Hargeisa- Reliable sources close to the presidency have confirmed to Somalilandpress that president Silanyo is due to leave for Britain today, where president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud of Somalia is currently being hosted. Mr. Siilaanyo’s expected visit to Britain comes after British foreign office and Common Wealth Officially unveiled the agenda for the upcoming International Conference on Somalia which will be held in London. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud of Somalia arrived in London on last Thursday accompanied his Senior Cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Fowsia Hajji Aden. This comes after the British government has granted 3 million pound aid boost to Somalia.
It is unclear if President Siilaanyo will meet his Somali counterpart or whether he wants to discuss with British officials about UK’s threat alert on Somaliland security. Recently president Silanyo confirmed, during State of Union address that his government will participate every conference which serves the interest of the nation. Meanwhile, Somaliland’s Foreing Minister Mohamed Abdillahi Omer has returned from a short visit to Ethopia where he met with British Embassy officials in Addis Ababa, followingUK’s threat alert on Somaliland.
Somaliland government has responded to the announcement made today by the American government travel warning which dissuaded citizens against visiting the country.
The Somaliland Assistant minister of information Hon Abdillahi Mohamed Dahir (Cukuse) dismissed in the strongest of terms allegations of the existent of present dangers and security threats to foreigners in the country during an interview with BBC Radio Somali service.
“We have not changed our position regarding security which off course always remains a top priority to us as a nation, let not exaggerate on the victories attained in the war against Al Shabaab by assuming that the new ground gained from the militants means it is the end of threats in those place, Said the deputy information minister.
Hon Abdillahi went on to say “I urge both the America and British to reconsider their recent stance on the security of the country and we ask our friends to share any information they have and which we are not aware of so that we can act on it, what they should be doing is to strengthen the existing cooperation on security issues such as sharing of intelligence,.
The minister also confirmed that they have in their custody people who were arrested in the past few days who are suspected to be sympathetic to Islamist militia, although it is too early to say what ongoing investigation will produce I would like to reiterate our willingness to work with regional and international partners on security related matters .
Lastly the deputy information minister had this to say” Us far as we are concerned the security status of the country is normal and I want to reassure all foreigners in the country that their safety is guaranteed.
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab militants, who have used Twitter to announce assassinations and bombings, are back on the microblog service two weeks after their account was suspended.
“[Our new account] will function like the one they closed,” a spokesman who declined to be named said on Tuesday.
Al Shabaab’s previous official Twitter account was suspended around January 24, days after group, which is aligned with al Qaeda, used the social media site to threaten to kill two Kenyan hostages.
The group tweeted a link to a video of the abducted civil servants and threatened to kill them unless the Kenyan government released all Muslim prisoners in its jails.
Twitter rules say threats of violence are forbidden but the site declined at the time to comment on why al Shabaab’s account, which had thousands of followers, had been suspended.
Al Shabaab’s Somali- and Arabic-language Twitter accounts were never closed.
The new account, using the handle @HSMPRESS1, has attracted over 1,100 followers within two days.
Al Shabaab wants to impose its strict version of sharia, or Islamic law, across Somalia. However, it has lost significant territory in the southern and central parts of the country in the face of an offensive by African Union troops.
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s Islamist al Shabaab militants, who have used Twitter to announce assassinations and bombings, are back on the microblog service two weeks after their account was suspended.
“[Our new account] will function like the one they closed,” a spokesman who declined to be named said on Tuesday.
Al Shabaab’s previous official Twitter account was suspended around January 24, days after group, which is aligned with al Qaeda, used the social media site to threaten to kill two Kenyan hostages.
The group tweeted a link to a video of the abducted civil servants and threatened to kill them unless the Kenyan government released all Muslim prisoners in its jails.
Twitter rules say threats of violence are forbidden but the site declined at the time to comment on why al Shabaab’s account, which had thousands of followers, had been suspended.
Al Shabaab’s Somali- and Arabic-language Twitter accounts were never closed.
The new account, using the handle @HSMPRESS1, has attracted over 1,100 followers within two days.
Al Shabaab wants to impose its strict version of sharia, or Islamic law, across Somalia. However, it has lost significant territory in the southern and central parts of the country in the face of an offensive by African Union troops.
The realization of duties is very significant often to standardize for the services delivered in a good quality and reliable levels. The government has different agencies and units that involved in very huge and serious tasks which are the heart of the governmental systematically operations always and deserve quite energetic and competent individuals to be engaged this area in order to increase the better services of the government mainly security and peace for both national and international levels.
There must be competitive and challenge in terms of work capability and also capacity to select the right people in the right positions elsewhere in the governmental departments to avoid monopoly and backing someone who is too weak to remain in office where unable to handle the work properly and creating many shambolic of duties which general populations are not totally happy how this is managed or dealt with negligence and unprofessionalism that may not secure the better role or assignments to accomplish in a brilliant way of intentions.
Somaliland has been recently on the eyes of the western especially Britain government that releases information and some concerns related terrorism issues in the region, even though the source of this information is unclear and Somaliland Government hundred percent denied the existence of that source, Somaliland still prepares to redouble and strengthen terrorism combat to ensure international communities the fully stability, peace and prosperity in the fragile, unrecognized nation that seems to be an orphan among the African nations or the world for a period of 22 years that looks the world both turned ear/eye deaf or blind to unfairly and indecisively.
Somaliland nation one hand often receives very hostile attacks from different areas weather neighbouring countries of having senseless jealousy and envy towards Somaliland sovereignty as a free independent country joins straight away to the African nations or international communities, on the other hand, Somalia is still chasing Somaliland wrongly and bulling back to remain the former catastrophic union that left one million Somaliland people dead for the result of political domination and severe oppression of 21 years of suffering.
No way of a new marriage takes place between the two republics of Italian and Britain colonies again. Because Somaliland people is still treating the wounds and trauma of the past that resulted every house of Somaliland nation lost the loved ones of their families with dictatorship and pressure of many faces including tribal issues and geographical reasons, Somaliland nation do not have any grudge to their brothers of Somalia, but determined to manage their own interest of peace living and independent enjoyment for the rest of their life. Due to Somaliland request from the international communities, it is important to listen and study the demand of Somaliland nation that has been the only priority agenda of this nation for the last two decades.
Somaliland is still and often too strong to continue securing that rays of hope of which world communities one day convince the right entitlement of Somaliland to generous recognition, although Somaliland does not believe that any recognition is missing from them, as they recognized themselves and work together as nation that implemented the whole governmental procedures by fulfilling and putting in place everything that nation of Somaliland needs to have fully and clearly.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Mogadishu court on Tuesday handed down one-year prison sentences to a woman who said she was raped by security forces and a reporter who interviewed her. The judges decided the woman falsely claimed she was raped and had insulted the government.
The judges based their decision on medical evidence that the woman was not raped, said the court’s top official, Ahmed Aden Farah. Farah said the woman’s prison term would be delayed so she could care for her young child.
Rights groups have decried the case as politically motivated because the woman had accused security forces of the assault. Rape is reported to be rampant in Mogadishu, where tens of thousands of people who fled last year’s famine live in poorly protected camps. Government troops are often blamed.
The charges and resulting sentences may result in even fewer victims of sexual assault coming forward to report attacks in conservative Somalia, rights groups fear.
“The court’s decision to convict an alleged rape victim and journalist who interviewed her is a terrible miscarriage of justice and sends a chilling signal to victims of sexual assault in Somalia,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The case was built on groundless charges and serious due process violations and should have been thrown out. The government should swiftly move to exonerate and release the defendants.”
The alleged rape victim was charged with insulting a government body, inducing false evidence, simulating a criminal offense and making a false accusation. Freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur was charged with insulting a government body and inducing the woman to give false evidence. Three others charged in the case, including the woman’s husband, were acquitted Tuesday.
All of the defendants denied the charges in court. Abdinur’s lawyer said he would appeal.
Farah, the court official, noted while reading the verdict that Abdinur admitted that he had interviewed the victim. But Abdinur never published a story in relation to the interview. Farah said the court also found the reporter guilty of visiting a man’s home without his permission.
The United Nations special representative on sexual violence, Zainab Hawa Bangura, said this month that the Somali government’s approach to the case “does not serve the interest of justice; it only serves to criminalize victims and undermine freedom of expression for the press.”
Rights group say the arrests were linked to an increase in media attention given to the high levels of rape and other sexual violence in Somalia, including attacks allegedly committed by security forces. On Jan. 6, Universal TV, a Somali television station, reported that armed men in police uniform had raped a young woman. The same day Al Jazeera published an article which described rape by security forces in camps for internally displaced people in Mogadishu.
Bakele said the case was a politically motivated attempt to blame and silence those who report on “the pervasive problem of sexual violence by Somali security forces.”
The husband, another man and another woman were charged with assisting the alleged rape victim to evade investigation and assisting her to secure a profit for the rape allegation, charges that indicated the government believed there was a conspiracy to discredit it and somehow acquire financial gain, Human Rights Watch said previously.
The Somali capital has moved past the violence that engulfed Mogadishu for much of the last two decades. In a sign of its progress, the United States this month officially recognized the country for the first time in two decades. The U.S. hadn’t recognized a Somali government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Despite the progress, Somali government institutions remain weak and corrupt, and the government relies heavily on the security provided by 17,000 African Union troops in the country.
Somaliland President H.E Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) has issued a Presidential Decree # JSL/M/XERM/249-1568/022013 reshuffling all regional governors.
Presidential circulation stated as follows:
In accordance with Somaliland constitution Act #90 and Act 110, I do hereby announce as of today 4/2/2013 the reshuffling of all regional governors with immediate effect.
The Changes are as follows:
1. Hon Mohamed Mahmoud Ali previously the governor of Sool region as the new governor of Maroodi Jeeh Region.
2. Hon Ahmed Omar Haji Abdillahi(Harmaji) previously the governor of Maroodi Jeeh region as the new governor of Togdheer region.
3. Hon Mohamed Farah Aden as the new governor of Sool region.
4. Hon Abdoo Ahmed Aayer Previously the governor Togdheer as the new governor of Awdal region.
5. Hon Yusuf Ibrahim Geedi previously governor of Oodweyne as the new governor of Gabiley region.
6. Hon Ahmed Muhumed Geele (Dacar) as the new governor of Sanaag region.
7. Hon Jamal Hussien Hurre Previously of Hawd region as the new governor Oodweyne region.
8. Hon Abdullah Farah Maydhane as the new governor of Selel region.
9. Hon Ibrahim Hassan Ali previously of Saraar region as the new governor of Hawd.
10. Hon Ahmed Ali Nur previously of Gabiley region as the new governor of Saraar.
Lastly, Hon Ahmed Hadi Sadci previously the governor Awdal region has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect.
Meanwhile President Silanyo has appointed two new managing directors to head governmental agencies while sacking former heads this was announced in Presidential decree # JSL/M/XERM/249-1574/022013.
President Silanyo has named two new managing directors
1. Mr. Yusuf Osman Garas as the new head of Food Commission Agency (FCA) which will now hence forth operate under the ministry of national planning.
2. Prof. Hassan Ali Osman as the new head of Somaliland Road Authority (SRA)
While relieving, Mr.Mohamed Dahir Ahmed and Mr. Abdiwahid Abdikadir of their duties as heads of Food Commission Agency and Somaliland Road Authority (SRA) with immediate effect.
Goth M Goth
Somalilandpress.com
Three men working with the UN have been kidnapped by Khatuumo militiamen in Sool region and are now been for held for the second straight day.
The workers were part of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA )team conducting censors on the local population in remote of part taleeh district were kidnapped at gun point by Khatuumo militiamen.
UNPFA workers all men of Somali together with unspecified number of guards who were part of their security detail after they were overpowered by the Khatuumo militiamen who outnumbered the guards.
One of the kidnapped men who were allowed to speak to a websites sympathetic to the Khatuumoist had this to say “I am part of a joint UNFPA-Somaliland team who work for the ministry of national planning.
The militiamen have not yet revealed the where they are holding their captives neither their demands.
Faisal Ali Waraabe, Chairmen of UCID Party, and Khaalid Hassan H.Mahamud, UCID Representative to Socialist International and EU, attend the meeting of the Council of the Socialist International in Cascais, Portugal.
UCID Party became a member of the Socialist International following the historic SI Congress held in South Africa September 2012. The Socialist International are holding their first meeting of its Council in Cascais, Portugal, on 4-5 February, hosted by the Portugese Socialist Party.
Under the heading “The World Economy: Our Vision for Growth, Jobs and Sustainable Development”, the Council’s agenda will address the following aspects “The Eurozone Crisis: From here, which way forward?”; “Emerging and Developing Economies in an ‘Out of Crisis’ Strategy”; and “Multilateral Institutions and other International Actors in the Search for Fair and Sustainable Answers”.
Chairmen of UCID Party, Faisal Ali Waraabe met with Luis Ayala, Secretary General of the Socialist International and with George Papandreou, President of the Socialist International and Prime-Minister of Greece, Alfred Gusenbaur, former Prime Minister of Austria. The UCID representatives met with the African block and member parties of the Socialist International.
The meeting takes place in Cascais(Portugal) from Monday 4 February till Tuesday 6 February.
All dictators on the African continent have sought immortality by leaving a legacy that will outlive them and endure for the ages. But all have inherited the wind.
Kwame Nkrumah led the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from colonialism in 1957. Nkrumaism sought to transform Ghana into a modern socialist state through state-driven industrialization. He built the Akosombo Dam on the Volta River, at the time considered the “largest single investment in the economic development plans of Ghana”. He promoted the cult of personality and was hailed as the “Messiah”, “Father of Ghana and Pan Africanism” and “Father of African nationalism”. He crushed the unions and the opposition, jailed the judges, created a one-man, one-party state and tried to make himself “President for life”. He got the military boot in 1966. He left a bitter legacy of one-man, one-party rule which to this day serves as a model of dictatorship for all of Africa. Nkrumah died in exile and inherited the wind.
Gamal Abdel Nasser sought to create his own brand of Arab socialism and nationalism and propagated it as a secular Pan-Arab ideology. Using an extensive intelligence apparatus and an elaborate propaganda machine, he promoted a cult of personality projecting himself as the “Man of the People.” He built the Aswan High Dam with Soviet aid. He ruled Egypt in a one-man, one-party dictatorship and crushed all dissent, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Today the Muslim Brotherhood is in power and Nasserism is in the dustbin of history. Nasser left a legacy of military dictatorship in Egypt and inherited the wind.
Mobutu Sese Seko proclaimed himself “Father of the Nation” of Zaire (The Democratic Republic of the Congo), and became dictator for life. He declared, “In our African tradition there are never two chiefs….That is why we Congolese, in the desire to conform to the traditions of our continent, have resolved to group all the energies of the citizens of our country under the banner of a single national party.” Mobutuism consisted of the delusional thoughts of Mobutu and his program of “Zairianization”. He promoted a cult of personality describing himself as the “the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake”. Mobutu built the Inga Dams over the Congo River hoping to create the largest hydroelectric facility in the world. He left a legacy of kleptocracy and inherited the wind.
Moamar Gadhafi proclaimed the “Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya” and ushered the era of the state of the masses (Jamahiriya). He sought to elevate Libyan society by reducing it to a massive collection of “people’s committees”. He brutally suppressed dissent and squandered the national resources of that country. He launched the Great Man-Made River, the world’s largest irrigation project and proclaimed it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” After four decades in power, the “Brother Leader” and author of the Green Book literally suffered the death of a sewer rat. He left a legacy of division and destruction in Libya and inherited the wind.
Idi Amin Dada, the “Butcher of Uganda” and the most notorious of all African dictators, imposed a reign of terror on the Ugandan people and sadistically displayed his tyrannical power to the international press. He pompously described himself as “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.” He built no dams by damned the Ugandan people for 8 years until he was forced into exile. He left a legacy of death, destruction and ethnic division in Uganda and inherited the wind.
The “Great Leader”?
The late Meles Zenawi, like all African dictators, sought to make himself larger than life. He was not only Ethiopia’s savior but Africa’s as well. He sought to project himself as a “visionary leader”, “inspirational spokesman for Africa” and supreme practitioner of “revolutionary democracy.” Following his death sometime in late Summer 2012, the propaganda to deify, mythologize, exalt, immortalize and idolize him became a theatre of the absurd. Hailemariam Desalegn, Meles’ handpicked titular prime minster, in his speech to the party faithful in parliament virtually made Meles a lesser god offering blessings of “Eternal Glory to Our Great Leader.” Even the original “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung of North Korea achieved no more glory than being “The Sun of the Nation”. Desalegn promised to consummate his own divinely delegated mission with missionary zeal: “My responsibility now… is to successfully carry out the aims and ambitions of a great and notable leader… Following in the footsteps of our great leader, we will strive to maintain and develop the influential voice in regional, continental and international forums” and “successfully implement the aims and vision of our great leader. He was not just a brilliant generator of ideas: he was, par excellence, the embodiment of selflessness and self-sacrifice…”
Was Desalegn talking about Meles or the Man of Galilee?
The Vision and Legacy of the “Visionary Great Leader”
Like all African dictators before him, Meles had illusions, delusions and obsessions. He did not have a grand vision; he had illusions of grandeur. Like Mobutu before him, Meles had the illusion of building Africa’s largest dam, the so-called Grand Renaissance Dam, on the Blue Nile at a cost preliminarily estimated (unadjusted for cost overruns) at nearly USD$5 billion. Experts believe such a dam if built will “flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest Ethiopia, near the Sudan border, and create a reservoir that is nearly twice as large as Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest natural lake…. The current cost estimate [for the dam] equals the country’s entire annual budget…” Moreover, the dam “could cut the Nile flow into Egypt by 25% during the reservoir filling period” and substantially reduce the reservoir capacity of the Aswan High Dam. According to a document obtained by Wikileaks from the private intelligence group Stratfor, “Sudan’s president Omer Al-Bashir had agreed to build an Egyptian airbase in his country’s western region of Darfur to be used for assaults on The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) should diplomatic efforts fail to resolve the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over Nile water-sharing.” A legacy of regional war and strife?
Meles did not have a growth and transformation plan; he had delusional plans of economic growth and transformation. As I have demonstrated in “The Voodoo Economics of Meles Zenawi”, Meles “has been making hyperbolic claims of economic growth in Ethiopia based on fabricated and massaged GDP (gross domestic product) numbers, implying that the country is in a state of runaway economic development and the people’s standard of living is fast outstripping those living in the middle income countries.” When the U.S. State Department reported an average inflation rate (FY 2008-2009) of 36 percent, Meles predicted a decline in inflation to 3.9 percent in 2009/10. His Growth and Transformation Plan (or what I called “Zenawinomics”) which I reviewed in my June 2011 commentary “The Fakeonomics of Meles Zenawi”, “is a make-a-wish list of stuff. It purports to be based on a ‘long-term vision’ of making Ethiopia ‘a country where democratic rule, good-governance and social justice reigns.’ It aims to ‘build an economy which has a modern and productive agricultural sector with enhanced technology and an industrial sector’ and ‘increase per capita income of citizens so that it reaches at the level of those in middle-income countries.’ It boasts of ‘pillar strategies’ to ‘sustain faster and equitable economic growth’, ‘maintain agriculture as a major source of economic growth,’ ‘create favorable conditions for the industry to play key role in the economy,’ ‘expand infrastructure and social development,’ ‘build capacity and deepen good governance’ and ‘promote women and youth empowerment and equitable benefit.’ Stripped of its collection of hollow economic slogans, clichés, buzzwords and catchphrases, Meles’ growth and growth and transformation plan is plain sham-o-nomics. A legacy of inflation, economic mismanagement, crushing foreign debt and environmental destruction?
Meles had no national vision; he only had a vision of ethnic division. His warped idea of “ethnic federalism” is merely a kinder and gentler reincarnation of Apartheid in Ethiopia. For nearly two decades, Meles toiled ceaselessly to shred the very fabric of Ethiopian society, and sculpt a landscape balkanized into tribal, ethnic, linguistic and regional enclaves. He crafted a constitution based entirely on ethnicity and tribal affiliation as the basis for political organization. He wrote in Article 46 (2) of the constitution: “States shall be structured on the basis of settlement patterns, language, identity and consent of the people.” In other words, “states”, (and the people who live in them) shall be corralled like cattle in tribal homelands in much the same way as the 10 Bantustans (black homelands) of Apartheid South Africa. These tribal homelands are officially called “kilils” (enclaves or distinct enclosed and effectively isolated geographic areas within a seemingly integrated national territory). Like the Bantustans, the Killilistans ultimately aim to create homogeneous and autonomous ethnic states in Ethiopia, effectively scrubbing out any meaningful notion of Ethiopian national citizenship. Meles’ completely fictitious theory of “ethnic (tribal) federalism)”, unknown in the annals of political science or political theory, has been used to justify and glorify these Kililistans and impose an atrocious policy of divide and rule against 90 million people. A legacy of ethnic balkanization, political polarization, brutalization, and sectarian strife?
Under Meles, Ethiopia became the poster country for international alms and charity and crushing international debt. During his two decades plus tenure, Ethiopia has been among the largest recipients of “economic aid”, “development aid”, “military aid”, “technical aid”, “emergency aid”, “relief aid”, “humanitarian aid” and aid against AIDS in the world. As I argued in my commentary “Ethiopia in BondAid?”, Meles has successfully subverted international aid and loans, particularly U.S. aid, to strengthen his tyrannical rule. A legacy of international aid addiction and beggary?
Despite the country’s exceptionally heavy recent investment in its telecoms infrastructure, it has the second lowest telephone penetration rate in Africa. It once led the regional field in the laying of fiber-optic cable, yet suffers from severe bandwidth and reliability problems. Amid its low service delivery, an apparent lack of accountability, and multiple court cases, some aspects of the sector are perceived by both domestic and international observers to bedeeply affected by corruption.
In the Construction Sector, “Ethiopia exhibits most of the classic warning signs of corruption risk, including instances of poor-quality construction, inflated unit output costs, and delays in implementation.” Corruption in the Justice Sector “takes one of two forms: (a) political interference with the independent actions of courts or other sector agencies, or (b) payment or solicitation of bribes or other considerations to alter a decision or action.” Corruption in the Land Sector is inherent in the law. “The level of corruption is influenced strongly by the way policy and legislation are formulated and enforced. For example, the capture of state assets by the elite can occur through the formulation of policy that favors the elite.” In other words, the laws are written to rig the bidding process to give Meles’ cronies, buddies and supporters a significant advantage so that they can pick up state assets at fire sale prices. A legacy of endemic corruption?
Meles’ “revolutionary democracy” as an ideology or policy guide never quite transcended the sloganeering and phrase-mongering stage, but he indulged in its rhetoric whenever he was overcome by revolutionary fervor. In a seminal analysis of “revolutionary democracy” and arguably the “first paper to seriously examine the political programme and political philosophy of EPRDF based on a review of its major policy”, Jean-Nicolas Bach of the Institute of Political Studies (Bordeaux, France) in 2011 described “Abyotawi democracy (revolutionary democracy) [as] neither revolutionary nor democratic.” Bach argued that revolutionary democracy is a ‘‘bricolage’’ (hodgepodge) of “Leninism, Marxism, Maoism, and also liberalism” concocted by a “small group of party ideologists around Meles, and a few agencies.” As an ideology, “revolutionary democracy” “provides justification for fusing political and economic power in the party-state run by EPRDF.” A critical “review of party pamphlets and official party/state discourses reveals the degree to which revolutionary democracy has become an ambiguous doctrine vis-a`-vis ‘liberalism’” and “remains a powerful fighting tool to exclude internal and external ‘enemies’.” One commentator recently likened revolutionary democracy to communism and fascism. Revolutionary democracy is responsible for delivering a 99.6 percent parliamentary victory to Meles’ party in 2010. A legacy of rigged and stolen elections and bad governance?
Melesismo: Meles’ Greatest Legacy
Meles’ singular legacy is Melesismo, a political legacy I foretold in my December 2009 commentary entitled “The Raw Machismo of Power”. Meles perfected Melesismo– the political art of “My way, the highway, no way… or jail!” Melesismo reaffirms the ignoble principle that might makes right.
Meles’ worshippers proclaim they are marching in his footsteps with the same reverence of those who claim to walk in the footsteps of the Man of Galilee. They ostentatiously display raw machismo invoking the divine power Meles. How little things have changed? From a legacy of the divine right of kings to a legacy of the divine rule of a lesser god!
Meles’ worshippers seek to mythologize, canonize and idolize him. But they cannot reincarnate Meles as the “Messiah”. Even the great Nelson Mandela is undeserving of “eternal glory”. He said so himself, “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” Neither saints nor demons deserve “eternal glory”. Meles will eventually be consigned to the dustbin of history as nothing more than another petty African tyrant.
Meles’ greatest legacy would have been what he said his legacy would be. In 2007, Meles said his “hope is that [his] legacy” would be not only “sustained and accelerated development that would pull Ethiopia out of the massive deep poverty” but also “radical improvements in terms of good governance and democracy.” Without radical democratic improvements by Meles’ worshippers, Meles will be remembered in history as a reactionary petty African tyrant.
Is it possible for Meleismo to hold the center after Meles? Will Melesismo survive Meles?
My friend Eskinder Nega, the personification of press freedom in Ethiopia today, who was jailed by Meles, was likely right in foretelling the inevitable implosion of the “EPDRF”. Eskinder wrote, “Scratch beyond the surface and the EPRDF is really not the monolithic dinosaur as it is most commonly stereotyped. [It has become] a coalition of four distinct phenomenon: the increasing confusion of the dominant TPLF [Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front], the acute cynicism of the ANDM [Amhara National Democratic Movement], the desperate nihilism of the OPDO [Oromo People’s Democratic Organization] and the inevitable irrelevance of the incongruent SEPM [South Ethiopian People’s Movement] (a grab bag of some 40 ethnic groups from the southern part of the country).”
Meles was a man with a mission who confused mission with vision. He has completed his mission. History will record his legacy to be human rights violation, press suppression, ethnic division, endemic corruption, obsessive secrecy and a political culture whose lifeblood is impunity, lack of accountability and transparency. Shakespeare wrote, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones…” Scripture teaches that “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.” Meles and his worshippers have profoundly troubled the Ethiopian house and they shall inherit the wind!
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.
Previous commentaries by the author are available at:
