In Part
Six (a), I offered a set of suggestions about our individual and group
behaviors that must change in order to advance the human condition in Ethiopia.
The tendency of my own generation to see issues in “black and white” and the
inability to separate the person from the issue led to unfortunate
consequences. Wisdom would have suggested that we reflected on unintended
consequences (the concept of thorough diagnosis) before we made declarations. This
tendency persists among Ethiopia’s elites today.
Ethiopian
political and civic opposition groups do not lack talent and concepts. There is
a plethora of both. What we lack is the will, determination, discipline,
flexibility, organization and leadership to translate concepts and
recommendations into concrete actions. In this continuation, I shall offer a
series of additional suggestions for further debate, and more important, for
action. The items are identified because they are within our control and can be
done. If we do them in a strategic and persistent manner, these steps will
further undermine the legitimacy of an illegitimate regime that thrives on our
division more than on its strength.
4.Let us all campaign against corruption and nepotism
I and
others have provided ample evidence that show the economic, social and
political costs of tribalism and ethnic based discrimination and exclusion. The
governing party’s claim that its developmental state advances the common good
is totally misleading and false. In fact, it has strengthened administrative and
state capture based corruption to the tune of between US$8.345 and US$11
billion since the TPLF/EPRDF took power. The latest from Global Financial
Integrity reveals that the Ethiopian people are being “milked dry.” In other
words, the country’s resources are being plundered by members of the governing
elites.
In 2011,
Ethiopia ranked 116th from 60th in 2000, a substantial decline. The country is
more corrupt; and increases in aid flow aggravate the situation.Corruption is so rampant that nothing is done
without greasing someone in the hierarchy and at all levels of government.
Moral decay that reached an alarming level is a consequence of corrupt
practices. The cost to the society is incalculable.
Compounding
corruption is concentration of incomes and wealth in a few hands; and a
monopolistic economy that is dominated by the party, its endowments and favored
individuals including foreigners. One of TPLF’s creations is EFFORT, a dominant
player in all sectors of the economy. It epitomizes ethnic affliction and
undermines confidence and trust in the economic system of the country. It
curtails fair and open competition.
Therefore,
political and civic activists in the Diaspora as well as ordinary persons who
care about their country and its starving poor can and should come together and
campaign against
corruptionand illicit outflow. If they agree on a common
cause, there is nothing to prevent them from working together against a
suffocating system that affects most Ethiopians. They have the human, financial,
material and diplomatic potential within their hands to shame the regime. Here
is where, good will, determination, discipline, commitment, cooperation,
collaboration and a unity of purpose to do something good and concrete will go
a long way to show the world that Ethiopians in the Diaspora do really care
about their home country and its poor and hungry millions. Those who support
the governing party should recognize that the ethnicization and concentration
of income and wealth, and the monopoly over the pillars of the economy will
undermine national unity and cohesion.Foreign
organizations and governments that support the governing party will be much
more sympathetic to the causes of justice, the rule of law, political pluralism
and governance that is accountable if opponents show wisdom by cooperating and
collaborating rather than fighting and undermining one another.
This
recommendation to the Ethiopian Diaspora in general and to activists in
particular is not done in a vacuum. Anti-corruption campaigns have gone global.
This “globalized spring” that began in North Africa and the Middle East has
spread to India, 900 cities and towns in the USA, Europe and Africa. Ethiopian
activists should exploit this trend that has gone ballistic. The key is to
understand the trend and act and not just react and moan. Greed, income and
wealth concentration and inequality drive these spontaneous uprisings. What
seems to be leaderless and virtual indignations and popular uprisings can be
unstoppable force that will change Ethiopia too. Even in the authoritarian
state of China, there were 87,000 incidents of popular unrest in 2005 alone.
What are common among these protests is social and economic, injustice, greed
and corruption.
5.Let us insist on aid that meets human needs.
The
TPLF/EPRDF regime has received more aid than any in the country’s history. The
question is whether or not this massive aid flow estimated in excess of US$40
billion, US$3.5 billion this past year, has made a dent in boosting incomes,
reducing poverty and in creating domestic capabilities that will create the
foundation for sustainable and equitable development. By all accounts, the
answer is no. Sustainable and equitable development will not take place as long
as billions of American dollars are stolen each year. Aid and Diaspora
transfers are fairly easy monies to steal and to divert. There is no
independent institution to stop this mismanagement of national resources. The
2011 UN Human Development Index ranked Ethiopia 174th out of 185 countries.
This alone suggests that the primary beneficiaries from aid and growth are
party favored individuals and families, the governing party and its endowments.
Aid has, often, been used to punish opponents and to reward loyalists.
Political
parties, civic groups, followers of different faiths, academics, professional
groups and the rest can play a prominent role by campaigning actively andsystematically in donor capitals, in front of
foundations, Non-governmental organizations, human and economic rights groups,
churches, state capitals, tax payers and so on that donor monies should go
directly to the poor and should no longer be used to enrich the few; to reward
friends and to punish opponents. They should insist on independent oversighteither by donors themselves or by neutral groups.
They should be guided by the tested principle that equitable access to social
and economic opportunities is one of the most powerful tools toward national
unity, cohesion, peace and stability.
I will
provide a simple human example why this is doable, practical and essential.
Think of a child in Gambella who is forced to work on an Indian commercial farm
for less than US$1 per day; below the poverty wage. Imagine if aid money was
channeled to the poor in his community. This child would go to school and will
have the possibility of becoming an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a
teacher, a mechanic and so on. The Diaspora must appreciate the devastating
impact of hunger on millions of children, hundreds of thousands of who are
stunted. UNICEF reports that “a child in Ethiopia that is stunted is less able
to fulfill its potential. Its ability to learn at school and later earn a
living and contribute to the nation’s wealth is forever held back.” The
TPLF/EPRDF regime has no empathy for these children. We should make it our
business to care. Corruption that diverts aid monies and illicit outflow of
funds deprives the child from Gambella and millions of others of opportunities.
The developmental
state’s claim that the benefits of growth will, ultimately trickle down to this
child and to millions of other children is sheer madness. I wonder how many of
us in the Diaspora give credence to the popular phrase “Ediget kale dabo yet ale?” (If there is growth, where is the bread?)
Growth is about enough food to eat. If most of the aid money is stolen, it is
this and other children who will pay a price for decades.
The
pursuit of an uneven development strategy in a country where a single party
dominates politics and economics does not at all advance fair and equitable
investments. The chance of the child escaping poverty is almost zero. Born poor; he
will die poor. The national outcome of the model is alarming
disparity in development, incomes and wealth. Aid that is not governed by an
independent oversight tends to aggravate inequality and uneven development. More
aid means more corruption and more illicit outflow. In turn, this will lead to
insecurity and instability. The business of aid should not be to perpetuate
dependency and to enrich a few. It is to make the aid business obsolete by
boosting domestic capabilities, including the domestic private sector and smallholders.
Aid that does not advance human potential and freedom is dependency.
Here is
another dilemma the society will face if the current trend continues. Uneven
investment, income and wealth concentration in a few hands and in selected
ethnic regions will lead to civil unrest and conflict that no one can contain.
For this reason, each of us in the Diaspora: business women and men, teachers,
medical professionals, taxi drivers, artists and so on has an obligation to let
our voice heard as the opportunity arises. What is required is good will to
cooperate. If we speak with a single voice, we can change minds. Look
at the brave women and men, girls and boys in the “Occupy Wall Street
Movement.”
Ethiopia
is in worse shape than the USA; but here young people fight for a cause. The
Diaspora has all the freedom in the world to do the right same thing. Is it not
reasonable for those who are in the forefront of the struggle within the
country to expect that those of us who live in freedom sacrifice time, money and
labor to advance their cause? Is it not time for us to be bold enough to
question one another how hundreds and sometimes thousands would go to a musical
concert for hours but cannot spare time for a common social and humanitarian
cause: Human and economic rights? Love of country and the diversity of people
for which it is home require that we devote some time and spare some monies and
expend know-how to advance the need of a child regardless of ethnic or
religious affiliation. Unity and national cohesion does not just happen; it
takes people to make it happen. It takes collaboration.
6.Let us promote freedom of the press in
Ethiopia.
A quote
from Ralph Barton Perry is most appropriate for this recommendation. “Ignorance
deprives men of freedom because they do not know what alternatives there are.
It is impossible to choose what one has never heard of.” The governing party
arrests, sentences and jails journalists because it does not want the Ethiopian
public to know alternatives to repression and oppression. Those of us who enjoy
freedom know that a free press is the cornerstone of civil society. This
fundamental right contained in the Ethiopian Constitution does not exist in
practice. The governing party knows well that an informed public, especially
youth, demands transparency, the rule of law, fair treatment, a level playing
field in accessing opportunities and accountability. Ethiopia today is “one of
the un-freest societies in the world.”
Have you
ever wondered if the rest of the world knows the shameful and tragic conditions
of Ethiopian girls and women? In a country where human life has been degraded
and devalued, girls and women fare far worse than boys and men. Thousands are
shipped to the Middle East each month to work as domestic workers. As someone
put it in an Ethiopian newspaper, “They move from one form of death (poverty)
to another (servitude).” When and if they die (as is too often the case) from
physical and mental abuse, their government does not protest. Prime Minister
Meles was asked about the deteriorating and humiliating condition of girls and
women under his watch.He was told of
the unprecedented case of five and six year old girls putting acid on their
bodies and dying. He said that he did not know. Clearly, the Prime Minister
cacacares only about his own and his extended family and not the rest. If your
own government does not care about you, why would a Saudi or any other master
care? It is the same thing that he said about hunger. “There is drought but not
hunger” in a country that is home to “one of the hungriest populations on the
planet.”
The bottom
line is this. Ethiopian life, especially those of females, has become cheap at
home and abroad. Increasingly, foreigners with resources get away with any
human rights violation on commercial farms and in factories. Ethiopians cannot
command respect in their own homeland. Those who hire and abuse Ethiopian girls
and women in the Middle East, North Africa and other places know the priorities
of the Ethiopian government: it is not to defend the rights of its citizens.
This is why a free and independent press is so vital. This is why the rest of
us should care and defend freedom of the press and human rights with vigor and
consistency. If we do not value ourselves, no one in the world will respect or
value us. How hard is it to collaborate and cooperate on press freedom and
human rights?
Opposition
groups, civil organizations, academics and youth in the Diaspora can and should
take the lead and shame the regime by championing these themes. There are
numerous specific social and economic cases one can cite. For example, they can
use the shameful and degrading situation of girls and women who are brutalized
at home and abroad to rally supporters across the globe.Their situation is underreported because
there is no independent and free press in the country.
There is a
second area of opportunity for the Diaspora as a whole and activists to
cooperate and scale up communication to Ethiopia. I propose that advocates of
freedom and democracy and the rest pool their talent, monies and know-how
together and support all forms of media including satellite television and
short wave radio transmissions to Ethiopia relentlessly. ESAT is an excellent
model. The Diaspora can boost the capacities of other modern communication
technologies such as websites, Internet penetration and social media through
Facebook and others by providing funds and knowledge. This too takes good will
to collaborate and cooperate.
I admire
the efforts of activists around the globe who spend their scarce resources and
time to keep the Diaspora informed about the home country. It shows an
indomitable spirit to keep connected with the home country. This collective
know-how and experience should, equally, zero in singularly on the home front.
This is where the greatest gap for information and knowledge resides. It is
time that we fill this gap. We cannot fill this gap until and unless we are
willing to set aside minor differences and focus on the bigger picture of
saving the country and supporting its vast and diverse population.
7.Let us empower the youthful generation to lead.
We still accept
the traditional model of leadership that is totally hierarchical and top down.
The struggle for democratization requires that we mentor, coach and prepare a
new generation of leaders that live and breathe democratic values. These values
place premium on cooperation rather than rivalry
and personality cult. Roles and responsibilities rather than
personalities are critical today than they have ever been. The Arab Spring
teaches us that it is young people with passion, technological savvy and
commitment to country, people and cause that brought down dictators. In Syria,
at least 5,000 died for the cause of justice. Ethiopians are pace setters. Ethiopian
youth possess these attributes and more. Youth in North Africa and the Middle
East worked closely with all sectors of society and attracted millions to their
side. They died in the streets fighting for a better day; and a promising
future for themselves and for their society. Ethiopian youth have the same
potential as we see among those the regime arrests and jails in droves.
However, there is a gap. I am not convinced that my generation has done much
that is meaningful to transfer knowledge and experience; and to equip the young
generation with leadership and management skills. My generation has been
totally insular and preoccupied with individual and parochial interests. This
is the reason why we have failed in creating sustainable grassroots movements
of any kind. We cannot create a democratic society without civil engagement and
without creating and a strong and robust civil society.
Ethiopia’s
demographic composition suggests that the social wave of the future resides in
its youth age population. It is this social group within the country that
receives no quality education that will lead to jobs or the ability to set up
new enterprises that poses challenge and opportunity. It must have a promising
future. Otherwise, it is a potential time-bomb waiting to explode any time, as
in North Africa and the Middle East. It is this same age group that triggered
and led peaceful and popular uprisings in Indonesia, the Philippines and
Central Europe. These young ‘Turks’ did not lead revolts without training and
preparation.
The older
generation in the Diaspora has a wealth of knowledge and experience to transmit
to the new generation within and outside the country. Among other things, it
can launch a systematic and well-designed program of leadership training and
mentoring in public service, civic engagement and other leadership skills.
Political and civic organizations have the capability and capacity to integrate
youth, especially females, in leadership roles. This is within their control
and is cost effective. In turn, youth must reach out to and learn from their
elders.They must appreciate the
need to anchor their efforts in their peers within Ethiopia. Leadership
training I have in mind must serve a social common purpose. It is a partnership
between youth and their elders that has enormous promise; and we cannot afford
to squander it.
