“Ye’Kihdet Kulkulet”
(’ The Precipice of Treachery’‘ )

By Professor Mesfin Wolde-Mariam
Commercial Printing Press
Pages: 206
Price: 40 Birr
Reviewed by Fitsum Getachew

In ‘Ye’kehdet Kulkulet’, Professor Mesfin analyses and discusses at length why he stands against the policies of the EPRDF government, why they are ill-conceived, comparing them sporadically with those of the imperial and military rules. He then presents his conclusions, putting them in a sort of collocation vis-à-vis a general international acceptance or practice. Professor Mesfin has often found criticism (labelled as a ‘smart, perennial survivor’, a ‘die hard’), alluding to his continued prominence and reputation notwithstanding regime changes, able to navigate some how in whatever turbulent waters, never expiring. People say Mesfin was often ‘consulted’ by the emperor as by the junta’s chief, Col. Mengistu, however he did not spare criticism to either, shunning their courts. As soon as this government came to power, he surprised many by notoriously engaging himself in ‘opposition politics’ thus beginning his ‘enmity’ with the ruling coalition.

Most notably, he has been an ardent critic of the government for its advocacy and legalization of the ‘secession of Eritrea from motherland Ethiopia’, the loss of a legitimate outlet on the Red Sea by Ethiopia, and the policy of ‘ethnic federalism’. He labels the consecration of the idea of the ‘right of peoples to self-determination up to secession’ as ‘absurd’, an erroneous appreciation of the ideas of Lenin. He indignantly defines such principle enshrined in the constitution as a ‘shame’ legalized only in Ethiopia, a result of immature rashness, ignorance, greed and unscrupulousness. He accuses the incumbent government of nurturing hatred for knowledge and erudite people, despising culture, as the leaders themselves assumed power without having any cultural preparation nor experience. He accuses them of dividing Ethiopia along frivolous and superficial lines, undermining all the common values that we have been nurturing and cherishing for years as one nation, instead of capitalizing, building up on the rich diversity. And this they do simply to satisfy their hunger for power, keeping people busy fighting each other!

According to Professor Mesfin’s book, the government deliberately focuses on ethnic, linguistic, religious and other differences, digging deep on forgotten motives of suspicion to make them re-surface and hence encouraging the ‘balkanization’ of the country, civil strife with inevitable self-annihilation. Mesfin accuses hence the leaders of both Ethiopia and Eritrea of betraying their own peoples, their own forefathers’ deeds and sacrifices, paid to conserve Ethiopia, in sheer pursuit of megalomania, lust for power, insatiable thirst for glory and fortune. For him, since these are unscrupulous leaders, it is high time that such downslope to the precipice be halted forthwith, before it is too late. Blunders should be admitted and rectified in time, he warns.

For his outspoken criticism (specially for his involvement with the April 2001 AAU students unrest) he has been brought to court (along with his friend economist Dr Birhanu Nega (a severe critique of this government’s economic policies, among others) and their case is still pending. His book can therefore be considered as a sort of a ‘political will’. He calls on all concerned citizens to openly discuss the problems that are pushing our country into deep troubles, and contribute for a search for remedies. That is the intention of the book, he affirms. He reiterates that if things continue in the current direction, not changing, if the government does not decide to admit its persistent and adamant errors, regretting, repenting, admitting historical facts and truths, the survival of the entity ‘Ethiopia’ would be at great risk, sliding down the slope of disintegration.

Divided into some sixteen chapters (including the introduction and conclusion), the book presents a lot of political and social theories, arguments, trying to refer as background to his convictions, and conclusions. He treats subjects such as ‘Truth’, ‘Knowledge’, ‘Admission’, ‘Treachery’, ‘Motherland’ and ‘Love for Motherland’, a quick historical background of Ethiopians and their psyche, and how much of Ethiopia’s history has been unscrupulously and shamelessly denied/betrayed by people with ill ambitions. He then outlines how, according to him, the two leading parties in Ethiopia and Eritrea betrayed their respective countries by denying historical truths. He describes the causes and implications of the so called Badme border conflict. He then defines constitutions, and what the current ‘Woyane’/TPLF constitution looks like, strengths, weaknesses, what ‘secession’ actually means, and what implications bear the ‘right to self-determination up to secession’. Likewise, he mentions theories of race, ethnicity and languages, rejecting the government’s position on them. He also treats theories of democracy and development before describing what he calls the ‘Woyane democracy’. He defines freedom, and how TPLF can come back to its senses and redeem this country before it breaks up, just as Somalia did!

Professor Mesfin’s dissertation is certainly alarming. His ideas are categoric, partisan and direct. However, he seems to have reached his frame of mind after long meditation and toil. Certainly, he has been observing things unfolding, during the last four decades, and would no doubt be in a position to express a valid opinion. Hence, he suggests certain ‘prospective solutions’ for each of these problems, warning that, should he sound very harsh, or blunt, in many of his assertions and conclusions, (specially when referring to the ruling party leaders’ ideas, to the EPLF government of Asmara), he does it only in good faith, just showing excessive concern only. And he insists, not with the intention of hurting some one. Mesfin does not spare the leaders of accusations of being responsible for the current danger hovering over the two countries, and concludes, the problem hails from their ‘basic treachery’ of the values of ‘one Ethiopia’, their promptness to ‘deny’ its existence.

At last, his therapy is a democratic, all-inclusive and united government, the only solution for the ills of the country, contrary to sowing divisions and secessions. He emphatically rejects and condemns any sort of division (ethnic, linguistic or religious) as a means of going out of the nation’s problems. He cites a convergent Europe in search of union as an example. Only the fool can consider ‘secession’ or ‘breaking up’ as a solution for Ethiopia’s problems, he argues, emphasizing that Eritrea is historically, culturally, sociologically and psychologically part and parcel of Ethiopia proper, disregarding a brief, shameful Italian colonization. The leaders know it well, he asserts. It is only the quest for power, Mesfin argues, that has resulted in the current division of the two, making both entities, worse off, leading to new problems that eventually resulted in fratricidal war. A war that brought no solutions! A natural outcome of the rivalry between two leaderships.

He bitterly and vigorously condemns both leaders (Meles and Issayas) and their ‘clans’, ‘stooges’, for their naked denial of history. He admits that he can look or sound a very angry person, and that is why he uses the terms that he habitually uses. Otherwise, he says, he does not at all nurture any form of hatred nor vendetta for any one person, party or people. He has no personal accounts to settle with any of the leaders or their collaborators, nor does he have any hidden political ambitions of his own. The authorities, he says, may tempt people with favours so that their deeds are glorified, praised. And Mesfin despises these people, calling them ‘opportunist’ sycophants! People so corrupted that they are capable of any tort to their nationals and country, in exchange for glory and benefits. When they see that their time is up (as it is inevitable in these cases) they flee their leaders, and emigrate. Then others are recruited again, and the circle continues, until the inevitable dead end is reached! Mesfin admits extreme nationalistic fervour and adamance that compel him to reject any compromise on certain ‘values’, and that he can’t help.

Hence, he invites every Ethiopian to a national call, to seriously ponder about all the issues that he raises in the book. Time is running out, he urges, and if we don’t act now, we may not have the time to regret. He prospects the up coming elections as the golden opportunity to seize and effect valid changes, concluding with a hopeful, though not so optimistic, note. The book has already provoked a certain controversy, but I think that was one of its objectives.