Tewelde Stephanos February 9, 2019
SUMMARY
Eritrea’s
geography is well suited for the production of abundant electricity that is
100% renewable. There is huge potential for wind energy around Assab. Massive
solar power production is possible just about anywhere in the mainland and its
200+ islands. Water from the Red Sea can be channeled to the Danakil depression
to generate reliable hydroelectric power. The grid can be powered by all three
during the day while wind and hydro take over at night, eliminating the need
for batteries.
With
full commitment on the Eritrean side and wisely selected implementation
partners, the urgency global warming is creating can be leveraged effectively
to make Eritrea one of the biggest clean energy producers within a few years. With
a booming economy, Eritrea becomes a country where people want to go to, not
one to run away from as is the case today.
However,
since Eritrea is in a rough and volatile neighborhood, our efforts alone will
not be sufficient. We will also need to build strong economic alliances with
capable and fairly decent first-world countries, preferably Scandinavian nations,
as early as possible in order to make our journey into this bright future as
irreversible as it can possibly be.
But
there is an elephant in the room. Isaias and his servile messengers -- ‘kedemti’ in their foul and arrogant
lingo -- must exit the scene immediately in order to start Eritrea’s healing
process.
Things
to Overcome
In 1991, Eritrea’s future seemed destined for greatness. There was wide-eyed
optimism that a new era of freedom, peace and prosperity was about to unfold. The
adoring population welcomed the triumphant freedom fighters with reverence typically
reserved for the gods. Then the liberators turned against their own people –
only more vicious and more sadistic than any rulers before them. My friend’s
dad worked in the construction sector and remembers the time when people were always
encouraged to work, even during Italy’s apartheid era. He said, the only
exception during his long working life when honest and hard work was banned or discouraged
is after 1991. Almost three decades
later, in 2019, the spirit of 1991 has evaporated with little residue left behind.
Fear and despair suffocate everyday life.
Eritrea sits precariously on a knife’s edge. To stop the bleeding, it is
time to heed Berhane Abrehe’s1
advice to get rid of our tormentors immediately.
The positive legacy the liberators could have left behind
was enormous. Instead, they launched an era of poverty, torture, murder and disappearances
that spares no one -- not even their disabled comrades or those who came back
from the trenches with their courage and conscience intact. This broad-based
viciousness has drained Eritrea’s self-esteem. It now ranks at the bottom of
every human development index consistently (Fig 2, 3, 4). The 2019 Index of Economic Freedom2 lists it under “repressed”
category; ranking at 177 out of 180 countries. It has become a nation where
even the children of the liberators run away from (there are credible reports that
even Isaias’s son attempted to cross the border into Sudan). This is a failure of
our own making. Eritrea’s previous
occupiers didn’t even come close to inflicting this much pain on the Eritrean
people.
We also face a renewed external threat from Ethiopia.
Although border demarcation was the primary objective of the “peace treaty”, it
is now deemed unnecessary and taken off the agenda, putting Eritrea’s
sovereignty in question. The optics was all wrong right from the beginning. Why
would two African countries choose Saudi Arabia over the African Union as the third-party
to witness the event? What drove them to behave that way? The details of the
opaque agreement from September, 2018 are still unknown. Even Eritrea’s
ministers have no clue.
Through cleverly orchestrated coronation style dramas,
Ethiopia appears to have emasculated our despot. Behaving more like Ethiopia’s palace
eunuch, he is caged and muted, while Abiy does all the talking. Occasionally, Abiy’s
ambitions are amplified by the regime’s messengers. Recently, Eritrea’s
ambassador in Japan tweeted: “Changing
map/boundaries of sovereign nations is unavoidable but artificial boundaries in
people’s minds is avoidable: #Eritrea #Ethiopia now”. For
decades, the regime held the whole country hostage by positioning border
demarcation as a life-or-death issue. Until our border is demarcated, they said,
our sovereignty is at risk. Calling for implementation of the constitution, human
rights and rule of law was deemed untimely and unpatriotic. Now, Eritrea is just
an “artificial” thing; an “avoidable” figment of our collective
imagination. Such naked betrayal of the 65,000 martyrs they left behind makes Berhane’s
call a matter of extreme urgency.
For additional historical perspective, Imperial Ethiopia’s
Ambassador, Zewde Reta, in his book, ye
eritra guday, says: Eritreans should not forget that, we
Ethiopians, committed no crimes of any kind against our Eritrean brothers (.. እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን በወንድሞቻችን በኤርትራውያን ላይ ምንም
ዓይነት በደል እንዳልፈጸምንባቸው መዘንጋት የለባቸውም). This is stunning. Even with full benefit of hind-sight
-- Haile Selassie’s illegal dissolution of the federation, pregnant Eritrean
women butchered by Ethiopian soldiers, civilians crushed under Ethiopian tanks
in Shieb, Eritrean youth strangled to death with piano wires in Asmara, aerial
bombardment of civilians in Massawa3,
and countless others – the Eritrean people were invisible to ambassador Zewde then,
and still invisible to ambassador Estifanos now. If one has no empathy for
fellow humans, extreme insensitivity as exhibited by these two can be
normalized -- which is scary.
Emboldened by Isaias’s silence and behind-the-scenes collaboration,
Abiy’s drip-drip approach – setting expectations
of Ethiopian navy on the Red Sea, those who left (meaning Eritrea) returning
(to mother Ethiopia) and the resurgence of old Imperial maps – is actively trying
to erase Eritrean identity, again. Eritrea does not have a parliament or any
representative body of any kind. Yet, to give false legitimacy to renewed attempts
to re-occupy Eritrea, references to “parliaments of both countries” working
together is deceitfully spread around by Ethiopia. This is a slap in the face
to moderate Eritreans who always had tremendous goodwill for Ethiopia. By
completely aligning himself with a despot at the expense of our people, Abiy
has squandered that goodwill for good. He has become the enemy of the Eritrean people
by choice.
There is a much better way for Ethiopia to get to the Red
Sea. And that is by putting an immediate stop to its habitual land-over-people
obsession. That flawed belief system, that Ethiopia’s only way to get to the
Red Sea is by erasing the Eritrean people, must be broken once and for all in
order to free all of us (Eritreans and Ethiopians) from the curse of our circular
history. We can then have serious talks, as equals, to craft durable treaties
based on principles of inter-dependency that are mutually beneficial to both
countries.
Breaking
Eritrea’s Malaise – A Case for Optimism
The good news is that Eritrea’s despot is a despised old man, waiting for
a disgraceful and inevitable exit. If we can muster some courage and heed
Berhane Abrehe’s call to accelerate his exit, Eritrea’s salvation will come
sooner. Either way, Eritrea will get another opportunity to raise itself from
the ashes. Circumstances vary but countries have risen from ashes before. Although
still under one-man rule, with all the uncertainties that entails, Rwanda’s
rise from the abyss of genocide in 1994 is one impressive example. Germany,
Italy, and Japan rising to become dominant global economies after almost total destruction
in WW II is another.
Similarly, a vibrant economic future is an achievable outcome for
Eritrea too. We have seen Eritrean self-esteem on the rise, briefly, in the
1950s and 60s. Self-driven Eritreans were relatively better represented in
business, in education, and the professions until Haile Selassie royally messed
things up. During that brief period, Eritrean family values and community ties
were strong. Even Eritrean sports teams were among the best -- often making up
the bulk of Ethiopia’s national soccer team. That potential can be re-awakened
again.
By developing the right vision and tenaciously sticking to it, we can surely
dig ourselves out of the hole we are in.
We are a small nation, and small changes here and there can add up
quickly to restore our shattered self-esteem. If we act quickly, we have huge economic
opportunities that can remedy our current malaise in a very short time.
Eritrea’s geography is well suited for the production of abundant
electricity that is 100% renewable. There is huge potential for wind energy
around Assab. Massive solar power production is possible just about anywhere in
the mainland and its 200+ islands. Water from the Red Sea can be channeled to
the Danakil depression or to artificial lakes on higher elevations to generate
reliable hydroelectric power. The nice thing about this is political tensions
between upstream and downstream countries that are typical elsewhere
(Ethiopia-Egypt, Turkey-Iraq…) do not exist here. So, the peace dividend is
high too. With the Red Sea acting as a massive reservoir, costs and timelines
are likely to be much less than traditional hydro dams. For rough comparison, Ethiopia’s
7GW Grand Renaissance Dam which started in 2011 had initial cost estimates of $5B
USD and it is still under construction.
Thoughtful integration of these three renewable energy sources,
probably in the hundreds of GW capacity, can put Eritrea on a very solid
economic footing for the foreseeable future (current peak capacity is a measly
88MW). Batteries to store energy for night use won’t be necessary as wind and,
more reliably hydro, take over after dark. Typically, other resources in Africa
(crude, cocoa, coffee, diamonds etc.) are sold with little or no local
value-add. This forces the resource countries to sell cheap and import finished
goods at exorbitant prices, keeping them in perpetual poverty (resource curse). External value-add won’t
be necessary for Eritrea’s clean energy output – the local products are the
finished goods.
Luckily, this is also the right time to launch such a grand venture. As
concerns of global warming intensify, renewable energy will continue to stay in
high demand, providing us the luxury of creating and/or inviting large energy-intensive
enterprises for sustained economic growth. As production capacity increases, energy
can be exported to neighboring countries, making Eritrea a positive force on the
region’s economies.
With full commitment on the Eritrean side and wisely selected implementation
partners (perhaps deep-pocketed and energy-intensive server farm types), the
urgency global warming is creating can be leveraged effectively to make Eritrea
one of the biggest clean energy producers within a few years. In 5-10 years,
Eritrea’s standard of living can be improved drastically. The bad metrics
Eritrea is currently known for, as shown in these developmental maps from https://worldmapper.org , will disappear.
Fig
1 shows land mass of the continents as a reference. But see how Africa’s map
shrinks drastically (Section A) when key development metrics are plotted for
comparison (Fig 2, 3, 4). Section A is the actual map from worldmapper.com.
Section B was magnified to make details within Africa easier to see. You can
see Eritrea in the area map is proportional to its land mass, but it is hardly
visible in the developmental maps (Fig 2, 3, 4) below
Fig 2: Sub-Saharan Africa and Eritrea are a fraction of their geographic sizes in this Tertiary Education and Science Research map (section A). Better educated Eritreans see no future in Eritrea. Professors and managers are paid the equivalent of USD $100 a month while their non-Eritrean peers, and sometimes subordinates, get $1000 to $2000. Many left the country. Those I came to know, brilliant men and women, are doing well abroad because they are finally in an environment that values their talents and hard work. Eritrea lost big time as this map shows clearly. This bleeding will stop only when Eritrea’s economy is strong enough to pay its own professionals equitably
Fig 3 and 4 show mobile phone penetration and Internet access, where Eritrea is absent again. With cheap and clean energy, Eritrea’s development size in figures 2, 3 and 4 will be much larger than its geographic size – similar to other developed nations (Taiwan, S. Korea). Without reliable and sufficient electricity, no meaningful development can take place (no Sub-Saharan country is energy self-sufficient). Similarly, with peak capacity of only 88MW today, Eritrea is known for frequent blackouts and an anemic economy.
To realize this level of economic growth, serious long-term alliances with
other small but highly developed countries will have to be developed. Given
their ethical governance, non-colonial past, and highly rated first-world
status, the Scandinavian countries are probably the best partners Eritrea can have
to break out into this hopeful era successfully. Hopefully, they too will see benefits
in partnering with Eritrea.
These countries may be small (good for Eritrea) but they have the
strong backing of the EU and the West if it becomes necessary to protect their economic
interests in Eritrea from rogue elements in our volatile region. As Eritrea
develops and asymmetries in education and overall living standards narrow, carefully
crafted dual citizenship opportunities could further solidify Eritrea’s economic
and political stability in the region.
There are many Eritreans living in Scandinavia who can help accelerate
the process. In a few decades, perhaps Norway’s prime minister will be a person
of Eritrean origin and one of Danish origin Eritrea’s – with all kinds of
combinations in between. In such a scenario; a stable, free and economically vibrant
Eritrea – where poverty is history – becomes imaginable and achievable. By
expanding that circle of safety and economic stability to Tigre, Afar, Saho and
Tigrigna speakers in neighboring countries; we can truly become the
stabilizing force in the Horn.
But for that to happen, we need to sow the seeds for the new era now,
both at personal and societal levels. At the individual level, doing some serious
soul-searching based on the writings of our Catholic Bishops -- “Where
is Your Brother?” (ሓውኻ ኣበይ ኣሎ?) – is a good
place to start. Their timely message can help us mend our broken moral
compasses. It will also help us defeat the crippling culture of cynicism and
pessimism we have internalized for so long.
Since “man is free at the instant he wants to be” (Voltaire), my self-liberation is in my own hands. And if I truly liberate myself, then I am not afraid to listen to and trust my inner voice. I am not afraid to reject the noises of propaganda around me; and not afraid to face the truth. The self-liberated me, added to many others, builds up to become the culture of the broader society we belong to. With these two liberations (personal and societal), we can defeat the fear governments and politicians want us to feel. With fear defeated, they cannot go against our wishes. Politicians are the ultimate opportunists. They can only do what we allow them to get away with. And if we are not afraid, we won’t let them get away with anything that perpetuates our own subjugation – as we have let happen so far.
Since “man is free at the instant he wants to be” (Voltaire), my self-liberation is in my own hands. And if I truly liberate myself, then I am not afraid to listen to and trust my inner voice. I am not afraid to reject the noises of propaganda around me; and not afraid to face the truth. The self-liberated me, added to many others, builds up to become the culture of the broader society we belong to. With these two liberations (personal and societal), we can defeat the fear governments and politicians want us to feel. With fear defeated, they cannot go against our wishes. Politicians are the ultimate opportunists. They can only do what we allow them to get away with. And if we are not afraid, we won’t let them get away with anything that perpetuates our own subjugation – as we have let happen so far.
Change
the Narrative
Almost all of our current problems are self-inflicted. We are
disorganized and unable to advance a coherent vision for our common good –
becoming easy prey for clever manipulators. We have allowed the regime to control the
narrative of the day for too long. It creates a scenario (imprisons or disappears
people without due process) and we react. When that gets old, it creates other
scenarios to continue diverting our attention (demolishes homes, imprisons the
elderly for ransom, confiscates savings, bans travel, bans imports, closes
whole sectors of the economy, etc.) and we react to those too. We are always
talking about the regime and never – at least not enough – about our own
objectives or about what we need to do, JOINTLY, to free ourselves from our common
oppressor. The widely held belief is that we are ineffective because we have
many differences. In reality, we are ineffective not because we have
differences but because we behave exactly the same way. We project the same predictable
behaviors -- reactive, cynical, lack of courage to face the truth, dismissive
of each other, easily offended, eager to offend, pessimistic etc. etc. Our
sameness of character and our very narrow polemical lenses are the root cause
of what we wrongly perceive to be “differences”. Unless we tame these negative attributes,
any criminal regime that comes to power will subjugate us easily – not because it
is strong or good but our inability to act jointly for our common good makes us
weak and irrelevant.
To turn this around, we need to change the conversation and own it all
the way through. We need to create a proactive narrative that puts the burden
of responsibility on us. Our Catholic Bishops and Abba Teklemichael Tewelde4 have done their part to focus
our attention on a moral narrative. We
need to pick up their baton and amplify their uplifting message in our mosques,
churches and immediate circles of influence (families and friends, as well as the
social and professional groups we belong to). Wedi Ali and Berhane Abrehe have also
tried to lead us towards an action narrative. The moment we find the courage to
internalize these moral and action narratives, our true liberation will surely follow.
Cynicism and pessimism are forces of inaction that make the possible look impossible.
Overcoming these negative forces will open up new worlds where everything is
possible again.
We
Have Been There Before
We have been in that world of possibilities before. Before
independence, education was highly valued in Eritrean society. Illiterate
farmers encouraged their children to go to school. Families with limited means
and those who migrated from the villages to the cities for a better life worked
day and night to create a better future for their children. Encouraged by
examples of older brothers and sisters, younger siblings were motivated to go
to school and to work hard. By contrast, a child growing up after independence
sees older siblings with college education trapped in the regime’s enslavement
programs -- unable to support themselves, let alone a family. The frustrated
older sibling leaves the country. If
he/she is lucky enough to survive the tough deserts and high seas, life gets relatively
better. Many have flourished. Oddly enough, Eritrea is the one place on earth
where Eritreans are guaranteed to fail – by design. The design includes active
promotion of poverty to keep people at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid (Fig 5). The
design actively diminishes the value of education and professionalism. Our only
university is closed. Underpaid and underappreciated instructors leave the
country causing a severe deficit of good instructors in schools. The younger
siblings see this and immediately set their minds on leaving too – which
explains Eritrea’s severe brain drain (Fig. 2).
Solving all our self-inflicted problems by ourselves will no doubt be a
great morale-boosting accomplishment. But, although doing so is absolutely necessary,
it won’t be sufficient. The Horn is a volatile neighborhood where hardened identities
rooted in domination-oriented cultures abound. It is a neighborhood that refuses
to learn from its failures and its own past. Ethiopia’s zeal to erase Eritrean
identity has come full circle again. Although Haile Selassie’s miscalculations
that gave birth to Eritrea’s independence is recent history that many still
remember, Abiy’s Ethiopia is trending in that same disastrous direction. His
much hyped peace treaty has turned out to be a Trojan horse.
Now that Eritrea is a member of the UN, some Eritreans believe
sovereignty is irreversible. That is unrealistic. Think Crimea, think Golan
Heights; or closer to home -- Haile Selassie and Eritrea. It is very difficult to
reverse facts on the ground. The only guarantee is to not let it happen in the
first place. It took three decades and massive sacrifices on both sides to
reverse Haile Selassie’s error. If the 1952 Ethio-Eritrean federation was not
messed with, we could have had almost 70 years of continuous development by
now. Instead we got 70 years of lost opportunities in both countries. And it is
still not over. The way things are trending, we may even be on the verge of
repeating that whole ugly cycle again. 70 years is a very long time to waste.
South Korea became a first-world country during that time and it took half that
for China to transform itself into a major global economic power.
Saudi Arabia’s rigid culture and its massive wealth is another threat
in the region. The brutality it is unleashing on innocent Yemini children and
civilians shows how destructive and unpredictable our neighborhood can be. Why did
Abiy and Isaias run to the Saudis bypassing the AU? Or were they simply told
that was what they had to do?
That is why it is critically important to get our act together now. We
need to build strong alliances with capable and fairly decent first-world
countries as early as possible in order to make our journey against poverty and
backwardness as irreversible as it can possibly be.
Our
Collective Shame, We Let This Happen To US
The Eritrean regime has always been at war with its
citizens. Protection of its citizens was never part of its agenda. While other
nations mourned the loss of hundreds of Eritrean lives in the Mediterranean, it
denied their existence. While Eritreans went through horrendous suffering in
the hands of traffickers, Eritrean ambassadors in Sudan, Egypt and Libya never came
to their aid. The family unit was the strongest social glue in Eritrean
society. Under its umbrella, children
felt safe and learned good family values that would serve them well for the
rest of their lives. After 1991, the family unit was targeted for destruction.
Families were depleted. Both parents and children were forced into various
use-and-throw programs. Poverty became widespread as never before. No matter
what one’s level of education is, almost no one can fully support themselves on
their own earnings in Eritrea. Remittances from the large diaspora population
are the life line most depend on to stay afloat.
Gold revenues came and went with nothing trickling down to
the Eritrean economy. Eritrean soil is exported for mineral processing abroad
with no transparency or accountability of what is being sold and where the
revenues go. The trucks transporting the soil damage the roads that were bad
already. Yet, no revenues come back to repair them. And we can’t coordinate united
efforts to get rid of the abusive regime.
Even the once fearless liberators are afraid. Our ministers
didn’t challenge Isaias to disclose what he signed on their behalf in Ethiopia,
even as they witnessed their Somali counterparts threatening their president
with impeachment. They once fought to free others, but like everyone else, they
are unable to fight for their own freedom or the freedom of their children now.
Francis
Fukuyama’s book (State Building), says: a totalitarian state tries to abolish the whole of civil society and subordinates
the remaining atomized individuals to its own political ends. And
“abolishing the whole of civil society” is exactly what has taken place. Totally
atomized, Eritreans live in fear. Feeling all alone, it is difficult to see
beyond the day’s menial existence at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid. From
sunrise to sunset one is fully occupied with the challenges of that day. There
is no physical energy or mental bandwidth left for anything else.
By design, the regime makes sure you
are never safe. Reckless wars are created to sacrifice the young. Honest work is
made illegal, by restricting access to your own savings or by closing centers of
employment (construction, imports, and private businesses). This pushes otherwise
decent and hardworking people to poverty. Intentional and widespread
lawlessness increases the uncertainties of daily life. Family love is sabotaged
by taking young adults away on endless programs of servitude. As a result, elderly
parents end up alone. Belonging is out of the question. You can be jailed or
disappeared for belonging to the “wrong” religion or any group the regime deems
illegal
Chained to the bottom of the pyramid, and spending all my energies to survive the challenges of the day (looking for food, water, shelter), self-esteem and self-actualization, at the top of the pyramid, are nothing but pipe dreams. The only time Eritreans get the opportunity to move up the pyramid is when they leave Eritrea. To willfully engineer so much pain and poverty when, just as easily, we could have created prosperity and abundance for all is our collective shame. Hopefully, it is one we have learned not to repeat.
For a New Beginning, We Need Peace
Within
Fig 6 attempts to show how the much needed peace within can
be restored. A free nation is a mirror where every citizen should see their image
reflected on. How would it feel if you stood in front of a mirror and you only
saw images of people standing next to you, but not yours? It is as if you
didn’t exist. Today’s Eritrea is exactly like that. You won’t see your image in
this national mirror if you belong to the wrong faith group (Pentecostal
church, Jehovah’s Witness, members of the Orthodox Church striving to be
independent from the regime’s interventions or Muslims the regime falsely deems
Jihadists); or you are a young person with a dream, a free-minded writer, a scientist,
ambitious politician, entrepreneur, or a care-free teenager.
We need to re-build this national mirror so everyone can see
themselves in it. And that can only happen if everyone is safe and at peace
with oneself first, free to choose one’s own affiliations – atomized no
more. But to be truly liberated, I must
also see beyond myself, to have empathy for “others” and to be ready to speak
for them if they cannot speak for themselves – and vice-versa if I am not able
to speak for myself. Then and only then will we have a fighting chance to
restore the dignity and self-esteem Eritrea’s very first government has
shredded to pieces. Only then will the brief Eritrean renaissance of the 1950s
and 60s mentioned earlier bloom again. Only then will the dream of economic
liberation through 100% renewable energy become reality.
Just like Eritrea as a nation needs to make macro peace within
itself, we also need to make micro peace with ourselves at the individual level.
Too often, we make excuses for the regime’s bad behavior even when we are fully
aware it is the wrong thing to do so. Someone gets jailed without due process
and we say: “they must have found something on him”, “he must be pente, jihadist,
woyane …”. One even told me recently that when Isaias told Abiy to “lead us”,
he really did not mean to lead Eritrea and Ethiopia; that he was actually telling
Abiy to lead Africa instead. This level of insanity, where the victim tries to
beautify the ugliness of his oppressor, is amazing. This kind of submissive behavior
is what has kept our ruthless regime in power for so long. We have become our
own worst enemies. A truly liberated self, with a well calibrated moral compass
would not make such excuses on behalf of his/her oppressor. Instead he/she
would side with the underdog to make sure no one becomes invisible in that
national mirror.
The
Leadership Gap
Fig 7 attempts to show a deeper layer where durable peace within can be
solidified when supported by inclusive organizational structures that remain
valid regardless of who is in power. This is the kind of leadership we need
- to accelerate the removal of current and future despotic regimes from power
- to ensure any vacuum left behind is managed well during the transition period and
- to build a durable and fair system of governance where everyone feels safe and represented
This requires wide representation from all sectors of society; people
of wisdom and integrity coming together to lay the foundations of an inclusive
system suited for a new era. Knowledgeable technocrats should be given the
freedom and responsibility to present and implement their best ideas. The transition
body’s primary objective can be along the lines of Berhane Abrehe’s recommendations.
I disagree with some of his points (especially his views about the people of
Tigray), but he does have sound recommendations that can get the ball rolling.
Although restoration of Eritrea’s Assembly is a good objective, it may not be
practical since the well-being of most of its members is unknown.
Perhaps a new body, along with the remaining former Assembly members,
can be organized to fill the gap. To be effective, this body must include new
blood and some of our best minds – people of high caliber and temperament like
Selam Kidane, Dr. Daniel Rezene, Sal Younis, Fessehaie
Abraham (former ambassador to Australia), Isayas Sium, Beyan Negash, Kubrom
Dafla, Ephrem Naizghi, Mussie Ephrem etc. These are only few names I am
familiar with, mainly from their writings or interviews. But I am also sure
there are many, many others who can make significant contributions. Those
mentioned here can also tap their own networks to pull in others.
The disempowering cynicism we have adopted over the years will probably
bubble up to disapprove why this or that name won’t do. We must resist such temptation.
This is the time to make a clean break into a new era. While we should always
challenge our leaders to be true to the stated mission, we also need to support
them fully. We should not look at them as individuals we like or don’t like.
Rather, we should ask: can this person help us lay down solid foundations for a new system, with sufficient checks and balances that
no cabal can hijack? If this individual cannot help the transition team, who
can? We should retire our old habits that only criticize without providing well
thought out alternatives. This is the time to jump in with both feet and really
work hard to ensure our future gets to be much brighter than our past has been.
The transition body needs to include knowledgeable change agents in the
key areas listed in Fig 7, so roles and responsibilities are well defined and understood
by those who will eventually occupy those offices. Education, expertise and professionalism are
devalued in today’s Eritrea. We mostly have undeserving illiterate or
semi-literate individuals who are put in positions of power with the sole intention
of extracting maximum loyalty for the regime. As a result, we have generals engaging
in demolition of homes as Eritrea’s national defense falls apart. Eritrea has
no institutions today. The succession pipeline is completely empty. The old guard,
mostly figure- heads, occupies the top with no technocrats to fill the gaps. Eritrea
doesn’t even have a defense minister during this critical time when Ethiopia is
itching to create a navy in the Red Sea. This leadership gap needs to be
addressed by the transition body in order to rebuild the institutions the
regime has destroyed. As is typical with despots, his son is the next despot in
waiting if we let it happen.
An inclusive and liberal system, where minority rights are respected is
critical for Eritrea’s future. But a robust economy is the real glue that will
hold everything together. Bad politics is a symptom of a poor economy (“it is the economy stupid” still rules).
To keep as many people as possible engaged, we must enrich the conversation
beyond politics to include the economy and other topics that people care about.
Clean energy can be a transformational force in shaping Eritrea’s future. All
kinds of experts from “members” and “influencers” groups in Fig 7 should be
invited to assess the feasibility of various economic options to maximize our
chances for success.
Conclusion
We truly have a great opportunity to turn things around for the better.
With good strategy and hard work, Eritrea’s economic vibrancy is a realistic
goal. Our triple sources of renewable energy can keep Eritrea’s economy humming
for a very long time. Clean and cheap energy across the full breadth and length
of the country makes investments in clean water projects (including desalination),
high quality education and health care, as well as good overall infrastructure
realistic and achievable. Our long coastline with unspoiled coral reefs,
including its many islands, is another unexploited resource to tap into for added
economic security.
But all this is just potential at the moment. And potential is of no
use until realized. There are two things blocking the doorway into this bright
future. First, we must get rid of the regime and its sadistic culture immediately.
Every day it stays in power is a day Eritrea’s chances of recovery diminish –
more people will die in its prisons, new ones will disappear, the young will
continue to leave, poverty will get more entrenched; and the country itself may
cease to exist. Isaias’s buffoonery in Addis and ambassador Estifanos’s tweet
above certainly suggest as much. So, removing the regime is simply one hugely courageous
act of self-defense.
We must remember those who tried to talk sense to this regime have all disappeared.
After three decades of lived misery, we know with certainty that this regime cannot
be reasoned with. It just needs to go. But how?
Berhane Abrehe has outlined one approach. I am not aware of other
suggestions that are as specific. So, we can adopt his and adjust as we go.
Everyone benefits from the demise of this regime – even the despot’s children
and the children of his misguided loyalists will be much better off. They will
be free from the culture of guilt-by-association their parents practiced. That
culture needs to die with their parents -- no more holding 80 year old
grandmothers for ransom because a grandson in his 30s escaped the regime’s enslavement
program; or someone getting locked up for asking about a disappeared friend.
Second, we need an organized body to manage the transition (Fig 7) and
to lay a good foundation for a new era. This body should include change agents
from the various groups. Faith leaders have large audiences in Eritrean society.
They need to be included not only for moral leadership among their followers
but to be agents of peace across faiths as well. Women, who are half the sky were
betrayed many times over and should be represented in force now.
To have more skin in the game, it is also good to have a few ambitious
types from civil society who aspire to have various leadership roles as future
presidents, ministers, judges etc. Not only is there nothing wrong with this,
it is a desirable outcome we need to accept and call for. Those ambitions need
to be tamed by the laws of the land for sure, but men and women with healthy
ambition will eventually have to emerge to lead the nation and its various organs.
We should nurture and welcome this missing link.
Seasoned leaders like Dr. Tesfai Ghirmazion and ambassador Haile
Menkorios can also play a critical role here. First, they can help set the
right tone within the transition body to ensure the transition is as smooth as
it can possibly be. Second, given their expertise and broad networks, they can
bring credible and influential third-parties to the table. Third, they will be
good mentors for aspiring future leaders.
Obviously, this body cannot be successful without our full support.
Again (along the lines of Fig 6), self-liberated individuals can become
effective change agents within our circles of influence. We can all be good
conduits in propagating the larger mission to our respective families, friends
and affinity groups. The transition body is going to need funds to carry out
its duties and we should be ready to chip in. Just about anyone in the diaspora
can afford to contribute $5 to $10 a month. There are probably around 400,000
Eritreans in the West. Hopefully, we can do better but if 40,000 (10%) of us
contribute $10/month; we will be able to raise almost $5M a year to advance the
cause. Just think: your $10 a month contribution now can create a healthy
economy worth billions of dollars in 5-10 years. Not a bad return for your
investment!
To motivate the larger population, the transition body must be as
transparent as possible. It should find ways to engage the larger population continuously
with relevant “action of the day” challenges.
If partnership with Scandinavian countries is worth pursuing, perhaps
the “action of the day” could be for Eritreans in those countries to be tasked
with something specific to advance that goal. Frequent reminders to send contributions
so momentum can be maintained, could be another. Participation in relevant
letter writing, email or phone call campaigns to influential bodies, etc.
Guided by wisdom and good judgement, the transition body should set the right tone from the very beginning. Avoid the inflammatory language we have gotten used to over the years and lead with a language of reconciliation instead. We need to look beyond the opposition/pro-regime walls we have caged ourselves in and be ready to welcome everyone. We need to reject the few criminal elements at the top of PFDJ for sure, but we have to find ways to re-purpose the remaining core to become an integral part of Eritrea’s renewal. We made that mistake before. It is one we should not repeat again.
When the regime came to power in 1991, it dismissed experienced civil
service workers (in banking, judiciary, government bodies) in mass. Its
unsubstantiated justification was that they were corrupt and incompetent. They
could have been easily trained for the new reality. Since the regime didn’t
have the skill sets to fill the vacuum it created, Eritrea’s downward spiral
deepened year over year. Now, here we
are with far worse corruption and incompetence than existed in 1991. Another
example of how destructive such an approach can be is the mess the US created
in Iraq by dismantling the entire Baath party structure.
The PFDJ core without its top mostly consists of Eritreans who live at
or near the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid anyway. In other words, they are ‘us’
who just happen to be on the other side of the fence.
A strong economy is the vehicle we need to create a better future for
all. What is missing is our collective will to act JOINTLY. If the transition
body, with our full support, takes on Berhane Abrehe’s advice or develops its
own road map along the same lines, Eritrea’s recovery can be quick and
wholesome. And the gentler Eritrean culture this regime has so mercilessly trashed
will have a good chance of making a comeback. Good education and hard work will
be valued again. Then Eritrea becomes a country where people want to live in, and
not one to run away from. And that would be a good thing.
References
- Berhane Abrehe, Hagerey Book 2, pages 161-181
- https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking
- Ted Koppel 4/4/1990 Nightline: http://www.madote.com/2014/01/1990-frontline-video-showing-ethiopias.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrs3Bcm59Vo
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