To: PM Meles Zenawi, Addis Ababa
From: Eskinder Nega
Subject: Message from the people
Dear Ato Meles Zenawi,
Perhaps it is the jinx of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unprecedented 12
years in office. He had after all controversially breached the
unwritten code scrupulously respected by all Presidents after George
Washington, America’s first President, who had refrained, on grounds
of principle, from serving more than two terms.
Of America’s nine Presidents after Roosevelt, who have since been
constitutionally restricted to a maximum of two terms, four,
Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton and Bush (the son), have succeeded in
serving a second term, while another four, Nixon, Ford, Carter and
Bush (the father), had to settle for a single term. The ninth, Obama,
at this time serving his first term, is set to break the tie in about
two years.
Roosevelt, who is widely rated as one of America’s top three best
Presidents (along with Washington and Lincoln), was plagued by ill
health from the very beginning. He literally overworked himself to
premature death. He would most probably have had a few more good years
ahead of him had he retired after a third term. Whatever may be said
of its merits and demerits, the Constitutional cap on Presidential
terms his four terms enthused has at least diminished the possibility
of similar fate befalling subsequent American Presidents.
Inadvertently, the eight years to which they have been limited to have
over the years proved neither too short nor too long.
But this letter is by no means about the damage which two decades of
overwork, which you have spoken of and I empathize with, has exacted
on your health. Notwithstanding my conviction that you and your party
have fundamentally marred Ethiopia’s standing and potential, it is my
duty as a Christian not to wish you ill-health. It is a responsibility
I try to live up to by earnestly wishing you the long life I hanker
for my family, friends and myself.
Whether the term served was one or two, American Presidents have time
and again described life at the helm of their nation as profoundly
lonely — almost depressingly so. Roosevelt, the only person to have
served more than two terms, died before he had time to recount of his
experience. But few doubt his experience was any different. Most
historians, in fact, reckon that as his tenure elongated his solitude
had deepened.
This is in a nation reputed not only for one of the most accessible
Presidencies on the planet, but also, intriguingly, so unlike
Ethiopia, celebrated for cabinet members and advisors who provide the
President with honest, sound and frequent advice.
Ethiopian monarchs literally believed in their divine sanction.
Everything they did had heavenly design. There was no rational nor
reason for doubt. The certainty of religious assurance completed them.
But the nation’s last monarch, Haile- Sellassie, returned to his
throne from half a decade exile in the UK with this world of absolutes
shattered beyond redemption. Both the shock and resulting lonesomeness
were inevitable. In his declining years, he was almost inconsolably
lonely. Even his eldest daughter, Tenagnework, with whom he had a
unique bond, seldom shared the details of his very private world.
Mengistu is intuitively extroverted in a way that Haile-Sellasie never
was, but this was not enough to insulate him from the isolation the
position ultimately entailed. The forced retirement he imposed on
Fikre-Sellasie Wegderes and Legesse Asfaw, his two closest friends and
political allies, as the EPRDF closed in on Addis in mid-1991, best
illustrates his eventual predicament.
None of these leaders, however, whether Ethiopian or American, had to
wrestle with the emotional anguish of a bitter break between
irreplaceable friends the way Meles Zenawi had to. The lost
friendships between Meles and Seye Abraha et al were forged over three
decades under the most difficult circumstances. New friends could not
possibly fill the void created by their loss. A descent to the
emotional wilderness, where it is undoubtedly lonesome, is the least
that could have happened to Meles.
A decade has now elapsed, sir, since you had become a profoundly
lonelier man than either Ethiopian or American leaders of yore.
And perhaps this would not have really mattered, as could reasonably
be said of American Presidents, if it was somehow tempered with a
liberal flow of honest advice.
This being Ethiopia, though, leaders seldom enjoy the privilege of
honest advice from subordinates.
Much has changed in Ethiopia over the past four decades. But also much
more remains intractably the same. And no where is this permanency
more evident than in the realm of Ethiopia’s bloated officialdom. By
the power tradition, leaders are told what they want to hear, not what
they should.
The rule in this world is simple: Thrive with opportunism and
sophistry. Perish with honesty and integrity.
Play by the rule and reward will assuredly come even if only slowly.
This is the dominant spirit of the times that has enabled your wife to
suddenly ascend to the most senior ranks of the EPRDF. In her rise
lies the climax of the decline of the “revolutionary generation that
moved mountains”, to use one of your favorite aphorisms.
With the attainment of status and privilege dominating the thoughts of
your subordinates, here is what you are hearing from them: a grateful
populace enthralled by fast economic growth, political stability; a
happy, hopeful youth; and content farmers. In other words, a nation on
the verge of take-off, boldly united under Meles’ indispensable
leadership.
Here is the gist of this letter, the real message from the grassroots:
a nation outraged by high soaring inflation; a public scandalized by
unprecedented corruption, rampant unemployment, political oppression,
chronic shortage of land in rural areas. In sum, the nation is
desperate for change.
You have essentially wasted the two decades with which you were
blessed to affect change. In place of pragmatism dogma has prevailed;
in place of transparency secrecy has taken root; in place of democracy
oppression has intensified; and in place of merit patronage has been
rewarded.
Ato Meles Zenawi: the people want — no, need — you to leave office.
The people are closely watching events in North Africa as I write this
letter. They are debating the implications for Africa, including
Ethiopia. And they have been inspired by the heroism of ordinary
Libyans.
Listen to them before it’s too late.
Thank you for your time.
The end.
THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT
My Amharic article has reached a surprising number of people in
Ethiopia. The feedback has been exhilarating. Thank you for responding
to last week’s appeal. Please continue to post articles on your
facebook pages.
