Unfiltered Notes: Better Questions Isaias Should Have Been Asked

EriTV’s recent “interview” with Isaias looked more like a rigged boxing match between a giant equipped with spiked gloves and a five-year old with hands tied behind his back. The “champ” stepped in the ring after making sure his opponent is incapable of throwing any punches -- thus the pre-arranged and self-serving questions. Of course, he was declared the undisputed winner again as in years past since there was no one to dispute anything. And with his signature celebratory ritual, he stepped on the head of his fallen five-year old opponent to claim his trophy.

That is how it felt anyway. The choreographed “interview” was full of incoherent rumblings where just about everything was meaningless and how tried methods the rest of the world uses to measure progress are irrelevant in unique Eritrea. The collective intelligence of Eritreans must have dropped down by a few points listening to the drivel. I felt like I had a few brain cells fried myself, something I can ill-afford as I don’t have that many to spare.

Satire by Tesfagabir Tesfu and Misgina Tesfamicael (from South Africa) summarized the mumbo jumbo beautifully where the response to a simple question whether milk is white or red was: “… before I answer your question first we have to look at where milk comes from. Basically, it comes from cows. Cows are slaughtered for meat in most parts of the world, although in India they are worshipped and that is why they call them holy cows and they freely roam the streets…”. Follow the link above to assenna.com to get the full text. It is hilarious. Great job guys, you really nailed it.

Given Eritrea’s dire situation, there are many relevant questions to be asked compared to the farce we were treated to. What questions would you ask if you had the chance -- assuming there is someone who can honestly and truthfully answer them on the other side of course? Here are a few.

1.To start on a lighter note, who is your best friend and why?

2.There is an often told story that you and Haile Woldetinsae (DruE) made friendship pact years ago to stick together through thick and thin. Is that true and how is DruE now?

3.In what sounded like a roundabout way of offering condolences for Meles’ death, you expressed your disgust for those who wish death on others. Among other things, you said someone who harbors such feelings must be “mentally unstable”, “denqoro” etc. Fair point. If wishing death on someone is so offensive to you, what do you think of those who deny burial rights to the already dead?

4.Why did you deny burial rights to your friend Naizghi Kiflu? What you did was against Eritrean societal norms and traditions. What lesson should those living take from this act?

5.Eritrea is said to be full of prisons. People know about Adi Abieto, Eira Ero and the metal containers where victims are exposed to extreme heat and cold. How many prisons does Eritrea have? And how many universities?

6.You have jailed your former comrades for more than 11 years and some of them are believed to have died in prison. Since you don’t allow anyone to visit them, can you tell the Eritrean people how they are doing?

7.People are routinely killed under mysterious circumstances in Eritrea, Mohammed Hagos the former owner/manager of OMO factory among them. Yet such murders are never investigated. Why? Eritrea has also become a place where people disappear without a trace. Where is Senay Kifleyesus, for example?

8.As your comrade of many years and according to good-old Eritrean traditions, the children of Petros Solomon are considered to be your children too. And yet, you made them instant orphans by taking away both their parents. Why?

9.Switching to economic development, everything is so expensive these days and getting worse. Even the highest wage earners in the country cannot make ends meet with their honest earnings. What is the inflation rate in Eritrea currently and what can we expect for the near future?

10.Just to take one example, eggs used to cost much less. Those in National Service earn 500 Nakfa/month and their whole salary can’t even buy 100 eggs. What do you say to those tied up in endless national service whose productive years are getting wasted? Isaias interrupting: Before I answer that CIA instigated silly question, it is important to understand whether the egg or the chicken came first…. (sorry, that was hard to resist)

11.Those stuck in national service with no end in sight are totally deprived of normal life such as building careers and raising stable families. Don’t you think this demoralizing environment is weakening Eritrea and undermining the nation’s security and its future?

12.You talk at great length how the CIA is siphoning the youth out of Eritrea for human trafficking. Are you serious? Is there evidence you can share to show this is so? Wouldn’t the enslavement of our youth in the endless national service and total lack of freedom to create a better life for oneself be a better explanation? But more importantly, what are you doing to prevent the exodus? Didn’t you at one point trivialize it as people going on a picnic? You also dismissively told Eritrean students in South Africa they can get lost because you can buy labor from India and Pakistan. How is that working out?

13.You told the nation that you were awakened from sleep to be informed about war breaking out in Badme. The way you have been running Eritrea, it is hard to believe anyone else can make such a decision. How was that decision reached and who gave the order to roll the tanks in?

14.What do you remember about Tesfay Temnewo? He sure remembers you and, according to him, the severe mistrust and divisions you created among tegadelti and the eliminations that happened back then are the root cause of Eritrea’s current state of affairs. Do you want to comment on that?

15.You have dominated Eritrean politics for the last 40 years or so now. The character that comes across through all these years, some say, is that you are vindictive, divisive and you are willing to sacrifice life-long friends or the nation’s wellbeing to stay in power. But your power was under no threat, especially after 1991. People loved and respected you then. Why didn’t you choose to capitalize on that to achieve your power goals? You could have had it all – love, respect and power. Yet, you chose to be merciless – even to the lifeless body of your friend Naizghi, which seems extremely petty and unnecessary. Why?

16.Assessing Eritrea’s current situation, Natnael Esifanos Sium, a young man wise beyond his years and whose father you have jailed without charges for over a decade, paints more or less the same picture (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STz5vssnE-M) as that of Tesfay Temnewo. In what ways would you say you have changed over the last 40 years that is different from Natnael’s and Tesfay’s assessments or, for that matter, vis-à-vis the growing perception that you are even worse than Mengistu? At least Mengistu allowed family members to visit prisoners

17.You talk big about self-reliance. But the record shows people who were self-reliant and those who strive to become self-reliant are deprived of opportunities to exercise their dreams in Eritrea. In fact, they are leaving Eritrea in droves. Do you see how losing it’s most dynamic and productive citizens can be harmful to Eritrea?

18.In various interviews you said there will not be democracy or freedom of expression in Eritrea for decades to come; that you will not leave office because you don’t have a contract from anyone. In spite of this you also say you will step down if the Eritrean people tell you to do so. Yet the environment you have created – the killings, disappearances, intimidations, denial of personal freedoms and no elections – only guarantees people have no means of telling you anything. Don’t you see how you can come across as one who underestimates – a better word may actually be despises – your own people?

19.You are human and you will die one day. With everything decided in your office Eritrea’s institutions are severely weakened or destroyed. As a result Eritrea lacks a smooth power transition plan and can end up in a chaos after you are gone. Does that bother you?

20.Other than speaking vaguely that mistakes were made, you never take responsibility for anything. Your old comrades have been either eliminated or frozen and it is only you with no one else left to blame now. You make all decisions – big and small. And the poverty, the intermittent services, our crumbling cities, people stuck in dead-end situations earning 500 Nakfa/month, people disappearing, disempowered institutions, runaway inflation, seem to only get worse year over year. Do you ever wonder if you could actually be Eritrea’s biggest liability.

Unfiltered Notes: How Much Do Eritreans Love Their Country?

Boundless love is what most of us believe we have for Eritrea. But our tendencies to embrace the king of the day (znegese ngusna) no matter how harsh the sacrifices seem to suggest otherwise. Judging by the only measurement that matters – our collective inability to remove what has turned out to be a modern day feudal lord – it is hard to determine what is loved. So what exactly do we love about Eritrea?

Is our love for the people of Eritrea? The massacre of the disabled veterans; the reckless sacrifice of 19,000 the sadistic Isaias gloated about being too few compared to Ethiopia’s losses; those perishing in deserts and high seas;  the thousands suffering and dying in prisons across the country;  elderly parents held hostage for ransom are all Eritreans we claim to love. Yet, we simply forget them after every sad event and the lawless regime goes on to concoct the next tragedy. Where is the love when we have let every year get worse than the previous one for the last 21 years?

Secondly, Eritreans seem to be too eager to offend each other and equally ready to be offended these days. Hardly anyone is willing to forgive and forget the small stuff or apologize for transgressions. Opposition groups, churches, community centers, civic organizations who are and should be allies against injustice are busy tearing each other down on secondary issues. Cooperation is a bad word absent from our everyday vocabulary. Faced with common problems with so much to gain by working together, the focus on trivia is only comforting a ruthless regime that does not deserve to live another day. What kind of love is that?

Is our love for Eritrea’s good societal values grounded on justice, freedom and the pursuit of happiness? Hardly. In fact, whatever decent values Eritrea had are either uprooted or severely damaged by a vampire regime (to borrow from George Ayittey) known for its ruthlessness and deceit. Tesfay Temnewo (man of the year indeed and thank you Seyoum) eloquently encapsulates this when he describes the sleepless night he had over 30 years ago worried about the hijacked version of “independence” that will disappoint Eritrean families; including the one in whose warmth and kindness he had his first meal in a family setting since he joined the independence movement.  Tesfay also explains the culture of embezzlement and terrorism that was set in stone way back then when innocent families were deprived of their livelihoods for “crimes” of association.

Similarly, KubromDafla describes the grand robbery by a regime whose legacy to date has been massive poverty and loss of all types of freedoms Eritreans have never seen the scale of before.  Thank you Kubrom for exposing it for what it really is with calm and fact-driven finesse! Based on how we -- diaspora Eritreans in particular -- had so willingly denied the same freedoms we enjoy ourselves to our brothers and sisters in Eritrea, there isn’t much love to speak of here either.

Is our love for the courage of our educated class speaking truth to power? This is probably the most disappointing of our shortcomings. To mention the latest drama: Dr. Woldai Futur spoke about the efficient infrastructure and solid institutions that are in place to encourage new investments. Sadly, even the best education our planet has to offer can’t steady a weak spine or enlighten a self-enslaved mind. Everyone knows the crumbling infrastructure and the intentional destruction of Eritrea’s institutions by the very regime the good doctor serves. Dr. Woldai, blessed with a good education, should have been pained by the closure of the only University Eritrea had and the ignorance era this regime has sunk the country into. As an economist, he could have used his skills and experience to analyze the root cause of Eritrea’s abject poverty and find ways to reverse it. Instead, he chooses to be a mere errand boy for a failed despot who so despises education and the educated. I wonder what Dr. Woldai would mention as his single accomplishment that has resulted in Eritrea’s improved economic health.

Unfortunately, Dr. Woldai is not alone. We also have the likes of Dr Ghideon Abays, Dr Woldeab Isaacs, Dr Amare Tekles who have greatly contributed for dictatorship to flourish in Eritrea. Likewise, many Eritreans who sleep soundly under the comfort of freedom the West provides them are perfectly okay with Eritrea heading to the Stone Age as they continue to support a failed regime that is bleeding Eritrea to death (follow the links and listen to Tesfay Temnewo and Kubrom Dafla with love of country as a compass. Hopefully, you will get it this time).

Is our love for a corruption free and self-reliant Eritrea? Not even close.  Kubrom Dafla who has witnessed the regime’s corruption first hand explains how Eritrea’s entire resources are controlled by Isaias and Hagos with zero accountability. Money is the first and only thing this pair cares about. Whatever money flows into Eritrea (be it from Gaddafi or Qatar for whatever Isaias sold them in exchange, the elusive gold revenues, loans in Eritrea’s name etc) does not belong to Eritrea and its people. Eritrea’s entire resources (from land to people), are for Isaias and Hagos to do whatever they please.  Now they are cooking up another future-is-so-bright, never-to-be-missed investment opportunity. Without rule-of-law, however, all it takes is a single awaj or a false accusation to shut down a business (teEashigu) or imprison or kill anyone they feel needs to be taught a lesson. That is all. No questions asked. Investments are necessary for Eritrea’s development and should be encouraged. But everything dies under this regime and sustained development can only flourish in its absence.

Regarding self-reliance, Isaias or Hagos haven’t earned a living based on honest hard work and never had to worry about the challenges people face balancing income and expenses to support their families and to run their businesses. What they don’t earn, they steal, they hold elderly parents hostage for ransom, they kill for. Decent, hard-working Eritreans like Mohammed Hagos were murdered in cold blood with no one held accountable? So the concept of Eritrea becoming self-reliant under the stewardship of this parasitic pair is only a pipe dream. Where is our love then, if it doesn’t even manifest itself in reversing a feudal system that has taken complete control of people’s lives – modern-day slavery and all?

Is our love for the beauty of the land?  At great risk to his/her safety, Bana from Asmara showed us this once beautiful and peaceful city is crumbling. Kentiba Haregot, with minimal education and great love for the city, managed it well and it showed. We can’t even build on the solid foundation this great mayor and native son left behind. 21 years after “independence” Asmara and other cities are decaying, the shrimp farm is gone, our 1000 Km of sea shore produces nothing, there is no commerce flowing through our ports and tourism is dead.  What kind of love is it that keeps silent when the land and its people are getting destroyed?

Is our love for the personal freedoms our people enjoy? Nope!! Can anyone honestly say Isaias ever stood for safeguarding personal freedoms of the Eritrean people? These are the very ideals so many died for and what free Eritrea was meant to represent. And yet, the one who has so betrayed the promise is still in power 21 years later-- some love, eh?

Is the love for our problem-solving skills? What national problems have we solved since “independence” -- anything worth mentioning? How about reliable electricity, vibrant cities, rule-of-law, economic development, food security, quality education, accountable leadership? Anything?

So What Next?

That we believe we love our country is a good thing. What is needed now is honest self-assessment and taking concrete actions– big and small – to convert that belief into reality. How about these?

1.       Own your mind and think freely. If you believe the CIA is the cause of Eritrea’s problems based on foaming-from-the-mouth tirades to cover our failures, think again. Did the CIA kill our disabled veterans in cold blood? Cure thyself and those around you from “worship the king of the day (znegese ngusna)” disease.  This disease kills.

2.       Reject the regime’s culture of arrogance. It is a shame this failed regime has become the face of 5 million Eritreans to the rest of the world. That can’t be who we are.

3.       Accept reality and deal with it. Talking about Ethiopia’s problems to hide ours won’t solve anything. Our problems are worse. At least Ethiopia had a peaceful transition of power after Meles died. What is Eritrea’s transition plan? Anyone?

4.       Focus on how 5 million people CAN defeat a handful few who are destroying this once promising country. Remember the Arab Spring?

5.       Make a personal pledge to contribute, even in tiny, tiny steps, to bridge divisions and promote cooperation to solve common problems. Small positive steps add up to form a solid national character, which is good insurance against bad guys.

6.        Embrace other Eritreans. Be a good man/woman and apologize when/if you offend others.

7.       Think more about the future and talk less about the past. Yes, the past was painful and the history not told fully or truthfully. Let’s hope more Tesfay Temnewos come forward to document the past fairly and honestly.  But Eritrea is dying now and collective focus should be on the future and how to salvage what is left.  The younger generation with the least baggage from the past but deprived of normal life since “independence” can play a pivotal role in shaping the future. Take charge and run with it.  

8.       And diaspora Eritreans? We are the sorriest lot of all. In plain language, Isaias said you will not live in the houses you are building because you will come to Eritrea in coffins to be buried. Why the misplaced love for the very person who despises you and your people so openly? Stop the madness and give your moral support to those fighting for justice and freedom instead.

9.       Don’t underestimate the good that can come out from a transformed PFDJ. The regime having destroyed all other institutions, the only organized entity left is PFDJ. Without Hagos, Yemane, Alamin and few others with blood in their hands, it can play a positive role in reshaping Eritrea’s future for the better.  Most of its members are living the harsh life themselves and there are decent people waiting to be empowered to do the right thing.

10.   This is a bit of a stretch but it would also be great if the Dr. Woldais and Dr. Ghideons of our world follow Kubrom Dafla’s example. Abandon the regime and use your education and experience for the good of Eritrea for a change. The Titanic is sinking. You don’t have to go down with it. What makes you think you will be treated better than Naizghi Kiflu’s lifeless body? Help Eritrea rid itself of its worst enemy and cross the line to the right side of history.