A few points on Professor Mesfin’s interview with the DW Radio
By Bekele Habte, October 18, 2007
Though regrettably a little bit late, Professor Mesfin’s interview with the DW Radio regarding the crisis within Kinijit leadership is very informative and a must listen for any body who is determined to get to the root cause of the problem. In hindsight, for the good of the Ethiopian people, the struggle and Kinijit party, it could have been much better had Professor Mesfin brought all the problems surrounding Kinijit leadership before to the public domain with a view of nipping the problem at the bud rather than resign from Kinijit Council. Had he done so, may be, we might have not been where we are today!
Surely, something serious and fundamental must have gone wrong within Kinijit leadership in the eyes of the good professor that led him to resign from Kinijit Council. We all know Professor Mesfin’s wisdom, neutrality, moral authority and central role in bringing the four parties together to form Kinijit. After all, is he not the spiritual father of Kinijit? Thus, if we all are serious in finding nothing but the whole truth and genuinely care about Kinijit, it would be a grave mistake to take Professor Mesfin’s account lightly.
It is with the intention to critically analyze Kinijit leadership’s crisis and to pinpoint the way forward that I would like to highlight the following points from Professor Mesfin’s interview:
1. The very cause of the crisis within Kinijit leadership
According to Professor Mesfin, the crisis within Kinijit leadership is not a new phenomenon. The crisis did not start when the leadership was in detention; it did not start after the leadership was released from prison; it did not start during the leadership tour of the US and Europe but it started before the historical May/2005 election. Put simply, the crisis started right after the formation of Kinijt!
If that is the case, why was the crisis kept as a top secret from Kinijit members, supporters and the very stakeholders who voted for Kinijit? In Professor Mesfin’s view, the only reason why the crisis within Kinijit leadership was not in the public domain was that we have a very bad culture of covering up (Meshefafen) things fearing the worst. I believe, had Professor Mesfin come to the open the moment the crisis started with in Kinijit leadership by breaking this bad tradition, it may have been possible at least to mitigate this unnecessary and unwarranted leadership crisis.
Again, according to Professor Mesfin’s observation, the crisis within Kinijit is neither the problem of the Ethiopian people nor that of Kinijit but it is essentially the problem of few of the individuals within Kinijit leadership. Period!
2. Reasons for Professor Mesfin’s resignation from Kinijit Council
Professor Mesfin cited two valid reasons for him to resign from the Kinijit Council a few months before the historical May/2005 election. They are, first, few individuals within the leadership have unlimited and insatiable appetite for power to control Kinijit rather than promoting the interest of Kinijit. Second, few individuals within the leadership have been busy in forming their own clique (buden) and recruiting supporters for their buden rather than promoting the collective interests of Kinijit and Ethiopia. Hence, the current crisis within Kinijit leadership was long over due and has nothing to do at all with promoting the interests of Ethiopia and Kinijit supporters other than being a war among few individuals to control and run Kinijit single handedly.
My inference and conclusion on the matter: It is more likely that few individuals from Kestedemena party (most probably headed by Dr Birhanu) were behind this buden formation to satisfy their power hunger than Engineer Hailu. I say this because, unlike people like Dr Birhanu from Kestedemena, Engineer Hailu is already the leader of Kinijit; thus, he does not need to be a party to this desperate leadership struggle at all. What more can Engineer Hailu aspire for other than being a leader of the CUD. To cut a long story short, Engineer Hailu has already got the highest job in Kinijit. In addition, Engineer Hailu has the solid mass base from the largest party which constituted Kinijit i.e. AEUP. Hence, Engineer Hailu did not need to form a buden to continue being a leader of Kinijit as he can simply get what he wanted by using a majority vote in accordance with party democracy from his AEUP supporters. By the way, I think, it is prudent to see the suspension of Ato Lidetu Ayalew and Ato Mushe Semu from Kinijit from this angle. Were these two people victims of this power struggle and buden formation by Kestedemena?
3. The priority
According to Professor Mesfin, guaranteeing the continuity of the very existence of Kinijit party and the release of Kinijit supporters should have been accorded the highest priority by Kinijit leadership rather than indulging into a tour to the US and Europe. I can not agree more with the good professor. It is also good to note that this was also the view of Engineer Hailu and one of his main disagreement with the other delegates who left for the US and Europe. We also need to give credit to Engineer Hailu for his attempt to reach families in person who lost their loved ones in connection with Kinijit and for giving a token of financial support for the families immediately before the Ethiopian Millennium.
Leaving prioritizing Kinijit’s discourse for the moment, even the decision to tour Europe and the US is illegal. It is illegal since it is against Kinijit’s bye-law as quorum was not even present leave alone being endorsed by a majority decision as argued by the touring delegates.
4. On claims of “paying the ultimate sacrifice” and the support from the public
Of all the things said, one thing that touched the bottom of my heart is that Professor Mesfin’s bold but correct assertion that the ultimate sacrifices is paid not by the leaders who were detained but by the very people who lost their irreplaceable life, who were maimed, who were fired from their job and who were uprooted from their villages at the vengeful hands of the EPDRF regime. By doing so, I believe, Professor Mesfin brought the struggle once again to the grass root level and flagged up the ultimate sacrifices paid by the people that seems being sidelined at the moment. The current extravagant hiring of Limousines to escort the leaders in the US and Europe and red carpet partying appears to cash on the sacrifices paid by the people at the grass root level.
He kindly reminded the released leaders that there is no sound basis either to feel special or feel brave about being detained as if the detained had volunteered to go to prison on behalf of the people. As Professor Mesfin eloquently put it “imprisonment can not and should not be taken as a medal of honour”. He criticized those detained leaders not to look down at their colleagues who were not detained as if the detained had volunteered to go to prison and the others had refused. It is simply the regime that took some to prison and left the others at large and it has absolutely nothing to do with individual choice. He also reminded the Kinijit leaders that the unconditional support and respect they are getting from the Ethiopian people is solely to the party and not for the individual leaders per se. It is very reassuring to see this long time Human Rights and Democracy advocate humbling himself and acting as the conscious of Kinijit once again.
5. On the divisive approach of the leadership
Professor Mesfin stressed the madness and the subsequent danger of creating division within Kinijit leadership along those who joined Parliament and those who did not and most importantly, those who were detained and those who were not. Judging in light of this remark, it was wrong on the part of Mrs Birtukan Mideksa to send back home those Kinijit Council members who were not detained by excluding them from Kinijit meetings and decisions. The question we need to ask Mrs Birtukan Mideksa is that where does she get the power to do so? Did Mrs Birtukan act lawfully according to Kinijit bye-laws in this regard or did she act in breach of Kinijit-bye laws?
Conclusion
It is very imperative to take the crucial issues flagged up by Professor Mesfin in relation to the crisis within Kinijit leadership seriously. If we want to get a solution to the crisis, no stone should be left unturned to get to the truth. Hence, listening and re-listening Professor Mesfin’s interview may be a starter in the long journey to get to the truth of the crisis within Kinijit leadership.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I think Professor Mesfin’s comment tries to see also the events before the assignment of Kinijit leaders with their responsibilities in the CUD. So when professor Mesfin says “power struggle”, that indicates to me that there was some in-house fighting and internal struggle among the current leaders of CUD to take the top positions in the party and dominate in every aspects of Knijit’s activities. That actually neglects the objectives of Kinijit and the reasons for the formation of the party.
In any case, I am not surprised if that dismayed Lidetu Ayalew and made him less interested to continue working with the rest of Kinjit leaders.
October 18th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
ጉድና ጅራት ከወደኋላ ነው ይባላል፡፡ ፕሮፌሰር መስፍንን ይባርክልን!
October 18th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Prof. Mesifin has described it very clearly how terrible the grouping was in Kinjijit. Ofcourse what matters is how to go forward. And he has put it clearly to work under Birtukan’s leadership.
What surprised me a lot is his comments on Dr. Birhanu’s book. Though there are some facts what Prof. said, it seems he is not happpy with what Dr.Birhanu is doing.
My view is the difference has exploded, with Ing.Hailu, Ato Bedru and others on one side; and Dr.Birhanu, W/t Mideska and others on the other side. And these are the guys asking us to back them. For me, I am in dilemma as to back which from which and wish to wait more to seek the truth.
God Bless Ethiopia
October 18th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Eng. Hailu should resign without delay! I know that he is working for Ethiopia and can’t be a power monger at this age. However, if the good professor perceived him to the contrary, it is good to be an example for the young generation by resigning from his position.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
The sour grapes of Assefa Negash!!!
1-The limos are rented by Ethiopians who want to welcome the Kinijit leaders in grand style. If you *** were not hiding in ferenji land but were in Ethiopia fighting for the people, going to prison for them yoou would get their accolades too. Zeraf, zeraf from the North of the equator ain’t goona do it.
2- Quorum or no quorum, why did Hailu sign it? Or did somebody
forge his signature. So pathetic….
3- You hate Berhanu because he is brilliant and you are green with
envy. It is that age old abesha mekegenet. Get over your bitterness, hate politcs and shameful behavior. Thanks to you, Hailu
is damaged goods.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
ፕሮፈሰር መስፍን የኢትዮጵይ ህዝብ የሰላማዊ ትግል አበት የሆኑ: እድሜ ልካቸውን የኢትዮጵያ ህስብ የስልጣን ምንጭ መሆኑ ተረጋግቶ: መብቱ ተክብሮ እንዲኖር የታገሉ ሀገር በቀል ምሁር ናቸው::
የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ምኞቱና ህልም ጠንቅቀው የሚያውቁ መንፈሰ ተንካራ ሰው ናቸው:: ዛራም ያዩትን የታዘቡትን በህዝብ ላይ ተረማምዶ “አንቱ” ለመባል የሚደረገውን ትንንቅንቅ ማንንም ሳይፈሩ ለኢትጵያ ህዝብ የምስክርነት ቃላቸውን መስጠታቸው ሁላችንንም ነው ያኮራን::
ዛሬ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ታግለን ምን አመጣንለት ሳይሉ: ሃዘኑን ሳይካፈሉ : እግዚአብሄር ያጥናህ ሳይሉ በስቅዩና ሰቆቃው ለማትረፍና አንተ ለመባል በኢሮፕና አሜሪካ በሊሞዚን እየተምነሽነሹ ጦርነት የገጠሙትን የቅንግት መሪዎች ሁሉን እፍረጥርጠው ለህዝብ መግለጣቸው ያላቸውን የመንፈስ ጥናትና ድፍረት ነው የሚያሳየው: ለዚህ ውለታቸው አግዚአብሄር እድሜ እንዲሰጣቸው ከመለመን ሌላ ምንም አልልም: የህዝብን ሰቆቃ ተጠቅመው ስልጣን ለመቆጣጠር በመሮጥ ላይ ያሉት አድብ በገዙ ይበጃል:: የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ አወኩልህ በአንተ ስም ልግዛልህ የሚሉትን ጮሌዎች አይፈልግም:: ሁላችንንም በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ስም ሊሞዚን ይቅረብልኝ: ተሰልፋችሁ ዘምሩልን የሚሉ የስልጣን ጥመኞች ሳይሆን ኑሮውን ኖረው: መደቡላይ ተኝተው ያላቸውን አካፍለው ከችግሩ የሚያላቅቁት አንጂ እራሳቸውን አንቱ ያሉ ድልትና ሙገሳ ፈላጊዎች የሚሽከምበት ትክሻ የለውም: ህዝቡም እንባው ሳይደርቅ ዳንሱና ዳንኪራው በልክ ይሁን:
በእጅ ባልገባ ስልጣንንም ትንንቀ ይቁም: ፕሮፈሰር መስፍን የኢትዮጵይ አምላክ ረጂም እድሜ ይስጥዎት:: አሜን
October 18th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Almaz, you need to take it easy woman!!. Why are you very angry just because Professor Mesfin spoke the truth? Do you have any problem with the truth?
If you know Dr Birhanu in and out, you would not call him a brilliant man as he rather is a political novice. Leave alone professor Mesfin, even i, who is an ordinary man, can not and should not envy Dr Birhanu. In any case, what is there to envy about Dr Birhanu? His pathetic lie, his preoccupation in buden formation, his meren yelekeke yeseltan timat, …etc? Dr Birhanu is now badly wounded and i am positive that his political funeral will not be that far. That would be good for Ethiopia.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I have to admt that, by and large, it is a well written article. However, it tacitly endorses Engineer Hailu Shawel at the expense of Dr Birhanu and his buden. That will make the article a bit unbalanced.
October 19th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Genet Belew, I don’t agree with your idea because of the ff reasons:
1. If Dr. Birhanu has ‘meren yelekeke yeseltan timat’ as you said, he would have been in that position by now. During the formation of Kinijit, Ato Lidetu asked him to be president instead of Hailu and he refused.
2. Dr. Birhanu is not an executive member of Kinijit. So how would he be struggle for ‘Siltan’. This is what I don’t agree with Prof. Mesfin’s comment with due honor.
3. What is ‘Siltan’ by tha way?, Even any body can get it if S/He wants by supporting ‘Woyanne’, and sit in an executive chair.
I do respect both Ing. Hailu and Dr. Birhanu for what they did for that nation. Especially Ing. Hailu paid a lot and was straight when it comes to democracy for the poor ethiopia. But, he has to understand the current situation and act as a leader to solve the Kinijit’s problem
October 19th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Genet Belew,
If you are not deaf and have listened to your Aleqa Hailu Shawel
that has turned out to be the most pathological liar. Only bitter
cadres like yourself who can never measure up to Berhanu can deny his intellect. Sure Berhanu does not play 10th century byzantine politics and the feudal element within Kinijit who ony
wanted to replace the rule of Meles with the rule of Hailu is all
twisted up because the plan failed. Just as Haileselassie was the last king of Ethiopia, Meles is also the last dictator Ethiopians
will eve see. If Assefa Negash’s and friends dream of shumet has
evaporated into thin air… too bad. Wallow in your bitterness in ferenji land.
October 20th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I would like to add another split that occurred during the same time in Ethiopian recent history. I do so just to expose one of Kinijit’s protagonist in Diaspora Negede Gobeze a man who is responsible for encouraging Mengistu to use “ Ye Stalin Bitir “- red terror, and that is the division of MEASON( not mentioned by the writer ). When this party divided, Haile Fida and Negede Gobeze remained on one side and Dr Alemu Abebe & co. left to join Dergue. While Mengistu killed Haile Fida, Negede Gobeze managed to get out of the country. Mangistu held two of Negede’s sisters, Dr Hanna Gobeze and Rachel Gobeze for more than ten years in Addis Ababa Prison (Kerchele). Now, that same Negede Gobeze who caused all those atrocities not long time ago wants to come back in Ethiopian politics again. ( Jib Bemayawkut hager hedo kurbet anetifuligh yilal!) Though he is the main “Jib “, he is not the only ‘Jib “inside CUD.
To come to my point, unlike the author of this article wants to imply that divisions in political parties are okay, there was no juice that came out from these divisions. If there was one, it was blood. The reason we haven’t seen bloodshed because of Kinijit’s division so far is, the division has happened in Washington, DC.
Now, Kinijit’s diehard fans have only one hope to hang on, and that is HR 2003. This Bill has nothing to do with Kinijit’s division, nevertheless, they, out of desperation, will hang on to it until the Bill gets to the President desk. Don’t ask me what they will hold on as hopes after The President veto this Bill. Remember, Feres Yetefabet, Ejun Gan Wust Yiketal! The saga of the unsuccessful expedition of hope of the diehard cud supporters will continue until they get back to their senses and look for other meaningful alternatives!
October 20th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Deo:
1. No, Dr Birhanu is fully aware that he still needs a little bit of spin and cult building before he can take over Engineer Hailu’ s post by hook or crook. That is why Dr Birhanu is keeping low profile at the moment.
2. Yes, Dr Birhanu is not an executive member of Kinijit. That is exactly what makes Dr Birhanu’s struggle for ’siltan’a bit untimely and a little bit premature.
3. In Kinijit, if successful, Dr Birhanu can get the highest job with the real power. In Woyane, you will never get a real ’siltan’ unless you are a Tigre. You can only get easily a high position good enough to benefit yourself materially. No more than that.
October 20th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Almaz,
I bet you must be one of the unsuspected good Ethiopians who is a victim of Dr Birhanu’s and his accomplices skillful spin.
What you said is really a cheap propaganda originating by Dr Birhanu and his few trusted cadres like Andargachew and Birhane Mewa to confuse people like you.
Credit to Professor Mesfin, Dr Birhanu can not continue cheating the people for long. His real self would be exposed soon for every body to see. BTW, neither Dr Birhanu nor his trusted few cadres are smart enough to fool the people for so long. In spite of the high regard they have to themselves, they are still political novices.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Even though there is no evidence to the propostion mentioned by the author of this article and his supporters, I don’t see any thing wrong to fight for power if it is going to serve the public. The power is going to emanate from the people’s vote. It is not the struggle to take power that is wrong but the ways and the means.