BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
Humans are social being and they can’t live in isolation. They need each other and from time immemorial humans established family which is both natural and social institution. A family is a base for the emergence of society. Evolution of the society to the higher socio-economic progress necessitates the establishment of complex institutions to meet the citizens’ needs such as infrastructures, health, education, hosing electric power etc. The government on its part collects tax to provide services through its institutions to the entire citizens. Citizens also have the right to put accountable the government if it fails to deliver the duties it is in charge.
However, establishing strong institutions is not an easy task. Countries which built strong institutions passed through generational long efforts. Contrary, weak institutions are vulnerable to be manipulated by other interest groups. Nations with functioning and strong institutions could achieve political stability and advanced their economy.
On the contrary, nations which fail to establish strong institutions with merit based system faced political upside downs and ultimately find their way to their dismemberment. Countries reached to the higher political system have great chance to build strong institutions because political stability and functioning institution have positive correlation.
Historical and cultural aspects of the nations also shaped the formation of institutions. The world history indicates that until the end of the World War II, in Europe and other parts of the world, conflicts and war between countries and Civil wars had been rampant.
The absence of strong institutions gave way dictators to manipulate them and to serve individuals’ interest. Appearance of the institutions in their infancy level resulted in political fragility. For instance, electoral system had been flourishing since the 19th century but the capacity containing the emerging of dictatorship was very weak.
The assuming power of Hitler in Germany in 1933 and Mussolini in Italy in 1918 can be mentioned as the case in point. Though the two countries had long history and sovereignty, the two leaders brutally governed the people with no accountability due to weakness of the institutions.
In fact, Hitler came to power through winning election but he did not take time to become a dictator by paralyzing the institutions particularly, the three branches of the government. Before developing their economy, advancing democracy and establishing the political system governed by rule of law, European countries have passed through various historical circumstances served as cornerstone to what they are today.
The renaissance, scientific and industrial revolution and others could play their own role for the creation of independently thinking citizens and strong institutions. The renaissance could help Europeans to reinvigorate their own material and none material culture. Arts sculpture, literature and the culture of dialogue were flourished that time.
In addition to these, they were able to separate the church and the state. The emerged thinkers taught the public that people had responsibility to change the world through rational thinking to attain better earthly and spiritual living. The scientific revolution can be said a back bone for the emerging of industrial revolution which boosted economic growth and technological advancement.
The creation of wealth necessitated the protection of public rights which could be enforced by the strong institutions. To establish good governance, the flourishing of institutions such as legislative, judiciary and executive branches of the government were essential. In line with these, to protect human rights, countries had been signal to the various international conventions.
The emerging of political philosophers such as John Lock in Great Britain known by his political theory “social contract” and the French philosopher Montesquieu in 18th century who argued the value of separation of power between the three branches of the government propelled the European politics to move forward through creating strong institutions.
As to John Lock, the relation between citizens lies on contractual base by establishing the government through electoral system. He also indicated that the government would stay in power for limited period of time and when it terminates, it would transfer power to the next government through election. If the government fails to fulfill its promise to do to the public, it would put into account including removing from power through constitutional means.
The establishment of international institutions such as the League of Nations and the United Nations before and after the Second World War was vital to protect countries from war. In the African context before the advent of colonialism in 1880s, there were traditional institutions with small tribal kingdoms and sultanates.
There were no states and governments which maintained their sovereignty for long except Ethiopia and Egypt. Most modern African countries’ geographical map was came to exist in 1888 during the meeting which held in Berlin by European powers. When the European came to Africa, they translated the map drawn on paper into the ground by force and demolished the traditional institutions and established their
own map to perpetuate colonization. They had also set up infrastructures, urban centers and ports to foster their colonial intrusion. The economy was also crafted to feed the European economy by exporting raw materials to industries located in Europe and made African countries a dumping ground of their commodities. They imposed their own culture and language on the native people which in turn resulted in identity crises.
Right after the decolonization, military coup and war had become the order of the day because the institutions established during the colonial time were prepared to serve the colonialists and were not for the indigenous. Even though the new independent countries introduced constitutions which were masterminded by European power, they were unable to implement it due to the absence of strong institutions.
In the modern era, the first secular constitution in Ethiopia was introduced in 1931 by the emperor Hailesillassie but the project was futile. The constitution and the political practice failed to bring stability and ultimately the imperial system ceased to exist by unconstitutional means.
The Derg regime though pledged to bring political stability and economic progress; it spent its time to squash rebellion groups which fought against it in the northern part of the country. Instead of building independent institutions, power was rested on one man rule, the president.
The EPRDF regime which took power in 1991 with an authoritarian government, it had no value for the flourishing of independent institutions. The three branches of the government were tightly controlled by the executive branch. The absence of rule of law, ethnic polarization and lack of accountability left the nation to the verge of its disintegration and ultimately its fate concluded unceremoniously.
The reformist government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took power four years ago in a peaceful manner in which the nation had ever experienced. It promised to bring political stability and economic progress. It introduced new laws to open the political space to various political groups.
Appointed significant number of professionals in various government offices based on merit system. Other offices, however, still hold by political loyalty and ethnic representation. Two years ago, it made relatively fair election and won a landslide victory. It has absolute majority in the parliament and can enact laws with very small opposition. From the center up to the kebele level, the government structure is occupied by the ruling party members and such situation unless changed in to the platform where various pluralistic views can be accommodated, the reemerging of authoritarian rule might be inevitable. In fact the appointment of members of the opposition party in the cabinet showed the government’s resoluteness to work with the parties.
The establishment of the Election Board, the Ombudsmen and the Human right council by the government and allowing them to do their job neutrally and independently indicates the government’s commitment for the flourishing of strong institutions. The allocation of budget and appointing professionals with integrity to lead the institutions also shows how the government is committed for changing the nation’s political landscape to the better.
Recently, the government introduced proclamation that sets free public universities from the state’s dependency financially, operationally, academically, procedurally, as well as from substantive perspective.
The public universities, which are close to 50 and at different growth stages, will have to re-establish themselves as autonomous institutions with a gradual detachment from government budgets. Once the universities embark on the process, they are given a two-year transition period.
The proclamation authorized universities to establish profit-making enterprises and business organizations as per the commercial code to generate income and cover their expenditures. This includes businesses that generate foreign currency for the universities. However, they are expected to undergo strict auditing by the Federal Auditor General apart from annually presenting their financial reports to the Ministry of Finance.
However, many agreed that the pervasive conflict, illegal trade and corruption witnessed here and there are attributed to the absence of sufficient strong institutions and the under development of accountability. The government aspired to bring political change through reform rather than via revolution. Therefore, it did not radically change the old institutions by the new ones automatically and weak leaders are still there. Some corrupted officials further aggravate the prevalence of mismanagement.
While responding to MPs questions recently regarding the illegal gold trade which makes the nation to lose hard currency, for instance, the Minister of Mining, Habtamu Tegegn said that the government institutions from federal up to the worda level are structurally weak and their law enforcing capacity is declining. Exploiting this gap, perpetrators are engaged in illegal trade which in turn incurs shortage of hard currency on the nation. Hence, paying attention to the strengthening of institutions is essential.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
The Ethiopian Herald April 9/2023
