Ethiopia: A ‘Smart’ Copycat in the 21st Century

BLOCK…BLOCK, JAM BABY JAM!

Note: This blurb here is not new, nor do I pretend it to be original, but only decent observations and reflections.

By Joseph M (PHD)

The dictators of our time live by preaching dogmas such as religious fundamentalism and fanaticism, revolutionary democracy etc interwoven with practiced kleptocracy (rampant greed & corruption), misinformation, deceptions, intimidation, scare mongering, repression, extra-judicial killings etc.

Religious fundamentalism, for example, is a fertile ground for some dictators as it is for Al-Qaida. Dictators like Meles Zenawi however come to power having as their cause (illegitimate) liberation of a single ethnic group, but then pave their way to the peak of political power using all known techniques and methods that other evil dictators have been using around the world.

There are plenty of experiences to coach; such as the methods used by J Stalin-Former Soviet Union, Mao and Hu Jintao-Communist Party of China, Milosevic -Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda’s genocide, Omar al-Bashir-Sudan, Kim Jong-il-North Korea, Than Shwe-Burma, Robert Mugabe-Zimbabwe, Ahmedin Ahmadinejad-Iran etc.

History has recorded that thousands and millions of innocent people have been killed by self-imposed ruthless dictators in order to stay in the front seat of power forever. Behind the façade of their power they hide their evil acts by using ethnic differences, deceptions and all other means.

In our time, we also witness the role information technology and media has been playing (as if it is God-given gift from heaven for their manipulations), enormously helping those dictators to pursue their objectives; to misinform, fabricate, lie, intimidate, demoralize and harass the innocent population that they rule, making them helpless creatures.

With the run-up to the Election 2010 in Ethiopia, Meles negotiated a lion-share of the radio and TV air time to dominate and defeat his “enemy” (the opposition parties). Those of us who watched the pre-recorded and so called “national election debates”, have wondered how on earth radio and TV air time was distributed on the basis of current number of seats in parliament that parties hold, while the election is for a future parliament. It begs questions as to what has been the logic behind the saga and why the debates has to be held in the caged studios of the TPLF/government owned Ethiopian Television and Radio? Why free speech and freedom of expression of ideas have been harnessed, censored, controlled etc in this way? Why TPLF needed to enact laws to restrict the media? Why the debates have been full of fear and uncertainty? Where does this type of model exist in the world in the 21st Century? Why people (the electorate), I would rather call them “enslaved voters”, are deprived of knowing the truth about TPLF/EPRDF candidates’ crimes? Why the army commander has to come out with warning to name and shame and also implicate Seye’s presentation at the debates? In all these, the Ethiopian Television and Radio Organization has been the weapon that Meles needed to have absolute monopoly on, control and kill voices of the opposition groups as he wished. Meles has also showed on the ETV his predecessor’s (Mengistu’s) crimes to refresh the memories of the enslaved voters, likening the opposition groups with Mengistu. If I may ask, is this not a criminal act that Meles has committed using the ETV, the only TV channel in the country? More…

Dr. M Joseph is an expert in Applied Distributed Programming & VSAT
The writer of this piece, M. Joseph, can be reached at sofomore@googlemail.com