I’m 25 years old. So that means I was only able to witness one government throughout my life and chances are this won’t change anytime soon. I don’t really have a problem with that (not entirely at least) but more often that not, I simply wonder if the revolution, the Ethiopian people were promised 25 years ago, live up to its expectation.
EPRDF soldiers took power from one of the most notorious and genocidal dictatorial government, DERG in 1991 ending a battle that lasted for over 17 years. The then Transition government, rejoiced with the popular support it received, promised for the introduction of human and democratic rights, the recognition of people’s culture and identity and acceleration of Economic development to benefit what was regarded as one of the least developed countries in the world. A new constitution, which unsurprisingly (or surprisingly depending on which angle you look at it) devoted one-third of its content to democratic and human right was considered as a right step for a country often in conflict and heavily misunderstood.
25 years later, I question if the promise of the revolution has been kept. And I’m not asking because I don’t know the answer to my question, I’m asking because I felt, as a citizen, betrayed by the revolution.
I don’t necessarily hate everything our government does. I give credit where its due. The country has come a long way in terms of economic advancement and achieving some of the most crucial millennium development goals (MDG’s). Albeit, increasing division between the rich and the poor in Ethiopia, Economic stimulation has dramatically increased in the past ten years, making Ethiopia one of the hottest places for investment opportunities and attracting investors from across the world –China.
With some of the best success stories, our government loves nothing more than Ginbot 20(May 28) to propagate its stories for every Ethiopian, every chance it gets. The celebration is widely considered to be (By the EPRDF and others) a day of liberation from a dictatorial government and a beginning of a new hope for an Ethiopian Reinesasnce. The Medias (Most of them controlled by the government) keep informing us about the progress made by the new government in areas of Economic and Political development.
I strongly, however, believe that the revolution is ill conceived. I will explain why I think the revolution failed us. So Let me start with the founding principles of the revolution.
Developmental Democracy
While the government love to remind us the model has been successful in various East Asian countries such as South Korea, China, and Indonesia, they fail to provide us the full picture. Ethiopia is not a country of similar people, we are as divided in culture and language as well as societal makeup as our numbers. As much as diversity is often praised as an asset it didn’t bode well this time when it comes to the economic philosophy, leaving a lot of people felt marginalized from the development progress. The type of Economic model, which sees Neo-liberalism as its fierce enemy, is not well known for its Democratic culture.
Let me take you back for a second and discuss what happened in the 2005 general election. The election was thought to be Ethiopia’s best chance of creating a truly multi-party system and yet it was squashed against the will of the people.
Thousands were killed in daylight, rules were broken, many more thousand of people disappeared and tortured, media’s were forced to close and many fled the country. What follows was a dark era for Ethiopian democratic and human rights and an even more secretive government.
Tribalism and Ill conceived Federalism
Ask any sane person who is neutral enough to tell what he/she thinks is seriously wrong with this country and they will tell you, among many other things, tribalism. The sense of Ethiopian identity has been lost replaced with Ethnic chauvinism and nationality, creating an everlasting tension between people in Ethiopia. This is a direct result of the Federalism structure which hopes to answer the question of culture and language recognition. Although the ethnic recognition is crucial for a troubled country like Ethiopia, It heavily disfavors the balance between national and ethnic pride.
The Oromo Protest
The Oromo protest is one of the most organized and successful protests in recent Ethiopian history. It helps a lot of people, including the government, to note that, the government can’t simply do what it wishes to do without the consent of the people.
With the highly contested “Addis Ababa Master Plan” the government tried to silence opposition by heavy use of force, killing over 200+ people and arrest of much more in the process. However, the people resisted and have the master plan scrapped. The Oromo protest is one of the many dissatisfaction shown by people in many part of the country as people in Gonder, Ogaden, SNNP and other areas demand more recognition and autonomy.
Powerless judiciary System
I’m a lawyer by profession and it pains me, every day, to see that we have one of the weakest public institution in the country, our courts. They are purposefully restructured to be weak and incompetent so the ruling party can carry on with its wish of ruling the country forever without hindrance.
Let me state why that’s a problem, the constitution gave the power of constitutional power interpretation (normally reserved for the courts or a special constitutional court) to the house of the Federation- the lower house of the parliament and a political organ. This and other instances has allowed the executive to be outside the sight of the court and hence effectively avoiding check and balance necessary in any government.
Non-existent press freedom
Ethiopia is literally one of the worst places to be a journalist of any sort. It performed low from year to year in world press freedom index.
Although the right to press freedom is a guaranteed right in the constitution, subsequent legislations have been used to deter anyone from fully utilizing their right to exercise their rights. Censorship, both self and external, is still the rule of the day and many fear of writing their beliefs and insights in fear of torture at Maekelawi. Let’s quickly remember the arrest of many journalists and bloggers in Ethiopia- more prominently the arrest ofzone 9 bloggers. They were imprisoned in Terrorism charges and were released without any explanation whatsoever. The Ethiopian Anti-terrorism law is very infamous as it was used to charge a number of journalists, in what seems to be a move to suppress the freedom of expression. The 2008 Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation is notorious for its onerous licensing and registration requirements and harsh sanctions for violations is one such legislation aimed at limiting the sphere of journalism influence in the country.
Government, Government, NO CIVIL SOCIETY NEEDED
In 2009, the House of People Representative (HPR) passed the very infamous Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies.This proclamation is considered to be one of the most limiting laws the country has passed, in a move to control the influence of civil societies in awakening the political, economic and cultural spirit of the population.
The law heavily scrutinizes the collection of donation and spending of civil societies. It also heavily restricts the participation of foreign-based civil societies from areas such as peace, human right protection, and democratic development.
Questionable Economic Model
EPRDF has been very ambitious about achieving Economic Progress in Ethiopia and in a bid to make that a reality, has launched the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). The GTP, now in its second term, is serious about plans and considerations the government intends to do and achieve in a five-year period. Although the government claims that Ethiopia was able to achieve a double-digit economic growth, it came with a huge problem.
To start with the most obvious problem, the government is still in charge of the lion share of the economic progress, heavily investing in infrastructure in hopes of creating a conducive environment for private investors in the future. While this is a noble cause, an ever increasing foreign debt (that figure is now over 14Billion USD), especially from China, is worrisome as it might reach a point of economic disaster. Many of the major economic megaprojects (Save for the Reinessance dam), such as the Addis Ababa Light railway, are being built by a loan from the Chinese banks and government.
Nobody seems to worry about this but from past experiences in other countries and the current trend in lack of sufficient private investment involvement, It is poised to create an undeniable problem for the country.
The Second, among the very many, problem is Inflation. Many people don’t feel like the progress in Ethiopia doesn’t benefit them as it is not participatory. prices for many necessities such as food and other commodities have been increasing exponentially, compared to the wage people receive, making life a very hard ordeal for many in Ethiopian booming cities and other areas, inflation has riched a record 64.2 % in July 2008 and stand at 10.1% as of 2015.
Subsistence Agriculture Still rules the day
Why is a government so confident in its work to create an industrialized based Economy based on Agriculture fail to help the Agriculture sector evolving into modern farming practices from a century-old practice of rain-dependent agriculture?
Eighty (80%) of the population is still believed to be in a farming practice and yet 35% of the population still suffers from the lack of nutritious food. Moreover, the country has been stuck in its worst drought in recent decades exposing over 15 million people for food insecurity and immediate food assistance. Sure the government blames El-Nino, but how good is your economy if it doesn’t have the mechanism to withstand such a difficult pheneomenon?
I’m not asking EPRDF to be as patriotic and caring as Magufali, but wouldn’t it make more sense to help those in immediate food need than spending billions for the celebration?
Finalizing……
We have come a long way since the DERG era. The incumbent party has introduced various measures to help the country achieve Economic and political stability. But for a party that stayed in power for over 25 years, little has been achived and much has been messed up.
“Perhaps, we need another Revolution, because the one that promised us good has failed and betrayed us.”
Although promising signs have been shown in Economic development, the country is now one of the worst Human Right offenders in the world, creating a political environment where individuals are prosecuted for their belief in making our country a better place. In this 25th celebration of GInbot20 I urge our government to revisit the promise of the revolution and reassess its Journey.
This way or the other Let me wish everyone reading this (If you have come this far) A Happy Ginbot 20 celebration. Adios!
Source: simonalebachew.wordpress
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