By Abdul Tejan-Cole
Since April 2018 a miracle has been happening in Ethiopia. Following three years of states of emergency and failed government crackdown on protests, then Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn resigned his position in February 2018. After a heated leadership contest, Abiy Ahmed was declared Chairman of the ruling coalition in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and subsequently as Prime Minister.
In just over a year, the 42-year-old former soldier who was born in the Oromo region to a Muslim father and an Amhara Christian mother has entirely shifted the narrative from authoritarianism and state brutality to democratization, inclusivity and diversity. He has initiated reforms bringing more women into governance, released political prisoners, overhauled its governance structure and improved relations with Ethiopia’s neighbours.
Fifty percent of his cabinet is composed of women. Women were not just appointed to nominal positions. They were given important portfolios: Aisha Mohammed was appointed as Defence Minister – the first time a woman has held this post in the country and the fourth woman to hold it in Africa. He also appointed Birtukan Mideksa – the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party leader and a former judge who was in exile in the USA – as head of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. He appointed Meaza Ashenafi – a renowned human rights lawyer who is the founder and executive director of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA) – as the country's most senior judge. The largely ceremonial role of President was given to Sahle-Work Zehde, currently the only serving female head of state in Africa. Reuters quoted Fitsum Arega, Abiy’s chief of staff, as hailing the new president’s appointment on Twitter as the “first female head of state in modern Ethiopia.” He noted that “in a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalizes women as decision-makers in public life.”
Ethiopia's EPRDF had a reputation for jailing journalists, human rights activists and members of the opposition. Ethiopia's EPRDF had a reputation for jailing journalists, human rights activists and members of the opposition. For years Oromia and Amhara, two of the nine ethnically-based regional states of Ethiopia and the homelands of the country's two biggest ethnic groups, had been enduring protests, and attempts to quash them had resulted in massive human rights violations including arbitrary killings and imprisonment of demonstrators, clampdown on the media, shutdown of internet services and imposition of stiff anti-terrorism laws. Some of the leading nationalist movements were labelled as terrorist organizations.
According to Venturesafrica.com, since he took up office, Abiy Ahmed has released thousands of political prisoners. The website notes that “for the first time since 2004, there are no Ethiopian journalists in jail.” The country has also welcomed back many human rights campaigners who were once branded as dissidents by the previous government. Under Abiy, Ethiopia has gone from being one of the world's worst jailers of journalists to, for the first time in more than a decade, having no journalists in prison. As stated in Time by Feyisa Lilesa, the 2016 Olympic marathon silver-medalist, “people are still protesting. But now, when they protest, they aren’t going to jail. To me, that is democracy. That is hope.”
The extremely popular Abiy has also won acclaim for his efforts to address the country’s economic challenges. He has abandoned the failed developmental state approach embarked on by his predecessors and is showing signs of opening up the economy and embracing free market policies to encourage private investment.
Bloomberg News reported that the government plans to partially or fully privatize large state-owned enterprises including Ethiopian Railway, Ethio-Telecom and the national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines. A 21-member advisory council has been set up to lead this process and to “ensure the process is managed with utmost transparency and accountability.” Abiy is also seeking to tackle the country’s debt crisis and has restructured the repayment period of its loans especially with China. Over 60% of the country’s US$ 26 billion external debt has been successfully renegotiated. He has also reached out to the IMF, the World Bank, United Arab Emirates and other rich oil states for loans, aid and investment and to help ease the massive foreign exchange shortage.
On the regional front, after decades of tension a peace agreement has been signed between Ethiopia and its neighbouring Eritrea. In July 2018, Abiy became the first Ethiopian leader in over 20 years to visit Asmara, Eritrea’s capital. Under his leadership, relations have also improved with Somalia and he has maintained good ties with other neighbours including Kenya, Djibouti and Sudan. The rapprochement initiated by Abiy has ensured that the Horn of Africa is much more peaceful than it was only a few years ago. Continentally, one of the most remarkable policies that he has introduced is to facilitate free movement of people on the continent with the introduction of visa on arrival for all Africans.
Although Abiy has made great strides in the space of a year, huge challenges remain. Managing the ethnic tensions in Ethiopia continues to pose immense problems. He needs to manage the expectations of the nationalists in his Oromo region and continue to ensure a fine balance with the ethnic Tigrayans, the 4th largest ethnic group whose leaders dominated power structures and the security establishment since the EPRDF took power in 1991 following the overthrow of Mengistu Haile Mariam. He needs to continue to curtail security, social and civil unrests and ensure that the economy continues to improve. Poverty in rural Ethiopia and youth unemployment need to be tackled. The ongoing political transition in Sudan, the stalled peace process in South Sudan and the conflict in Somalia will test Abiy’s credentials as a peacemaker and may threaten the ongoing progressive transformation in Africa’s second most populous nation.
These challenges are not insurmountable. In one year, he has made Ethiopia a model in Africa. Abiy is a breath of fresh air. There are very few of his kind in Africa. He represents the young, dynamic and progressive leadership that many on the continent yearn for. Many are rooting and praying for “Abiymania” to sweep across the continent.
Note: Abdul Tejan-Cole is a former head of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and a one-time head of Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission.
(c) 2019 Politico Online
