The African Initiatives for Democratic World Order (AIDWO) Executive Director, Kebede Kejela had a stay with The Ethiopian Herald. He served as a bodyguard during Haile Selassie regime. He also worked being superintendent for six years. Simply, he had contributed a lot to his country during the three regimes in different positions, but finally left his job getting another in civil society organizations (NGOs) where he was working ranging from being an expert to top level positions such as Executive Director for the last twenty six years in Ethiopia. Excerpts:
Thank you for your willingness to conduct a short interview with The Ethiopian Herald.
Kebede: It is my pleasure.
Where were you born and did attend your primary education?
Kebede: I was born in Wollega province, Iraguliso area, and I had attended my primary education there. Later, I had joined Evangelical College in Debrezeit and had been conscripted for military training at Haile Slassie I military academy Harar and later became a bodyguard to serve Emperor Haile Selassie.
Any engagements you have been entered into apart from the aforementioned one?
Kebede: Yes, I had served in international basketball as an umpire Young Men’s Christian Association Ethiopia (Wowokema in Amharic local language), 4 kilo. I was preferably chosen by the emperor because of my active involvement in activities, well developed gesture in sports and my effective performance in running activities. But after serving six years I was in a state of incarceration.
In what activity have you engaged after imprisonment?
Kebede: I had served in Ethiopian Electric Power for two years and later I earned my BA in History from Addis Ababa University.
Is there place you worked in after the downfall of Derg?
Kebede: I had worked with the transitional government under Ato Tamirat Layne’s premiership for ten months but later I resigned as I could hardly assimilate myself with the ideology he was indoctrinated in.
Would you please briefly elucidate what does civil society mean?
Kebede: It holds a wide array of concept. In clear terms, it is an entire institution and group of people that are independent of the state, organized voluntarily, and are self-governing, self-generating, and self-reliant to some extent.
What, do you think, are incorporated in it?
Kebede: As an umbrella organization, it includes NGOs, mass media, think tank, university, social, and religious organizations. They are also in a position to host pluralism and diversity, tolerances, generosity, accommodating other demands and interests in a given state.
What did you get in the organizations regarding public awareness over the last twenty six years?
Kebede: During my stay in civil society organizations, I have understood that civil society should not immediately oppose the government strategy and its ideology. However, they would act multi- directionally. This means they are expected to exhibit the good side of what is run by the concerned instead of solely being pessimistic. To help them come up with rational approach and positive outlook too, the government should create smooth linkage with civil society as nothing always a bed of roses lifelong.
Which civil society you joined as a start up?
Kebede: I started my first job in ABUGIDA Ethiopia Congress for Democracy in 1985 E.C
What challenges did you encounter in your company in the three regimes?
Kebede: Yah!….During Derg I was thrown into jail for seven years following my opposing stance of the Derg Regime, but that didn’t reflect the reality on the ground.
What position did you use to hold before Derg?
Kebede: I had served as bodyguard for Emperor Haile Selassie for six years and I had given positions of superintendent for the emperor had scrupulously observed my diligent work somewhere else.
Anything you did experience in prison?
Kebede: We had faced a range of miserable life facets, many had been killed, and some others were highly tortured.
Did you ever engage in corrupt action?
Kebede: No, never ever. I don’t like really such evil act in my life and forever.
What obstacles, do you think, civil societies have faced for the last twenty six years in Ethiopia?
Kebede: The proclamation No. 621/2009 automatically deteriorated the moral and diligence of so many civil society organizations and caused deterioration of their work in Ethiopia. They were unable to effectively undertake a multitude of actions due to financial constraint, area of engagement restriction, and rights alienation which came out of the proclamation.
What was decided while you were in jail?
Kebede: The verdict that my group and myself were to be shot. Later fortunately I was rescued narrowly. Since I was suspected of writing a wrong piece about Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam’s regime at the very time of assuming power, I was caught and got jailed. However, it was proved false and I was released after seven years.
What breakthrough, do you think, the two-year reform has brought to civil society?
Kebede: Civil society organizations have been provided with new hope, conducive atmosphere, right roadmap to open new chapter since Dr. Abiy’s assuming power. The system itself grants them with a tempo to seize the right track. It also pushes them to a better step in the future. Taking the viable scene into account, they have planned many more branches and get them in the right pipeline using the workable new enacted law.
What type of support are the civil organizations getting from the government now?
Kebede: We are being promoted and initiated for work and encouraged to come up with new arrays to work everywhere since last year. We are also provided with multifarious supports.
What is expected of civil society, do you think, to move in full swing and productive in a stabilized manner?
Kebede: They should focus on carrying out different undertakings as per the organizational capacity, have to do assessment in their structure, pave the way forward, substitute and rebuilt, office equipment, make themselves accessible as well as consolidate their capacity more than ever.
What do they critically need today?
Kebede: Mainly we need a place for work with wider premises comprising office and other vital halls. In such places, when they do their work here, the government has to follow up activities to some extent to enroot a democratic culture and make a wide landscape for those which are capable of and willing to work on the area.
Much of the fund comes from foreign aid and decisive, what shall Ethiopian civil society do to be self-reliant in that regard?
Kebede: We should create and raise awareness on culture of supporting others for banks, industries, businessmen and Insurance companies here to raise fund domestically to help them self-managed. The aforesaid parties are very passive in participating in such engagements. Sometimes we are forced to dismount organizations as we face lack of fund source. This in turn obliges us not to continue in a sustainable way in the country. Even now most of them have phased-out as they predominantly rely on foreign and charity organizations funds.
Civil societies are most of the time led by foreigners, and even experts are from there, too. What should be done to alter the situation?
Kebede: We are on the way to reshuffle the dimension. The first step to do so is providing people with training and scheme of expertise locally. Second, awareness creation needs to be well communicated among the members of the civil society. Third, the government should facilitate conditions for the realization of producing scholars locally and give great attention to it taking as a serious agenda or national affair. So long as they focus on societal hot issues and combatting community poverty, livelihood sustainability in a bid to securing economic growth which in turn plays a great role in buttressing sustainable development of the country.
The amended law and the new proclamation have touched upon civil society organizations. Do you think it is enough for them?
Kebede: Of course, they are provided with many options. The right to organize limits the number and return back home is left open as all local and foreign counterparts are made free to engage in whatever they want to do. Apart from this, the new law has come incorporating new thinking and idea on the donor organization’s movement. This is much more promising than the previous one. It is up to donor organizations to efficiently and promptly, use the opportunities the law comes up with.
This would in turn help them be productive and sustainable ones. But on my point of view one thing should be added on the civil society, they should conduct a round table dialogue with one another. Media should also work arduously to play their role in contributing a lot to this journey. It should not be restricted to some improvements as a lot has to be done in future.
What does the executing capacity civil society organizations look like nowadays?
Kebede: Most of the organizations under this line are fragmented. If they are fragmented, they are far from information, people and situations their and so executing capacity will go downward and weak and finally is banned to disappears.
What type of constraints do civil society organizations face today?
Kebede: The civil society organizations are formed passion and compassion from the beginning, but they start staggering in the middle. They should go and work with the constituency. The main constraint we are facing today in donor charity organization is the issue of fund constraint and technical.
For how long have you served in charity organizations?
Kebede: Firstly, I started my work in “Abogida charity (NGOs) as project officer in 1993. I had worked two years there and left it later to join another organization. I have been working about 28 years in civil society organizations in various positions in aggregate.
Can you enumerate the time you served as senior position or as a head?
Kebede: Of course, I have worked as executive director for about 26 years.
Currently for which organization you are working?
Kebede: I am working in African Initiatives for Democratic World Order (AIDWO)– working as Executive Director.
Could you mention to what extent civil society organizations contribute to Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and COVID-19 campaign so far?
Kebede: We have not yet worked hard to contribute to the Dam. That is regrettable indeed as far as I am concerned. Obviously, it is clear that the GERD is going to contribute a lot to the socio-economic development
of the country. We did not support the construction of the Dam as expected for the resource has been secured from overseas.
However, we are relentlessly working to change this scenario and contribute to the effective accomplishment of the Dam. A viable task force of certain association needs to be set up at the level of all walks of life as active participation of society is crucial.
How do you describe the GERD to Ethiopia and Africans in general?
Kebede: Regarding the GERD, the Nile River is our water, our life, our blood and our everything. At Guba where it is dammed, it is our power. After Guba it is our river which we share with Sudan and Egypt. We need to think globally. It can even be shared with Israel and Saudi Arabia after feeding Egypt rather leaving it drain itself into Mediterranean Sea. We can even build an internal water way serving the downstream and upper stream countries. We needs to reopen Gambella Port to serve Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan and this is what we mean think globally.
Any message you would like to convey for civil society organizations in particular and for all citizens of the nation in general?
Kebede: I would like to urge all civil society organizations working in Ethiopia to move in unison to effectively discharge their responsibilities since they are not fully vibrant and visible at this stage. I want to call upon foreign donor organizations and others, which are willing to help Ethiopia develop. If this is so, we can properly execute our works as promptly as possible and alleviate the critical problems of the society
The Ethiopian Herald July 17, 2020
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
