CAN
MELES FIGHT CORRUPTION?
By
Wolde S. Asfaw
"Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" Rev. Martin Luther
King
There
are many on going tragic stories in Ethiopia that most of us are
not aware of or prefer to simply gloss over. I will try to give
two paradigm of how people both collectively and individually
are being mistreated by the system set up by the current government.
In any case, I hope this will amplify how the people of Tigray
endured 26 years of brutality and terror in the name of "National
Self-Determination", "National Struggle", "People’s
Revolution", "Peace & Democracy", etc, high
sounding words but essentially hollow and meaningless. Considering
the number of people mistreated by the TPLF during and after the
convention of the armed struggle, many of us undermined the armed
struggle as primarily self-inflicting and heavily damaging the
values of the ordinary people. Is there any household in Tigray
that has not lost, at least a beloved one from either side, i.e.
the Derg or the TPLF, both separately and during their confrontations?
There
are over 24,000 political prisoners in Oromia. In Tigray, there
are over 40,000 in the hidden incarcerating dungeons. God knows
how many people that are more innocent are in the prisons of Amhara,
Ogaden and other regions. Could any body be called reckless to
state that Meles is running a reign of terror as far as the Ethiopian
people are concerned? The whole TPLF-led armed struggle was meant
for "equality, justice, peace and democracy" and to
bring about fundamental social change. However, if democracy is
stampeded, there could not be peace. Our predicament is that we
do have neither peace nor democracy. The TPLF, as we all know,
has traveled through a bumpy road. It claimed that it was far
more revolutionary than all the other fronts. It fought essentially
against all of them. TLF, Teranafit, EDU, EPRP, ELF, and Derg.
It was at the same time jumping from ideology to ideology while
calling others "reactionaries". Initially it preached
Maoism, then Stalinism, then came Albanian Marxist-Leninist (Enver
Hoaxa ML), then its own brand of ML the Marxist Leninist League
of Tigray, (MLLT), then the Ethiopian Marxist Leninist Party.
Today, somehow, the TPLF abandoned its Marxist cloak to become
the most vociferous advocate of American capitalism. At the turn
of every change of posture, there were victims and sacrifices
were paid. Many able people were lost merely for asking questions.
However,
we have gone back to square one. We are back to pre 1975. What
was the necessity of all the bloodshed? So, where did the TPLF
go wrong? Conversely, was it ever right? For obvious reasons we
cannot dare to answer these questions here. Sooner than later
we ought to answer these drawbacks if at all, we are going to
start reconciling with our past. There are questions that the
current government needs to answer. Why did the government start
the ethnic based social division of the country? Why did the government
fail to see that it the TPLF that caused the political and financial
corruption is both at institutional and individual levels? That
is why the EPRDF/TPLF is in the midst of financial and political
corruptions of all sorts. Since it is immersed in such immoral,
illegal and unethical acts, we cannot expect it to redeem itself
overnight and solve the current upheaval. The TPLF had a chance
and ample time (of ten years) to tackle these and many other problems
from the onset. Unfortunately, it failed abysmally. With some
of the money it brought in to Ethiopia, the TPLF has created a
business empire worth Eth.Birr 3.3. Billion. Out of EPRDF controlled
44 companies that run 3.5 billion Eth.Birr, the TPLF owns 32 of
them. Most of the companies were state owned and sold by the Privatization
Agency to the TPLF. On the main, these companies are run by a
political organization for profit making, not as the name indicates
a non-profit organization by the Tigray Redevelopment Agency.
The companies were sold with preferential advantage to TPLF and
Co. It would be naïve to assume that fair and equal competitive
opportunities to bid were given to parties not affiliated with
the TPLF. Some were naturally able to obtain insider information.
Who will adhere to the law that states that political organizations
are not allowed to run a profit making companies?
Vindictive
political measures, persecution, inhuman treatment to helpless
dissenters and political opposition, are some of the main characteristics
that partially explain the TPLF. The victims are all members of
the Ethiopian society. Because the problem affects the whole society,
people collectively and individuals at large suffer for the sake
of one megalomaniac personality.
a)
Collectively:
There
are places that Tigrayans are not allowed to go through. There
are political prisoners who are not allowed visit by family and
friends, prisoners whose whereabouts are not known. Nobody knows
whether they are dead or alive. There are over 13 massive prisons
in Tigray [i.e. like Woree, Geheneb, Tekezze, etc] in caves and
valleys at various locations each with over three thousand inmates.
These are beyond the known / official prisons of the cities and
towns that are known to the public. Worse of all, instead of building
schools, hospitals, roads, etc Meles, the leader of the TPLF/EPRDF,
head of state of Ethiopia, has built the biggest prison in Ethiopia.
The prison, which can take 50,000 inmates, is in Shire, Western
Tigray. This is a place to keep under lock and key the whole society.
For PM Meles, Sebhate and Co, this is the meaning and definition
of democracy. It is the special gift of TPLF/EPRDF to the people
of Northern Ethiopia.
b)
Individually:
To
individual Ethiopian citizens, the tragedy is even worse. We hear
of journalists being imprisoned on mere pretexts. In the last
four months, as we witness the TPLF splitting into two, we are
also observing the PM’s definition and yard stick of democracy
changing according to the mood of the day, and never has followed
a consistent universal definition. Thus, his senior and junior
cadres have been implementing his lop-sided democracy on local
people ever since the TPLF came to power. The cadres, as the walking
robots of the TPLF, have been implementing policies without hesitation.
That is also, where individual citizens have been victimized and
suffering needlessly. We have heard of individuals being incarcerated
for months and released without court hearing. Even worse, we
know and have heard of individuals who were incarcerated for ten
years and more, still rotting without court hearing of any sort.
This is Meles’s judicial system efficiently at work.
We
know an 83 year old lady in Tigray who has a plot of land and
an ordinary house. Her life savings is the plot of land and her
old house which she and her late husband built during their working
life. Our investigation concerning property taxes in different
places including Addis Ababa indicates that an average annual
tax on property/ land in inner cities is not more than Eth.Birr
100.00 per annum. (In fact, the best villas in Addis Ababa only
pay a maximum of Eth Birr150-200.00 annually.) [Please, ask people
in Addis how much property tax they pay per year. Please note
that we are also not advocating for the increase or decrease of
property tax what so ever. We are just using this instance as
a means of comparing and contrasting the tragedy that many ordinary
Ethiopians suffer.] Can any one guess how much the old grandmother
pays annually? She has been paying Eth Birr 4300. per year [Four
thousand and three hundred Birr per year] for the last six years.
The question is what service does she get in return. Nothing!
Zilch! What happens if she does not pay the tax? If the money
is not paid on time, she will be evicted and become homeless the
next day and the land will be confiscated by Sebhate and his cronies.
They have been waiting for the opportunity so long now. However,
the typical Tigrayan Grany is more alert at 83 than those CC members
who betrayed and sold out the principles they have been struggling
for over 17 years.
So
the kernel of the matter is, people who struggled from 1975-91
have won a small war against Mengistu but never the victory over
the battle on the fundamental issues of peace, justice, equality,
democracy, development, etc. Ten years of EPRDF’s rule became
a decade of sleaze, downward spiral and economic degeneration.
Ten years of EPRDF’s reign has become marked by inward (parochial)
and visionless years. I would not be surprised if tomorrow Meles
put the EPRDF into a cement mixer and attempts to come out with
a recycled "Democratic Party" and starts to preach to
extend his reign for another ten years.
Meles
has by now forgotten about corruption because the main agenda
was not corruption. It was only meant to serve as an instrument
to vilify others. He knew it would backfire on him. The boomerang
effect of corruption is uncontrollable. In a country where officials
have made corruption a norm rather than an exception, the Meles
family has been running a corrupt household openly to the dismay
of many of their close friends and the public at large. Unfortunately,
the temptation of sugar is not confined to Tamrat Layne alone,
but has become an inexorable urge contaminating most of the current
leaders. The most affected are, in particular, the current leaders
of the TPLF. The motto seems to be that; the country’s limited
wealth has to be looted with a craving addiction, whenever the
opportunity is available. Nevertheless, the Meles household has
been glaringly scandalous than the people we mentioned their names
in our few previous articles.
Not
long ago, PM Meles Zenawi was interviewed about fraud by Abiotawi
Democracy. He was asked if he was involved in corruption. Naturally,
in his unwavering reply Meles plainly rejected, and refuted it
as ludicrous and tried to prove that he is cleaner than clean.
His answer was that he does not possess anything except books
and the clothing he wears. Of course, he has forgotten that he
is; 1) a joint signatory with Berhane and Seyume, 2) Tewolde Agame
and Seyume, etc. For the multi-million dollar deposits in the
bank accounts of Western Europe and America, yes, he is right
to forget this as it is under temporary trusteeship rather than
outright ownership. Nevertheless, when the Day of Judgment comes
the trusteeship will all evaporate into the thin air of western
banks? After 17 heinous years, even Mengistu was airlifted with
the aid of money collected from the poor into a safe place via
Kenya to Zembabwe escorted by the CIA in 1991. Does it not make
sense to think that the TPLF leaders have prearranged their escape
when and if the time comes? They have never disclosed to the people
of Ethiopia in general, and in particular, to the people of Tigray,
the amount of money stashed in foreign banks. Money donated to
the people of Tigray in the last twenty-five years is deposited
under private accounts in London, New York, Washington, Roma,
etc. According to reliable sources, the annual budget of Relief
Society of Tigray (REST ) way back in the mid 1980’s was
well over $100m. Today it is estimated that well over $100m is
under the joint account of the above named officials alone, not
to mention individuals like Habtom, and others. Is this then waiting
for their rainy day? How would any one expect TPLF leaders to
run an open and transparent government while they have so many
things to hide?
The
vexing question is what will the millions of US$ that is horded
in the western capitals waiting for when the hospitals, clinics,
schools and other social services in Ethiopia are either non-existent
or dilapidated? Has TPLF, REST, TDA, and the other institutions
ever been audited? Do they show their annual budget to the public
on whose name the money was collected? Are there any semblance
of transparency in these and many other organizations? Why should
any third party trust the individuals who do not have any inhibition
to betray and slaughter each other whenever one of them gets the
chance to stampede the others? Does it not rather look like a
world of organized criminals with state power? The unfortunate
aspect of all of this is that even TPLF CC members are not told
on the over all sum of capital of their organization. If they
are not investing all the financial assets of the people of Tigray
in the National Banks of Ethiopia, it directly means that they
are running a government and the state of Ethiopia to which they
do not feel any sense of belongingness and trust.
Meles’s
reply that he does not possess anything except books and the clothing
he wears, is not true at all. We ask Meles again if this is true
to the best of his knowledge or is he running a corrupt government
as well as a corrupt household? "Indian Ocean Newsletter",
just over one week ago stated that, "Other members of the
prime minister's inner circle who have the reputation of having
enjoyed unwarranted privileges include his brother Nikodimos Zenawi
(a former employee who has struck it rich), his wife Azeb (known
as Lemlem and former head of Mega Net, a firm which has benefited
from untaxed imports), and Benyam Mesfin (son of the foreign minister
and owner of a fleet of Scania trucks)."
In
this issue, we are less interested in Nikodimos Zenawi, and Benyam
Mesfin. However, it would be of interest to see how Meles is running
a corrupt family affair. Unless he declares that he had divorced
the "first lady of Ethiopia", Meles must know that she
has been frequently going out of the country with passports and
forged names. Our "first lady" used her common names
as well as other dodgy names for many insidious purposes, including
depositing assets in foreign banks. When PM Meles said he only
has books and cloths that he wears as Head of State, does he mean
that he does not deposit his illicitly obtained money in Ethiopian
Banks? Reliable sources informed us that the "first lady"
uses a number of false names on her frequent travel abroad. Did
Meles mean that there is no Lemlem Molla, Azeb Molla, Aster Gonfa,
Azeb Gonfa, etc that is dishonouring the Ethiopian public with
forged names and a number of authentic passports?
To
be fair, let us be her devils advocates. In order to illuminate
the dark cloud over Lemlem Molla, Azeb Molla, Aster Gonfa, Azeb
Gonfa, and who knows what name she used in the last ten years
when she frequented London, New York, Washington DC, etc. let
us assume that she was taking Meles’s brother money to deposit
out side. Let us also assume that she used different names for
security reasons, as she is the "first lady". Although
we know that, many respectable first ladies do not commit crime
by having a forged name for protection. For the benefit of the
doubt, however, let us assume that she was apprehensive and as
a precautionary measure, she took a number of forged names, one
after another. It also could be that Samuel Gebre Mariam issued
her with too many passports to hoodwink her. Our dilemma is that
our reliable sources informed us that, as much as she frequented
traveling abroad, she also frequented the Markato (Addis Ababa)
currency exchange shops to transfer a minimum of US$ One Hundred
Thousand at one time (i.e. per trip to the local exchange offices).
As
it is said, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Meles is politically
and financially corrupt. How can Meles fight corruption while
benefiting and enjoying corruption himself? A person who is in
the midst of corruption cannot preach to us about democracy. In
democracy, there is accountability, transparency and the realization
that the public is supreme, deserves respect, and thus, is more
knowledgeable than the individual. Meles, as a head of state,
and head of a household, has one last thing to do. Please do the
honorable thing before more people spread more of your dirt all
over the news media. It is never too late! Or else, the onus is
on you to prove otherwise.
