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Somalia: The Cost Of “Peace Talks” In October 29, 2003, in his interview with IRIN, Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh had expressed his frustration with Somali politicians: “There are 800 people in Nairobi gorging themselves at the expense of the international community while the people back home are dying of hunger.” It appears that the bills for the gorging are now surfacing and Kenyan officials are saying that IGAD, and not Kenya, should settle the amount. Over a three-month period (mid-October 02 to mid-January 03), the Somali warlords spent 327,241,195 Kenyan shillings. That is over $4.3 million US Dollars, in three months…
And kenya is looking at the bill twelve months later... Kenya shouldn't pay; IGAD shouldn't pay. The warlords should be sentenced to washing the dishes at the Eldoret Hotels they were staying at for the next, oh, 30 years...
Meanwhile, despite the warlord spoilers, the effort to stabilize Somalia continues. Politically, according to HornAfrik, Somalia’s Interim Parliament “overwhelmingly elected” a new Speaker, Mustafa Gudow. Economically, the UNDP, along with “financial regulators from Britain, continental Europe and the United States” is assisting Somalia in setting up money transfer centers, after the biggest one, Albaraka, was shut down and its assets frozen by the US, post Nine One One. The Somali money transfer centers “remit approximately 750 m US dollars annually into the country from Somalis living in the Diaspora,” according to UN’s IRIN. Other institutions taking root include the press: according to Radio Midnimo, the BBC is setting up a journalism workshop in the breakaway republic of Somaliland... Imagine what they could have accomplished if they had a working government?
Sudan: The Carrot & The Stick
Sudan’s government is incentivized to bring a lasting solution to its internal problems by the EU and the US which are dangling a few carrots, and shaking a stick or two. Following a final peace agreement, the EU has promised to “lift the freezing of 400m euros” in a development/aid package and full normalization of relationship. The US is promising removing Sudan from the list of what the Latin would call the Atroxocis Formido Maleficus nations. Those are the carrots. The sticks? UK Ambassador to Sudan, William Pattey, said that the problem in Darfur, Sudan is “a problem concerning the international community and was no longer a local issue.” Don’t make us internationalize it; fix it. Sudan’s immediate response was the typical one rehearsed by all Thirld Worldians: it is not our fault. “London carried the moral responsibility for the deterioration of the situation in Darfur.” Also, Sudan’s “People’s Armed Forces” (PAF) announced that the “Darfur Liberation Forces (DLF) in collaboration with armed bandits, carried out treacherous attacks on the PAF” but that the PAF had “repulsed the attackers and turned them on their heels,” according to Radio Umdurman.
That was December 3.
“Bandits”, “traitors,” “foreign agents” and “mercenaries” are words commonly used by East African governments to describe leaders and members of organized opposition when the government want to monopolize the political space. But there is progress. Two Sudanese organizations are now known by their proper names: the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP.) An SPLM delegation led by Pagan Amun is paying a visit (without fear of imminent arrest) to Khartoum. Meanwhile, on December 4, Sudan’s government and the DUP signed a reconciliation agreement in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The deal was billed as “a first in more than 14 years and has been described as the end of opposition abroad.” Sudan’s AlBashir announced that “the prolonged war witnessed in the country for the last 20 years has come to an end.”
That was on December 5.
Burkino Faso’s Blaise Campore (remember him and his leaked letter?) stopped by Khartoum on his way to Addis to praise his Sudanese brothers for relaxing the oppression of their own people, a subject he knows something about…
ETHIOPIA: Selling Urgency
Campore was going to Addis to spread holy African waters on the new headquarters of the African Union (AU) and to attend the International Labor Organization (ILO) meeting. He told reporters that he was “greatly pleased by his visit” in Addis Ababa, which is, according to him, “the capital city of the continent.”
Campore was happy with the city; George K Mburathi, who represents the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) “lauded the present direction of the Ethiopian government,” according to Walta, a website whose job it is to praise the present direction of the Ethiopian government.
The love fest loop was completed when Belay Ejigu, who is Ethiopia’s “Acting Minister of Agriculture” when he announced that the “response of the donor community” to Ethiopia’s request is……? You thought he was going to say “inadequate”, “disappointing”, didn’t you? No, it turns out that he is quite happy: the donors have “demonstrated their commitment and partnership.” And the details of the “partnership?” Over the next five years, the government is allocating “three billion dollars” for food security programs: 60% of which would be covered by the “partners.” The “partners” are USA, UK, Kuwait, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France, Norway, Canada, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the aforementioned FAO.
Three billion US dollars is a lot of money and you don’t get it just by waving the “capital city of the continent” sentimental card. How did Meles Zenawi super-sell this idea to all these “partners” who are not in a generous mood when it comes to Africa? By using a technique every salesperson knows: URGENCY. Act now! Supplies are limited! This offer will not be repeated again! According to the Ethiopian News Agency, Meles said, “Ethiopia has a window of opportunity of 3-5 years to reverse the food security problem…if we fail to reverse the trend within 3-5 years, the problem will get out of hand.” Meles Zenawi has a unique ability to explain the failures of his own government as if he is an opposition figure, an outsider looking in....
With the pledges committed, Meles is now trying to qualify the type of aid he gets. His government “in the future encourages its partners to provide their assistance in CASH and discourage food aid imports to maximum extent possible.” Keep your sacks, give us cash.
Beginning in 2005, we will do exactly that, said the smitten British Ambassador to Ethiopia, Myles Wickstead. Addressing the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development (EIIPD), he promised that his government would give 100 million annually to Ethiopia “in the form of direct budgetary support.” Why? Because he is “convinced that Ethiopia is on the right track to development and democratization,” according to Walta.
The Brits may be smitten…but the Yanks are holding their reservation. The guy who took over Susan Rice’s position, Charles Snyder, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, had this to say about the track the Ethiopian government is on: “Meles sits atop an Ethiopian system that has not made a fundamental transformation. I think we all hoped that it would have changed, and it has done some things. It has done a lot of things in terms of trying to put power down into the regions, etc. But it hasn't begun to cast a broader vision of what Ethiopia should be about.” Snyder also thinks that Meles “should accept the line proposed by Sir Elihu Lauterpacht”, the president of EEBC.
Snyder, who knew Isaias Afwerki “when he was still a rebel” also shares his opinions about our prez…
ERITREA: No To “Open Ended Dialogue”
At the risk of subjecting Charles Snyder to the Dan Connell treatment, we should state that he was not very complimentary about President Isaias Afwerki, either. Meles and Isaias, he said, “are very rigid men. They are not the modernizers that I think Susan hoped they would be. And that I hoped they would be." Morever, Isaias “hasn't transformed himself into a national leader that looks beyond the narrow agenda to the broader national interests," he said in response to a question posed by an individual attending his speech at UCLA.
Back in Eritrea, the new phrase is “diplomaciawi zemete,” which should make for a good slogan (and rhyme) along with "mekete", "ketete", "mogete" and "teAwete." The diplomatic campaign is being waged by officials of the Eritrean government to steady world opinion into maintaining its support for the “final and binding” EEBC ruling and the "no dialogue" line. Ali Said Abdella was dispatched to Great Britain and Scandinavian nations; Osman Mohammed Omar met Libyan officials; Arefaine Haile went to South Africa; Girmay “santim” Gebemariam met with US officials; Ambassador Mohammed Omar Mahmoud met with the Arab League as well Algerian officials and President Isaias Afwerki was on a “working tour” to Italy to meet with Italian businessmen…
The Eritrean delegation was also selling urgency: act now or you endanger re-igniting the Eritrea-Ethiopia war. This was the message delivered by all, except Ambassador Mohammed Omar Mahmoud, who also told the Algerians that Eritrea supports the relocation of the AU from Addis Abeba to a special place called Anywhere-else, Africa.
And how did the tours go? They were “successful diplomatic contacts by all measurements” explained Shabait.com, on December 4. Only this? “Not only this. Perplexity is engulfing those whom the regime entreated and begged for realizing its new dreams.” And, “Surely, a bitter diplomatic defeat is awaiting the TPLF regime in the magnitude of the political, military, and legal defeats which is [it] suffered earlier.”
The Eritrean Ministry of Information seems to have actually believed its own spin when it tried to present Girmay "Santim" Gebemariam’s message to President Bush and Colin Powell as if he actually had a real audience with them (for lessons in deception, read transcripts of Dimtsi Hafash: November 28.) Unfortunatley, the MoI, like all government officials and agencies, was singing from yesterday’s hymn book. The prez is not sharing the rule book; he so loves the element of surprise. If MoI had actually tried to read the subtext in the interview President Isaias Afwerki gave upon his return from his “working visit”, it would have realized that President Isaias Afwerki was redefining his government’s position: Eritrea is not opposed to dialogue; Eritrea is opposed to “open-ended dialogue.” (The most interesting part of the interview was when the reporter asked a somewhat-surprised Isaias on whether his repeated “working visits” to Italy have resulted in a deal that has been concluded. "Yes..." began the president, then there was a long pause as he searched his memory for some deal to mention. There was none. Let's all have a moment of silence now and pray for the reporter who was just doing his job.)
As predicted by Shabait.com, a day later, the TPLF regime suffered its "bitter diplomatic defeat" when it was announced that the UN Secretary General was going to name Canada’s Lloyd Axworthy as his special envoy to Eritrea and Ethiopia to mediate the stalemate. Presumably, this is to engage in close-ended dialogue of the sort that stretches forever... Thanks to the two non-modernizing "rigid men," it looks like the peace process is entering a new stage that also rhymes with "zemete".... it is called unnecessarily "tegotete."
And now you are up to date on the Nations In The Hood. |
