Best wishes for UEDF-Frankfurt Meeting But…
By B. Tsehaye
March 27, 2004

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I am not anti-UEDF, but I am strongly pro-Ethiopia,
and I want to be pro-UEDF.

For me, the election in 2005 is the most important, if
not the only one, mission of UEDF or any sensible
coalition, or any political party and any normal
Ethiopian at this point of time when we are only a few
months from those critical national and regional
elections.

I would like to wish UEDF a successful meeting in
Frankfurt, but I have a hard time defining
“successful” at this point since UEDF’s objectives and
goals are, to put it mildly, very vague.

Is UEDF a coalition or a political party ? What are
its objectives and goals ? These are not clear in
the UEDF Constitution (If it can be called that since
it is, reportedly, prepared by a select few last
August to serve the many!) which has serious flaws,
and it is these same problems that need to be also
discussed in Frankfurt if Ethiopia is to come out of
the political and economic quagmire it has been in
since 1974.

Indeed, the clouds of doom (Gambela’s massacre,
repeated mass dismissals at AAU, conflicts between
different ethnic groups in Ogaden, Afar, Harerge,
Sidamo, Welega, Benishangul, Arsi, etc…) are already
in the air and they have been passively observed in
the past, but the elite keeps going as usual, largely
talking about the irrelevant in numerous talking
shops.

Let me point out some problems of the UEDF
Constitution to help as a basis for discussion on the
internet and in Frankfurt next April, hoping that such
a discussion will make UEDF stronger, more
transparent, accountable and relevant to today’s
Ethiopia. I shall not say anything about UEDF’s
political program since I want us to take one step at
a time.

1. UEDF’s Organizational Structure

This includes (Article 3) a UEDF Council, the Central
Executive, the Executive Committee, the Foreign
Affairs Committee, the Public Relations and
Information Committee, the Finance and Property
Committee, the Political Affairs Committee, the
Organizations’ Committee, the Development and
Rehabilitation Committee, the Research Committee, the
Auditors and Inspection Committee, and the Advisory
Shengo. Latter on, in Article 3.14, we learn of
Regional branches in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Lacking an explicit statement of UEDF objectives and
goals in the UEDF Constitution, and after having read
through the overall organizational structure and the
functions of the committees that are made responsible
for development and rehabilitation, assistance to
political refugees in the Diaspora, research in 5
areas [ (i) Constitution, (ii) the Economy, (iii)
Public Health, (iv)Education, and (v) Defense], among
several others, we come to the following painful
conclusions:

(a) There is no mention of UEDF’s objectives in the
Constitution, contrary to standard practice in such
important documents;

(b) UEDF is dominated by the 10 parties abroad and the
few founding parties in Ethiopia have to receive
directives mainly from the Vice-Chairman in the USA (
See Articles 3.13.2.6, 3.13.2.7,3.13.2.8,
3.13.2.9,3.13.4.5) whereas those that wage the
principal political struggle in Ethiopia are junior
partners in UEDF. A necessary consequence of this
lope-sided organizational structure is that member
parties in Ethiopia will have increasingly less voice
in UEDF management if they merge into stronger
parties, and thereby further reduce their small number
to end up having still fewer votes/say in UEDF’s
meetings;

(c) The top leadership of UEDF is uniquely fashioned
to revolve from Dr. Beyene of SEPDC to Dr. Merera of
ONC, and lastly to Ato Fassika Belette of EPRP every 6
months ( See Article 3.13.1.2 and Article 3.13.2.5).
What is to happen after Ato Fassika is left open,
perhaps leaving room for a strong man to take over ?
That does not portray UEDF as internally democratic,
or does it?

(d) The Deputy Secretary General, who is also based in
the USA, is a de facto Secretary General ( See
Articles 3.13.4.2-3.13.4.3). “How many Head Offices?”
is ulso unanswered.

(e) The proliferation of the committees has inevitably
led to significant redundancies, in spitre of the
meagre resources of UEDF;

(f) UEDF has long-term goals, and the only significant
short-term goal – winning the national and regional
elections in 2005 – is not even mentioned anywhere in
the document though there is some reference to civic
education;

(g) UEDF’s Constitution appears to be prepared for a
political party, albeit the absence of explicit
objectives and goals;

(h) Founding members of UEDF have very little to say
in managing and overseeing the UEDF other than as
members of committees. Even the issue of membership
fees is not in the Constitution so that it appears
that UEDF regards itself as a political party which
often raises most of its money from the public. Does
this appear to be intentionally designed to
marginalize founding members of UEDF, particularly
those in Ethiopia ?

Indeed, if UEDF is a coalition of political parties,
it must collect membership fees, and seek other
sources when there is full support for that approach
from all founding members. There is no mention of
membership fees in the Constitution, and that is,
unfortunately, encouraged by an uncritical Diaspora
which emotionally responds before finding out about
UEDF’s constitution, objectives, goals, the state of
its internal democratic practice and, hence, the
prospects for success in liberating Ethiopia. That
uncritical public response has repeatedly bedeviled
progress over the last 30 years, and brought disaster
after disaster on a preponderant majority ( the
farmers) of our innocent countrymen.

2. The Way Forward

I could have translated the entire UEDF Constitution
and sent it forward for all to see, but I think the
important points raised above are sufficient to
highlight the need for UEDF to first look urgently
inward and improve its Constitution before it is too
late, if UEDF is, indeed, pro-Ethiopia. The national
and regional elections are only a few months away, and
let us all come together this time to make a
significant difference to a nation that has been bled
profusely by the very elite that has frequented
several talking shops over the past several years in
Europe, Africa, USA and Ethiopia.

We have had enough of the suffering here at home, and
you must feel the same way in the Diaspora, and I
plead with you to please drop any personal or group
ambitions and interests and come, for once, as our “
feudal” forefathers have repeatedly done in Adwa and
Maichew, to make history by making UEDF credible and
agreeable to all founding members and to all of us
before mid-2004.

If you succeed in the national elections in 2005,
believe me, I will not be a party to any government at
any level after such a sweet victory. My good days
will have come then, and I will be fully content to
enjoy a quiet and happy life in the democratic and
prosperous Ethiopia.

The only plea I now have is on behalf of our starving
and bleeding countrymen throughout Ethiopia, people
who are largely our victims, and still look up to us-
the elite – for redemption, but continue to be
repeatedly betrayed by us for all sorts of laughable
reasons.

It is absolutely clear that UEDF is not (i) internally
democratic, (ii) a coalition that is meaningfully
organized, (iii) a coalition of equals, (iii) a
coalition with explicit and realistic objectives and
goals, (iv) aiming at winning the 2005 national and
regional elections, as a national emergency, and as an
absolutely essential peaceful prerequisite for the
transition from an autocratic state into a democratic
state.

Time is running out, and we have only a few more
months before the elections. Unity is our most potent
instrument, and we need to achieve that (a) by
ensuring that UEDF is a truly democratic coalition of
all founding parties with an agreeable Constitution
and a pro-Ethiopia political program before mid-2004,
(b) by forging unity among the 10 founding parties
before mid-2004 in the Diaspora so that they may all
speak with one word for Ethiopia instead of tearing
each other apart, (iii) by encouraging JADE, the
coalition of AEUP, ONC and SEPDC, to be revived to
also include EDUP, since it was, paradoxically,
destroyed after the UEDF inaugural conference last
July. Failure to do that is almost as bad as
treating UEDF as a Private Limited Company. Dr.
Merera has the happy duty to achieve that in the next
few weeks.

It is no use pointing an accusing finger at me or at
one or more members of UEDF that have serious
questions about UEDF since we have a democratic right
to do that, and since ignoring them or giving them bad
names is not going to move Ethiopia forward. UEDF has
to urgently re-examine itself and make itself
agreeable to all parties and to all of us, and all
that we request you is to assure us that UEDF is not
another EPRDF.

I also want the audience in Frankfurt/Main next month,
and elsewhere, to ask those same urgent questions and
push the UEDF leaders to be internally democratic by
responding to the concerns openly and adequately in a
manner that is not a replica of that of EPRDF.

Otherwise, as the saying goes, “yichi ttire kaderech
atikorettemim,” and Ethiopia may not even be allowed
to continue at the current level of elite-sponsored
and elite-cultivated shame and bleeding. The
Diaspora needs to be less emotional and more critical
if our aspiring political leaders are to be responsive
to the needs of a democratic and prosperous Ethiopia.