Addis Neger

by Derese Getachew

Here, I would like to recognize that the debate about the “Oromo question” and its fate in relation to the Ethiopian state has been a subject of household discussion among the Oromo elite itself. Recently, moderate voices about addressing the Oromo question are becoming loud and persuasive. We also heard about negotiations undertaken by the Ginbot 7 leadership and OLF factions (I don’t know how many factions are out there) about policy matters. Any Ethiopian from any political dispensation should welcome such moves and gestures NOT because G7 and OLF are the “sole and legitimate representatives” of non-Oromos and Oromos respectively. In lieu, they command significant following and posture in the opposition camp. Even if they do not, we welcome their moves as fellow concerned citizens.

If you are one of those human beings concerned about matters of freedom, justice or democratic transition in Ethiopia: Beware, terrorism is lurking around your doors! It would come and turn you into a hobgoblin bent on societal destruction. Do you need advice? Stop thinking, then rest assured you will not be a suspect for terrorism.

One hides in his palace and sends thugs and security policy to kill his own people; the other was on the death row line for his people. One has reached the heights of power and influence only to step down ceremoniously, the other is being dragged down alas at the blood and sweat of his own youth. Egyptians pray that Mubarak leaves town in peace, South Africans pray that Mandela leaves hospital in peace.

Ironic enough, Ethiopia haunts its incumbent! A crude equivalent of a centre would be an “ande-hibret” party. It can be a center that holds: a con-societal entity whose scope and program are national but has ample room to address regional and ethnic sensitivities. Now, there is one wrong place to start such an experiment from: Marxism Leninism- the ideology which trumps individual rights and freedoms, popular consent, majoritarianism and the rule of law. An ideal place to start would be by asking how liberalism addressed issues of structural inequity (based on gender, race, ethnicity, etc). But left or right, Ethiopia deserves kudos for struggling to locate its center….Forty years down the line, we have realized that the center is not a ‘given’ but rather ‘earned’. Despite the entire pejorative connotation the ‘centre’ has in Ethiopia’s political history, I reckon it is time to have some “mehal sefaris”.

Welcome to the emerging Ethiopia-an oligarchic authoritarian state that juggles the support and international assistance of an ambivalent west and a regardless China. In the tradition of Marx’s dialectical materialism (an orphan of modernity currently bashed for being Teleological, Universalist and Eurocentric), one thing is evident- every stage of societal development has systemic contradictions and hence sows its seeds of destruction.

All of the blame on the current situation cannot be laid on the door of the incumbent. We have witnessed a relentless fall out and division of the opposition camp in recent years. Most of the times, these divisions are either about strategies or personalities.
…Much of what comes in leadership also depends on the followership. In my opinion, most people who sympathize, if not support, the Ethiopian opposition has adversely impacted the way the leadership attempted to operate, often out of positive intentions. One of the usual pitfalls is the urge to see immediate results and hence hurrying opposition parties to do this or that as soon as possible. I call it the temptation of time.

No wonder civility and celebrating dissent were the trademarks of Ethiopian society when it comes to a very crucial issue potentially divisive and violent-our understanding of God. Some serious criticisms about Ethiopia’s modern intellectuals on my last articles have made me question whether I (as an individual) and us (as a collective) have the courage to declare that our understanding of any notion is by no means a monopoly of the truth. This is an obvious truism, which is seldom translated into action.

When was the last time where we saw mothers or fathers being appreciated for being model parents? Which religious leader deserves to be called an advocate of human rights and justice in Ethiopia out of conviction for a socially relevant belief? Do we have somebody anywhere close to personalities like Archbishop Desmond Tutu? How successful have we become in producing successful athletes, musicians, artists, philosophers and thinkers that we can look up to as leaders? When was the last time we have read famous literary works in the ranks of “Fikir Eske Mekaber” or “Adefris”? In almost every aspect of our national life, there is a decline and, even worse, a glaring lack of iconic leaders-role models that the young generation could look up to.

I will not be surprised if the Front transforms itself to a united national party along the lines of CCP, CCM, BDP or its immediate Ethiopian predecessor, the WPE! Given its record of staggering pragmatism (Remember the premier’s frequent remark that EPRDF never repeats its mistakes!), the Front does have the courage to reinvent itself like this. This may turn the table on all pan-Ethiopian opposition parties pulling the carpet from beneath, while satiating the ethno-nationalists by retaining the current ethno-federal structure of the country. The massive influx of the urban voters to support (be it out of conviction or provision) and comprise the EPRDF could serve as one possible trigger of such a phenomenon. The jury is out to find the verdict but still all eyes are on Leviathan.

The notion of economic development should not be divorced from analyzing the nature of the state, the market and community structures into account. That oft-made distinction made between the workings of the economy and the state is deceptive. The issue should be recast asking one basic question, “How does the workings of the State in Africa promote or hamper economic development?”

Three things strike you about the Ethiopian community. First is the sheer absence of any franchised civil or political influence of the Ethiopian Diaspora on local (city-county) or state politics in America. In a country where communities found organizations that promote the welfare, rights and opportunities of their members, one cannot mention of any such organization in the Ethiopian context.

The Marxist literature worked on a taxonomy of ‘people’ some of whom could be eligible to exercise self determination and others were not. At the top of this evolutionary pyramid we have ‘nations’, succeeded by ‘nationalities’ and ‘people’ right at the bottom of the ladder. Remember infamous acronym for one of the regional states in Ethiopia whose name goes the “Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS)? Quite a mouthful of Stalinist classification!

There were songs like “ Yitayegnal Hegere Lemlem Arengwade..Be Koratu mere be silitane kedma yitayejnal!!” And Meles? We just got a debut from the ‘infamous’ Solomon Tekalijn “Wubet ke kindibu yemifesilet…Yiketil Liku Sew Ethiopian Yimrat!!” Even more, I read an article of Addis Fortune where the writer speaks of Melesism –an ‘intellectual’ parlance for Revolutionary Democracy.

Despite the occasional outcries for democracy or it being tagged in the acronyms of the incumbent and opposition parties; democracy does not have a central place in Ethiopia’s political discourse. From the early 70s on, the Ethiopian student movement introduced two major political questions around which the entire political discourse of the country revolved; the land question and the national question….

Even more entertaining are the journalists of ETV who ‘moderate’ these debates. The pattern is cleanly set. They tell us that election is next door; the round of debate that we are on; and the rules of engagement. The speed with which they recite the text; their nervous and apprehensive gesture; and zealous control of time gives you an impression about the sort of pressure they are under.