[Editor: Last weekend, two officials of the ruling party in Eritrea, Mr. Musa Naib, (formerly the nation’s “Attorney General” and now a department head within the curriculum division of the Ministry of Education) and Dr. Weldeab Isaac (President of the University of Asmara) held a meeting with Eritrean students attending colleges in South Africa. The following reportage was compiled by a Gedabite in South Africa, code-named “Stringer 17.”]
On The Reason for the presence of the officials
Within a period of one month, top officials of the PFDJ has found themselves busy in “advising” students to come back home after finishing their studies. They also recommended the students to finish their studies as soon as possible since the fund for that purpose is exhausted. The obvious reasons for such a concern are: firstly, they have realised that many students don’t intend to go back home once they accomplish their studies; and secondly, many students, as a result of their unreadiness to go back home, are deliberately extending their time of study under different pretexts such as by taking only one or two courses while they are able to take more courses and finish their studies soon. This is one of the best manifestations which proved the discontent of the students against the present regime in Eritrea. Musa Naib and Weldeab Isak were sent, therefore, to “heal” the discontent although to no avail. This meeting is the second in a one-month period. Last month Ambassador “Wedi Gerahtu” called the same meeting to students all over South Africa on similar issues. The officials appeal is different from the one presented by President Isaias Afwerki who told students that as far as he is concerned their failure to return poses no problem because “globalization is equalizer” and he can import skilled labor from Asia.
On What Was Said & What Was Not Said
According to the convenors, the purpose of the meeting was to brief students on the current political, legal, social and economic situation of the country. However, the meeting was a purely agitating one which mainly focused on condemning Weyane, the opposition, the psychological war launched by “Weyane and ‘nay internet jeganu’” [Internet Warriors]. The convenors also tried to over emphasise the “miraculous achievements” the PFDJ is “realising” in the country in all aspects. Surprisingly, the cohorts never uttered a single word about the prime political and legal challenges of the country. They did not mention a single word about political prisoners, the journalists, the G-15, the mediators and so on who are still behind bars.
On The Questions From Students and Responses By the PFDJ Officials
During the course of their speech Mr. Musa Naib and Dr Weldeab Isaak were confronted by challenging questions from students. Some of the most challenging questions asked by students, but not well-responded to by the convenors are the following:
Why is the government of Eritrea currently launching a new curriculum to be implemented in the so-called Warsay-Ykalo High School in Sawa? Has the government studied its social and economic and other ramifications on the society at large and the students in particular? What is the need, after all, to conscript students in a military camp if they are really needed to be educated? And why should the government again and again mobilise the youth under the pretext of “new curriculum” “new strategic plan” and so on while still a large number of the productive youth of the nation is unproductively under years of military conscription? Does the government have all the necessary resource for that matter? If so why should the government involve it self in such a waste of national resources for “national strategies” which their advantages and disadvantages are not well-studied? Why…and why...
Why did the government replace the previously civil administrative infrastructure of Eritrea by a purely military administration? Why are army generals involved in many activities outside the realm of their normal powers? Why are they involved in purely economic activities? How did they get the power to cultivate many hectares of agricultural land through unpaid labour of the army? Why should the government turn a blind eye to what they do?
Why didn’t the government still pay salaries to members of the army who have been serving for several years without salaries? How did the government expect to provide efficient services to the public if the majority of the civil servants are still working only for pocket money under unlimited years of national service?
Why did government officials, administrators and others not treat the people humbly and ethically as they are supposed to? Why is the quality of civil service in Eritrea deteriorating? What plans does the government have to improve it?
And so on…
These are some of the major questions students asked during the meeting. But none of them were answered adequately. As usual the convenors of the meeting (Weldeab and most particularly Musa) evaded the questions without directly answering them to the dismay of the students. Particularly, the question relating to the replacement of civil administration system by military administration system was a question that has attracted the attention of all students and was one of the toughest questions about which Musa Naib was unhappy. Finally, even though an avalanche of questions was flowing from students, the convenors ended the session of opinion and questions at an early stage. In one moment Musa was heard saying emotionally “I wonder why people consider the current regime as a sadist government. Why...are we really sadists?”
“If You Want To Go Abroad…”
In the course of the meeting Dr. Weldeab said the following in recommending the students to come back home as soon as possible once they finish their studies.
He told them, “If you want to go abroad than coming back home, you can do so; but bear in mind that you will secure only a chance of being employed in cheaper jobs like in parking lots, hamburger shops, or bars.” He tried to convince the students by mentioning an allegedly “practical example” he knew about a person who holds a PhD in nuclear physics who is now in Australia currently working as a bartender. He further contended: “Why are people afraid to come back home? Is Asmara a prison? No, it is not. No one will lock you from behind, if you come back home. So please come back home, please!”
In the middle of his speech Dr Weldeab has also confessed that from the $US 50 million soft loan the World Bank has granted for purposes of human resource development, the GoE has diverted the 20 million for other purposes. As a result of this, he warned the students to finish their studies as early as possible for short of funds. He asserted that Eritrea has exceeded the limit of amount of soft loan the World Bank can release. Hence, students must finish their studies sooner.
More of the Same
In many of the meetings so far held officials of the government have uttered their irresponsible views about the issue of coming back home staring from PIA [President Isaias Afwerki] in July 2002 to Wedi Gerahtu in May 2003 and, this week, Dr. Weldeab. In general the meeting was a replica of the previous meeting but this time, [it was presented] by one of the most influential cadres of PFDJ, Musa Naib, who has recently lost his relatively “prestigious” office of Advocate-General only to replace Wedi Gerahtu in the Ministry of Education. To the dismay of many students Musa spent many hours in “exposing” the current political, economic and social crisis the Weyane regime [the Ethiopian government] is facing. nata gedifas nay Hamata!
