The impudent thief
By Workie Briye | August 31, 2006
Two days ago I was reading that letter to a friend on the phone. While I was reading, my friend shouted in the middle and repeated the words that say behager habt zuria wonjeloch yemikesesu for himself. After a seconds pause he uttered something in Oromifa. Without waiting for me to ask him what the meaning was, he told me that it was an Oromo maxim, something closer to mean “the pot calling the kettle black”. “You are right!” was my instant reaction.
Later on, it came to my mind that this is not only a gross understatement but utterly false logic. Normally we say the pot calling the kettle black when we accuse an other person of doing the same wrong thing that we are accused of doing ourselves. It is a maxim that refers to criticism that could equally apply to the critic. This adage has nothing to do with the difference between the filthy hands of a corrupt government and the clean record of innocent citizens who are to be named in the sham charges arranged by the TPLF cadre-lawyers.
It may not come as a surprise to see TPLF using the same old tactics to intimidate the opposition. Nevertheless, it insults the intelligence of thousands of Ethiopians to learn that TPLF accuses others of a crime which is second nature to many of its officials.
Accusing others for one’s own guilt is of course a very old tactic not restricted to the realm of politics. Those of us with some legal training remember that some thinkers theorize that guilt is used as a tool of social contrl. Since guilty people feel that they are undeserving, they are less likely to assert their rights and prerogatives. Thus, those in power seek to cultivate a sense of guilt among the people, in order to make them more tractable, weaker, and spineless. This tactic, together with other tactics, has been utilized by all kinds of extreme forces including Communists, fascists, extreme nationalists, the Mafiosi families, and even religious fanatics. Therefore we may be tempted to conclude that, TPLF’s use of this tactic is in keeping with a family tradition that descends from crime syndicates.
Legally speaking, TPLF officials are guilty of every crime that is known to any Penal Code in history, ranging from the gutter language used by the Ring leader, to the crime of …think of any crime you believe is the most horrendous under any legal system.
It is nearly impossible to summarize the magnitude of corruption within the TPLF in a space of a short article like this. The magnitude of corruption in the regime is extremely widespread, very complex, and highly institutionalized that one must be a true insider to grasp the full extent of the problem. Corruption in the TPLF takes various forms. It takes both the classical manifestations of corruption involving kinship and family network, and the ultra modern system of high-tech money transfer, money laundering, and illicit commerce of the type utilized by the well networked criminal syndicates. Corruption within the TPLF is not any more limited to its traditional manifestations of opening boutiques or buying cars for lovers, or misappropriating a chunk of urban land.
I assume that many of us have read Andargachew Tsige’s Netsnetin Yemayawq Netsa Awchi (A Freedom Fighter That Has No Clue What Freedom Is). Many TPLF officials did not take much time before shading off their image of a selfless “Tagadelay” and develop a sophisticated test for “brand name shampoos, Channel aftershave, Gucci towels, La Roche combs, Corso Venezia wallets”, and other celebrity styles. All of us who read that book, together with other inquisitive reports by regional papers, know that already within a year or two after the Group coming to power, the typical chat between some TPLF cadres was one that dangles between Dergue-ESEPA on the one hand and Georgio Armani or Ives Laurent, on the other, with designer models and exotic foods taking the lion’s share of the time. In general, reports indicate that for many TPLF cadres the time line of La Dolce Vita began not much latter than May 28, 1991.
All Ethiopians remember 2003 very well, with that dreadful famine in our country. Close to 14-21 million Ethiopians were on the brink of famine and death. But I can declare under oath that there are many TPLF officials to whom that year was not any different from all other times after May 1991. Sometime during that year my friends and I used to discuss about a car then driven by one TPLF official in Europe. It was a car from one of the top luxury car producer companies in the world. With some assistance from a driver from one of the neighboring countries, we did some kind of Sherlock Holmes thing and found out the brand and its price of the car driven by an official of the same rank from Kuwait in that part of the world; just for the purpose of comparison. Based on the information we gathered, we found out that the car driven by the Kuwaiti Ambassador was cheaper than the one bought by the TPLF official by € 11, 000.00. (I hope you understand the reason why one compares a Kuwaiti ambassador with an Ethiopian official of a similar rank.)
Roughly during the same period in 2003, I was in one of the Benelux countries to visit friends. Amidst our chat, one of my friends asked me if I could confirm the story of the €4000 Euro reception hosted by one TPLF ambassador to celebrate his graduation. That expense was covered from government budget. Unfortunately, that information was true and incontestable.
During the same year, 2003, I remember an amount of €360,000.00 Euro requested by one TPLF cadre in Western Europe to cover for interior design for his residence. The guy apparently compared between some interior designers in Europe. The one he selected was from among the most famous interior designers in France. That designer is perhaps one of those very expensive and exclusive designers which decorate French chateaus and old palaces in Marseille and Paris. Although the final figure expended on that interior design was much less than that due to efforts made by some courageous Ethiopians, the actual amount spend for that purpose was still staggering, given the country and the people from whom that money was milked.
A close friend of mine once told me about the story of one TPLF Ambassador whom he saw shouting at some of the Embassy staff, simply because chewing gums and sweets was not bought to his children from the Embassy’s budget.
It is normal for a TPLF Ambassador to spend upto € 10,000.00 Euro for a First Class flight just to attend at a half day TPLF Committee meeting some where in Europe or America. Worse, sometimes you have all the indications that some of the “party meetings” used as a pretext for the travel are fictitious. Sometimes, some honest TPLF members tell us that some of the so-called party meetings are either fake or just created by the powerful cadre simply to arrange a government payed first class flight for a purpose far from party affairs. The real purpose of such travels could be anything from a visit to “loved ones” to attending a friend’s wedding.
A colleague once told me a story of TPLF security member at one of the TPLF posts abroad. Once upon a time, the security guy was jailed after being apprehended with a significant amount of illegal drug. Later on, thousands of Euro was expended from a government budget for defending the drug dealer, and the money was paid by an order of a Minister in Addis. Listening to this story, the bewilderment was clear on my face, upon which my skeptic friend surmised “you know! Politicians do not live by bread alone”.
There are nearly 35 Ethiopian Embassies and Consular offices around the world. Colleagues who served in the areas that are considered “politically sensitive” or countries where there is a lot of defense related procurement activity, recall that money in these places is just uncountable item. One told me that the unit of measurement for money in those areas is that jumbo-size sack recycled from a fertilizer warehouse. It is just a matter of one syllabus word command from a TPLF “security officer” to the casher for the casher to empty every penny in the safe or in the account into the sack. This is simply a zone where neither the laws of accounting nor the laws of physics apply. I don’t mean that this is corruption, because I don’t know how security job is secured. Some argue that this is just in the nature of a security job. They try to convince you that it doesn’t matter even if the security guy misappropriates the entire amount for personal benefit.
Of course we can assign corruption both a wide and a narrow meaning. In its strictest legal sense, the crime of corruption catches all those kinds of misappropriations mentioned above and other similar acts or omissions. However, within in the context of a poor country like Ethiopia, corruption must carry a wider meaning than that and must encompass all intentional activities that have direct or indirect impact on the people’s effort to alleviate poverty.
At one of the places where I worked few years ago, I remember one foreigner who was hired by the biggest boss in that office. The only task this French man was hired for was to browse around some of the news web pages, mainly Walta, Ethiopia First, and some of the links in these web pages including some Eritrean News web-sites. Every morning, the French man shuffles around these web sites, print some news and provides the same to the Ambassador. Period! The French man was paid €3000.00 Euro per month, just for printing those God-knows-if –they-are-red daily news reports. The entire daily takes only 10 to 15 minutes if you have a broad band Internet access. At that time I had tried to do some amater statistics with a professional assistance from a friend who was then living in Addis. After gleaning some information from the National Office of Statistics, we reached at some computation indicating that 3000.00 Euro per month, the annual sum of which was equivalent to about 110, 000.00 Ethiopian Bir by the then exchange rate, to be equivalent to a combined annual budget of three high scools in Addis, or a combined annual budget of upto 19 clinics in any part of the country, or was able to purchase nutrition supplies and basic medications for 500 impoverished children for five months from a domestic supplier. In 2003 during the peak period of the drought, an average of 3 children were dying everyday in one relief camp near Sodere, due to shortage of basic supplies like ORS and other supplements.
The purpose of this short article is not to document or expose the magnitude of corruption prevailing among the TPLF officials. The objective rather is to raise the question as to why these people who are drowned in corruption to their neck could find the courage to accuse others of looting the national wealth.
Of course within the bounds of a society that has values and standards, engaging in such kind of blatant “blame game” shows foolishness, immaturity and a lot of other problems related to lack of self discipline. It is only small children and people of perennial dishonesty who always, after doing something wrong, look around and see who you can use as a scapegoat. Although it is nowhere “politically correct” to accept a blame for one’s bad deeds, to rise blames to the level of huge charges and use that as a tactic for intimidation against political opponents displays absolute madness.
Woyane has gone very far in this egard. They have established a judicial system that is subservient to all political decisions. The court structure has been devoid of qualified professionals for a long period of time. No one has been left from the judicial structure and other law enforcement agencies unless they are fanatic Woyanes or simply “yes men and women”. Woyane has survived by the trick of tainting and ripping reputable and honorable people apart, while building up and anointing corrupt people who help the Group with hacking and shredding the country and its people.
It takes intelligent and far-sighted people to confront hard facts and indisputable truth. For TPLF cadres, on the other hand, there is no other way to compete with truth and hard facts other than trying to conceal them with childish rants and blaming others for the very same crime committed by them. Myopic leaders of the TPLF always attempt to conceal their crimes against the country by trying to divert attention from the real issue, hoping personal attacks against innocent Ethiopians will by Miracle send those opposition leaders and coordinators crying and weeping, and looking for nooks and corners to hide under, out of fear of TPLF’s charges of genocide and embezzlement.
Let me conclude this by borrowed expression: people who engage in a perennial blame games are like a person trying to pitch a tent without poles to hold it up. Sooner or later, everything is going to come crashing down on top of them. However, to consider TPLF like any other impudent thief is a serious and costly mistake. The Mafia type extortion letter from Seyoum Mesfin must be given the weight it deserves.
-------
The writer can be reached for comments at solwork2001@yahoo.com.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
Two days ago I was reading that letter to a friend on the phone. While I was reading, my friend shouted in the middle and repeated the words that say behager habt zuria wonjeloch yemikesesu for himself. After a seconds pause he uttered something in Oromifa. Without waiting for me to ask him what the meaning was, he told me that it was an Oromo maxim, something closer to mean “the pot calling the kettle black”. “You are right!” was my instant reaction.
Later on, it came to my mind that this is not only a gross understatement but utterly false logic. Normally we say the pot calling the kettle black when we accuse an other person of doing the same wrong thing that we are accused of doing ourselves. It is a maxim that refers to criticism that could equally apply to the critic. This adage has nothing to do with the difference between the filthy hands of a corrupt government and the clean record of innocent citizens who are to be named in the sham charges arranged by the TPLF cadre-lawyers.
It may not come as a surprise to see TPLF using the same old tactics to intimidate the opposition. Nevertheless, it insults the intelligence of thousands of Ethiopians to learn that TPLF accuses others of a crime which is second nature to many of its officials.
Accusing others for one’s own guilt is of course a very old tactic not restricted to the realm of politics. Those of us with some legal training remember that some thinkers theorize that guilt is used as a tool of social contrl. Since guilty people feel that they are undeserving, they are less likely to assert their rights and prerogatives. Thus, those in power seek to cultivate a sense of guilt among the people, in order to make them more tractable, weaker, and spineless. This tactic, together with other tactics, has been utilized by all kinds of extreme forces including Communists, fascists, extreme nationalists, the Mafiosi families, and even religious fanatics. Therefore we may be tempted to conclude that, TPLF’s use of this tactic is in keeping with a family tradition that descends from crime syndicates.
Legally speaking, TPLF officials are guilty of every crime that is known to any Penal Code in history, ranging from the gutter language used by the Ring leader, to the crime of …think of any crime you believe is the most horrendous under any legal system.
It is nearly impossible to summarize the magnitude of corruption within the TPLF in a space of a short article like this. The magnitude of corruption in the regime is extremely widespread, very complex, and highly institutionalized that one must be a true insider to grasp the full extent of the problem. Corruption in the TPLF takes various forms. It takes both the classical manifestations of corruption involving kinship and family network, and the ultra modern system of high-tech money transfer, money laundering, and illicit commerce of the type utilized by the well networked criminal syndicates. Corruption within the TPLF is not any more limited to its traditional manifestations of opening boutiques or buying cars for lovers, or misappropriating a chunk of urban land.
I assume that many of us have read Andargachew Tsige’s Netsnetin Yemayawq Netsa Awchi (A Freedom Fighter That Has No Clue What Freedom Is). Many TPLF officials did not take much time before shading off their image of a selfless “Tagadelay” and develop a sophisticated test for “brand name shampoos, Channel aftershave, Gucci towels, La Roche combs, Corso Venezia wallets”, and other celebrity styles. All of us who read that book, together with other inquisitive reports by regional papers, know that already within a year or two after the Group coming to power, the typical chat between some TPLF cadres was one that dangles between Dergue-ESEPA on the one hand and Georgio Armani or Ives Laurent, on the other, with designer models and exotic foods taking the lion’s share of the time. In general, reports indicate that for many TPLF cadres the time line of La Dolce Vita began not much latter than May 28, 1991.
All Ethiopians remember 2003 very well, with that dreadful famine in our country. Close to 14-21 million Ethiopians were on the brink of famine and death. But I can declare under oath that there are many TPLF officials to whom that year was not any different from all other times after May 1991. Sometime during that year my friends and I used to discuss about a car then driven by one TPLF official in Europe. It was a car from one of the top luxury car producer companies in the world. With some assistance from a driver from one of the neighboring countries, we did some kind of Sherlock Holmes thing and found out the brand and its price of the car driven by an official of the same rank from Kuwait in that part of the world; just for the purpose of comparison. Based on the information we gathered, we found out that the car driven by the Kuwaiti Ambassador was cheaper than the one bought by the TPLF official by € 11, 000.00. (I hope you understand the reason why one compares a Kuwaiti ambassador with an Ethiopian official of a similar rank.)
Roughly during the same period in 2003, I was in one of the Benelux countries to visit friends. Amidst our chat, one of my friends asked me if I could confirm the story of the €4000 Euro reception hosted by one TPLF ambassador to celebrate his graduation. That expense was covered from government budget. Unfortunately, that information was true and incontestable.
During the same year, 2003, I remember an amount of €360,000.00 Euro requested by one TPLF cadre in Western Europe to cover for interior design for his residence. The guy apparently compared between some interior designers in Europe. The one he selected was from among the most famous interior designers in France. That designer is perhaps one of those very expensive and exclusive designers which decorate French chateaus and old palaces in Marseille and Paris. Although the final figure expended on that interior design was much less than that due to efforts made by some courageous Ethiopians, the actual amount spend for that purpose was still staggering, given the country and the people from whom that money was milked. A close friend of mine once told me about the story of one TPLF Ambassador whom he saw shouting at some of the Embassy staff, simply because chewing gums and sweets was not bought to his children from the Embassy’s budget.
It is normal for a TPLF Ambassador to spend upto € 10,000.00 Euro for a First Class flight just to attend at a half day TPLF Committee meeting some where in Europe or America. Worse, sometimes you have all the indications that some of the “party meetings” used as a pretext for the travel are fictitious. Sometimes, some honest TPLF members tell us that some of the so-called party meetings are either fake or just created by the powerful cadre simply to arrange a government payed first class flight for a purpose far from party affairs. The real purpose of such travels could be anything from a visit to “loved ones” to attending a friend’s wedding.
A colleague once told me a story of TPLF security member at one of the TPLF posts abroad. Once upon a time, the security guy was jailed after being apprehended with a significant amount of illegal drug. Later on, thousands of Euro was expended from a government budget for defending the drug dealer, and the money was paid by an order of a Minister in Addis. Listening to this story, the bewilderment was clear on my face, upon which my skeptic friend surmised “you know! Politicians do not live by bread alone”.
There are nearly 35 Ethiopian Embassies and Consular offices around the world. Colleagues who served in the areas that are considered “politically sensitive” or countries where there is a lot of defense related procurement activity, recall that money in these places is just uncountable item. One told me that the unit of measurement for money in those areas is that jumbo-size sack recycled from a fertilizer warehouse. It is just a matter of one syllabus word command from a TPLF “security officer” to the casher for the casher to empty every penny in the safe or in the account into the sack. This is simply a zone where neither the laws of accounting nor the laws of physics apply. I don’t mean that this is corruption, because I don’t know how security job is secured. Some argue that this is just in the nature of a security job. They try to convince you that it doesn’t matter even if the security guy misappropriates the entire amount for personal benefit.
Of course we can assign corruption both a wide and a narrow meaning. In its strictest legal sense, the crime of corruption catches all those kinds of misappropriations mentioned above and other similar acts or omissions. However, within in the context of a poor country like Ethiopia, corruption must carry a wider meaning than that and must encompass all intentional activities that have direct or indirect impact on the people’s effort to alleviate poverty.
At one of the places where I worked few years ago, I remember one foreigner who was hired by the biggest boss in that office. The only task this French man was hired for was to browse around some of the news web pages, mainly Walta, Ethiopia First, and some of the links in these web pages including some Eritrean News web-sites. Every morning, the French man shuffles around these web sites, print some news and provides the same to the Ambassador. Period! The French man was paid €3000.00 Euro per month, just for printing those God-knows-if –they-are-red daily news reports. The entire daily takes only 10 to 15 minutes if you have a broad band Internet access. At that time I had tried to do some amater statistics with a professional assistance from a friend who was then living in Addis. After gleaning some information from the National Office of Statistics, we reached at some computation indicating that 3000.00 Euro per month, the annual sum of which was equivalent to about 110, 000.00 Ethiopian Bir by the then exchange rate, to be equivalent to a combined annual budget of three high scools in Addis, or a combined annual budget of upto 19 clinics in any part of the country, or was able to purchase nutrition supplies and basic medications for 500 impoverished children for five months from a domestic supplier. In 2003 during the peak period of the drought, an average of 3 children were dying everyday in one relief camp near Sodere, due to shortage of basic supplies like ORS and other supplements.
The purpose of this short article is not to document or expose the magnitude of corruption prevailing among the TPLF officials. The objective rather is to raise the question as to why these people who are drowned in corruption to their neck could find the courage to accuse others of looting the national wealth. Of course within the bounds of a society that has values and standards, engaging in such kind of blatant “blame game” shows foolishness, immaturity and a lot of other problems related to lack of self discipline. It is only small children and people of perennial dishonesty who always, after doing something wrong, look around and see who you can use as a scapegoat. Although it is nowhere “politically correct” to accept a blame for one’s bad deeds, to rise blames to the level of huge charges and use that as a tactic for intimidation against political opponents displays absolute madness.
Woyane has gone very far in this egard. They have established a judicial system that is subservient to all political decisions. The court structure has been devoid of qualified professionals for a long period of time. No one has been left from the judicial structure and other law enforcement agencies unless they are fanatic Woyanes or simply “yes men and women”. Woyane has survived by the trick of tainting and ripping reputable and honorable people apart, while building up and anointing corrupt people who help the Group with hacking and shredding the country and its people.
It takes intelligent and far-sighted people to confront hard facts and indisputable truth. For TPLF cadres, on the other hand, there is no other way to compete with truth and hard facts other than trying to conceal them with childish rants and blaming others for the very same crime committed by them. Myopic leaders of the TPLF always attempt to conceal their crimes against the country by trying to divert attention from the real issue, hoping personal attacks against innocent Ethiopians will by Miracle send those opposition leaders and coordinators crying and weeping, and looking for nooks and corners to hide under, out of fear of TPLF’s charges of genocide and embezzlement.
Let me conclude this by borrowed expression: people who engage in a perennial blame games are like a person trying to pitch a tent without poles to hold it up. Sooner or later, everything is going to come crashing down on top of them. However, to consider TPLF like any other impudent thief is a serious and costly mistake. The Mafia type extortion letter from Seyoum Mesfin must be given the weight it deserves.
-------
The writer can be reached for comments at solwork2001@yahoo.com.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
