From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat May 22 2010 - 06:44:38 EDT
Horn of Africa, Victim of Narrow Politics
Part I
22/05/2010
In the middle of the 20th century with the end of European colonialism
during which many African countries gained independence, conditions in the
Horn region were further exacerbated during that time, tossing the region
into further instability. Here examples such as that of Eritrea, in which an
illegal occupation became the cause of an elongated war for independence,
and the case of Ogaden, which became the cause of confl ict between Somalia
and Ethiopia could be cited as case in point.
Even though, with the exception of the above mentioned examples, all the
other problems that riled the region found their root in narrow-minded and
shallow politics. For example, the political and armed struggle of the
peoples of Ethiopia (Tigray, Oromo, Afar, Somalia and others), all the coups
and the civil war in Sudan, the failure of Somalia as a state and all that
havoc it caused, the dictatorship of Idi-Amin in Uganda, the Rwandan
genocide and the internal turmoil in the states of Kenya and Djibouti, all
these trace their roots to narrow politics and nepotisms. This in turn has
become the cause of so much instability for over half a century on top of
being a hurdle that held back the people of this region and made them waste
so many golden opportunities. This turmoil was further heightened by
external interference in this region.
For all the above cited reasons, the Horn region is being held back from
progress and development, as it is impossible to implement development
schemes that are benefi cial for everyone around when African nations are
still being ruled by nepotistic regimes who shape their policies upon
favoritism. For this reason we see African nations being exploited and
swindled out of their resources by every dynasty that manages to seize
power. To make matters worse, African nations which employ the largely
unsafe rain based agriculture have been exposed to numerous counts of famine
and draught. The people of this region have been exposed to hunger, famine,
poverty, backwardness as well as migration.
His Excellency, the President of the State of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki, on
the numerous interviews he conductedwith different media outlets regarding
himself and his family, outlined much of the image of nations in our region
as well as other nations. In his reply, the President said that "the reason
why there's so much strife over the concept of democracy is because nations
are being practically run by family dynasties that seize power. In fact,
some nations are effectively owned by family dynasties, even though they are
still identifi ed by their nominal names. Governments are controlled and run
by these familial dynasties. We do not wish to have such a system, and we
shall never allow such a system to be created here. We would not allow the
supremacy of a family or groups over the majority of the population."
The status quo that prevails in our region as well as elsewhere in Africa is
just like what President Isaias Afewerki has described. If we take the
history of Ethiopia which has a population of over 80 million as a case in
point, it magnifi es the truth of the matter.
In the process of establishment of the Ethiopian nation, it was well
documented that Menelik of Shoa, conspiring with the European colonial
forces and with the arms support he received from them forcefully annexed
small and large ethnic groups living in northern part of Shoa and further to
the south and west with different socioeconomic strata and different
languages.
It is known that the concept of a nation-state was something that came
during the mercantilist era. Even though Menelik has successfully managed to
forge a state, the policies he ensued were feudalistic. Hence, after he
created the Ethiopian empire, he made sure that all positions of power and
politics as well as all land were controlled by the Royal Family and the
feudal. This made the Ethiopian masses effective subjects of the crown. And
since all resources belonged to the Royal Family, one family managed to
control every aspect of the state. This system continued well up to the
reign of Emperor Haileslasie.
Nonetheless, it was unthinkable for the Royal family to control all
resources and means of production forever. Hence, in order to keep the
status quo and guarantee its grip of power, they had to make a deal with
external forces. Case in point is the willingness of Emperor Haileslasie to
become a willing tool for the Americans. However, as foreign backing-up
could not carry on forever, and because of all the simmering anger and civil
unrest in Ethiopia, Emperor Haileslasie was toppled from power in 1974. Even
though, there was a visible absence of a representing force in Ethiopia, and
this vacuum was exploited by the military offi cers clique called the Derg.
The Derg was initially a group of low ranking non commissioned offi cers who
represented different regiments and came together as part of the public
unrest under the claim that the salary of the army be increased.
Ahadu Sabure, in his Yezemenachn Tarik (our time's history), describes the
Derg as follows. The junta, which seized power promising that they will
bring about a reign of prosperity, progress and development started showing
their true colors in the third month of their ascendancy. They showed what a
mind that has already been polluted with ignorance, hatred, grudge and
revenge-seeking, on top of gluttony and arrogance is capable of. People to
have been known for their drunkenness, misconduct and brawls in the army,
people who had no idea about compassion and justice came together in the
seat of power and passed death sentences upon their victims. This shall not
be forgotten by History.
What could the people and the nation expect from such a junta if they seize
power? Members of the Derg, who initially numbered about 120, failed to
comprehend each other let alone work for the wellbeing of the nation. Hence,
in no time they were at each other's throats. And fi nally, power started
belonging to one individual. Ethiopia, under Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam
became a nation that he directed unto whatever direction he wanted, in a
gross disregard for all lawful means of running a state. However, as
political dynasties and family politics finally must face the judgment of
the masses, after he committed numerous atrocities and causing much havoc,
when the time for him came he fl ed the country.
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Horn of Africa, Victim of Narrow Politics
Part II
A Divisive Politics Aimed at Securing Oligarchy
One of the strategies of clique-oriented politics is securing its power by
pursuing the divide and rule policy. In this case, one subjugates others and
pretends to represent a small other people to hire them as the servants and
protectors of the group based interest. The Amhara people were employed as
mere tools of the narrow politics of Emperor Menelik, and Emperor
Haileselassie. Again, the Derg regime followed a similar strategy. These
regimes pursued their power in the interest of a small group of offi cials
and their family, and not to the interest of the Amhara ethnic people. On
the contrary, having benefi ted nothing, the Amhara people were assumed by
other ethnic groups as oppressors.
The TPLF, the regime that assumed power after the downfall of the earlier
regimes, composed of individuals who had the aspiration of appearing "tiny-
giant" but again possessing a voracious appetite of political power and
economic domination. Yet again, the TPLF regime employed the people of
Tigray as a tool in an effort to promote its political and economic
dominance. In the name of the people of Tigray, the TPLF deprived of the
national rights of the people and abused the noble struggle of the people to
make use of the national wealth for a private use.
In an intention to securing its group interest, the TPLF exercised, more
than any time else, a legal and institutionalized sub-national divisive
politics. Before the TPLF regime came to power, the strategy the clique
engineered to secure political dominance was but to forge small nominal
satellite organizations that operate under its auspices. The TPLF leadership
established the so-called EPRDP party for two major reasons: pretending to
be representative of and advocate for all nationalities under the guise of
an agenda of establishing a nation of Tigray, on the one hand, and on the
other, to create an optimum environment for political and economic dominance
of the clique by polarizing the Ethiopian people along ethnocentric
politics, as well as legalizing and institutionalizing its sub-national
politics.
As the TPLF clique gripped power as a result of the struggle of the people
of Ethiopia, it established a quasi- Ethiopian government composed of the
clique and its satellite factions through the aforementioned strategy. It
also managed to ratify, or to be precise, enforce a constitution with a due
to implementing the set out agenda. It is to be noted that article 39 of the
TPLF's new Constitution provides provisions for the right to self
determination up to secession. This article does not hold genuine concern
for the oppressed Ethiopian people, provided that unity rather than
secession ensure greater national interest. The reason why the TPLF clique
divided Ethiopia into federal regions and introduced the ethnic politics and
political parties is nothing but to undermine the united resistance of the
Ethiopian people by creating a state of affairs of ethnic based animosity
among the nationalities. The People of Ethiopia, from the outset, came to
realize that narrow-based politics gives raise to violence and turmoil,
rather than peace and stability and hence opposed the sub- national politics
that the clique attempted to legalize under the cover of Federalism.
Disregarding to the public option, however, the clique endorsed federalism
in the legal code of the country, ratifi ed without the popular
participation for reasons of political and economic agendas.
The past 19 years of the TPLF's reign thus witnessed an oligarchy of a
clique that lacks either national or popular vision but resorts to create a
rift among the people in the name of democracy so as to secure its staying
in power. The people of Ethiopia, nonetheless, have not risen up against one
another as per the expectation of the TPLF. The elections of May 2005
attested to the strong opposition that stems from bitter resentment on the
TPLF and its divide and rule strategy. At that juncture, the wisdom of
Ethiopians was proven owing to the fact that the opposition was against the
narrow-based clique but not a tribal one. In the course of the elections,
the people of Ethiopia have made its stance clear once and for all by voting
out the TPLF clique. Now again, the people's only choice is to bring
oligarchy to an end. As a result of the tension between the people's
aspiration and the family-oriented politics, Ethiopia is once again at stake
challenged by clique that strives to ensure familial oligarchy and the
downtrodden people struggling for their rights.
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Horn of Africa, Victim of Narrow Politics
Part III
Multifaceted Bonapartism
In the era during which Ethiopia had been governed by a royal family, it was
apparent that family politics was serving the interests of a defi ned group.
A king and his next kins, as well as other noblemen affi liated to him
through affi nity constituted a royal family. Under feudal system, it is
imperative that all high-ranking political offi ces be helmed by members of
a royal family. Junior offi cials and those in middle management in all
localities were tax collecting servants appointed by the king to protect
parochial interests. A royal family was solely entitled to take decisions in
political and administrative affairs he deems fi t, to grant preferential
treatment of economic rights to certain favored parties, or to take measures
of any kind on fellow citizens. Conferring sovereign immunity upon the royal
family, Article 1 of the then Ethiopia's Constitution provided a clear-cut
provision stating, "A king shall not be held liable to any case".
How family-oriented politics operates becomes inexplicit or equivocal when
regimes that assumed offi ce underpropped by popular uprising manipulate
their power, brushing aside the public trust, for partisan interests. Citing
cases in point would shed light on what family politics that reigned during
the Derg and the TPLF regimes look like. Family politics of the Derg and the
TPLF regimes more or less share commonalities and yet bear differences.
Whereas the Derg regime had seemed proponent of the communist ideology, this
world outlook had not been optimal for private corporations, investment and
trade. That political and economic decisions had been highly centralized
proved Mengistu Hailemariam's and a handful of his close relatives' hegemony
by evading popular participation. The Ethiopian masses had not only been
ruled out from political participation, but had also been marginalized from
political and economic developments, thereby deserted to live in deprivation
and backwardness.
The TPLF's family politics is in essence different from that of the Derg.
The TPLF is a clique that resorts to prolong its tenure in the rhetoric of
endorsing democracy and free market. While ethnic politics that the TPLF
names democracy is but a subterfuge masterminded to vertically polarize the
people of Ethiopia with a view to paralyzing strong resistance and ensuring
political hegemony, the free market policy, on the other hand, is a system
it has pursued to monopolize the nation's entire economic and trade
activities, as well as to recklessly pillage the country's resources through
setting up so-called private companies that are run by the clique. Having
sidelined and marginalized the Ethiopian people from socio-economic
development, the TPLF family has overindulgently plundered the past 19 years
a myriad of the country's wealth via the aforementioned double ruses for
vested political and economic hegemony.
What is The TPLF's Bonapartism Composed of?
Sprang from the people of Tigray that fought oppression and marginalization
out with huge sacrifi ces for independence and human rights, the TPLF is a
clique that betrayed the lofty cause of this people's struggle. This greedy
partnership espouses partisan interests of a handful benefi t-oriented
quarters who are affi liated to one another through blood and nepotism. The
TPLF is thus a clique composed of individuals with key political, economic,
fi nancial, security and military positions in the government, who owe
allegiance to the Prime Minister's family.
Composition of the TPLF's military institution better illustrates the point.
Out of the 61 strategic military posts in the institution, 58 are
predominated by loyal servants of the family. This oligarchy is a bond of
ambitious culprits bound together for partisan interests, who had been
rivaling within the TPLF for power during the armed struggle, and yet, whose
track record reads countless crimes they perpetrated. What's more, of the
country's 25 generals, with the exception of those hypocritically sprinkled
three, 22 are members of the partisan oligarchy; a fact that attests to the
blatant family-oriented political hegemony in the nation. All fi nancial and
administrative sectors are rife with such unabashed domination of power as
is in the military, but more tightly, in the security institutions.
Family members of the TPLF installed in key positions of the government to
oversee the supposedly private partisan companies have, for parochial
interests, created conducive breeding ground for rampant corruption, having
barred Ethiopian nationals from political, economic and trade activities. At
the time in which a number of Ethiopian nationals devoid of a small roof
over their heads are compelled to street smarts, the TPLF family, living in
luxurious lifestyle, is privileged in Addis Ababa, Mekele, Bahrdar and other
propitious cities to fi rst class houses for trade activities on top of
landholdings for agriculture and other business purposes.
A hoard of wealth the clique confi scated, owing to the de facto
preferential treatment, is not meant for the day-to-day living. Because the
expenditure of thousands of Birr for shopping, electricity, water supply,
telephone bills and other services is budgeted directly by the government,
the embezzled money is automatically funneled away to personal accounts in
international banks. The budget earmarked for hosting guests and hospitality
suite is incredibly huge. Out of the annual budget allocated, for instance,
reports indicate that unaudited spending in Weyane's military institution
for hospitality suite amounts to Birr 280 million. All enterprises: Wegagen
Bank, EFFORT, brewery industry, cement industry, Alpha University College,
Mesfi n Trading, Qat and live animal export agencies and so on are owned by
the TPLF's family - including the country's fi rst lady.
Elucidating thievery and the resulting effect, President Isaias Afewerki
stated on an occasion, "If there are 100 scoundrels or corrupt offi cials in
any given state, and if each one of them commits fraud of 10 million
dollars, then national resources worth 1 billion dollars is embezzled.
Should we divide the funneled resources to million people, everyone would
take a share of 15,000 Birr."
To imagine that these rogues of the TPLF family, who have preyed upon the
nation's resources entrusted to them, could be peacefully and legally
removed from power as per the election results is tantamount to absurdity.
Hard evidence of the election stage-managed in May 2005 has witnessed that
the partisan clique shed blood of thousands of innocent civilians to stay at
helm, albeit the Ethiopian people voted out the TPLF family.
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Horn of Africa, Victim of Narrow Politics
Part IV
The TPLF Regime's Rampage For Economic Monopoly
The TPLF clique, scared that "without economic power, there would be no
political control", rampaged
the resources of Ethiopia for the benefit of its clique long before it came
to power. The clique was observed to go berserk in a blatant manner to
secure its economic domination over the Ethiopian masses and the political
parties.
During the armed struggle, the TPLF regime used satellite political parties
that it set up itself such as the EPDM and OPDO, to appear more 'Ethiopian'
and camouflage its true colors. Hence, they were given marginal sums from
the lion's share. They were never given the right to control, manage and
audit the resources. All the economic resources that were secured by the
EPRDF were actually controlled by the TPLF clique. And all the tax money
collected from the areas that were controlled by the EPRDF filled the
coffers of the clique's leadership.
As an additional income generating scheme, the Tigryan Relief Organization,
that begs aid from international organizations, was established by the TPLF
in 1978 and had played a crucial role in increasing the economic status of
the clique. It was well known that this organization used to overstate the
number of people that needed aid, and sell the surplus of the aid that was
begotten from donors and used the income to strengthen its economic and
military power. For example, towards the end of the 1980s, theTRO claimed
that the population of Tigray bordered about 7 million. But a population
census that was conducted in 1994 showed that Tigray's population was about
3.1 million. It is to be recalled that many resources have recently come up
showing that the TPLF regime used to beg for resources in the name of its
famine stricken population and used the aid for military purposes.
Another factor that made a huge contribution to the current economic status
of the clique occurred towards the end of the 1980's and the beginning of
1990's. The loot that was acquired when EPRDF was establishing its
stronghold was immediately being transferred to Tigray. During that time,
members of the EPRDF umbrella organizations were complaining that they did
not like the fact that the spoils of war that were begotten through common
sacrifice were being transferred to Tigray. However, the leaders of the
organizations who were more or less puppets of the clique suppressed those
grievances and it failed to get attention.
Hence, the TPLF regime, which is currently pillaging Ethiopian resources in
a blatant manner, started this culture of looting back in the days when the
Derg was in power. During that time, properties of the Ethiopian masses
worth millions of Dollars was looted by the TPLF regime. Money that was
stashed in the banks of different cities, means of productions and processed
products that were in governmental and private projects and property that
was abandoned by its owners was being transported to the families of the
TPLF clique who were living behind the front line.
Therefore, the TPLF clique, during the time it seized power had much of the
resources that it pillaged and pilfered from Ethiopia at its disposal. The
other collaborating organizations remained with no economic benefit be it in
terms of materials or cash money. No one sought to account for all the
pickings that were made during the time of war. Because, when the TPLF
regime seized power, and because of the fact that the Ethiopian masses did
not acknowledge the clique from the onset, the other political organizations
that were part of the EPRDF were engaged in a political advocacy campaign on
behalf of the regime. And the TPLF clique, knowing that the political
condition of Ethiopia could change at any moment, sought to establish legal
grounds that allowed it to exploit as much resources as possible. And as a
continuation of its pillaging campaign it initiated in its early days, a
charter that war torn and under developed areas should be given a priority
to develop. Such a charter, had it been true to its meaning, all the areas
in Ethiopia that were in shreds because of war should have developed and
this charter would have been accepted as a just resolution. However, the
charter only served to ensure the economic dominance of the clique and
fashioned out the pillaging of Ethiopian resources by the clique as a
legitimate ruse.
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