YECHALAL! E 4 O!

 

We have to be honest. We are not much for electoral politics. This may make us an anomaly in a time of frenzied excitement over the presidential elections. It can’t be helped though. Except for the occasional salacious scandal (Spitzer and his sex workers), or the ranting of a lunatic (Cheney grunting that he doesn’t care if Americans are against the war), there is really nothing to recommend the discipline. Politics has become the bully pulpit of the moralizing majority, the psychotic Christian right coalition and every nut job who wants to blame immigrants, gays and anyone else for their problems. And politics is certainly not glamorous. Well. Not in the classic sense.

Too often we have thought that national elections have had no consequences on our every day lives. We have supported local races with the strategy that we can impact the policies imposes at the city, county and state level with much more effectiveness than we can nationally. However, we know from our struggle for human rights that the fight must be on different fronts. Ethiopians living in the United States have learned many lessons since the so-called elections of 2005 and the subsequent unlawful arrests and massacre of citizens by the Meles Zenawi regime. Chief among them is the importance of participation in the United States electoral process. Influencing American foreign policy toward Ethiopia has to be among the many avenues we pursue as we continue our work.  Engagement in American politics is not only critical for our lives here in the states but for the lives of millions of Ethiopians held hostage by the Zenawi regime. 

Decisions about immigration, schooling and a myriad of other issues affect our lives tremendously. Our ability to impact the future direction of this country is critical. This is particularly relevant at a time of a massive economic downturn and a worthless yet never-ending war. The "fierce urgency of now" compels us to participate where as we might have otherwise gripped about the lesser of two evils theory or the general bankruptcy of politics.

As people who watched two elections, in 2000 and 2004, manipulated and ultimately stolen, we were reticent to put ourselves back on the line. The Rovian tactics had broken us; the "anything goes" Machiavellian modus operandi of late had demoralized us. Were we the only sane voices amidst a chorus of pro war, pro national security, anti immigration populace enraptured by a manipulative cabal?

Yet to gripe on the sidelines had never been our style.  Mitmita believes in being engaged. Being in the mix. Making it spicy.

So we have arrived once again at the gates of electoral politics and we have jumped in saying: Yechalal! 

We have always advocated the importance of engaging our opponents on different fronts. In Meles Zenawi and his junta, we do not have a common foe. There is sophistication to the operation, a method to the madness of the minister. It isn't an average dictator who hires the prestigious firm of DLA Piper to lobby against [read: kill and bury] HR 2003, the Ethiopian human rights and democracy bill currently in the Senate.

 The United States government funds the Zenawi regime to the tune of millions a year. As citizens we have the right and ultimately the responsibility to petition the government about where our tax dollars are being spent and what is being done in our name. That is what makes our engagement critical.

The vote determines who gets what, when, where and how.

Don't misunderstand us. We do not offer the ballot as a panacea—as a cure all to what ails our communities. The solution to the challenges facing our communities must be multifaceted. As with any strategy, we tread cautiously. No one should place all the eggs in one basket. Supporting a presidential candidate or working for a campaign is simply one of many methods for achieving our objectives.

Through this presidential campaign, we have the ability to shape the future policy towards Ethiopia and to blunt the current trajectory. We can not very well discuss McCain or the Republicans. Not with any sort of seriousness. We also cannot seriously consider Hillary Clinton. Her entire campaign have left many of us wondering what if anything is it that white women have learned about the struggles of women of color over the years? Asking us to make false choices between our race and our gender is not only tired but is engaging the type of political dishonesty that we are not interested in. She is not our feminist candidate. And incidentally why do we wax nostalgic about the Clintons when it was Bill, after all, who christened Meles as “a new breed of African leader”—as if we need a Ferenje telling us what’s good for Africa.

Which brings us to Barack Obama.

No, he is not a panacea either. Yet we can challenge him, provide him with critical information that he may not be privy to and begin with a cleaner slate than we would any of the other candidates. But what will not change the travesty of what’s happening at home is to sit on the sidelines. When engaged,  we can make an impact.

Since ballot determines who gets what, when, where and how, let’s make sure that our voice is heard.

FEAR AND LOATHING IN ETHIOPIA

MITMITA has come across a series of reports and articles that detail a stunning new tool in the fight against injustice: Silence! Yes, it seems as though through this new weapon, international organizations believe that they have hit a most coveted trifecta! First, they can fulfill their organizational roles--be it feed the hungry, shelter the homeless , or observe trials. Second, NGOs can do this while effectively shielding dictators from public criticism and rebuke for their role in the persistence of massive human rights violations. Thirdly (and this dovetails beautifully from the last point), they are permitted by the regime, in exchange for their silence, to remain in gorgeous Ethiopia, to ostensibly continue their "do gooding."

So in what contexts are these international organizations remaining silent? There was that recent story of aid organizations refusing to speak to the press about the human rights violations in Ogaden while at the same time administering assistance to those who have suffered tremendously at the hands of the regime. Then of course there is the ongoing saga of the human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie whose continued incarceration and the silence of NGOs was detailed in a report by Ethiopolitics.com last week.

Ultimately the reasoning of the NGOs when confronted about their decision to remain silent is:  "at least we are able to do some good and provide some services. People wouldn't be able to get this help, if we spoke up and if we are kicked out." Some, cynics that they are, might decry these methods as akin to putting a bandaid on a gushing deep wound and patting yourself on the back for all of the great work that you are doing. 

Mitmita is not that generous. We don't think that the issue is the inability of the NGOs to understand how silence is detrimental. We believe that above the interest in doing good, above the interest in humanitarianism and human rights is an interest in self preservation. And these international organizations do have a legitimate concern when it comes to that issue. Our Prime Minister is quite fanatical about being obeyed and he certainly doesn't like it when you criticize him. Remember how he rudely told Tony Blair to shove his money some years back? Recall how he has previously kicked out aid organizations? We all know that the foreign press corps in Addis simply fawn over him, reporting with feigned (we hope) genuineness about his elections, his promise to get a handle on the skyrocketing inflation and to root out  "economic criminals." Mitmita genuinely wants to know if he will start with himself. If the press didn't comply, they risk the fate of many who have been expelled or barred. So instead of news, we get packaged stories. Instead of agitation and pressure from international organizations, we get silence with the promise that this will buy us some justice. 

What justice? And at what price?

Yet more important than the need for these individuals to remain in Ethiopia is the need for the truth. Silence brings with it a false notion of neutrality. It has never been on the side of the oppressed. Silence benefits the oppressor. It shields wrongdoing, instead of exposing it. To argue that you are in Ethiopia to provide aid, to shelter, feed, ensure that basic necessities and fundamental rights are met--yet to remain silent on the ROOT causes of these ailments is to be disingenuous to your cause, to the people that you are providing aid to and ultimately to the principle of justice. 

It is silence that fuels Darfur's continuing genocide. It is silence that allowed the massacre in Rwanda. And it is silence that is allowing the brilliant minds of Daniel and Netsanet to rot in prison in Ethiopia.  Above all, it is our collective silence that has allowed our country to burn continuously.

One of Mitmita's favorite quotes is from Dante in his discussion of the various circles of hell. He wrote in Inferno, "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." 

There is nothing that deserves the very screaming from our souls and the very agitation of our hearts than the suffering of our fellow Ethiopians. Where international organizations leave off, we must take up for ourselves. 

THE FINANCIER AND THE TEFF

“The faults of the burglar are the qualities of the financier.” George Bernard Shaw

 

The entire hubbub surrounding the proposed Ethiopian Commodity Exchange has Mitmita tickled and a little atwitter. Nothing gets us girls more hot and bothered than a commodity exchange or a stock market—the most capitalist of tools. We have in fact joked about this possibility since 2001 because we are avid followers of NYSE and the NIKKEI.

 

Try as we might however, we can’t muster up the requisite enthusiasm for this latest antic from our favorite faux Marxist/Leninist turned über capitalist Prime Minister.

 

We are sure that people who will no doubt scream “you are ruining opening day at the Exchange for us” will label us as naysayers but our obligation is not to be popular but to report the truth. Well. We would also like to be popular. But sometimes we are willing to sacrifice our eternal need to be liked for the good of the nation.

 

So we do truly hate to put a damper on the celebrations (we do love us a good party) but we are aghast at the suggestion that Ethiopia is not only ready for a commodity exchange but that the nation is able to begin and sustain such a system. Perhaps someone should clue in some of these would be financiers that what lies within the gates of the Sheraton is not Ethiopia. The hotel in its grotesqueness might have begun to resemble a little province or even a region of the country. Except it’s not. We know for some of you, holding your noses, haughtily complaining that the poor are just simply depressing, averting your eyes to the truth lining the streets leading up to the gates of the hotel has become your reality. Yet it doesn’t mean that because you can get your macchiato just as you like it and the guard’s English is better than yours, that you are now ready for a commodity exchange. 

Let us begin with the basics.

First, free markets follow free societies. Having established a free democratic Ethiopia, the regime now boldly enters the free market enterprise! Except they haven’t done the former and the latter is still a twinkle in the Prime Minister’s eye. If the jailing of dissidents, journalists, and members of the intelligencia et al under the surreally absurd charge of treason and genocide are all marks of a free society, then we would have been well on our way. Except they aren’t and we are going nowhere fast. Before we can talk about in what town and in which cities we are planning to house this exchange, we should be concerned about how to have conversations with our neighbors and families that are actually private. A regime that spies on its own citizens, squelches all independent thought and suppresses free flow of information and exchange can only outwardly mimic a so called free market economy.

  

Second, markets function on perception. More than anything else, what keeps the western markets running is the deep belief that the various institutions of the country are stable. That they are viable. That there is a continuity of sorts. This is the same belief that allows these countries to have elections and seemingly effortless handoffs from one administration to the next (Granted, we will concede that the Bushies have engaged in vast violations of civil rights when it comes to voting but the premise remains: a stable political, economic and social environment allows for a peaceful transition of power). So in essence markets function because the populace has faith in the banks, in the regulators, in their government. Ultimately, they have faith in the transparency of the system. Reader, we know you will be shocked to hear this but we do not have such a system in place and we are millions of Meles, err, miles, rather, away from achieving it with the current regime.

 

To the imagination of many a ferenji, the country is on it’s way to becoming this hotbed of capitalist activity. The rest of us see a regime that can’t get a handle on inflation, can’t feed its own people and has a pesky penchant for liquidating the opposition. But what do you care about inflation or transparency in governance. Mitmita knows that so long as you are able to get your plot of land in coveted locales in Addis, your sauna at the Hilton and daily manicures/pedicures, you’ll scream, “let them eat cake.” The current Ethiopian regime, on the other hand, is holding the country “steady” with its U.S. imported guns, its chokehold on all fundamental freedoms and its steal boots on the neck of the press.

 

This leads us to our third point: stable institutions. There are none in the country.

Rampant corruption is about the only thing that has been institutionalized in Ethiopia. Second to it might be the efficient way in which the regime disposes of its opponents. Perhaps the most interesting part of the article detailing the set up of the commodity exchange was the discussion of electronic screens which will be set in “20 market towns” and will project real-time prices. This sentence is followed by discussion of the current method that uses “donkey drawn wagons.” The juxtaposition struck us since we know that not too many miles outside of Addis, not even hours away from the Sheraton, we have seen women carrying water on their heads.

Can we figure out how to institutionalize access to clean water across the country? That would be more beneficial to the population than this artifice of modernization that they are proposing.

 

Finally, economics divorced from human rights is essentially bankrupt. This regime wants to have all of the accoutrements of a modern society without any of the accountability. People remain in jail on trumped up charges, those disappeared are never discussed and the regime rules with impunity. Much of the country subsists on an average of two dollars daily and in the rural areas, the Economist has reported that villages survive on six cents a day.  This economic strangulation is in addition to the erosion of fundamental human rights. Ethiopia's refusal to protect fundamental rights essential to a democracy has created a "brain drain". Potential contributors to the economy, which express views different from the regime, are forced to live in exile or flee to avoid facing imprisonment or death. A society's economic system and social and political institutions are linked, human rights analysis should not be applied as a second prong in a two-step solution to Ethiopia’s economic woes.

 

Yet. We know this is really about perception. We’ll admit it. Exchanges, markets, stocks are all very sexy. It’s a sophisticated alluring esoteric world. It has a mystique and the gang in Addis is thinking that it will bestow upon them some coveted title—similar to that given the Asian markets a few years back.

 

Just like the elections in May 2005 bestowed on Ethiopia the title of a democratic state! Remember that?

 

 Except they didn’t.

Just like changing from army fatigues to tailored suits and dropping the antagonistic communist language made our Prime Minister the dapper don that’s the darling of the West.

 

Except he isn’t.  The emperor has no clothes and all that.

 

We just can’t be bullish on the prospects of the commodity exchange. These folks must be using the “if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quakes like a duck”, then it must be a commodity exchange theory of economics.

 

We are girls who are very easily bored by people who are seeking to benefit at the expense of the poor. Greed, may be capitalist, but ultimately it is boorish and it is what is at the heart of this commodity exchange proposal.

 

The charade of modernization must stop.