic rights and to be free of poverty within the Ethiopian state. If these prominent Oromo personalities have it right, then millions of other Ethiopians can be reassured that the OLF is a friend and not a foe.

That said, the OLF has yet to clarify its purpose, its mission and its positions to the Ethiopian people. It is up to that organization to spell out its vision for Ethiopia in the clearest terms instead of cloaking it in the language of Leninist double-speak. The fact that we are fighting to liberate ourselves from an oppressive minority fascist clique does not mean that we can or should ignore other festering problems. The fact that Mr. Meles is an equal opportunity oppressor, terrorizing every village and every town in Ethiopia, does not mean that we should not pay attention to the machinations of lesser evils who stand to destabilize our country tomorrow.

It is up to the OLF to decide whether it is ready to join the Ethiopian people in the fight against tyranny. Alternatively, it could continue its current effort to use this crisis purely for its partisan advantage and for the purpose of boosting its partisan capabilities. It could continue to paint the crises presently engulfing our country as a fight between the government of Ethiopia and the Oromo people as if all other Ethiopians are either exempt from tyranny or worse, are siding with the government and taking part in the persecution of the Oromo people.

Regrettably, the OLF has been successful in casting the current crisis in Ethiopia as a conflict between the Oromo on the one side and all other people on the other side. So successful that even reporters and academics are beginning to characterize it as such. You hear international human rights campaigners and high ranking officials of foreign governments reporting the carnage perpetrated by the EPRDF regime across the country as crimes committed against the Oromo people.

My concern arises from the knowledge that misrepresentations of this magnitude often tend to snowball into more substantive structural problems if they are not addressed early. As I said earlier, our days of innocence are long gone. We have long ago debunked the notion that we should focus on the greater cause and ignore or even collaborate with those whose expressed purpose runs counter to our sense of Ethiopiawinet just as long as we are fighting against the same enemy. So, I invite the OLF to clarify itself and to express its willingness to work with other Ethiopians to end tyranny and to lay the groundwork for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Ethiopia.

Of Bumper Crops, Hyper Inflation and Export Embargo

The economic news reported by the various organs of the EPRDF government has gotten me completely confused. Let me assure readers that I am an avid reader of Ethiopian news and consider myself to be sufficiently literate to understand what I read. So the problem is not that I have not taken the time to study what is being reported, because I do. And I do believe that it is not a reflection of any shortcoming I might have in comprehending the written word. I had the privilege of sitting through enough boring economics lectures to be able to read and understand government PR. So I have also ruled out incompetence in basic economic principles as the source of my confusion.

None of the usual suspects can explain my current state. My theory is that the level of confusion I am experiencing is actually what the masters of disinformation intended it to be. I believe I am actually getting the complete message. This government has a well established pattern of news reportage. When these veterans of misdirection and surprise attacks expect some really bad news in the horizon, they strategically place in the media sufficient numbers of misinformation with the expectation that this may turn away or destruct the reader from the real news when it finally breaks. It sounds like one of those conspiracy theories, but please hear me out and look at what has been happening over the last several days.

Dateline Addis Ababa, 28 Jan 2006: Ethiopia sees 15.1% increase in agricultural production in 2005-06 , Source: Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA). This headline was carried by a great many papers and online sources over the weekend. The DPA story leads with the following statement: “Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says the country's agricultural production indicates a 15.1 per cent increase during the current harvest season and its overall economy would register a "double-digit" growth at the end of the current fiscal year ending in June, the local press reported Saturday”. Apparently in an attempt to enhance the credibility of his comments, the Prime Minister attributed his determination to “projections … established by a joint assessment team from the government and donors.”

The PM slyly mentions that the projections are corroborated by donors. That is an admission that the reading public finds his staff and their reports not worthy of their trust. So, to ensure that the reader takes these reports as rock solid facts, he casually stated that the projections were established by a joint team of the government and donors. He effectively said you can bank of this and for a couple of hours I did. I was delighted about the prospects of my siblings and cousins who try to make a living scratching the earth. I even thought that may be I don’t need to send as much money to my folks this year. Thoughts of a vacation in the Canadian Rockies swirled in my head. (Awassa-Langano yayehushi….).



Not even three full days had passed after the story of a 15.1% increase in the harvest broke when word came of a government so distressed of developments in the market place for cereal crops, that it was moving to ban all exports of grains. Dateline Addis Ababa, 31 Jan 2006: Ethiopia bans exports of four grains to stabilize local market , Source: DPA. Now if that does not throw you for a loop, you are a better person than I am. I read and reread these stories trying to understand just exactly how they might be reconciled. Anywhere else in the world, a 15.1% increase in harvest would constitute a major bumper crop. Such developments some times even spell disaster for the farmer and a windfall for the consumer as farm prices plummet. Indeed the ridiculously expensive agricultural subsidies in North America, Europe and Japan owe their genesis from repeated disasters faced by farm families in the 19th and early 20th centuries following unusually large harvests and the low prices that usually follow. These agricultural price support schemes, which now make it difficult for the Ethiopian farmer to make a decent living, were put in place as a safeguard against those times when the marketplace might turn a great harvest into a financial ruin by depressing grain prices.

So, you must understand my confusion. When supply increased by a full 15.!%, grain prices surged so much that a government committed to the ideals of a free market found it necessary to go against its principles and intervene in the market place. It intervened not by propping up prices but by embargoing the shipment of farm produce from low price markets to high price markets. I am confused because I had always thought that a major increase in supply reduced prices, not escalate them. Something else must be going on here.

I am also confused because I thought I heard the Prime Minister tell that man from the BBC that his party is the peasants’ party? Did he not tell that reporter that the TPLF was nurtured by the peasants during its guerilla days and that the TPLF now rules on behalf of the peasants? Then, why is he concerned about a development that graces the peasants with a rare double fortune – a bumper harvest at a time of surging prices? Why is he trying to snuff out the blessing God brought to his people? Why would he do that, except perhaps if he is trying to win back the support of those wily city folks who voted 23-zip and 137-1 against his party? That does not sound right either – after all these city people have been saying about the TPLF rule since the election.

Apparently I am not the only one confused by these turn of events. The once zany and now Abesha-like – I would not touch politics with a ten foot pole – sedate and careful Meskel Square reports “I'm no economist, but I thought exports were generally a good thing - or at least a neutral thing. Will banning exports of native grains really bring local prices down? Or will it damage local grain producers by cutting off their small amount of foreign income, thereby piling extra pressure on to the domestic market? You tell me. I only got a 'C' in my economics O' Level.” Join the crowd, Andrew. You have now become truly one of us, at least in your state of mind. (You better take good care of your passport though.) I bet you were even more confused after you read what the state journalists reported the very next day.

But you should not worry too much, Andrew. After all, no less a distinguished character reference than Mr. Bono just two days ago told us that “I know Meles Zenawi. I have sat with him on more than a few occasions. I know his story. He is a regarded macro-economist, believe it or not.” I just knew that there was something else to it. The macro-economist must have another explanation, those macroeconomists always do. You can go to bed tonight knowing that, according to Mr. Bono, Mr. Meles “is a person who deeply cares about the poor in Ethiopia and has done some great things. But he's bipolar.”

Dateline Addis Ababa, 31 Jan 2006: Enterprizes exporting agricultural products awarded for outstanding performances. Source: ENA. This morning, I had the distinct misfortune of coming across a report by that eternal source of veritable truth, the Ethiopian News Agency. It was a story about awards to exporters of the very agricultural products which were banned the day before. According to ENA, “Addisu Legese awarded the prizes to the exporters who stood one to third in their export performances involving one or the other of cotton, spices, tea, wild gum, cereals, live animals, legumes and pulses, fruits and vegetable, oil seeds and coffee.” I suspect Andy at Meskel Square must be feel even more conflicted this morning. He is right. Exports are good to an economy – just look at China and Japan. In Ethiopia, exporting agricultural products is such a good thing that it merits a special award – in addition to the profit that is. But, apparently they banned it without telling that Deputy Prime Minister who must have been furiously evaluating all of the candidates to select the best exporters at the very same time some one else was banning exporting.

Looking around the internet, I read all kinds of speculations. One commentator said that it is aimed at those folks north of the border. Hum…isn’t that using food as a tool of war? I swear I have heard that somewhere else before. I also read that the embargo is meant to punish Ethiopians abroad who are relentless in the fight against tyranny. I know I have been hearing reports that over the last few years, the powers to be in Addis have been reduced to eating yeGojam neCh teff as those living abroad bought up all the magna that Minjar grows. Perhaps a young EPRDF strategist trying hard to impress his higher ups came up with this creative retaliatory strike. “If they don’t behave, we will reduce them to eating Big Macs!!”

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. What they have been reporting tells me that either the EPRDF is a heck of a lot more incompetent than we guessed even in the worst of times or something really big is in the offing. Could they really be so lost? Didn’t we all thing that PR is their forte? Stay tuned, for I believe there is more where this came from.