By Alemayehu G Mariam | May 21, 2012
| Prof. Al Mariam |
Development
depends on good governance. History offers a clear verdict: Governments
that respect the will of their own people, that govern by consent and
not coercion, are more prosperous, they are more stable, and
more successful than governments that do not. No country is going to
create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves.
No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to
the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is
tyranny. And now is the time for that style of governance to end…. In the 21st century, capable, reliable, and transparent institutions are the key to success — strong
parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges; an independent
press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things
that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people’s everyday lives…. History is on the side of these brave Africans, not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base of prosperity….
My Favorite Bedtime Stories I enjoy bedtime stories as much as the next guy. My favorite is "Pinocchio in Africa". The wooden puppet wanted to become a human boy but could not stop telling lies and tall tales. Whenever Pinocchio lied, his nose grew longer.
I like the story of “Puff the Magic Dragon and the Land of Living Lies”. Puff took a little girl called Sandy, who lies a lot, to the Land of the Living Lies where honesty and truthfulness are prosecuted. She meets the famous fibbers Pinocchio and the boy who cried wolf; and saw the famous purple cow that no one has ever seen and a pink elephant.
I also enjoy the morality tales of Aesop, the ancient Ethiopian storyteller. Once upon a time there was a wolf who schemed to snatch sheep grazing in the pasture, but could not because the shepherd was vigilant. One day the wolf found the shorn skin of a sheep and dressed himself in it and joined the flock. Soon he began dining on the sheep one by one until he was discovered by the shepherd. That was the end of the wolf; he could no longer steal, kill and eat the sheep.
George
Orwell’s allegorical stories of doubletalk and doublespeak told in
“political language” are rather delightful because they “make lies sound
truthful and murder respectable, and give an appearance of solidity to
pure wind.” So, “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is
strength.” George could have added, “dictatorship is democracy. Tyranny
is liberty. Poverty is wealth. Famine is plenty. Censorship is press
freedom. Brutality is civility. Mendacity is veracity. Opacity is
clarity. Shadow is reality. Depravity is morality and greed is good.”
Oh, Yes! I like children’s rhymes too:Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall….
Sane Nations, Insane Dictators and Democrazy
Zenawi
said “democracy is the only option of keeping relationships within
nations sane”. Here are some true stories of democrazy from the Land of
Living Lies:
In April 2008 local elections
were held throughout Ethiopia. Freedom House and USDoS report that
opposition candidates were subjected to intimidation and arrest by the
government prior to the elections making it difficult for them to
compete, leading to the opposition boycotting the elections and
resulting in a massive victory for government supporters. The ruling party won 99% of the more than three million seats contested.
The May 2010 parliamentary elections resulted in a 99.6 percent victory for the ruling EPRDF and its allies, reducing the opposition from 174 to only two seats in the 547
member lower house… Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in
Sub-Saharan... At US$390, Ethiopia's per capita income is much lower
than the Sub-Saharan African average of US$1,165 in FY 2010, ranking it
as the sixth poorest country in the world.
The
Ethiopian parliament has adopted a potentially repressive new law which
could criminalise the human rights activities of both foreign and
domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Charities and
Societies Proclamation law (2009) is designed to strictly control and
monitor civil society in an atmosphere of intolerance of the work of
human rights defenders and civil society organisations. The law's
repressive provisions are believed to be an attempt by the Ethiopian
government to conceal human rights violations, stifle critics and
prevent public protest of its actions ahead of expected elections in
2010.
Ethiopia’s
citizens are unable to speak freely, organize political activities, and
challenge their government’s policies—through peaceful protest, voting,
or publishing their views—without fear of reprisal. Democracy’s
technical framework will remain a deceptive and hollow façade so long as
Ethiopia’s institutions lack independence from the ruling party and
there is no accountability for abuses by state officials.
Ethiopia
lost $11.7 billion to outflows of ill-gotten gains between 2000 and
2009. That’s a lot of money to lose to corruption for a country that has
a per-capita GDP of just $365. In 2009, illicit money leaving the
country totaled $3.26 billion, double the amount in each of the two
previous years. The capital flight is also disturbing because the
country received $829 million in development aid in 2008. Ethiopia is
one of the poorest countries on earth as 38.9% of Ethiopians live in
poverty, and life expectancy in 2009 was just 58 years. The people of
Ethiopia are being bled dry. No matter how hard they try to fight their
way out of absolute destitution and poverty, they will be swimming
upstream against the current of illicit capital leakage.
Ethiopia
trails only Eritrea as the foremost jailer of journalists in Africa.
Ethiopia's repression of the independent press has also driven into
exile the largest number of journalists in the world. Yet Zenawi told
Aftenposten [Norwegian paper] that ‘We have reached a very advanced
stage of rule of law and respect for human rights. Fundamentally, this
is a country where democratic rights of people are respected.’
The
Ethiopian government is exploiting its vaguely worded anti-terror law
to crush peaceful dissent. The anti-terror law itself is a huge
problem. The international community, especially the European Union,
United States, and United Kingdom, should ask the Ethiopian government
hard questions about why it is using this law to crack down on peaceful
independent voices.
H.R.
2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007, sponsored by
Cong. Payne passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 2, 2007)
requires the secretary of state to support human rights by establishing
a mechanism to provide funds to local human rights organizations. The
bill supports democratization by directing assistance to strengthen
democratic processes, prohibits non-humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia
if the ruling party obstructs United States efforts to provide human
rights, fosters accountability for the actions the Ethiopian Government
has taken that undermine rule of law and fundamental political
freedoms…. and holds security forces accountable for human rights abuses
related to the demonstrations of 2005…
Mr.
FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Support
for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008. Senator LEAHY
joins me as an original cosponsor. The purpose of this bill is to
reaffirm policy objectives towards Ethiopia and encourage greater
commitment to the underpinnings of a true democracy--an independent
judiciary and the rule of law, respect for human and political rights,
and an end to restrictions on the media and non-governmental
organizations…. As we turn a blind eye to the escalating political
tensions, people are being thrown in jail without justification and
non-government organizations are being restricted, while civilians are
dying unnecessarily in the Ogaden region--just like so many before them
in Oromiya, Amhara, and Gambella….
The
separation between the ruling party and the public administration was
blurred at the local level in many parts of the country. The EU EOM
directly observed cases of misuse of state resources in the ruling
party's campaign activities. The ruling party and its partner parties
won 544 of the 547 seats to the House of Peoples Representatives and all
but four of the 1,904 seats in the State Councils…. As a result, the
electoral process fell short of international commitments for elections,
notably regarding the transparency of the process and the lack of a
level playing field for all contesting parties.
The
EU report is trash that deserves to be thrown in the garbage. The
report is not about our election. It is just the view of some Western
neo-liberals who are unhappy about the strength of the ruling party.
Anybody who has paper and ink can scribble whatever they want.
Such are the nightmarish bedtime stories of Meles Zenawi’s Democrazy in Ethiopia!
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