A couple of years ago, a certain writer compared the monopoly of power by the ruling regime in Eritrea with the imposing nature of the Sycamore tree (Daro). He stated that the giant Sycamore tree denies the growth of any plant of substantial size under its shade by denying it the nutrients it needs; occasional weeds and bushes are the only exception. The positive attributes of the Daro, the Sycamore, and its relationship with peasant communities and their Baitos and the usurpation of its name by the ruling clique will be the message in this article.

A weary traveler in the semiarid regions of our country would often bless the sycamore tree for its shade and cool breeze. Seeing the huge sycamore trees around the barren hillsides is a relief. While the sycamore has been  a venue for the long winded village Baitos for ages, the Sagla or the Awhi tree serves a similar purpose in areas where it is not found.

The tree in now embossed on the new Eritrean currency, the Nacfa. The regime has arranged propaganda tours of international writers for propaganda purposes to a region around Tesnadegele, where this tree flourishes. It is labeled the Valley of the Sycamore. It is zealously protected by the regime from peasant encroachment that it considers as poor husnadsmen.

In turbulent times, such as wars, these trees were also sheltering troops and trucks from aircraft fire. Retreating and on the defensive, Italian army of 1941 was an example. Later, the guerrillas of the two Fronts were a common sight around these trees. When the military situation allowed it, night time guerrilla visits to the villages were dropped. And daring fighters would command a village meeting under these trees to conduct propaganda or raise funds.

Unlike the authentic Baitos, the meetings led by the guerrillas were entirely different in nature. The EPLF cadres in particular were very heavy handed and arrogant. A peasant who mildly disagrees was very often arrested on the sly later during the night. So much so, that the peasants in a certain region said this about them: "zey tewda lambadina alatom." [they have a flashlight that never runs out (of batteries.)] In contrast, Jebha cadres often do it in the open day light, and gained bad press.

Gradually, the village institutions--the Baitos and the traditional laws-- were gradually weakened by the all powerful cadres of the Kifle Hizbi. The elected Baito leaders served mostly as enforcers of the cadres whims. This was a new political phenomenon. The former colonial and occupying powers mostly restrained themselves from a total dissolution of village autonomy.

But the EPLF cadre was a different political animal. To the dismay of the peasant, he was more fearsome and ruthless than the Italian official or the District Officer of the B.M.A [British Military Administration], who occasionally visited them from the nearest towns. For the cadre is omnipresent. He lives and eats mostly with them, and sleeps under their roofs. Thus, he monitors their loyalties in close proximity.

A disloyal peasants' fate is "revolutionary justice": the favored method of left-oriented guerrilla organizations for secret incarceration, and summary executions. The cadre is not encumbered with due process of law and other legal niceties. The guerrillas archenemy, the Derg, did not always forcefully encroach in village affairs. Peasant associations similar to the ones in the rest of Ethiopia were attempted half- heartedly. But they were in most cases not forcefully implemented in the Kebessa.

The Fronts' cadres did not limit themselves to war activities and their logistical needs. Village land tenure systems were also affected. For instance, the EPLF carefully campaigned and influenced the village Baitos in its liberated areas to exclude city dwellers who live in "enemy towns" from farm plots. The reciprocal and interdependent economy that existed the colonial times was under stress. This was a version of the Fronts "food war" practiced in reply to the Dregs' embargo.

For close to a decade and a half, the EPLF was trampling the village Baitos. The real village Baitos remained empty shells devoid of their sovereignty. The outrage is that the EPLF authorities, and elite supporters and sympathizing foreigners were portraying its military type administration of the liberated areas as Baito-like administrations. A "beacon" of good governance after the end of the war. None of them blinked and questioned this for a fact. They did not raise a finger when this happened.

In the dawn of the new century, when the Dictator trashed the new constitution, they tirelessly wrote; they cried: "implement the constitution." It was a feeble cry from the authors and their like. As for the villagers, it was nothing new. Their Adi/Ad have always been under some sort of military occupation. The link between the gradual dissolution of their Baitos, and the drafted constitution is stark enough.

May the Sycamore flourish!
May the village Baitos' be restored once again!