By Alemayehu G. Mariam | 25 January 2010
Since the dawn of African independence from colonialism in the early 1960s, African liberation leaders and founding fathers qua dictators, military junta and “new breed” leaders have sought to justify the one-man, one-party state — and avoid genuine multiparty democracy — by fabricating a blend of self-serving arguments which converge on the notion that in Africa there is a democracy before democracy. The core argument can be restated in different ways: Before Africa can have political democracy, it must have economic democracy. Africans are more concerned about meeting their economic needs than having abstract political rights. Economic development necessarily requires sacrifices in political rights. African democracy is a different species of democracy which has roots in African culture and history. African societies are plagued by ethnic, tribal and religious conflicts which can be solved not by Western-style liberal democracy but within the framework of the traditional African institutions of consensus-building, elder mediation and conciliation. Western-style democracy is unworkable, alien and inappropriate to Africans because the necessary preconditions for such a system are not present. Widespread poverty, low per capita incomes, a tiny middle class and the absence of a democratic civic culture render such a system incongruous with African realities. Liberal democracy could come to Africa only after significant economic development has been achieved. Any premature introduction or misguided imposition of it by the West could actually harm Africans by destroying their budding faith in democracy itself.
Stripped of rhetorical flourish, such self-serving arguments exploit manifest contradictions and deficits in African societies for the purposes of justifying the consolidation and fortification of the powers of the one-man, one-party state, and preventing the institutionalization of a competitive multiparty democratic process with electoral and constitutional accountability. The claim of primacy of “economic democracy” is based on an impressionistic (not empirically substantiated) assumption that the masses of poor, illiterate, hungry and sick Africans are too dumb to appreciate “political democracy”. In other words, the African masses are interested in the politics of the belly and not the politics of democracy and political rights. Africans live for and by bread alone. Elections, legal rights and liberties are meaningless to the poor and hungry masses. This assumption is pure nonsense as various well designed and executed empirical studies of democratic attitudes in Africa have shown. The claim of ethnic conflict to justify the one-man, one-party system is internally self-contradictory. If indeed the communalism and the institutions of traditional, pre-colonial African societies are the most effective means for dispute resolution and consensus-building, it is illogical to insist on investing a single leader and his party with sweeping and expansive powers.
All the layered sophistry and paralogism of African dictators is intended to mask their insatiable hunger for power and produce one set of self-serving axiomatic conclusions: Africa is not yet ready for genuine multiparty democracy. The one-man, one-party system is the only means to save Africa from itself, and from complete social, economic and political implosion. The one-man, one-party system will evolve into a genuine multiparty democracy at some undetermined time in the future. In the meantime, the one-man, one-party show must go on.
Post-independence African history is instructive in understanding the scourge of the one-man, and the curse of one-party rule in Africa. Ghana’s independence from colonialism as the first sub-Saharan African country in 1957, and the role played by its first prime minister and later president Kwame Nkrumah is central to understanding the pervasive problem of civilian and military dictatorships in Africa. Ghana was undoubtedly the most economically and socially advanced country in sub-Saharan Africa with an advanced educational system and relatively well-developed infrastructures when it gained its independence. Nkrumah was a role model for the dozens of leaders of African countries that achieved independence in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite Nkruma’s status as the unrivalled champion of Pan-Africanism and strong advocacy for a united Africa, he was also the single individual most responsible for casting the mold for the one-man, one-party dictatorship in post-independence Africa. Barely a year into his administration, the once fiery anti-colonial advocate of political rights and democracy had transformed himself into a power-hungry despot. He enacted a law making labor strikes illegal. He declared it was unpatriotic to strike. Paranoid about his opposition, he enacted a preventive detention act which gave him sweeping powers to arrest and detain any person suspected of treason without due process of law. He even dismissed the chief justice of Ghanaian Supreme Court, Sir Arku Korsah, when a three-judge panel Korsah headed acquitted suspects accused of plotting a coup. Nkrumah amended the constitution making his party, the Convention People’s Party, the only legal party in the country. He capped his political career by having himself declared president-for-life.
Other African leaders followed in Nkrumah’s footsteps. Julius Nyrere became the first president of Tanganyka (Tanzania) in 1962 and announced his brand of African socialism built around rural folks and their traditional values in a ujamma (extended family) system. Millions of villagers were forced into collectivized agriculture. He modeled his constitution after Ghana’s and followed Nkruma’s script. Nyrere established a one-man, one-party state around his Tanganyika African National Union, outlawed strikes, nationalized private banks and industries, duplicated Nkruma’s preventive detention act to go after his opponents and greatly increased his personal power.
With the exception of a few countries, Africa had been incurably infected by Nkrumah’s one-man, one-party virus before the end of the 1960s. Most of the leaders of the newly independent African countries followed Nkrumaha’s political formula by declaring states of emergency, suspending their constitutions, conferring unlimited executive powers upon themselves, and enacting oppressive laws which enabled them to arrest, detain and persecute their rivals, dissenters, and others they considered threats at will.
The economic and political outcomes of the one-man, one-party dictatorships by the end of the 1960s were dismal. Nkrumah’s program of rapid industrialization by reducing Ghana’s dependence on foreign capital and imports had a devastating effect on its important cocoa export sector. Many of the socialist economic development projects he launched failed. By the time he was overthrown in a military coup in 1966, Ghana had fallen from one of the richest African countries to one of the poorest. Similarly, Tanzania nose-dived from the largest exporter of agricultural products in Africa to the largest importer of agricultural products. The one-man, one-party state also proved to be ineffective in reducing ethnic tensions and preventing conflict. Civil wars, genocides, low level ethnic conflicts and corruption spread throughout the continent like wildfire.
Waiting in the wings were Africa’s soldiers. Accusing the civilian governments of corruption, incompetence and mismanagement of the economy and claiming a patriotic duty to rescue their countries from collapse, military officers knocked off these governments one by one. Gen. Joseph Mobutu seized power in the Congo (Zaire) following a protracted political struggle between Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Kasavubu. Col. Houari Boumedienne overthrew Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria. A group of army officers overthrew the monarchy in Brundi. In the Central African Republic, Col. Bokassa (later Emperor Jean Bedel Bokassa) overthrew David Dacko. Gen. Idi Amin overthrew Milton Obote in Uganda. Nigeria flipped two coups, one by Gen. Johnson Ironsi who was overthrown by Gen. Yakubu Gowon. Many other African countries suffered similar fates.
There is overwhelming evidence to show that the one-man, one-party state has been a total failure in Africa over the past one-half century. Under these dictatorships, African countries have faced civil and border wars and ethnic and religious strife. Famine, malnutrition and insufficient food production have caused the deaths of millions of Africans. The poverty and unemployment rates continue to rise despite billions in foreign aid and loans. Infant mortality is nearly 100 per thousand (compared to 5 in the United States). Africans have the lowest life expectancies in the world. After fifty years of independence per capita income in much of Africa had declined so much that President Obama had to artfully remind Africans in his speech in Ghana: “Countries like Kenya, which had a per capita economy larger than South Korea’s when I was born, have been badly outpaced.” Politically, the one-man, one-party dictatorships have brought neither ethnic harmony nor good governance; and they have failed to forge a common national identity for their people.
Today we still hear the same rubbish about a democracy before democracy recycled by a “new breed” of silver-tongued African leaders. Meles Zenawi, the chief architect of the one-man, one-party state in Ethiopia says:
Establishing democracy in Africa is bound to take a long time and that elections alone will not produce democracy and do not necessarily bring about democratic culture or guarantee a democratic exercise of rule. Creating a democracy in poverty-ridden and illiterate societies that have not yet fully embraced democratic values and are not yet familiar with democratic concepts, rules and procedures is bound to take a long time and to exact huge costs.
Similar arguments are made by Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda; and even the wily old coyote, Robert Mugabe, pulls the same stunt at age 85 to justify clinging to power.
The “new breed” dictators are trying to sell the same old snake oil in a new bottle to Africans. But no one is fooled by the sweet-talking, iron-fisted new breed dictators who try to put a kinder and gentler face on their dictatorship, brutality and corruption. They should spare us their empty promises and hypocritical moral pontifications. For one-half century, Africans have been told democracy requires sacrifices and pain; and they must look inwards to their village communities, traditional elders and consensus dialogue to find the answers. Africans don’t want to hear that “democracy” takes time and they must wait, and wait and wait as the new breed of dictators pick the continent clean right down to the bare bones. Africans want Africa to no longer be the world’s cesspool of corruption, criminality and cruelty.
The fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as democracy before democracy. There could be either democracy or one-man, one-party dictatorships in Africa. We all know exactly what the latter means. The only question is how best to implement constitutional multiparty systems in Africa. On this question, there may be an ironic twist of history. As Ghana was the original model of the one-man, one-party state in Africa, Ghana today could be the model of constitutional multiparty democracy in Africa.
As I have argued previously argued 1, Ghana today has a functioning competitive multiparty political system guided by its Constitution. Article 55 guarantees “Every citizen of Ghana of voting age has the right to join a political party.” Political parties are free to organize and “disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character.” BUT TRIBAL AND ETHNIC PARTIES ARE ILLEGAL IN GHANA under Article 55 (4). That is the key to Ghana’s political success. The Ghanaians also have an independent Electoral Commission which ensures the integrity of the electoral process, and under Article 46 is an institution “not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority.” Ghanaians enjoy many a panoply of political civil, economic, social and cultural rights. In 2008, Ghana (population 23 million) ranked 31 out of 173 countries worldwide on World Press Freedom Index (Ethiopia- population 80 million ranked 142/173). There are more than 133 private newspapers, 110 FM radio stations and 2 state-owned dailies. Ghanaians express their opinions without fear of government retaliation. The rule of law is upheld and the government follows and respects the Constitution. Ghana has an independent judiciary which is vital to the observance of the rule of law and protection of civil liberties. Political leaders and public officials abide by the rulings and decisions of the courts and other fact-finding inquiry commissions. Ghana is certainly not a utopia, but it is proof positive that multiparty constitutional democracy can and will work in Africa.
Africa’s and Ethiopia’s future in the 21st Brave New Globalized Century lie in genuine multiparty democracy, not in recycled one-man, one-party, pie-in-the-sky-promising dictatorships. Poverty, ethnic conflict, illiteracy and all of the other social ills will continue to haunt Africa for decades to come. Dealing effectively with these issues can not be left to failed-beyond-a-shadow-of-doubt, one-man, one-party dictatorships. If Africa is to be saved from total collapse, its ordinary people must be fully empowered in an open, pluralistic and competitive multiparty political process. For those who have any doubts about Ethiopia’s readiness for genuine multiparty democracy, let them look at the facts of the 2005 election: 26 million eligible Ethiopians were registered to vote in that election out of a population of 74 million. A stunning 90 percent of the 26 million actually voted. NO MORE ONE-MAN, ONE-PARTY DICTATORSHIPS IN AFRICA. GENUINE MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY, NOW!
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Alemayehu G. Mariam, is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles. He writes a regular blog on The Huffington Post, and his commentaries appear regularly on Pambazuka News and New American Media.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
There is nothing new in this article whatsoever, I always read the same redundant /// article on WESTERN newpapers. Personally, I rather have one single political party system like China and be rich economically than have democracy and poor and got nothing to eat.
Those countries today classified as democratic nations out side of North America and WESTERN europe got nothing to show for being Democratic state. Fact is, what our society need is mature and balance of leadership not one style western cultured fit all outdated politics.
Non of these Asian countries have truely democratic system by western standard, but their economics growing in unprecedented double degite annually more than the WEST it self, and in these countries income per house hold grew 87% for the last 17 years only.
January 25th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
በመጀመርያ ያለኝን አክብሮት ስገልጽ በእውነቱ የምታደርገው አስተዋጻኦ በቀላሉ በቃላት የማይመለስ ታላቅና ሃገራዊ ፍቅርና ታታሪነትክን የሚያሳይ ለመሆኑ ሁሉም ያውቀዋል ነገር ግን አንዳድ በራሳቸው መተማመን ያቃታቸው ብዙ ጊዜ መስመር የውጣ አስተያየት ቢሰነዝሩም ቅሉ በመንኛውም ስፍራ በጎ እንዳይደረግ ህዝብ እንዳይሰባሰብ የሚያደርጉ ዋሾዎች በየአካባቢው የጠርሙስ ጭልጭ በመጨበጥ ትግልንና ታጋዮችን ሲያንቓንሽሹ በተግባር ይሁን በሃሳብ ያልታደሉ ትምሕርት መስጠትና ደካማነታቸውን ይዘው አርፈው መቀመጥ እንዳለባቸው እንዲያውቁ ማድረግ የሁሉም የመብትና የዲሞክራሲ ተከራካሪዎችግዴታና ኃላፊነት በመሆኑ ቀጥልበት አስተምር;;
እውነት ነው የ1960 አፍሪካ ከቅኝ ገዥዎች ነጻ ከውጣች በሓላ የነበርው ስራዓት በወታደር ግልበጣ ወደ አንድ የፖለቲካ ስርዓት ጣምራ ገዥነት በመሸጋገር ወደ ፖልቲካ democracy በመእራባውያን ፍላጎት በሚያሟሉ በማቀናጀት የአፍሪካን የምጣኔ ሀብት ግምባታ(democracy )አቅጣጫውን በመቀየር የነበረውን ስራዓት በማኮላሸት የዘር የጎሳ የሃይማኖት ጉዳዮችን በማንሳት በማሰባጠር አፍርካ ለዚህ አይነት ቀውስ እንድትደርስ አብቅተዋታል የነበሩትን ታላላቅ መሪዎች ባሰለጠኑቃቸው የበላይ መኮንንኖች በማነሳሳንት ግልበጣ በማድረግ ታሪክና ሕግ በማፍረስ ታልቅ አስተዋጻኦ አድርገዋል ዛሬም በሃገራችን እያደረጉት ያሉት ምዋነኛው ማስረጃ ሁሉም ነቅቶ ቢያጤነው መልካም ነው
January 25th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I wait every monday with great enthsusiasm to brush up my awareness about Mama Ethiopia, Adeye Ithiopia, Mama Africa and the rest of the world.
I admire the tenacity and stamina of our great ” Liqe-Liqawnt” AlMariam, who relentlessly teach us consecutively.
I think/hope the adversaries have also good opportunity to examine their weaknesses and perhaps do corrections to their fatal mistakes by reading his teachings.
You never find such a bright explanation even at the “Open University-London” in which many new “African breeds” bought their degrees by distant learning.
Let god give you strength!
January 25th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
While you are trying to justify your point against one man , one party system, you are condeminig the struggle for freedom and followed by attainment of libral democracy by KAEUP and conradicted W/t Birtukan,s aspirations for democracy and unity of Ethiopia based on your own assertin and endorsed TPLF/eprdf regime’s plan of economic developement before democracy, while the press release after the end of K-5 tour in in USA stiplates “No change but Durable Democracy” in a country with a plan for economic development in East Asian style. And the that economic development plan is handled by TPLF and TPLF affiliated enterprizes. Is that the kind of economic development your are taking about. When you talk about Multi-party, are you talking of multi-party with national agenda. If that is not the case the multi-party system of of running for elections have more than enough number of parties participating both the dichotomy is these parties align themselves between those with ethnic agenda and those with national agenda for Unity, Territorial Integrity, and sovereignity of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. TPLF/eprdf regime is based on ethnic agenda and ethnic dictatorship. You do not have to browse all over Africa to justify the condemnation of one man, one party system of TPLF under the cover of its teletafi parties, called eprdf. Nor are you unable to discern Medrek/FDD/EFDR, a mirror image of TPLF/eprdf and KAEUP with national agenda to name a few constitute a multi-party system. If this a question a question of lack of multi-parties with ethnic agenda, you are wrong.
January 25th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Mr. JzB,
China is succeeding on its economic coup d`eta without single gun shot without WESTERN form of Democracy.
If China contenue`s in the same path and same economic growth for the next 13 years, America will lose and surrender its long held position to china, and China officially will become the world economic super power, with higher GDP than any country in the world. All these only within 20 years period, what will china become 20 years from now ?
of course that is totally different question.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
It is rather stupid to compare china with Ethiopia’s ethnic dictatorship who are working day in and day out for the distraction of the country they supposedly govern.The chines dictatorship is a fierce protector for their territorial integrity and the national pride unlike ours.
January 25th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Jzb & D,
The reason that China has “succeded” in its economic sphere is not because its one party rule is superior than a liberal democratic system. It is because the world failed to act. We all know that for evil to triumph we only need to do nothing, and that is exactly what happened in the China’s case. If China’s major trading paterners, which happen to be western democratic nations, all refused to deal with China until it behaved, there wouldn’t have been a “sucess” story to talk about now. The west is paying hugely for this lapse. Just for the sake of getting “cheaper” products from China, the West had bartered humanity’s greatest hope: Capitalism and liberal democracy. As the Ethiopia saying goes “bere hoy bere hoy sarun sitay gedel gebah woy” . What a pity….
Rekik
January 26th, 2010 at 5:27 am
What we have in Ethiopia is an ethnical fascist and racist one man dictatorship which is sucking the blood of the poor.
The Chinese Communist Party is a patriotic one treating its citizens equally and defending chinese interests. It can never be compared to the dictatorship of the ethnical fascist Meles Zenawi. Meles`regime has been the lord of famine and poverty in Ethiopia and can not bring prosperity to citizens. The fascist regime is totally preoccupied with building its future ethnic republic of Tigray and plundering and amassing wealth. We see many ordinary Tigrayans becomimg millionaires over a short period of time. Western univerisities are full of Tigryan students being trained to fully replace key positions within
the ethnical fascist regime.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:16 am
I always wonder, why people compare Ethiopia with that of China. Having only one head doesn’t make you similar. our dictator is completly diffrent from the chaina’s. Not only the nature of dictators diffrent but alos the society. We are so hetrogenous unlike china in relegion, ethinic etc.. The implication of these dissimilarities is that growth in Ethiopia is impossible witout democracy unlike the case of China. Development requires, above all, trust among leaders and the people. In our situation, the only way of creating trust is through democracy. Mistrust in China has never been a problem. Moreover, China’s growth is not the best growth that we have to dream of. Growth should be for the majority not for few politically affilated people.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Rekik,
You sound more like the newsmedia from the WEST.
What China done for the last 20 years is miracle, we may learn from China. China with one fifth of the world population successfully transioned it self from poverity stricken country to become the world economic super power house. Last week, China officially over took Japan as the world second economic by surpassing Japan`s GDP. Regarding Democracy, China will have its version of democracy with time, beside no democracy is better and meaningful than that grow and mature with time, no doubt China will become Democracy but not WESTERN form of Democracy, but China form of Democracy that preserve and refelect China`s cultural values and standard. A society that is economical viablilty will have its demands in timely manner, no leverage is more powerful and appealing to the mass than economic of the mass, beside what good is “West imposed Democracy (Arteficial form of democracy)” when the society is not ready to impliment it ? true form democracy is far beyond going to the poll and casting the while the mind cluttered with half awaken consciousness. A society that is well informed and educated to know and see from right and wrong will have true democracy by transcending regionslism,religionism,tribalism,nationalism,jingoism etc…, otherwise ‘direct democracy’ would have been success story. What i am simply saying is, that true Democracy should be cultured and nurtured with time, not imposed by foreign agent as aform of text book carbon copy. Beside, servival and economic viability is the priority not perfection of Democracy, even though the importance of libral democratic economic system may assist to further the socioeconomics of the society, but that reality is stage process not cut and dry simplicity.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
እያንጓለለ! (የምርጫ ጭውውት)
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ሊቀ መኳስ ቆመ- አራት ኪሎ ላይ
ትናንት መለስ መለስ…
ዛሬም መለስ መለስ…
ነገም መለስ መለስ- መለስ መለስ ባይ።
አገር አሳደጉ
ሰላም አወረዱ
ይህን አድርገዋል -ስሙ ያልሰማችሁ
ተገቢ ነውና-በሙሉ ድምጻችሁ
ለዘንድሮው ምርጫ-እነርሱን ባትመርጡ
ትዝብት ነው እንጅ-ምንም አታመጡ።
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
የምን ምርጫ ነው ዘንድሮ
ውጤቱን ያወቅነው ገና ዱሮ
መለስ ሊመረጥ ዞሮ ዞሮ!
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
መሪው ሊቀ መኳስ-አጭር ሰው መላጣ
“ላሌ ላሌ” እያለ- ይኸውና መጣ።
“ቂ! ቂ!….
ልደቱ ልደቱ- እያሉ ሲያለቅሱ
እነኃይሉም መጡ- ከእኔ ሊቋደሱ”
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
ማን ነው የሚገደል ዘንድሮ
ማን ነው አስገዳይ ዘንድሮ
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዝ ልደቱ…
አውቄ ነው እንጅ ድሮም ስግደረደር
እኔስ ለአድዋው ሰው-አሽከር ሆኘ ልደር
እንደምን ነው ስሜን-ወገብ ለወገቡ
እንደምን ነው ትግራይ-ወገብ ለወገቡ
የእነአዜብዬ አገር- የእነአይጠገቡ
አላማጣ ውዬ- መልሸ አላማጣ
ሽህ ሰው ይተላለቅ- እናንተን ከማጣ
እኔስ በመለስ ላይ- ክፉም አላመጣ።
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
ምን ተደግሶልናል ዘንድሮ
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዝ መለስ..
ብለነው ብለነው- የተውነውን ነገር
አምና ኃይሉ ስምቶ- ታንቆ ሊሞት ነበር
ዘንድሮ መምጣቱ- መስማማቱ ላይቀር
ልደቱን መውቀሱ- ተገቢም አልነበር።
አገራችን ትግራይ- ወንዛችን ተከዜ
ማነው እምቢ የሚል- ምርጫ ባልን ጊዜ።
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
ኃይሉስ ምን አለ ዘንድሮ
በእስር በእንግልቴ- ሁሉ እማስብሽ
እኔም ልመጣ ነው ፓርላማ እንዴት ነሽ?
ኤልያስ የሚሉት-የሻዕቢያ ምላስ
መለስ ጠላት ብሎ-ሕዝብን ሲቀስቅስ
እኔም ወንድነቴ-ነሸጥ አድርጎኝ
ፓርላማ መግባቴ-ውርደት ነው አልኩኝ
ያ ክፉ ባለጌ- አሳሳተኝና
ባለፈው ባልመጣ- ባላይሽ ታችሃምና
ዘንድሮ ቁርጥ ነው-እንገናኛለን
እንዲህ ተለያይተን -መች እንቀራለን
መልክ ሰጠኝ እንጅ- ሲሉ እስማ ነበር
ሙያ ከልደቱ- ይኸው ጀመርኩ መማር።
እኔም ላሞግሰው-ልነሳ አደግድጌ
የአድዋው ሰውዬ- ባይሆን አብሮ አደጌ
አክብሮ ጥሪዬን- እጀን ሲጨብጠኝ
ከእራሴ ጀምሮ-ወገቤን ነዘረኝ::
ደጋፊ አስፈልጎኝ- በጋሪ ስገፋ
መለስን ስጨብጥ- በሽታዬ ጠፋ::
ይኸው መፎከሬ- “መለስ ይውረድ” ቀርቶ
ሰላም ሰላም ሆኗል- የዘንድሮው motto::
እኔ ፍራሽ ሆኘ- ልደቱ ትራስ
እንጠብቃለን- አልጋህ እንዳይፈርስ።
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
በየነስ ምን አለ ዘንድሮ
ዓመት አስር ዓመት- የደነስኩብሽ
አንች ዉቧ ቆንጆ- ፓርላማ እንዴት ነሽ
ህዝቡ ቢቃወመኝ- አትግባ ቢለኝም
እመኝኝ ፓርላማ- ከአንች አልለያይም::
ዘጠና ሰባትን- ጠፍቶ እሚገድብ
ቅንጅት ተፈጥሮ -ወጣና ከህዝብ
ለጥቂት ተረፍኩኝ- ዱላ ከሚመዝ
ዳግመኛ እንዳይመጣ- ያን መሳይ መዘዝ።
ወያኔ ስትዳር- ጎጆ ስትቀልስ
ያን ጊዜ ጀምሮ-እስካሁን ድረስ
ታማኝ ተቃዋሚ-ሆኘ ለመለስ
መልካም ተብሎ ለእኔ- ህዝብም ተዘናግቶ
ያልፈኛል ሁልጊዜ- እንዳላዬኝ አይቶ።
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
ምን መዓት ይመጣል ዘንድሮ
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዝ ኃይሉ…
አድዋ ላይ ሆኖ- መለስ ቢደነፋ
ብርሃኑ ነጋ- አገር ጥሎ ጠፋ
ድሮም በእጀ- ያልኩት መስፍንን አምኘ
ያኔ እርሱን ማመኔም- ፍፁም የዋህ ሆኘ
“በብልቃጥ ተረግዞ- መስታወት ተወልዶ”
ድርጀት መባሉም- ወይ ነዶ ወይ ነዶ
እንግዲህስ በቃኝ- መስፍን የለ ሌላ
ጠቃሚ ላይሆኑ- የኋላ የኋላ
ፓርላማው ሰፊ ነው- ቧ ያለው መንገዱ
ስነ ምግባር ብቻ መፈረም ነው ኮዱ።
ቀብቸ አሽሞንሙኘ- ከላይ ባረግሽ
አምባ ገነን ብለሽ- ስሜን አጠፋሽ
በገዛ ምላሷ- በገዛ አንደበቷ
ቃሊቲ ገብታለች- ከዘላለም ቤቷ
አትሳቂ እያልኳት- ባህር ማዶ ስቃ
አመጣችው እስሩን- ነቅንቃ ነቅንቃ።
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
በችግር ላይ ችግር ሆኖ የእኛ ኑሮ
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዝ ብርሃኑ…
ስሙልኝ ይኸን ሰው- እዩት ስም ሲያጠፋ
ምርጫ ውሸት ነው ብል-አለኝ ጥሎ ጠፋ
እኔስ ያከበርኩህ- በሽምግልናህ ነው
አመራር ሲመጣ- ጉድክን ሳስተውለው
አምባገነንነት- ፍጹም መለያህ ነው
እነ መለስ ዜና -ሰይጣን መርቋቸው
ተቃዋሚ ጀባ- ብለው በጫታቸው
አንገዋለለና-ልደቱን ሰጣቸው
አንገዋለለና- በየነን ሰጣቸው
አንተን በምራቂ- ይኸው ጨመራችው
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዥ ብርቱካን…
ዓለም ዓለም…ዓለም ዓለምዬ
እሽሩሩ ስቃይ- ውረድ ከጀርባዬ
ደብተራው የማነ– አረጋሽ እህቴ
አብረው የሚኖሩ- ቤታቸው ከቤቴ
የእግዜር ፈቃድ ሆኖ- ቢሰማ ጸሎቴ
ለፍች ያብቃችሁ- ከአላማችሁ ግብ
አምላክ ያውርድና- የሰላም ድባብ።
ዛሬ በመልዓኩ- በገብርኤል በበዓሉ
ወዲ መለስ ዜና- መሽረብ ጀመረ አሉ
ኃይሉ መላጣ ላይ- ሽሩባ ጎንጉኖ
“እኔን እኔን ስራኝ” ይላል ልደት አብሮ
ጸጉር እንዲህ ይሰራል- ከክዳን ጀምሮ።
ተወኝ አላልኩም ወይ- ይህን ዓመልህን
ልክ እንደልደቱ- አንተም መክዳትህን
ልደቱስ ቢያንስ እንኳን- ይሄድ ይመለሳል
ምርጫ መጣ ሲሉት- መለስን ይወቅሳል።
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
*********
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
አራት ኪሎ አስመራን ምን ይላል ዘንድሮ
ያዝ መለስ…
ከሰማዩ በላይ- ያለኸው ሰማይ
ወዲ አፎም በጤናው- ዘግቶኝ ቀረ ወይ
ደግሞ በዚህ ምርጫ ያደናቅፍ ወይ?
የቀይ ዳማ ረጅም- ጎራዴ ታጣቂ
ልግደልህ እያለኝ- እኔ እርሱን ናፋቂ
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
ኢሳያስ ምን ይላል ዘንድሮ
ልቤ አብጦ ጀግኘ- አንበሳ ነኝ ስል
ጦር አዘመትክና- አደረከኝ ድል
አስራ ሁለት ሌሊት- አስራ ሁለት ቀን
ከትግራይ ተነስትህ- ልትይዝ አስመራን
ጉዴ ፈልቶ ነበር- ክሊንተን ባይኖር
ያስጎራሃል አሉ- በየአምስት ዓመት
ደም የለመደ እጅህ- ሲሻ መስዋዕት
ሲሉ ሰምታ ሆኖ- ሆነና ነገሩ
ምዕራብ ያለው ሁሉ- ይመስልሃል ጥሩ።
ምርጫ ምርጫ-ብለህ ብትፈጥር ግርግር
እኔ ጌታህ ሆኘ- ካልሆንከኝ አሽከር
ውጊያ መቀስቀሱ- ምንጊዜም አይቀር።
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዝ መለስ
ጠያቂው ቢያስጨንቀኝ- ስለኤርትራ ሁኔታ
አልወዳትም አልኳቸው- እንዲያገኙ ፋታ።
ቁርጡማ ሲመጣ- አስመራ ልትያዝ
የኔ ተግባር ነበር- እነስየን ማዘዝ
አልጀርስ ሳገኝህ- ውል ልትፈራርም
አልንበረምና- እኔ ያልኩኝ ጥምጥም
ይናፍቃል ላካስ- እንደዚያ ዎንድም።
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ያዝ ስዬ…
ተወኝ አላልኩም ወይ- ይህን አመልህን
ጫት እንዳዬ ጀዝባ- አስመራን መዞርክን
ጫትን ያዬ ቃሚስ- ቅሞ ይመለሳል
የአንተ ሁኔታ ግን- ግራ ነው እሚያጋባን።
እያንጓለለ!
ያ ገብስማ ዶሮ- ዘንድሮስ ምን አለ?
ኩኩሉ አለ ዶሮ
ህዝባችን ምን አለ ዘንድሮ
የሚመጣው ምርጫ- ምኞታችሁ መክኖ
የፍትህ አካላት- ፕሬስ ነጻ ሆኖ
ገለልተኛ ሆኖ- መከላከያችን
ገለልተኛ ሆኖ- የምርጫ ቦርዳችን
በነጻ እንዲስማ- እንደ ህዝብ ድምጻችን
በዘር በሃይማኖት- መጋጨት ትታችሁ
ኤርትራና ትግራይ
አማራ ኦሮሞ ማለቱን ትታችሁ
አብዮት– አብዮት ማለት አቁማችሁ
ሁላችንን በእኩል- ሕጉ እንዲመዝነን
የስልጣኑ ምንጮች- እኛ ህዝቡ እንሁን።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ጥር 2002
January 26th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Corrigendum: In the twelfth line of my previous comment, the word”both”, should read “but”.
Addendum: It is not a question of adopting East Asian or the western model for econmomic development that is in question. What is in question is giving precedence to economic development before democracy, add to that add before for economic and political freedom, and human right conditions are improved to develop the country by TPLF and TPLF affiliated enterprises, while the aid funds and grants and budget support are hinged upon democritization, transparency and accountability. When all the above conditions are not fullfiled. it does not even meet the qualification of the East Asian style of economic development. It is an economic development and democracy for TPLF and TPLF affiliated enterprises, the rest of the population segement as the Ethiopian saying goes “Yebeyee Temenlkach New”, subject to stagflation and high unemployment as consumers.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Mr. D.
I think so far your comment is most pragmatic one, i tip my hat.
THANK YOU!
January 26th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Rekik! Well said about the western government loosing control of capitalism and libral democracy ideals, to the western capitalists first, who want to produce their products abroad with cheap labour and merchants like Wall Mart contrcting to buy those merchandises at dirt cheap price to import to the USA, and for US Government based on free trade to allow goods from China without tariffs, insipte of it being undemocratic with human right violations. The result became factory jobs, the main stay of upper middle class America shipped out to EAT Asia, including the call centers of the high tech communications and information systems. What is left for the US residents is keeping inventory and sales, advertising and marketing of these marchandizes.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Correction: Instead upper Middle Class , change it to read lower and upper lower classes.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Great admiration for Professor Alemayehu’s persistent, encouraging and exemplary effort . His article deserves due appreciation as far as its informative nature is concerned. However, I still wonder why we stick to a very generalized and heavily-worded writings instead of staying focused and precise on the very urgent/burning issues to be dealt with in our country. It is not my intention to undermine any work of political history account produced by prominent scholars such as Professro Alemayehu.
- Yes, there has never been democracy in Africa in a true sense of the concept. Nyerere, Nkrumah and other national liberation (independence) leadres had tried to deceive their own people that socialism is not a new practice in Africa .
However, it is safe to say that Africa has lots of social, cultural and traditional values which can play positive role if they are used wisely and constructively in our peaceful and legitimate struggle against tyranny/dictatorship.
I strongly believe that it would have been more appropriate for Professor Alemayehu to deal with more on the issue of how to use those African traditional values as constructive political investment in the process of building a modern political system instead of taking more time and energy describing what is wrong with the “democracy before democracy” which is very clear to any ordinary African leave alone to a person with ABC(literacy) in any subject. That is why I want to comment that it was by far better to show the connection between those traditional values and our current efforts being made to bring about GENUINE/MODERN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM in our country.
January 27th, 2010 at 2:06 am
Fearful Napoleon was wright then decades ago, when he discribe China as “The sleeping dragon”, finally the time has come the sleeping dragon awaken, the western countries already surrendering one by one with no official protest. One of the significant positive good thing about the emerging of China is that the world balance will be restructured and redefined as we know it. Those who hold the economic power will have the final say in the world affair.
January 27th, 2010 at 8:36 am
ዲ,ሃስብህ ሲተካለል - ለማለት የፈለግክው - ዲሞክራሲ እንደ ሰው ፊት ጅንጉርጉር እና ከዳቦ በዋላ የሚመታ የሚል እንድምታ ያለው ይመስላል :: ሃቁ ግን የሰው ልጅ ሆኖ ነሳነት እና በሚፈልገው ሰው መተዳደር የማይፈልግ አለመኖሩ ነው:: ልዩነቱ - አንዳንዱ ይህ መብቱ የተከበረለት ሲሆን; እንደ ኢትዮፕያ, ቻይና, ሰሚን ኮርያ, ባሉ ሃገሮች ታፍኖ ነው ያለው :: ዲሞክራሲ ከዳቦ በዋላ ለሚለው መፈክር ደግሞ የህንድን ተሞክሮ ማየቱ በቂ ይሆናል ::
January 27th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Did you notice ? ..seems, the comment contributors with different pen names were much smarter than the main article contributor, awkward but truth.
January 27th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
The issue of democratic processes, democratic institutions based on existing traditions, culture and democratic revolution were thrown by the wayside, when the Emperor Hailesellasie agreed to rule by way of constitutional monarchy, a misiterial cabinet and a parliament, while maintaining the Unity, Territorial Integrity, Sovereignity of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Instead it gave way to military dictatorship with Marxisistideology, and socialist revolutuion for class struggle and/or oppression of the nationalities by the libration movements.
If I understood T. Goshu’s comment, these article should have used its precedence from what has happened in Ethiopia in the last 30-40 years as a result of the Socialist movements for the libration of the oppressed nationalities and the socialist movements for class struggle for land reform, employee and employers, inflation and famine, where the latter would have been resolved via democratic revolution, instead of imported socialistic revolution, where both of them led to current ethnic and seccessionist politics of separate but equal, divide and rule colonial style governance in a colonial style of ethnic dictatorship exploiting the countries resources by TPLF and TPLF affiliated enteprises, which calls for the liberation of individuals at the forefront to create a truly democratic society.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Aha,
Did you receive the 29 pages of article by “JOHN z BAPTIST (JzB)” ? the peper is cerculating in Toronto Canada and Ohio America area last time i heard, the paper is already banned from being published in major internet sites, because of this paper many opposition web sites now officially declared their sites in total censorship operation, and the only way you will get it is through mail,or get someone fax to you by the people you know trust , i am 100% sure by the time you finish reading it, you will be totally different person. It is eye opening experience and dangeriously informative.
Who ever wrote this article seems did a lot of ground breaking research, in my openion this article is more like re-examination of history as a format of historical trial and quest for the truth. There are also some these pages i do not like but seem the author challenging the reader to do reverse rational thinking. For many who are under informed may convey gloom and doom they may not see the light in it, but for the well informed there is awakening from innocent slumber. Wish you luck, if you get this paper please do not pass to everyone be selective.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Ethiopians and Eritreans in London hold historic meeting
http://www.eastafro.com/Post/2010/01/27/video-president-isaias-afwerkis-interview-translated-to-amharic-jan-2010
http://www.addisvoice.com/article/eppf__aspires.htm
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/12284
January 30th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Anbese
ማንን ነው የምትጠይቀው/edited/ ?
January 30th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
/edited/ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ /// 85%ቱ ሕዝብ አርሶ አደር ነው፣ እንኳን ኮምፒዩተር ደህና ዶሮ ካጣ ሰነባበተ። ከተሜው እንኳን ኢንተርኔት ላይ አይኑን ሊተክል በኑሮ ውድነት ናላው ተበጥብጧል። “ፕሮፌሰር” አል-ማሪያም ድሃ ሆኖ ላስተማራቸው አርሶ አደር የሚያስቡ ከሆነ //// ስለዘመናዊ አስተራረስ ቢያስተምሩት የተሻለ ነው። /////
ፍቅሩ አየለ በላይ፤ ከሸበል በረንታ
February 1st, 2010 at 2:57 pm
http://ecadforum.com/News/2427
Ethiopian-Eritrean Friendship Conference to be held in San Jose, California
weyane tplf worest fear is ethiopian & ertrean work together.
weyane wants divided ethiopia, so t
plf thugs can rape & loot& divide ethiopia.
we ethiopian will get all weyane tplf with the help of our eritrean brothers.
death to weyane tplf.
long live ethiopia & eritrea.
we ethiopian will get you weyane tplf.
weyane tplf 6ft under .
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Thanks for this! I hope you have a wonderful day!
February 4th, 2010 at 7:07 am
kakee,
አንተ ዶማ ራስ ሽማግሌ ደደቢት ደደብ ወያኔ የምን ጥያቄ ነው? ጥያቄ የሚባል ነገር የለም ወደደቢት ትመለሳለህ በግድህ::
February 18th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Howdy! Excellent concept, but will this actually operate?
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