[The following article, ("ewe yizikereni!") was authored in Tigrigna by Lt. Kidane, a regular contributor to Awate. All comments in brackets are verbatim translations or clarifications. All errors in translation are the responsibility of Awate.com]

If you ask a two year old infant whether he likes his mama or papa, he will say 'papa'. If you ask him whether he likes papa or mama, he will say 'mama.' This is because infants are able to remember only the last word.  Do adults who never had to make decisions that affect their lives behave like infants?  Those in power in Eritrea certainly believe it. What they do not know is that the long-suffering Eritreans are pretending to forget, and woe unto those in power when the people stop to pretend!    

Are we pretending or did we forget. Do you remember the EPLF’s 1987 commitment to multi-party politics?  Do you remember Eritrea’s macroeconomic policy? Do you remember the land policy? Do you remember the constitution? Do you remember the promised elections?  Do you remember that the Warsay-Yekaalo initiative was supposed to last only two years? Do you remember the many promises that are made every Independence Day and every Martyr’s Day for the last 16 years?

Do you remember this year’s Independence Day slogan?  

The Eritrean people are neither fools nor infants.  Our forgetfulness is wilfull, a survival mechanism.  When our high hopes were shattered and the promises of the struggle were broken, we thought that it is better to pretend that we are forgetful. But we do not forget because almost everyone of us has paid the dear life of a big brother, an uncle, an aunt a father and a mother. A son, a daughter, a little brother.  Some have paid four to five per family. We can’t have them back, we will only see them in heaven. And by GOD, the way we honor them is by cherishing the principles for which our beloved ones sacrificed their lives for. To cherish is to refuse to forget. 

Sadly for us, GOD’s test for us is that those in power and those who have made Eritrea their playground have paid nothing.  Starting from the Man [Isaias Afwerki] himself, the Yemanes [Yemane Gebreab and Yemane Gebremeskel], the Kishas [Hagos Gebrehiwot] etc, have not paid as dearly as the rest of the population.  They do not cry for anybody on Martyr’s Day, they don’t cherish anybody, and so it is easy for them to forget.  Because it is easy for them to forget, they think it is easy for us to forget!  

The Man the world call our President lost no brother nor sister nor uncle nor friend in the revolution. He hasn’t even bothered to shed crocodile tears for Abraham Tewelde or Ibrahim Afa. Nonetheless, deep within his heart, he must thank whoever it is that replaced GOD in his heart that they have perished because they would have refused to forget!  

To the best of my knowledge, the others also have no brother or sister in the struggle let alone a martyred one.

Kisha, for example, was having his McDonald in America until 1993 and was finally transferred after the people there openly revolted against him.  As for the Yemanes, let alone facing an enemy in the front line, they did not fire a single bullet while with the EPLF!  One was haranguing the masses on Marxist ideology and the other one was writing endless reports on other people’s virtues or sins. 

These people did not fight for Eritrea, they had no family member who died for Eritrea, and they cannot relate to cherishing the principles our families died for.  Before Eritrean independence, these people thought that only unlucky and unfavored people die in wars, and they have brought their wicked attitude to Eritrea after its independence!

Unkept Promises

But we remember!

Do you remember the Man’s speeches on Independence Day and Martyr’s Day? I remember they were about handing over power to the people, the mechanism that is being laid for multiparty politics, the undergoing endeavor for the establishment of a transparent government etc.  They were not many people then who were willfully forgetting!

Do you remember the two major policies that were issued between the referendum of 1993 and the constitution of 1995?  The macroeconomic policy and the land reform policy. 

I remember at the end of 1994, Eritrea’s macroeconomic policy was proclaimed and many of us tried to take our cues from higher chiefs and started repeating, “Bmicro Qutebawi Polisina Enatemerahna nighebro zelena…” [with the micropolicy as our guide...] Of course we couldn’t differentiate economics from management let alone know the difference between Macro and Micro.  But I remember we all understood that the farmer would farm, the worker will work, the businessman will export goods and bring jobs, student should learn, the schools shall teach, the Church/mosque shall heal, the government must govern, and the genius of all Eritreans shall be the engine of our prosperity.   

Do you remember the constitution? Now it is a paradox! When they were accused that they were taking too long for drafting, they said we have to be sure of popular participation, and it is only with their participation that a comprehensive constitution that addressed all the needs of the nation can be drafted. Yet now, the same accused say that the constitution was only a booklet, and it did not anticipate things like how to handle citizens accused of violating national security!  

But we discussed these issues and all others, human rights, secularism, civil liberties, and we endorsed it through our legal body.  They ordered us to forget, but some told us not to forget, the G-15!

Soon enough, people began to quote the constitution and talk openly about democracy and justice. But as if this issue was not documented in the constitution, as if it was not discussed for two years, those who have no difficulty forgetting said:  “Multi party politics is detrimental to our unity.  The constitution can’t be implemented now.” 

But we discussed these issues also, about unity and multi party politics, we endorsed a formula, so are we all fifth columnists and against Eritrean unity?  Are all the people who endorsed it at every wereda and awraja fifth columnists?  

After the constitution was buried deep into the earth’s crust, the Man needed to invent a new ploy. This time he shamelessly named his new project the Marshal Plan of Eritrea (warsay yikealo).  He asked us do you love mama or papa? do you love the constitution and rule of law or do you like security and economic miracles? As is usual with totalitarian regimes, every Zoba and Wereda Administrator started singing the same song, “Awet niwefri warsay yikealo.”

But do you remember that the Marshal Plan of Eritrea, now into its 5th year, was decreed to last two years? We were ordered to forget that, and to survive, we have pretended to forget.

But to make us forget mama, the Man and his parrots had to exaggerate the accomplishments of the papa.  The two Yemanes are still in the same role, one is haranguing about the goodness of Marxism, the other is still writing reports on the virtues and vice of all. This is how our Great Leader, the Undisputed One, the Glorious Rain Maker, the Infallible One is achieving Eritrea’s miracle of food security and zonal security.

One of the two, food security, has already been achieved! In his Independence Day address, the Man said, “wihsinet megbi aregagitsna alena". The people were astounded, but their survival instinct ordered them to pretend to forget that they wake up at 5:00 in the morning to buy bread, and they taught their children how to forget, “Daughter!  He meant that we are not living on handouts.” 

With all due credit to our Indefatigable Leader, Eritrea has now enough Taf, Meshela, Sirnay, Ades, Zeyti, even sugar. Thanks to Isayas's perfect economic policy, people can now buy Taf for 4,000,00 nakfa;  Fino for 2,000.00 per quintal and sugar for 27 per kilo. The sugar factory, the tomato paste factory, the pasteurized milk factory, the fishery industry have succeeded in exceeding their projected targets. Finally Eritrea has become self sufficient in food. It is working to bring security to Mogadishu and Darfur and GOD willing, if the rain comes in, plenty grain can be exported to Somalia, Kenya, Yemen. If enough grain is not harvested, he can always declare, “Kramat sle zeyhageze, digatat kea sle zeymel’e kemti zidle mhrti ayterekben”, though it is good for us to pretend we forgot!  

But as bad as he is, Isayas is not the only one to blame.  To feed his megalomania, to get Eritrea into the quicksand we are in, it requires meek ministers, disoriented intellectuals, a passive population and above all else, self-centered cadres, who get their rewards.

The race in Eritrea is as to who applauds first and the loudest and who imitates Isayas first.  I remember during the kal’ay werar [2^nd Offensive], Mustafa Nurhussein, the then-administrator of Zoba Gash Barka was the first man to repeat the phrase, ”Chifra Woyane,”  after the Man used the phrase in his Martyr’s Day speech in Agordat.  If the Great Leader were to makes a U turn and say that “Eritrea is for democracy and all G13, G15, America etc are Alqaeda followers!” there would be a fierce race from every dignitary in Eritrea, to be the first to repeat his words.

The self-centered cadres have made Eritrea their playground, often giving each other toys and then fighting over them.

Cadres & Their Toys  

Did you forget? The latest and hottest toy they are fighting over in Eritrea in general and Asmara in particular these days are villas. Independence Day and Martyr’s Day paled in comparison to the issue of their toys. Bigger than their last toy fights over cars and computers. The Papa decided to allocate houses to senior government and party officials in the military (lieutenants and higher rank) and the ministries and civil service (directors and higher rank.) Those who got beautiful villas are celebrating while those who have no prospect of getting one are lamenting and gossiping about the discrepancy of the procedure. Needless to say a lot of uproar followed.

Uproars? The people have uproars over the lines for food, over the round ups, and the orders to make them choose between prison for them and freedom for their children!!  Uproars for our unjustly imprisoned family members, uproars for our daughters who came home pregnant, uproars over the wasted youth of our boys!!  But we have chosen to forget how to have uproars.

But those for whom forgetting is easy, those who have no memories to cherish, find it always hard to forget their self-interest and they created an uproar until the toy-givers said, “the policy on distributing the toys is being ‘reassessed’.”  And they will have no remorse because they know, they think they know, we will forget.

Even as we pretend to forget justice, we cannot pretend to forget two things, we do not have justice, and it is always very far from us, but GOD’s mercy is always near and even those in power cannot order us to stop praying.  We cannot, we will not forget to PRAY for justice!  We will not choose between our mama and our papa!

May GOD (Allah) save our Eritrea!!!