Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in his latest book ‘Medemer’ that it will be more or less a sketch of ‘the roadmap of his administration’ and a kind of ‘guide for the upcoming journey, an expression of his vision. He said we have come to observe that all former alien philosophies or political thoughts our elite politicians and leaders adopted and tried to apply have not managed to resolve our age old problems. On the contrary, they have become a source of bitter rivalry and even fratricidal conflicts. One can conclude from this that Ethiopians have not been blessed by good leaders who had the capacity and resolve to reach a common ground and solve the perennial challenges of the people.
Looking at the life of Ethiopians, one cannot fail to observe that they are still living in alarming backward conditions just as their forefathers used to. And yet the opportunities for progress and improvement are there tangibly presented by modern day science, technology and education. Only a small fraction of the general population mainly urban folks seem to have benefitted from it. The situation becomes all the more depressing when we find out that other countries which began their journey as a nation much later than Ethiopia have attained better life conditions.
Why has such predicament become characteristic of Ethiopia? According to the ideas contained in ‘Medemer’, it is because we have not had leaders that managed to rally citizens in unison, harness all the available resources and avoid not only wastage but also corruption and work together as one.
‘Medemer’ states Ethiopia does not lack the necessary resources that could transform the life of its nationals. It is only a matter of leadership skills and continuous buildup on past experiences, preserving the best practices and capitalizing on them while avoiding and discarding not only the negative ones but also be careful not to be entangled on worthless controversies and historical chapters that have in any case passed and are buried.
Our continuous focus on past stories and narratives does not allow us to progress an inch given that we lose sight and focus from the big picture and waste precious time on irreconcilable narratives. Whenever there was change of regime or government the practice we are fond of is destroy the past, discredit the leaders totally, and then begin from scratch. ‘Medemer’ says this has cost us a lot.
This is clearly destructive and wasteful, says ‘Medemer’. First of all, we need to capitalize on the works of the past if they are positive and admit and rectify the wrong. ‘Medemer’ states ‘Never destroy everything that is done without considering its positive sides. Never adopt a policy of hate, exclusion and condemnation on the past.
This is one of the shortcomings of our times. Engaging in endless controversies and disputes over the past and alien philosophies that are inapplicable to our tradition and customs such as communism for instance have not borne us with good results. On the contrary! We waged wars of ideology that were directly copied from overseas while we could have enriched our own local indigenous values.
We need to rectify the wrong but not dwell on that too much and waste precious time on bickering on past events no matter how unjust or outrageous the act or deeds of our former leaders may be; no matter how bitterly we may disagree with their operations. What we have to do today is admit it openly and may be ask excuse for that where necessary, but then engage in a new thought, a new, fresh approach in relations to and among people and go forward.
‘Medemer’ says dwelling too much on past stories or narratives and trying to bring to account today’s peoples for past deeds is simply vain and may incite us to more controversies and conflicts. It does not lead us anywhere and we cannot afford to do that. What we need to do instead is try and heal our past wounds with conventional and customary means and move on with new spirit of peace and reconciliation.
To cite an example, we all know about the past injustices African Americans have suffered in the hands of the white supremacists; there were atrocious episodes of slave trade, exploitation and dehumanization of black or colored people; and yet today there is now a new chapter in the history of the US. You don’t hear stories of the past continuously because they have decided to move on. The presidency of Barack Obama could be viewed as a coronation of ‘the civil rights movement’ of decades and albeit symbolic, it has its own value. Another story is the condition of the ‘Red Indians’ or indigenous Americans, presumed original owners of the Americas. But today we all know which reality exists.
Similarly, in South Africa history has described how the ‘original owners’ of the land were treated by the expansionist settler whites. But now things seem to have radically changed. The example of the freedom fighter Nelson Mandela who pardoned all those who took part in the oppressive apartheid system of government in which he personally has suffered a lot for decades must teach us how to go about and build a new nation with a new spirit and mentality. Mandela dismissed the idea of revenge even if he personally did suffer terribly.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has in this respect done a good ‘healing process’ in South Africa; and why can we not learn from it? What Mandela did was not forget the ugly deeds but move on in noble forgiveness. Peace and reconciliation are very precious values for the continuation of life in present day South Africa.
Otherwise, countries would always be engaged in a vicious circle of revenge and by so doing destroy everything that is built and what can be built.
However, this does not in any way mean condoning past injustices, misguided policies, atrocities or any wrongs of any nature committed on a people by others. It could be taken as a matter of practicality.
In Rwanda after 800,000 people were brutally massacred without any cause, they have however managed to overcome it and guarantee peaceful cohabitation among the Hutus and Tutsis. It has taken some time but in the end one should give credit to the wise leadership of President Paul Kagame in managing to restore confidence and peace and rebuilding a stable and prosperous country.
The philosophy contained in ‘Medemer’ as conceptualized by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seems to lead to a country that needs to reconcile with its past abandoning the blind, hateful narratives referring to historical episodes here and there and face today’s challenges that would guarantee the well-being of more than a hundred million people. Today’s youths need to live their life today and not always look back and waste all their precious life in vain, endless controversies.
‘Medemer’ argues Ethiopia’s current predicament should not be obstructed by old narratives. This does not mean condoning past injustices and mistakes. Nevertheless, decision must be made to look forward, archiving the past. Those who believe to capitalize by trading on the past do not help solve the problems of today. They end up becoming, knowingly or not, enemies of the current generation.
It is evident that judging the past by current standards and criteria and with the benefit of hindsight could only be a futile exercise. There is no healthy logic that allows such operation except that politicians may just use it to provoke certain arguments and win in a political rivalry. A country cannot feed on revenge and live peacefully.
The best way forward is to capitalize on the good deeds and disregard the mistakes or injustices. Otherwise, the country will be condemned to live in an interminable war of attrition in search of an unlikely solution. And the current generation would be deprived of their ‘right to enjoy their life today’ without being haunted by the past.
‘Medemer’ in this regard is a clarion call to all those who are totally immersed in past narratives to abandon their useless narratives and engage in current issues.
‘Medemer’ states ‘let’s use indigenous values and take full advantage of them. We don’t need to quarrel over alien values, alien ideologies and alien conceptions most of which by the way have been abandoned even by the authors themselves. We have our own cultural values and we can capitalize on them. Our recent history has shown us the hard way that we cannot solve our problems using alien philosophies. Suffice it to mention here the Red Terror vs. the White Terror!
Ethiopians of various cultures, languages and values can dig deep in their tradition and use them to bridge differences. The best option is to come together, rally and capitalize on unity.
The idea of exclusion is dangerous. It can cause disintegration. There is no one ethnic group or nationality that is not needed. No people are superfluous and only coming together can we heal the current animosities and work for a more prosperous Ethiopia. Ethiopians must begin to appreciate one another and build up a strong union in equality and justice; and work together to cope with the challenges of the times. This idea even protrudes outside our borders to invite neighbors to the table. This is in brief the message behind ‘Medemer’.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 17 Novebmer 2019
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
