Meles and Isayas Alliance that has come to haunt us
By F. Sahlu (London)
February 13, 2004

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Ethiopians and more so Eritreans consciously or otherwise have talked of the very much rehearsed alliance between the two leaders, Meles Zenawi and Isayas Afeworki, that resulted in the downfall of the common adversary and considered it to be an insurance for future prosperity of the two nations.

The bondage between the two leaders and political movements was affectionately referred back to the years of struggle or after the two assumed power in Addis Ababa and Asmara, respectively. This new partnership secured endorsement across the Atlantic, when the former US President named the two being among the 'new generation of African leaders'. The arrival of the TPLF militia in the Sahel Region during the EPLF's desperate moments and the joint military operation against the Ethiopian army in the 80's in the environs of Shire in Tigray are some of the highlights that have been mentioned so often to display this unholy bondage. The aftermath could also register a number of various undertakings, including the supply of three gunship helicopters to the Eritrean army during Eritrea's dispute with Yemen over the Hannish islands.

For Ethiopians, this alliance has always been a suspect from beginning to end and I am sure there were Eritreans who shared our doubts but for different reasons. The sheer exclusiveness in the way this arrangement of alliance between the two protagonists had been forged says volumes. What we found out in the end (during Meles's dispute with Seye and Co) was that the military alliance that was formed between the two countries was not even discussed let alone agreed by the TPLF and EPRDF. The alliance that was constructed personally by the two leaders came under all sorts of strains culminating in the outbreak of the war that resulted in the loss of thousands and thousands of young Ethiopian and Eritrean lives and the destruction of properties and livestock that both of us could not afford. What unravelled since then was all kinds of shameful activities undertaken by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. We ended up witnessing the Prime Minister communicating with Mr Afeworki in hand written letters either to explain what he was doing regarding the work of the Joint Border Commission (which Ethiopians never knew of its existence) or about the progress he made in eliminating the Afar opposition that Isayas was irritated by.

As an Ethiopian, I find the Prime Minister's action humiliating. The PM has all the secretariat of his Office and special advisors at his disposal. For him to opt out to correspond in hand written letters on matters regarding the security of the nation (like what we used to do in writing love letters to our sweet hearts during our school years) was stupid and contemptuous, to say the least. Ethiopians couldn't imagine Atse Haileselassie or Mengistu (however corrupt they might have been in their own way) could carry out such reckless and childish act. Of course Mr Afeworki was not going to be outsmarted by his friend and he was in his element in exposing the Ethiopian PM in the form of publishing all their private correspondences and demonstrating his own ineptitude in the process. Ethiopians have always been in the view that what culminated following the seizure of power by the two leaders in the respective countries in the form of agreements and treaties was going to be contentious and unworkable that could be a source of future conflict between the two nations. What is also true was the fact that none of these agreements or treaties be it military or commercial were brought to the public domain within Ethiopia and Eritrea for the population to make informed comments as to whether these agreements were fair and equally beneficial.

What I have done below is outlining some of the observations I made in terms of what had transpired in this highly regarded alliance in areas of trade and currency exchanges between the two countries prior to the resumption of hostilities that had the wholemark of being aborted from its inception; reflecting on the outcome of the EEBC's border ruling and sharing my own thoughts as to where we are going from here.

1. Eritrea was allowed to use the Ethiopian currency until the day the Eritrean Government introduced Nakfa. While Ethiopia could have afforded to be considerate in making sure that Erirea continued to use the Birr to enable it introduce its own currency at its earliest convenience, it was left time unbounded. This open ended arrangement ended up being abused by the Government of Eritria. The early introduction of the new currency was not favoured by the Eritrian leadership as they clearly spotted the advantage of using the Birr. Its immediate benefit was Eritria could buy Ethiopian export commodities including its hard currency earning coffee and leather not to mention cattle and other types of cereals for home consumption. It was able to buy its distilled oil from Ethiopia (Assab) using the Birr. I will come back to the Assab port services. This was found to be a scandal. This was sanctioned by the PM and his closest friends. No leader or party should have been allowed to squander its meagre resources in the manner the PM of Ethiopia or his party did. I will leave it to history to come back to it.

2. Ethiopia was required to pay in dollars for port services. Ethiopia was also required to provide one third of its refined oil (Assab refinery) free of charge as part of the royalty of having the refinery in Assab. Eritrea could still buy the rest of its oil from the same refinery using the Ethiopian Birr. While the blame should be passed to the Ethiopian leadership for allowing this to happen, it should also be shared by those in Asmara, who thought abusing another country's resources in the manner they did would result in future conflict and may I say, that it had indeed contributed to the frustration of both that led us to war in 1998. Some sceptics in Ethiopia still argue the Asmara leadership would have still continued accessing Ethiopian resources unabated for years to come if they had been a little bit wiser and smarter. The argument goes on that greed got the better of them and we know how it ended. What was even bizzare was the fact that this was done on the backdrop of the strong advice given to the Ethiopian authorities by the World Bank the IMF to scrap the refinery that the two institutions found it to be a money losing venture. The Canadian consultant who was commissioned by the world back to assess the viability of the oil refinery back in July 1994 confirmed in his report (which was subsequently leaked) the absence of any form of agreement not only on the use of the refinery but also the port itself. The report also pointed out that the Ethiopian government was expected to cover the cost of maintaining the refinery and staff salaries as if it was operating on its own soil, and according to the report this arrangement had hugely and adversely contributed to the balance sheet. The Ethiopian government subsequently ceased using the refinery following IMF's threat that it would not allow the government to divert any one of its bank loan or grant to maintain the refinery. Why the Ethiopian leadership had to continue using the refinery until the threat is anybody's guess.

3. Eritreans were importing shoes, television sets, and other electronic goods using the port of Mombassa. The imported goods got its way to Ethiopia through Moyale and ended up in the markets of Ethiopia. They were exempted of taxes as they were alleged to be destined for Asmara. The Ethiopian business community reported to the authorities that Eritrean import goods are competing unfairly as they were not levied taxes by the Customs Office. All what they were told was that all those goods were transit to Asmara that they should not be worried. May I say, that some of those people who were registering their complaint to the Ethiopian authorities were Eritreans. Hundreds and thousands went out of business following the flooding of Ethiopian markets by untaxed goods.

4. Addis Ababa had also been the operational base for exchanging currencies. Unsuspecting Ethiopians used to go to one of the Red Sea Corporation's travel agency in Kilburn to send money to their relatives in Ethiopia. The Eritrean Embassy in Addis issued cheques for respective clients to withdraw the Ethiopian Birr from the nearest bank at a favourable rate than what they would have got from the Ethiopian banks. Again this was a major loss of hard currency for the Ethiopian Government. Yet this was done in glaring day light in front of the authorities in Addis where a queue of people could be witnessed along the Street of Bole. I don't want to go to the way the Horn International Bank, a Red Sea Corporation subsidiary, was conducting its currency business. The entire economic and commercial arrangement was a parasitic one that never entertained fairness. This was done in the name of Eritrea. I can go on and on and on.

5. In some parts of the country the 'trading' of cereals like teff and wheat took an ugly turn when Eritrean traders travelled to the Region of Gojjam and Gondar with a long convoy of Eritrean registered tracks (numbers ranging between 50 to 100 at a time) to purchase the above commodities. They brought with them a car full of new forged Ethiopian Birr and zoomed in to the rural parts of the two regions and bought tonnes of teff, barely and wheat from the unsuspecting farmers of Gojjam and Gondar using the forged Birr. The traders moved from region to region to ensure their illegal trading was not detected and this practised continued for three years between 1992 to 1995. I arrived at Bahr Dar in Gojjam and Gondar in 1994 (after 17 years of living abroad) at the peak of the trade, where farmers were making all sorts of efforts to get the attention of authorities to stop it. The authorities response was a muted one. Those who attempted to restrain and stop these traders were threatened with guns and pistols. The farmers appealed to their church leaders if they could use their influence to stop this practice. It was by sheer coincedence that I attended one of the meetings church leaders organised where they declared which I thought were being naïve that whoever traded and accepted new Ethiopian Birr from these corrupt Eritrean traders was cursed and I subsequently learnt that similar meetings were conducted all over the regions and it was found to be the most effective way of stopping the trade. Conventional wisdom had it then that any issue that was considered to be irritating Mr Isayas would not go unnoticed or unchecked by the PM. The rest is anybody's guess.

6. On the political front, there were incidences that confirmed Isaya's grip and influence over Meles that had the wholemark of bullying. Whether Meles was the willing party to it or not, time will tell. Ethiopian ministers and top officials who made utterances challenging some of the statements coming out of Asmara, regarding currency arrangements, trade, nationality, pension and defence were gagged and reprimanded by Meles before Mr Isayas picked up the phone to register his complaint. I had the luxury of a candid conversation with a friend of mine who accompanied Tamrat Layne, the former PM, to Asmara to attend one of his routine economic summits with his Eritrean counterparts which was also attended by Mr Isayas. The meeting started by Mr Isayas making a barrage of criticism and a number of allegations against Mr Tamrat Layne refering to his statement on resolving the nationality status of Erireans living and working in Ethiopia, and his proposal to the 'Ethiopian Parliament' to terminate pension payment to Eritreans living in Eritrea which he considered it to be an anti-Eritrean stand. When Tamrat confronted him by saying that it was not his business to meddle in the Ethiopian domestic affair, Mr Isayas who was sitting opposite spited at him twice, swore in Tigrigna and left the meeting room. Mr Tamrat was so levied he left the room and went straight to his hotel with his colleagues to pack up and fly back to Addis to find out not only that he was evicted from the Ambassador Hotel where he was staying but his luggage was also moved to a nearby hotel with minimum amenities and was guided by Eritrean officials to its whereabouts. Tamrat made a tragic mistake of phoning Meles Zenawi expressing his disgust at the way Mr Isayas humiliated him in front of his own delegation. What he got in return was another round of roasting from him accusing him of raising issues that were never brought to Parliament. Mr Abdul Mejid, who was the Economic & Trade Minister at the time also faced similar fate when he was lambasted by the PM Meles, following the statement he made at a press conference in London (which appeared in the Financial Times) where he claimed that the exchange rate of the Ethiopian Birr administered by Eritrea was illegal. The same argument was deployed by Meles to undermine his own minister.

7. There were also anecdotes that were in the public domain that brought the trust and agreement both the President and the Ethiopian PM had which each other to disrepute. One that would immediately come to my head was Mr Isayas's fury over the fact that the Prime Minister did not try to get in touch with him before hostilities got out of hand. In one of his interviews he gave to one of the news media, he blamed the PM for referring the matter to the Ethiopian Parliament before he had his audience. He never forgave him for that. Prior to the above utterances, Isayas gave an interview to a French radio claiming that Meles Zenawi had lost power in Addis. That is when he realised that he lost a friend he could bully. All of a sudden he found out that there was no one in Ethiopia he could talk to. We don't know what happened to the wisdom that we have always been told he was afforded to.

8. As to PM Meles, Ethiopians continue being critical of him and that is exactly what I have been doing. His language has always been vulgar and has refused to listen to his own advisors. He has become an economist, a scientist , a marxist and a theoretician and that is when people have to be concerned as Mengistu Hailemariam also assumed that he was in the same class as Meles in his latter days in power. With regard to Eritrea, he was called the Ambassador of Eritrea for he made it his business to making statements more often than the President himself. In all his public utterances, he supported (or at least being seen to be supporting Erirea) but usually did at the expense of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. He never minded observing the treshhold of Ethiopian sensitivity. The result was, he ended up being a hate figure by Ethiopians and Eritreans alike, again for different reasons. May I say that Eritreans would have been best served by a level headed Ethiopian leader who has had the respect and sensibilities of his own people and act accordingly than by one who continues to be making wild statements about Eritrea and patronising them in the process.

9. The PM's arrogance and ineptitude came in evidence during the negotiation with Eritrea following the cession of hostilities between the two countries. One of the advice that he was given by his own advisors was that the colonial treaties of 1900, 1902, and 1908 should not be the basis to resolve the border dispute. These were treaties or agreements solely drafted by Italian colonialists to safeguard their own interest in those parts of our region. It would have no purpose other than that. The above agreement had also the misfortune of being made null and void by the Italians themselves following their invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. What is more was that most of the coordinates that were referred in the 123 pages ruling like gorges, rivers and tributaries either do not exist anymore and/or most of the rivers mentioned had already changed their flow direction. Somehow the appointed judges and our politicians found it convenient and that wonders could be done by using satellite images and how wrong they were. Now we can see the mess they have left us with. What was even worse was the fact that the PM out of all people was the one who insisted that what ever decision that the judges had arrived at should be considered to be final and binding and it was he who negated it when he found out that the ruling did not go as he expected it would.

10. What was interesting and shameful at the same time was that when Meles found out that Badme was indeed allocated to Eritrea, he was so irritated (pretended to be one) by the news that he opted to appear (by phone) on one of the American Cable TV Networks that was conducting a studio debate that comprised the Ambassadors of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Kasahun Ayele and Girma Asmerom, where questions relating to the newly announced border ruling were forwarded by callers from all over the world. The PM disguising himself as 'Abebe' from Addis Ababa directed his question to Ambassador Asmerom with his familiar voice that you wouldn't miss that it was his and asked to show him where Badme was on the map. The Ambassador couldn't believe his luck and was interested to let us know who he was than dealing with the mundane question on Badme. The Ethiopian Ambassador, Kasahun Ayele, must had been wondering whether he was dreaming or not that he heard his PM's voice and his face said it all. I am sure he was not told the PM was going to make the dramatic entry into the TV debate. This is what we Ethiopians have had to put up with.

11. The PM then wrote a paper on foreign policy outlining his obscure rational behind going to war to evict Eritrean forces out of Badme. He had the audacity to argue that the reason why Ethiopia went to war was not because of his conviction that Badme was Ethiopian but because of the 'sincere desire' on his part to uphold the principles international law that invaders should not be awarded of their spoils. The policy paper was circulated to TPLF and EPRDF cadres for discussion with a health warning attached to it saying that failure to agree with him in accepting the EEBC ruling, including the allocation of Badme to Eritrea, would automatically make them liable to its consequences including the imposition of sanctions on Ethiopia. The paper also found its way to the Tigrai Administration. All what the great majority of Ethiopians sensed, when this was brought to their domain, was one of outrage, lie, deceit, contempt and an act of treason. Of course the PM being a seasoned politician with no principle except the desire to survive, was much obliged to respond to the vehemently expressed outrage by writing the famous letter to the UN Security Council confirming his rejection of the EEBC's verdict saying that he would not allow the demarcation to proceed unless the Security Council applies a 'separate mechanism' to revisit the judges verdict regarding Badme and the Central Zone. This is the measure of the Ethiopian PM whose numerous manouvers have only been administered for the sake of prolonging his stay in power. His own close comrades who brought him to power have also been sacrificed for this purpose as the ones in Asmara.

12. The PM's difference with that of Mr Isayas is that the former is much more tuned to the sensitivity of the West, in terms of being seen to be allowing freedom of the press (and yet there are more journalists in jail than any other African country), free election (opposition parties have not been able to operate outside Addis Ababa) and market economy (most businesses have remained in the hands of TPLF & EPRDF owned conglomerates). Compared to the prevailing political environment in Eritrea, it would be dishonest on my part not to admit that some progress have been made thanks to the pressure mounted by Ethiopian opposition parties, the independent press, the Ethiopian civic society inside and outside the country and the West and international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF, who have traditionally found it difficult to deal with dictators when doing business with countries like ours.

13. My own reflection on the border dispute is that any treaty that involved the powerful on the one hand (Italy) and the powerless on the other (Ethiopia) in its drafting would not be bringing everlasting peace, in this case the outdated treaties of 1900, 1902 and 1908. These colonial treaties have rather had the potential for future mischief. Our leaders failed to heed our advice and are preparing us for another round of conflict.

14. There is no international precedence that supports the awarding of a piece of land to an invading force (irrespective of whether the subsequent determination was made in its favour) that was evicted by the forces of the previous administration and to be handed back to the 'invader' by an international court based on some kind of historical evidence. This again is a dangerous thing to do. What it does is literally committing the two people for future protracted wars that both will not afford. What it can also justify is the refusal of any negotiated settlement by one of the parties or both who may feel that justice has already been done, and Eritrea has already fitted the bill.

15. It also seems to me that the phrase 'final and binding' that was coined to convince the international community to the seriousness of the two negotiating parties was either taken out of context or its real meaning has never been understood. Our leaders must have known that it did not mean anything in that it is a commitment both made without any form of enforcement being made part of. It is not a UN, European Union or African Union resolution. None of the above have the power to impose any sanction that can not be challenged by Ethiopia. But to appease Mr Isayas, some have indicated they would bring some bearing on the PM to accept the ruling. Mr Isayas should have been pragmatic enough to take it as such and act to the benefit of Eritrea by resorting to its peaceful resolution of the border dispute. After all talking or negotiating with someone has no harm while the alternative is much more repugnant and ghastly to contemplate.

16. As an Ethiopian, I feel obliged to raise the issue of Ethiopia's access to the sea as so much emotion has been invested on it. Throughout our history there was not a time that Ethiopia had been landlocked. Even during the Italian colonialism, Italy recognised Ethiopia's need for access to the sea and allowed it to have its own corridor in Assab (a port within a port, if you will) where Ethiopians had their own customs office, storage and other port facilities and administered its own port services independently of Italy and without having to pay taxes. The only qualification to this arrangement was that Ethiopia was not permitted to import weapons using the Port of assab and that was quite understandable. Why Italy that came to our part of the world to subjugate and exploit our people were so magnanimous in availing the Assab port to Ethiopia, that somehow our own brothers and sisters who shared similar history and culture for centuries (until its continuity was briefly disrupted by Italian colonialism) failed to appreciate Ethiopia's sensitivities and respond accordingly is beyond me. Even the Americans recognise that as long as Ethiopia remains landlocked, there will not be stability in that part of our region. I can only point out to my Eritrean friends (and this is not a threat) that any future Eritrean government that makes assumptions that Ethiopia will continue using the Port of Assab under duress or out of choice and the revenue from the port service will form major part of its budget is wrong and is doomed to fail and needs to be discouraged. That is the same arrangement we had which led us to the last war. I think we need to be creative and daring enough to consider the other economic benefits Eritrea could enjoy if it can access the Ethiopian market and the possible common market partnership that both of us could enter into rather than being locked in to this endless argument that has resulted in denying both our peoples the enjoyment of peace and prosperity they have been yearning for so long.

17. With regard to Badme and the rest of the border issue, I am one those Ethiopians in the country and in the diaspora who argued that the only way the border dispute could be resolved was through arbitration where local people from the affected regions of Eritrea and Ethiopia could directly be involved, where their wisdom and magnanimity could have been accessed and afforded for the benefit of the respective communities saving the lives of young Ethiopians and Eritrians. It wasn't to be. Both found it convenient to accuse each other for the failure of the Joint Border Commission none of us outside the echelons of power in Asmara and Addis knew its existence. They should not be allowed to do this.

18. All peace loving Ethiopians and Eriterians should use every opportunity to influence the two parties to resolve it peacefully. We need to work closely to secure the involvement of the wider community that has had a history of being marginalised. We should stop name calling and demonising each other and focus on the real issue. What we need more than ever is what the Americans call it 'closure'. I would like to conclude by an Amharic proverb which says, 'yalgedele beshita zelalem siwekes yinoral' literlly meaning 'A disease that fails to finsh us off will continue being condemned forever.' Let us stop condemining ourselves. Let us say yes to PEACE and no to WAR.