Two Swedes, Two Systems in Ethiopia

The ruling minority in Ethiopia has been dogged by numerous issues over the years. And because it has been consistent in how it attempted to forestall legitimate criticism we can safely predict its future course of action. In the past, the ruling minority pre-empted its critics, denied allegations, denied and then made admissions, made admissions and promised to address mishaps, promised remedial action until the din died down only to resume its blatant policies, blamed the past, put out brazen lies or blocked information altogether. In the interest of time, we would suggest that you go back and read earlier Recycler posts.

Regarding the wait for the din to die down, there is no better illustration than the case of the two Swedish journalists accused of terrorism. Mr. Meles’s scripted action is telling. Initially, the two journalists were accused as terrorists and sent to jail. Their video recordings were confiscated and later doctored to sound the two were caught engaging in explosives. That allegation was quickly dropped because it was realized such a technical matter needed further verification from international experts and that not even the Chinese could come to Mr. Meles’s aid. The next step was therefore to focus on the more tenable argument that the journalists were in the country illegally. [click]

Let us remember Mr. Meles has been using similar tactics to silence his critics locally and no foreign government came to our aid. And so terrorism has been his ace card and a major public policy option all along to keep the US and UK indebted to their “key ally” and they providing weapons, training, money, legitimacy and he the excuses and explanations to hide their consorting with a tyrant with the bonus of not being chased for money-laundering, human rights abuses or for making secret deals with multinationals.

Meles is in Somalia once again after putting out conflicting statements over the past two months. This is yet another ruse. The Swedes as we have indicated previously will be released quietly under the cover of march on Somalia. Now a quick digression. The two Swedes should ask for pardon and once out should dedicate their lives to fighting injustice in Ethiopia. [Mr. Meles’s version of ‘pardon’ is not in our culture; to falsely accuse and humiliate someone and then require they ask for pardon is a reprehensible act; similar things have happened to pro-democracy leader Ms. Birtukan and others]. Another point of interest is that Mr. Meles has shown uncanny disinterest to working with African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM]. Well, this need not be a mystery. Characteristically, Mr. Meles thrives only in the absence of an accountability structure. This way he will be free to manufacture incidents similar to Black Hawk Down [click click] or occurrences of bomb blasts in Addis that his agents were responsible for [click click]. One change in Mr. Meles’s march to Somalia this time is his wanting to occupy a town and then to quickly handover to AMISOM. The world is finally coming to the realization that Mr. Meles’s 2006 Somalia campaign only worsened the situation and that reports especially of the first few months were all exaggerated. He will play along for now biding his time, making money, and eluding the possibility of being the focus of a crime. [Click click] 

One obvious question is how and why Meles continues to charm his handlers and terrorize his challengers. It is this simple fact that the law-maker, the law enforcer, the informant, the investigator, the pathologist, the banker and the auditor-general happen to be his appointees or related by ethnicity and/or marriage to him and his wife. Please prove us wrong. Go ahead.

So which major issues did the ruling minority try to obfuscate and/or resolve? Let us begin with the long-drawn criticism that all key army positions are in the hands of the Mr. Meles’s ethnic minority. Just last month it was reported that over 500 generals and colonels were sent to retirement thus slashing back the domination of Mr. Meles’s clan from 53 to 18.5 percent. [This is a lie of course as it has not been independently confirmed!] Three things could be said of the decision itself. First, it was ex-General Tsadkan [now a proud owner of Raya Breweries and a consultant to the Republic of South Sudan for integrating a national army] who in the early 1990s disbanded a truly national army to replace all key positions with members of his and the Prime Minister’s clan. Secondly, the current decision is itself a clear admission, after years of denials, that there existed an unfair representation within the army. And finally, nothing is said about the concentration of power in fewer hands and the dreaded secret service and death squad directly answerable to Mr. Meles and the incompetent ‘yes men’ replacing the retirees.

Another issue relates to a script lifted off of President Obama’s speech in Accra, Ghana. Mr. Meles, true to character, simply highlighted the parts about good governance and broadening political space and went into a campaign mode to retire the “old guard” to fill the slots with the unemployed educated. He reported cockily that his now ‘popular’ one-party has 5 million members in the cities and in the rural areas. Guess who checked if the numbers are correct or if the dead were not counted in. Mr. Obama never kept his promises any way but he will certainly recognize the similarity with Chicago politics. Mr. Meles, on the other hand, cashed in on the borrowed text big time. Go back, if you will, and check what actually transpired after all that ‘change’ talk and you will be met with resentment and disappointment.

We are getting bored; we know you, too, are getting bored to tears. But let us wrap up with one more daylight robbery that every one is familiar with. And that has to do with the unaudited party-owned business conglomerate EFFORT. No one to date could tell [perhaps Seye?] how much money or how the money came to be or how transactions are being handled. We refer again to a statement above – every single person in key position is related to each other and is not saying a word. So, the question is, How are Mr. Meles and his wife going to get around this behemoth of corruption and economic fascism? The short answer is We don’t know but it is the next big thing coming. And how will it be handled? Perhaps individuals will be scapegoated [jailed or killed]. We don’t really know the answer to that but we know money is being raised for Belai Zeleke Dam - stop calling it by any other name – in which every civil servant, reminiscent of Mengistu’s rule, was ordered to give up a month's pay. The fundraising is not particularly going according to plan but soon Meles’s coiffures will be awash with money – money that may not be used solely for the intended purpose; again reminiscent of millions raised from foreign donors in the name of hungry Tigrayans in the 1980s but later diverted to God-knows-where. And just this week there was talk of loosening the nation's monetary policy in order to increase cash.

The Saudi Al Amoudi is an altogether a different animal. His dealings are so untransparent and his closeness to the ruling minority so secretive that even the Interpol or the FBI will be taxed to the limits to figure out the relationship. Imagine for a moment US Secretary of State phoning Bill Gates to pay for the costs of publishing his/her book and a second book by his/her brother-in-law. And Bill Gates not only agrees but also organizes a lavish, star-studded book signing ceremony at a 5-star hotel he owns – all expenses paid.

One more thing. The property on which Gates built his 5-star hotel was once the property of poor urban dwellers; the residents were summarily evicted and those who thought they could put up a fight soon regretted their folly. Mr. Gates had the backing of the Secretary of State. But he also wanted to appear fair and kindhearted and so he decided to pay a sum he determined was the compensation. The episode was repeated many times over and touted as a sign of development and modernization – unfortunately, it was not people-friendly.

Let us continue with the analogy. The Secretary of State phones Mr. Gates on yet another occasion asking for 5 million dollars for his/her pet project. Mr. Gates writes a check for 10 times that amount. The two talk by phone every two or three days irrespective of where they are traveling that day. The Secretary once fell ill and had to be hospitalized. Mr. Gates flew in to visit him/her and while there hired a private security firm to guard the premises round the clock. Is this bizarre or what? And how did we manage to conjure up all this? Well, would you believe if we told you we read this in Prime Minister Meles’s right hand man Bereket Simon’s new book, A Tale of Two Elections, reviewed by none other than the Saudi Al Alamoudi? Al Amoudi in the story is Bill Gates and Bereket Simon is US Secretary of State and the words are a sampling translation from Amharic of a public statement both Al Amoudi and Bereket made just last month in the presence of invited guests and journalists. We suggest the book should be re-titled, A Tale of Two Systems.

One thing is certain. The Saudi Al Amoudi is virtually running the nation’s business where all who serve his bidding and have little or no conscience are paid handsomely.

Ps: Meles also has to find a way to resolve the OLF question. He started it and Oromo leaders fell for his ploy. He labeled them a terrorist group. The US State Department would not go along. The next step will be for him to instigate a fight between different Oromo groups so he could come in as a mediator [similar to what he has been doing in Somalia and Sudan, not to mention Ethiopia] OR to organize his own Oromo faction that would sit with him in dialogue over a pre-arranged solution and invite lazy and mercenary journalists to cover the event [once covered hardly anyone cares to check if the project did fly]. Mr. Meles’s tried and true strategy has been to organize parallel agencies to discredit and deny legitimacy to existing ones. Hence, Ethiopian Human Rights Council, Teachers’ Union, etc all have their Siamese twins, courtesy of Mr. Meles. Perhaps the opposition should respond in kind; that is, set up a EPRF, a Wata, a Aigam, etc.