From Ermias Hailu
November 15, 2018
Wishing you God’s protection, health and success in your hard work to stabilize and transform Ethiopia , I would like to commend you on the various actions you have taken so far after assuming power, specially the release of prisoners, peace with Eritrea, invitation of all of the political forces to Ethiopia and liberalization of the political space and the ongoing crackdown on corruption and injustice committed by the EPRDF government on the Ethiopian people. As a Tigrayan who sacrificed three of my brothers to the struggle of the Tigrayan people including defending the aggression of President Isaias on Ethiopia in 1998, I am deeply humiliated and ashamed to know about the extent of deep corruption and mismanagement by X-METEC leadership and the injustice committed on the Ethiopian people by the TPLF led EPRDF security apparatus. TPLF has failed the Tigray people and discredited the innocent Tigrayans that shade their blood for the struggle!
As I had lived in Nigeria as business executive and in Ethiopia as an entrepreneur, I had the opportunity for hands on comparison of the depth and scope of corruption in both countries. The bad news is that corruption culture both in Ethiopia and Nigeria is practically the same and most of the Ethiopian government officials that I have dealt with as an entrepreneur until recently are highly corrupted from top to bottom irrespective of position, religion, age, ethnicity and gender. In Ethiopia, the major areas of corruption are land related (which calls for liberalized land policy), exhortation of business owners by government officials using different excuses by using government regulations and policies to their advantages (tax, transport, light and power authorities, kebele, wereda and municipality officials and certifying health officials etc.). I understand that the mismanagement and corruption uncovered in METEC is high level and it has major impact on the economy of the country, however, whether the corruption is pity or high level, “lebinet is leibent” and the driving force behind any corruption is uncontrolled greed. Hence, while justice is being served care must be taken not to politicize corruption findings in METEC (with the objective of humiliating and demonizing TPLF) and I recommend that your major focus to be on development and implementation of corruption prevention strategy with a goal of “zero tolerance for corruption” that must be implemented throughout the country. As you need a security system that works 24/7 to protect your government, you need a similar corruption prevention security system that is driven by mobile enabled online data and information gathered from the people (the customers) 24/7 to protect the interest of the people.
According to the Gospel John 8: 1-11, we see how the Scribes and Pharisees were rushing to stone an adulterous woman and how Jesus saved the woman. The same is true for the EPRDF officials that are trying to dramatize the problems that are uncovered in METEC and trying to give preemptive judgment before the legal due process. Care must be also exercised against the involvement foreign hands like Egypt or Eritrea on the investigations being conducted on METEC as METEC has been involved in the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam(GERD) and is considered as an enemy specially to Egypt. Make sure the capability and capacity developed by METEC is preserved and further developed with further investment and deployed for the industrialization of the country. The main root cause for the failure of METEC looks to me that too many mega projects and too much empowerment was given to inexperienced leadership without practical project management experience in the absence of proper structure, policies and procedures systems and work culture. Lack of control and scrutiny from the then METEC board of management and the then Prime Minister could also be considered as additional factors.
I would like also to advise you to be careful on your relationship with President Isaias, the wolf in sheep’s clothing, not to compromise your integrity for short term political gains. President Isaias started the aggression against TPLF/EPRDF in May 1998 and caused the death of tens of thousands of Ethiopians and Eritreans and has never repented. Since the time he was defeated in the war he ignited himself by the TPLF led EPRDF government, he has been sleepless until he sees the TPLF is fully disintegrated and he wants to use you for his evil plan. That is why you have the Pandora’s box from Eritrea with all sorts of armed opponents of TPLF/EPRDF with strings attached to President Isaias as a puppeteer.
It is obvious that one of the most challenging part of your task in bringing stability and rapid transformation to Ethiopia is on how to bring TPLF to be fully committed to your change agenda. Spiritually speaking, as EPRDF appointed leader of Ethiopia you seat on the throne that was founded largely by the blood of innocent Tigrayans that shed their blood for the struggle. Spiritually what that means is that you cannot succeed without TPLF. Therefore, look for the right leader that could transform TPLF to be your strength than your liability or threat. In my view Dr. Arkebe is the right man (I think you have more information about him more than me and I do not have to list any). He is a man who has been marginalized by the TPLF clique despite his reputation as a fighter and leader in the transformation of Ethiopia and he was right with you on your side on the June 23, gathering in Addis Abeba Meskel Square and could had been martyred with you if the attempt was successful.
Your 27 years old EPRDF has been highly corrupted, undemocratic, divisive, ethnic centered with a history of injustice but the paradox is your EPRDF has also been a developmental dynamic machine which has brought Ethiopia and millions of Ethiopians to the front of economic development and growth and has crossed the long held redline of Egypt by starting to build the dam on the Abay river.
Bench mark EPRDF against any leadership in Africa over the last 30 years, and you will find that it stands tall in terms of expansion of education, infrastructure, economic growth, diplomacy, security and aviation. Pass the aged EPRDF through a “Radical change-oriented Rebirth Strategy” and you will realize miraculous transformation of Ethiopia under your term within the next 10 years.
I have included below the link of an article related to my proposal on the ideas of the Rebirth Strategy for your information.
http://www.zehabesha.com/tplf-eprdf-the-past-and-the-future/
God Bless PM Dr. Abay!
God Bless Ethiopia!
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