by Shiferaw Abebe
I have to admit I was somewhat surprised by the emotional outpouring from Addis residents for the death of Ato Meles,
particularly following the arrival of the coffin from Brussels. I am though very curious, to say the least, why the coffin arrived under the cover of darkness. Why didn’t they keep it in Brussels for a while so that it could arrive in Addis in the morning in broad day light? The TPLF enterprise is weird in death as in life.
As for the outpouring of grief from the Addis populace, there could be a few rationalizations. One is that Ato Meles has undoubtedly strong support from some section of the society who have benefited from the system he put in place. All leaders, including the wicked, somehow, muster some level of support from some quarter of the society they rule.
Second, Ethiopians are culturally predisposed to showing mercy and a softer heart toward the deceased, so goes the amharic saying: *’yemote lij angetu rejim naw’*.
Third, there is the sociological phenomenon called call ‘herd behaviour’ to look to others to see how to behave. We humans are hardwired to show this behavior. Actually, this behavior must be stronger in our case since we value social conformity more than any other society I can think of.
Lastly, of course, Ato Meles’ death was a sad event after all. He was only 57 years old. It would be great if he were to live longer to see the wedding of his children and to watch his grand children grow. It was also a sad view to watch his wife cry uncontrollably for the death of a husband with whom she had gone through thin and thick dating back their rebel days.
Not to take away anything from Ato Meles’ admirers if it means something to them, but what we see via YouTube could be quite deceptive since a camera always gives an exaggerated representation of reality by circumscribing the reference point. The fact is if tens of thousands of Addis residents came to the streets to receive Ato Meles’ coffin, millions were at their homes, perhaps nursing not his death but the uncertainty his departure has created.
Some say Ato Meles died before he had a chance to enjoy life. This is not only foolish, but also a bad homage to the life and times of the late Prime Minister. Observing his disposition over the last two decades, pity would be the last thing Ato Meles would appreciate. The truth is also that Ato Meles had enjoyed life at least since he came to power for he valued power more than anything else. Why else did he cling to it for 21 years? Why else – if not for the enjoyment of the life power afforded him – did he kill many and imprisoned countless to stay in power for more than two decades?
To put things in perspective, the current sombre environment will pass in the days and weeks to come. What will remain is Ato Meles’ legacy – the good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe he has done some good. But before we get carried away, let me also say every leader does some good. Furthermore, even where Ato Meles did well, I believe, others could have done much better if they were given a chance. Many cite the roads and other infrastructures built in Ethiopia as positives to his legacy. One has to be reminded of the more than $40 billion aid money he received over the years which is enough to build more than what he built over the 21 year rule.
If we overcome our gullibility, Ato Meles’ economic achievements are in fact below mediocre. Ethiopia’s economy is largely sustained by outside money – aid, loan, and remittance – not by the surplus created internally. If these three sources were to stop flowing suddenly, the government and indeed the country could go bankrupt over night. If Ato Meles’ admirers know shame, they have to remind themselves of the fact that, twenty one years later, millions of Ethiopians still live at the edge of starvation.
The worst legacy of Ato Meles is his human rights record. He and his acolytes have turned Ethiopia into a massive prison house. There have been more prisoners in Ethiopia under Ato Meles than under the notorious Mengistu. Remember, Ato Meles came to power promising to set free Ethiopian nations and nationalities from the pseudo bondage of Amhara rule. Ironically, Ethiopian prisons are full to the brim by those same people he promised to set free.
No doubt Ato Meles was a clever man. He had a higher IQ than anyone around him. (No surprise here in view of the people Ato Meles had surrounded himself with and given his disposition to being deeply anti-intellectual). He was also a smart man who understood the cue and language of world power politics faster and better than the other African leaders. No surprise he rose to the top among them.
But the fact is the West has a very low standard for African leaders. By that standard, Ato Meles was an exceptional leader to them, so they bestowed on him all kinds of accolades in the past and on the occasion of his passing. If any leader in the West did a fraction of the crimes Ato Meles did, they would have gone for his throat. But for an African tyrant, killing 200 innocent people in broad day light, children and the elderly included, and throwing tens of thousands to jail does not tilt the scale against him just yet. What is so sensational about hundreds dead by bullets of a tyrant in a land where tens of thousands die of starvation, seems the sentiment. The West’s assessment of African affairs and African politics and economics remains hollow and self serving.
In the final analysis, the true and legitimate judges of Ato Meles’ legacy are Ethiopians.
In life, Ato Meles was never accepted by most Ethiopians as a truly Ethiopian ruler. He never belonged to his subjects. Ethiopians were always convinced that his true love and heart belonged elsewhere. He has done lasting damages to Ethiopia than any leader before him, one of which is rendering the country landlocked. He is someone who derived pride in robbing Ethiopia a sea outlet. The national security implication aside, the economic cost of being landlocked will remain a staggering blow for a poor country like Ethiopia.
In sickness, Ato Meles nursed his ailment in isolation, without visitation or good wishes from his relatives, his close ‘comrades’, if any, his cabinet, and his admirers. His illness was hid from the Ethiopian people as long as it was possible. Even after his subordinates admitted his sickness, they shrouded it with childishly silly statements that contradicted each other. The people who now appear to be grief stricken didn’t have the chance to say their prayers for his recovery. To this date, there is no official statement as to where Ato Meles received medical treatment, let alone the nature of the ailment that took his life.
Death often brings a redeeming opportunity but not for Ato Meles. When he knew he was dying he could have set free the many political prisoners who are unjustly incarcerated and/or sentenced to long prison terms on utterly fabricated charges. This single act would have gone a long way toward redeeming his name and legacy. It could also have set a political trajectory his successors could follow to usher a healing and reconciliation process for a healthy political transition in the country.
Alas, only his coffin, not his goodwill, was brought to Ethiopia under the cover of darkness in a rainy night. It was a pitiable scene. During the reception at Bole Airport, we observe his family members and the coffin emerging from different parts of the plane. Apparently, the body of the all powerful man was kept alone in the cargo compartment for the flight from Brussels. We see at the far corner of the footage Ato Meles’ coffin being handled by four ordinary airport workers like any ordinary luggage. None of his subordinate dignitaries rushed to take care of it. In fact, no one seemed to care to notice it. Even when alive, Ato Meles was essentially a lonely person. He never mingled with ordinary Ethiopians for any event even for a handshake. In twenty one years at the helm of power, he has visited only a few places in Ethiopia.
No doubt Ato Meles has left a big shoe for his ill prepared subordinates to fill. They are like a cast without their star actor. For now they are mustering all the bravado vowing to stay the course the master had charted and left behind. This is a bad omen for the country and eventually for them too. If they want to leave a better legacy than Ato Meles, at the very least, they must free all political prisoners, allow more freedom of the press, and open up the political space for opposition parties to operate freely and vie for political power peacefully. The country has to start a healing and reconciliation journey so the time comes when Ethiopians celebrate and mourn together the lives and deaths of their future leaders.
Tags: Addis Ababa, Meles Zenawi
getachew
August 26, 2012 at 11:13 am
Lets see the Death certificate!!!!…he died on 14 july or 23 august????????…i am asking st Luke hospital and woizero Zerfeshwal????
Askale Dama
August 26, 2012 at 4:36 am
Birtu/Can
I sense your frustration but why is it that the tyrants are able to intimidate the people for mass drama? Because, they have cells, structures, organizations inside the crowd. The tyrants have vertical and horizontal clandestine structures for communication, control, and action. All of these organizational and agitational tasks are done inside the people, on the ground in every locality of Ethiopia, not on paper somewhere behind the desk.
Organizing the people under a violent dictatorship is not some random activism. It requires skills, it is an art. If you are in a position to participate in such undertaking, you must join organizing movements like G7 or other real actions groups. But by all means, we need to be conrete and practical in our comments. Abstract opinions have no effect on anything because what is to be done is some huge practical on-the-ground organizing.
Askale Dama
August 26, 2012 at 4:10 am
What is the meaning of the woyane drama around the Meles forced Lekso? It is a public terrorizing tool. By forcing the people for staged demonstration, they want to use such images to terrorize the nation. Staged demos are forms of public intimidation and public terror. The net effect of such psychological tool of fear is not to produce any lasting support for the tyranny but to prove the truly authoritarian nature of Woyane ethnic rule.
There is a message for the true opposition. I am using the word ‘true’ to make a distinction from the paper ‘opposition’. Those genuine movements like Ginbot 7 must organize inside this crowd and the use to advance the clarity and true social consciousness of the people. Only organizing inside these crowds can prepare those structures of popular uprising when the time right and ripe.
Tsinat
August 25, 2012 at 8:19 pm
TPLF is arguing that there is no power vacuum and there is no need to rush to swear in H/Mariam as acting PM. This is wrong not only by standard practices around the world but also by TPLF’s own constitution. According to their own constitution anyone who takes the responsibility of leading the country should be sworn in before the parliament. The person who takes charge of running the country must be sworn in for the position. You cannot be sworn in one capacity and extrapolate it to use it in another capacity especially when it of higher authority and as important as being in charge on a country. Yes H/Mariam has been sworn in as the deputy PM and to act for the PM in his absence. This is valid only as long as the PM is alive. It means although the PM is physically absent from work due to sickness, breavement, vacation, or for whatever reason, he is still in charge so no need to swear in somebody else. There is someone in charge but he/she is physically absent. When he is absent, you act for him under his general directives. However, when the PM is dead or incapacitated, that is a whole different ball game. It presupposes that you are given the power of attorney (a written memo) by the authorized person to act on his behalf. A dead person cannot give the power of attorney and even if he had given you when he was alive, that is valid only as long as that person is alive because that person is no more available to be held accountable for your actions on his behalf. You fill in for a living person and not for a non-existent one. If the person is dead, we are legally in a different territory. In that case there is no one who is under oath to run the country so the reason for the power vacuum. There is no one to take directives from who is under oath. H/Mariam has not been sworn in to be in charge of the country but to act for the PM in his physical absence (not dead nor incapacitated). Now the person who was sworn in to be in charge is no more alive. H/Mariam would be in charge only when he is sworn in for that particular position because that is what that position requires. Acting for someone else who is under oath to be in charge works only as long as that person is alive and is legally capable of executing what he is under oath for but is just physically absent. No one who is properly and legally under oath is in charge in Ethiopia today. Therefore there is a power vacuum. The power vacuum is filled in only when somebody is sworn in as soon as technically possible even if it is on an interim basis. The TPLF and their MP’s argue that swearing in somebody for the PM position is not their priority and their priority is mouring the death of their brutal dictator Meles. If they any iota of respect for their own constitution and their own oath, they are under oath to give the highest priority to safeguard the safety and security of the country and its people and as far as I now they are not under oath to mourn their late dictator. They owe to the Ethiopian people. Having no one under oath to be in charge of the country is a national security issue and should be accorded the highest priority. You cannot turn your swearing in to act for someone into being fully in charge when that person is no more alive. There is no one on whose behalf he is acting unless H/Mariam claims to be acting on behalf of dictator Meles’s ghost. He can act for a living Meles but he cannot act for the dead Meles nor can he be Meles’s incarnation. Therefore H/Mariam has to seek confirmation from the parliament to be constitutionally in charge and to be his own master without any further delay.
Birtu/can
August 25, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Dictionary.com defines “STOCKHOLM SYNDROME” as an emotional attachement to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival. This might explain the emotional outpouring of addis residents for the death of Meles Zenawi.
The Ethiopian people especially city dwellers have been conditioned into submission having no alternative to react otherwise. It is more like a relationship between a dog and its trainer. A dog is expected to act a certain way whether it is rolling over, bark, eat, run, jump…etc. Adog acting otherwise will lose its privileges such as a pat in the back or access for food. The same scenario applies in the relationship between woyane and the Ethiopian people. For example, expressing a different opinion other than woyane’s doctrine will get you a long prison sentence. Farmers are denied fertilizers, college graduates denied employement opportunities for not conforming with the system. Spies are unleashed throughout kebeles even hiuseholds. Every individuals life is at the mercy of woyane. The only difference between a dog and an Ethiopian is the dog gets to live no matter what. The so-called opposition can not be relied upon. So many opportunities have passed by where Ethiopians could have been incited, organized and ultimately show defiance to woyane dictatorship, but instead due to lack of guidance and strength of the opposition people chose to quite settling for divine intervention.Woyane have emasculated the once proud people of Ethiopia into the type of society we see in North Korea. The peoples reaction about Zenawi’s death is a reflection of how well woyane has done its homework as opposed to the weakness of the opposition to fire them up. Unless the opposition clean up its act, flex its muscle, show a sign of life where people can show confidence to stand by its side–it would be groundhog day forever. If the opposition don’t back up the talk with a walk, and the status quo continues rest assured Ethiopians will mourn for more dead woyane cadres in the coming years. Action is required to sway the current dangerous trend. I suggest disrupting Zenawi’s funeral procession for starters—some kind of action the will deny woyane dogs/sympathizers a good night’s sleep. Anything that instills fear to woyane and bring them back to their senses. Some kind of lightning strike similar to Abebe Gellaw’s thunderous voice at the food summit that doomed Meles Zenawi to the brink. The words of Abebe to the tyrant were freedom! freedom! freedom! and the words of the Ethiopian people to the opposition are action! action! action! Amen!!!
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN ETHIOPIA!!!!
A Maru
August 25, 2012 at 1:53 pm
“… even where Ato Meles did well, I believe, others could have done much better if they were given a chance. Many cite the roads and other infrastructures built in Ethiopia as positives to his legacy. One has to be reminded of the more than $40 billion aid money he received over the years which is enough to build more than what he built over the 21 year rule.” ለካ! ለካ! ልክ ብለሃል።
ፈረንጆቹ፥የሚያገለግላቸውን ሁሉ “SMART” “CLEVER” “GREAT INTELLECT” ይሉታል፥የታወቀ ነው።ግና፥ዛሬ ሞተባቸው፤በማን ሊተኩት ይሆን? የኢትዮጵያስ ሕዝብ አሁንም ዝም ብሎ ይመለከታቸው ይሆን?