Choices the new Ethiopian PM is making and their consequences

 

M.G  July 31, 2018

I am puzzled by the choices the PM of Ethiopia is making in recent days. I believe that his goal is to lead the country to more openness and democratization. However, the choices he is making are not anything like what the EPRDF we know would do. The irony is, this is being done by the leader of EPRDF who seems to uncomfortable to use the name of his party that gave him the mandate to be PM of Ethiopia.

I am also puzzled by the people he chose to be around him during all his visits. Mr Lemma Megerssa and some other Oromo politicians are omnipresent. He unequivocally declared that his main advisors are Mr Lemma and Dr Workineh and that he needs more advice from the diaspora opposition. He did not make any effort to clarify what the role of other executive members of the EPRDF is. In my opinion, it is not surprising that some parts of the Oromia region are under siege by violent and armed groups since the leadership of the region is advising the PM instead of executing its regional mandate.

Below are description of 6 specific choices the PM made and their potential consequences:

1.      The choice between Tamagne Beyene and Engineer Simegew Bekelle- I am shocked that the PM didn’t return to Ethiopia to attend the funeral of Engineer Simegnew(RIP!!) who was assassinated during daylight in the center of Addis Ababa. He rather chose to party with the types of Tamagne who have been advocating for the annihilation of certain groups of people in Ethiopia through their mouthpiece ESAT. It is also shocking that nobody has resigned or is apprehended for the failure to protect the engineer while there were police and local security leaders who were immediately apprehended for the incident during the Sene 16^th rally.

 

2.      The choice to blame some unknown groups instead of capturing the perpetrators. Who should be blamed? The finger pointing towards some groups who are being given uncanny labelling is a choice the PM is making instead of calling for open and fair investigation of the assassination of Engineer Simegew and previous similar incidents. Recent reporting on the issue has made it clear that the ‘ken Jiboch’ metaphor is now pointing towards perpetrators of Oromo decent and as a result we are not getting complete information about the incident. The Ethiopian people deserve to know the perpetrators and their supporters.

 

3.      The choice between minority populations (Afar, Erobe) and some activists in the USA. The PM in his visit to the US has been addressing questions raised by different people. His way of addressing questions is very partial. He has been dismissive of questions coming from Afar and Erobe people (calling them ‘Ye mender were’) while he extended unnecessary gesture to opposition party leaders that still are advocating for violence against certain groups of people in Ethiopia.

 

4.      The choice to work towards completing landmark projects versus caving to outside pressure. Recent reporting is making it clear that the UAE and Eritrea are colluding to undermine the ongoing projects in Ethiopia including the Hidase Dam. The PM seems to cave to pressure coming from external groups than listening to the voice of the people of Ethiopia. He has spent more time travelling outside of his office than working from his office. This indicates that he chose to be more popular for his speeches and gestures than for his achievements. It is not clear how long this honeymoon period will last.

 

5.      The choice between respecting his comrades, immediate predecessors and old Ethiopian leaders (Minilik, Tewodros, etc). It is not clear why the PM has not been heard respecting and honoring the sacrifices made by PM MelesZenawi to extricate Ethiopia from deep poverty to what it is today – a respected nation which is named as model in several arenas of development. What does he know about these old guards that he seems to be fond of except from reading biased historical books? He has been there in different government capacities during the tenure of Meles Zenawi and it is unfortunate that he fails to provide any recognition to EPRDF’s success stories. He rather tarnishes EPRDF and all the security apparatus that has been built over the years. This will backfire soon!

 

6.      The choice between local media (eg. ENN) and ESAT. In his speech in the US, the PM praised ESAT while denigrating ENN. While ENN may have its own limitations and needs to be criticized, in my humble opinion it can’t be compared to ESAT which has been advocating for the annihilation of Tigray people and also working day and night against the Ethiopian government. ESAT and its cronies are known for harassing Ethiopian government officials during their visit to the US. It is a travesty that the PM would go that far to attack a local news media which was already under continuous attack under the pretext of report the Sene 16^th rally in support of the PM.