Commentary:
Is Someone Out of Touch?
A Few points on Kibralem G’s Latest Commentary
By M.K; August 11, 2000
There is no more serious disease for governments than to be out of touch of the reality in their country and the feelings of their people. Being out of touch forces one to live in his own world. When the people say some thing he has always his own version of reality. Most often than not, out of touch governments go diametrically opposite to their people’s wishes and interests. They are usually surrounded by advisors who themselves are out of touch of the heartbeats and minds of the entire population. When the people talk about extreme poverty, the leaders sense remarkable prosperity. National insecurity is interpreted as eternal security, violence as peace
and dictatorship as democracy. The level of out of touchiness observed at times is astounding. Mengistu Hailemariam in his last days speech for example asked the people of Ethiopia "whether the Derg is still in power at all?" revealing how far he was out of touch of the reality. His
advisors were perhaps telling him that there is no an entity called "Derg" in Ethiopia after the establishment of the so-called "Esepa." He might have believed that story and was convinced that the government he was leading was a civilian government, elected by the people and lead by him, another civilian!
What we are observing in the Ethiopian political landscape now fairly depicts this same reality. The people of Ethiopia now and in the past have shown their stern objection to the accession of Assab to Eritrea. However, there is little evidence that their government is paying attention to
their concerns. The people and the government seem to be going on opposite directions on the issue of Assab.
There have been some constructive discussions among Ethiopians on this critical issue, as there appeared also some unhelpful diversions. Whatever the situation is the issue still remains for us to deal with it as it is highly correlated with the long-term survival of our country as a
nation. The economic and strategic significance of Assab to Ethiopia is superbly articulated by the two Ethiopian scholars and there is no need to go to the details here. This little piece is just to revisit rather some fudged points on Ato Kibralem G’s latest commentary on the issue.
I welcome your constructive comments regarding the well being of our country in general. To be more specific, you are definitely right in suggesting that every Ethiopian in his/her own way wants the prosperity of their country and only the means in achieving the end may differ. The main question that remains to be addressed however is how to prevent the cycle of violence/war
from recurring again in the years ahead while there remains a deep resentment among the Ethiopian people on their port-Assab. One may be easily allured to settling for sub optimal solutions just for the fear of war and its consequences. This however will not help us to preempt war once
and for all. If we differ our national interest on short- term calculation now, we can’t escape from paying even a higher price some time in the future. I don’t think that I have to deal with all of your comments here, as some are self-explanatory. From the questions that I put to you in
somewhat straight -forward sentences however, there are questions that you didn’t tackle in your last posting. I would like to ask these questions again:
Why do you think that Eritrea is cuddled by the US and other major military powers while Ethiopia is treated so unfairly even in the last two years of conflict with an entity called Eritrea? Is this not because of the fact that Eritrea is a costal country owning two ports and related islands that suit the military and intelligence interest of the West so unfairly? Lets us down play the economic significance of ones own port for the moment; how can we prevent this unfair treatment of our country from happening again, while we loose our strategic importance being a land locked nation?
What real alternatives do we have in the event where Djibouti (for some reason) denies us her port from accessing the sea? Turn to Somalia, Sudan or Kenya? How long can we depend on other countries ports given the never-ending political turbulence and volatility observed in this
specific region? 5 years? 10 years 20 years? How long really? Is this really an alternative as proponents of "borrowed ports" would like us to believe or are we talking about some theoretical possibilities here?
We can assume any thing from the theoretical point of view. Unfortunately however, nations can’t be build or survive on some thing unreal or precarious in nature. You mentioned Switzerland as a land locked country but a prosperous and peaceful nation. Where do you think is our country
located? Is it in the peaceful Western Europe, or a trouble-torn East Africa, which
is very much unpredictable region? I am afraid you are comparing apple and orange here.
Dear Ethiopian, think about the issue objectively without being distracted by local political interest. No matter who governs the country, the decisions that we are now taking will have far reaching consequences on our future survival. We are not here talking about a loaf of bread that
can be shared if need be or shunned away altogether if not desired. We are talking about ownership on the Sea that has a paramount importance on economic and strategic interests of our country. We know why Eritrea is now pushing hard for the demarcation processes to be completed sooner than later. It is only a fool or a traitor that couldn’t stand for the national interest,
least when the enemy is the vanquished party. You also asked why we don’t claim Massawa port as well if we have to claim Assab. My simple answer to you will be, look where the former province called Eritrea is located (vis-à-vis Tigray and other provinces) and compare it with their wild claim that Assab is Eritrian. Our port Assab is situated right on the heart of Ethiopia showing its natural significance to our country. Moreover most Ethiopians nowadays don’t have any claim or interest on that former province called Eritrea. They didn’t want to live with us, and Good Luck for them as long as they can stand on their feet and don’t dream of any more parasitic
relationship. However, they shouldn’t be allowed to steal our only access to the sea while they have their own port.
The EPRDF government may try to impose its own will on the people of Ethiopia, as it did in 1991 and in 1993, by succumbing to all SHABIA’S unfair demands. But this will only widen the gulf between the people and the government and will not extricate the country from the cycle of war and violence. The government can take pride from the swift military victory scored on Eritrea (and rightly so) although the Ethiopian people are behind all those shining military victories. It is also true that the sense of national pride at present is at its highest peak and the country is much respected now (by its neighbors and even by the big powers) than was the
case two years a go. Eritrea is deflated to its true worth and the world has learned this through the hard way. But the ultimate goal is not achieved. Ethiopia needs to be secured in her access to the sea without which our long-term survival as a nation will be in serious jeopardy. Squandering what is being achieved in the battlefield with a big sacrifice, and going back to
a Zero Start will only mean treason of the highest kind.
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