By Eskinder Nega<\/p>\n
Book publishing had its golden age in the ’60s and ’70s. So did theater. The singular genius of Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, whose magnificent adaptations of Shakespearean plays are arguably the best of their kind anywhere in the world, inspired and to a large extent sustained a rare, lively world of African theater. It may still be the best in Africa. Books and literary magazines thrived on multitude of talents, Baalu Girma, Sebhat Gebre-Egzabher, Berhanu Zerihun, and many others. Good books easily sold tens of thousands of copies.<\/p>\n
The ’80s and ’90s were less pleasant. Tsegaye was distracted, first, by the nation\u2019s new rulers, whose ethnocentrism he abhorred, and later on, by ill-health. (He died in the US in 2006.) And in the world of book publishing, the explosion of private newspapers in the mid-’80s literally became an existential threat. Good books could barely sell 5000 copies anymore.<\/p>\n
But there have been the occasional bestsellers. Mengistu Haile-Mariam\u2019s book-formatted interviews probably hold the record in this regard, reportedly selling in the tens of thousands. Berhanu Nega\u2019s take on Ethiopia\u2019s politics in 2006, written, smuggled out and published while he was still in prison, was unavoidably a runaway success. Seye Abraha\u2019s book was also successful but could have done better had less space been devoted to court proceedings and more to politics. (He has promised such a book in the future. A good book from him could set a new record.) And now there is a latest entrant to this select league, Negaso Gidada\u2019s book-formatted interviews. (There were of course many more successful books over the years. But I can\u2019t possibly detail them all here. Sorry.)<\/p>\n
Entitled \u201cNegaso\u2019s journey\u201d(Negaso\u2019s menged) and written by Daniel Tefera, a young journalist, the 384-page book was released in Addis Ababa about two weeks ago. Here is Negaso narrating his early life, reminiscing about student politics, revealing new secrets about the EPRDF and expounding his vision for the nation verbatim.<\/p>\n
Naturally, at a time when public disapproval of EPRDF\u2019s corrupt and inflation-ridden authoritarianism has soared to an all-time high, the most alluring parts of the book lie in the chapters about the ruling party.<\/p>\n
Here are 5 EPRDF inside stories revealed by Negaso in this book.(There are more but you will have to buy and read the book.)<\/p>\n
1. On murder and impunity<\/p>\n
On page 213 Negaso addresses the issue of performance reviews in the OPDO, one of four constituent members of the EPRDF coalition. Even when apparent breach of law by officials was established, prosecution was not automatic, Negaso says. They were merely transferred to different positions.<\/p>\n
In one shocking instance, \u201ca stubborn and spiteful official, whom I would rather not name publicly, was accused of murder (but was not prosecuted,)\u201d Negaso discloses.<\/p>\n
2. On Major General Abadula (now Speaker of the Federal Parliament)<\/p>\n
Abadula Gemeda (nominal chief of the army in 2000) was in Paris when news of fallout between TPLF leaders broke out, recounts Negasso. But after his return he was quick to throw his lot with Meles. He and two other active-duty Oromo Generals, Bacha and Alemeshet, who were constitutionally compelled to stay out of politics, were soon lobbying for open support of Meles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe (Negaso and Kuma, leader of the OPDO) insisted that the military should stay out of politics,\u201d says Negaso.<\/p>\n
But the Generals were adamant that with the TPLF weakened by internal strife, the ANDM was becoming too powerful in the EPRDF. OPDO must support Meles and buttress its standing in the EPRDF, they maintained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe rejected their argument and opted to reconcile TPLF leaders,\u201d says Negaso.<\/p>\n
But access to palace grounds, where Negaso was housed as the nation\u2019s titular President, was suddenly prohibited and people could see him no more, frustrating the effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I inquired with security, I was told the order had come from Tefera Walewa,\u201d explains Negaso. The presidential title notwithstanding, he was unable to override Tefera\u2019s order. He was transformed into a virtual prisoner in the grand palace.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeles cleverly used the ANDM,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But ultimately, even if unsaid by Negaso, devoid as the ANDM has always been of a capable leadership, it was never really in a position to dominate the EPRDF. Meles\u2019 standing has always been secure, and he most probably knew it.<\/p>\n
3. On Meles and Seye Abraha et al<\/p>\n
And there is Negaso\u2019s gripping (and disturbing) narration of Meles\u2019 account of the fallout between him and his best friends, Seye Abraha et al.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took away their jackets and threw them out naked,\u201d bragged deranged looking Meles at an EPRDF meeting days after illegally expelling almost half of his party\u2019s senior leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was flabbergasted,\u201d says Negaso. \u201cI immediately told him he sounded like Mengistu Hiale-Mariam.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a brief moment it seemed as if Meles had gone too far. There was silence in the room. But Genet Zewde, an ANDM member, suddenly burst into tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could you compare him to Meles?\u201d she implored sobbing.<\/p>\n
And abruptly Negaso was on the defensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not say he was Mengistu Haile-Mariam. I only said he sounded like him,\u201d Negaso had to blurt out.<\/p>\n
The tide turned. Meles was saved.<\/p>\n
4. On corruption<\/p>\n
Worried by increased feedbacks from the public about the rising tide of corruption, Negaso approaches Meles demanding action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing I could do right now,\u201d replied an irate Meles. \u201cSecuring conclusive evidences in individual cases is easier said than done. The smart move is to concentrate on culturally stigmatizing corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Negaso, however, was unmoved.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy final impression was that he was not serious about fighting corruption,\u201d charges Negaso.( A UNDP report has recently revealed that Ethiopia has lost up to 3 billion US dollar to corruption since 1990. Senior government officials are prime suspects.)<\/p>\n
5. On Meles Zenawi<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never had a close personal or working relationship,\u201d says Negaso. He has been to his house only a couple of times. \u201c<\/p>\n
Meles is a heavy smoker. \u201c(Some leaders of the EPRDF) are heavy smokers, but Meles smoked much more than everyone else.\u201d(Isn\u2019t this a sign of ingrained anxiety?) His favorite drink is red wine. He is, no surprise here, temperamental, and occasionally, \u201chis choices of words are not always wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also his arbitrary decisions, Negaso reminds readers. \u201cGeneral Tsadkan and General Abebe were dismissed from their positions arbitrarily (and illegally.) He should have consulted the party but did not.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Eskinder Nega Book publishing had its golden age in the ’60s and ’70s. So did theater. The singular genius of Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, whose magnificent adaptations of Shakespearean plays are arguably the best of their kind anywhere in the world, inspired and to a large extent sustained a rare, lively world of African theater. It may still be the best in Africa. Books and literary magazines thrived on multitude of talents, Baalu Girma, Sebhat Gebre-Egzabher, Berhanu Zerihun, and many others. Good books easily sold tens of thousands of copies. The ’80s and ’90s were less pleasant. Tsegaye was distracted, first,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amharic.zehabesha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}