Roles and responsibilities

By Zewge Fanta
August 5, 2006

"Amnesty International considers these defendants -- arrested in connection with demonstrations in November 2005 -- prisoners of conscience who have not used or advocated violence and calls on the Ethiopian government to release them immediately and unconditionally."

No person and no leader may emerge who shall stand and speak on behalf of the people, let alone sacrifice his/her life. The Ethiopian people have paid high prices to assert their liberty and freedom. However, when the dictators robbed the people of their basic rights, the leaders now in jail acted with determination and without any fear and hesitation to put first, the interest of the people and nation putting their lives at great risks.

The Roles of Societies

In order to bring the desired socioeconomic and political changes, society has to be willing to pay and accept the necessary prices and sacrifices. No changes can come without any price. If societies are not prepared to pay these prices, they will not realize the changes they seek. Similarly, leaders who are not willing to accept the high prices, they have no business to engage in any social movements and political struggles. No sacrifices that any person or a leader pays should be in vain.

The Ethiopian people should not have passed another night, let alone weeks and months knowing that their elected leaders are suffering in jails. Societies should react and act in every means necessary to demand and obtain the freedom of their imprisoned leaders. Societies must realize that it was not the individual leader that the dictators humiliated and degraded by putting them in jail and torturing them and treating them inhumanly. The act was against the society, and the people should see it that way. Societies should not wait until the fascist regime delivers the remains of the leaders to their families.

Society should have not passed the fascist-like actions of the dictators unchallenged. No price would have been too high for legitimate demand and peaceful resistance. Societies may be exhibiting and experiencing crises of character and moral deficits. The Ethiopian people have not displayed the essential courage and moral strengths that they have. The world had witnessed such uncharacteristic behavior once before when their good leader and figure of the World, an old king was snatched from his residence, and later suffocated to death by the butcher Mengistu Hailemariam. The World is witnessing again the history of shame repeated on the Ethiopian soil.

In the presences of such moral crises and deficits of courage, no person and no leader shall stand to serve his country and people. Believing that the people would be behind their leaders, and that they would follow them to the end, and if necessary to their graves is becoming a farce image uncharacteristic to Ethiopian society. The low level of courage and determination is also becoming a growing strange phenomenon gripping the psych of the political leaders. Beyene Petros, Merera Gudina, Lidetu Ayalew, and many others wearing the same hut of cowardice serve as examples. It is sad that the people seem exhausted or unwilling to use their God given rights to solve their miseries. Ethiopians have reached a point where they have to make the difficult decision and choice whether to face their enemies and be ready to pay high prices to overcome the Dark Age, or chose to accept to live forever in endless misery.

Ethiopians are naturally peaceful people, but not naturally passive and subservient societies. However, the appearance and images of passiveness have caused them to receive repeated punishments, and there is no doubt that they are bound to experience miseries of all sorts to no end unless they act. The price of inactions, submissiveness and fear are too high. Societies have to overcome any fear and act bravely and courageously for their own sake. No person can have a happy existence in a society riddled with poverty and diseases, and no person can live secured in a country ruled by ruthless dictators. Societies and only societies can bring these changes. If their enemies destroy and kill their leaders, they have destroyed them and their struggles. The people should rise to protect and liberate their leaders who are in the enemy hands, and they should waste no day or night to achieve this. That is the unwritten contract between the leaders and the people.

The Roles of Political Leaders

The leaders who betray the people pay high prices for their cowardice act. No leader can let down his/her people by abandoning the movement or giving his/her hand to the enemies to begin to serve the enemies of his people. Failing to take actions deemed critical to the wellbeing and welfare of the leaders, followers and the nation may be unforgivable act of treason. No leader or followers can compromise the struggle or the movement of the people by playing any role that directly or indirectly benefits the enemy, or putting the people or any of the leaders in danger. No society and people tolerate such person who betrayed the causes of social movements and endangered the lives and well being and welfare of other political leaders.