Identifying the Weyane converts

By Wase | January 5, 2007

After 18 years of incompetence, abuse of human rights, injustice, and a failed pseudo socialist system, an increasing number of Woyane adherents are, for one reason or another, abandoning ship and trying to make a new start. These include Gebru Asrat and Seye Abraham. The question now is how to treat such people. Some suggest that they should merely be treated as criminals and be held accountable for their past deeds. Others suggest a pragmatic approach, perhaps for the purpose of attracting others still carrying on as accomplices within the Woyane regime. I think that Seye Abraham’s case provides a good case to debate this point and come up with a workable system for the treatment of such individuals.

While I agree with Elias’ (Ethiopian Review) assessment of Seye’s past misdeeds, I don’t share his view about his future prospects.

I believe that when accomplices of Melles and company recognize their mistakes and decide to change to something more in line with the genuine interests of the Ethiopian people, the right response should be to think along the lines of setting clear criteria for determining whether they are foxes in sheep’s clothing or whether they are for real. Condemning and castigating them as Elias has done is, as someone has already stated, a strategic mistake unless, of course, they have committed crimes against society in which case they should have their day in court. People like Melles Zenawi and Mengistu Hailemariam should in fact be brought to justice at the International Tribunal in the Hague court of justice.

In the case of Seye, the following should be the criteria he ought to be measured aginst if he should have any hope of being forgiven for all the misdeeds he has committed against the Ethiopian people:

• Is he prepared to go down on his knees and beg for forgiveness of the Ethiopian people for having been an accomplice with Melles & company in making Ethiopia a landlocked country; for the disastrous results of the totally useless war against Eritrea; for his dismissal of numerous competent and professional employees in Ethiopian Airlines simply because they were not Tigreyans; for the corruption perpetrated by TPLF companies which he helped establish; for dismantling the Ethiopian defense forces including the navy; etc. etc. etc. etc.?
• Does he renounce the socialist land tenure system which he helped institute in order to abuse the Ethiopian farmer as a serf or a slave?
• Does he reject Article 39 of the constitution which he and Melles’ cohorts introduced, as enemies of Ethiopia, in order to continue dismantling the nation?
• Is he now opposed to the disastrous ethnic policy which he and his friends introduced to divide and rule the country?
• Does he recognize his responsibility for Ethiopia’s continued abject poverty despite his party having been in power for 18 years: Eth. is 170th out of 177 countries in Human Development Index?
• Does he now reject the fact that his party’s name is still ….Liberation Front? Liberation from what? Does Seye believe in Ethiopia’s unity?
• Does Seye accept that those responsible for the murder of 198 Ethiopians following the May ’05 elections should be brought to justice?

Whether Seye should be accepted into the fold or whether he should be treated as a criminal should depend on his response to the above and similar specific questions.

Wase