Facing a deteriorating economy, the Eritrean regime is on the verge of reversing policies it was advised not to take to begin with.  Topping the list is the ill-advised decision the regime took in 2002 to shut down all 12^th grade classrooms all over Eritrea and to refer all 11^th grade students to the military camp in Sawa, which is officially called the “Warsai-Yekaalo Secondary School.” 

According to this policy, those who pass the matriculation exam are referred to technical colleges, like Mai Nefhi, and those who fail the exam are conscripted into the “Warsai Yeka’alo Initiative”—a make work project of forced labor. 

The decision to reverse this policy is based neither on an assessment that Eritrea has not produced physicians or engineers in the last five years; nor on the fact that the country is one of the few African countries which has seen a regression in university-level enrollment. The consideration is due to the fact that the Eritrean regime no longer has the resources to feed the students in its boarding houses. 

Running out of wheat, the government is serving the military sorghum bread which is described as “un-chewable.” 

In addition to financial pressures, the Eritrean regime also has administrative issues with the camp. The Sawa Secondary School, which produces student-soldiers, is administered neither by the Ministry of Education, nor by the Ministry of Defense, nor even by regional administrator of the location where it is situated.  In one of its many social experiments, the regime created a “new administrative zone” to supplement the six administrative zones or “zobas” and the titular head  responsible for all the schools is the little-known Mr. Awate Osman.  Technically, Awate Osman, on loan from the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS), is  the “administrator” of the imaginary administrative zone.    

The “Minister of Oil” 

Residents of Asmara have taken to referring to Colonel Woldu Barya as Eritrea’s Minister of Oil.  This is because he controls the nation’s gasoline supply, forcing Eritreans, including government officials, to seek essential supplies from the black market.

According to our sources, Colonel Woldu Barya, who has no training in economics or business administration, has been telling anyone who will listen that his management has been so successful in decreasing oil consumption that he is saving the country 17 million Nakfa/year.  But the savings are not comparable to the loss of revenue that is reported by Eritrea’s industry.  Many businesses, including Eritrea's brewery business and Eritrea’s fishing industry, have been virtually shut down due to oil shortages.  Many of Eritrea's bars are either deserted or on the verge of shutting down due to the beer shortage.

No industry is spared: the oil shortage, combined with the regime’s misguided economic policy, has resulted in the shutting down of most industries—including car repair shops.  Those with the means, which in Eritrea means people connected to the ruling party, now go to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to have their Toyotas and Lexuses serviced at the Abdulletif Jemil Toyota Dealership.   

The Massawa Meeting  

Following up on the theme of his new address, President Isaias Afwerki assembled his cabinet to seek answers as to why the youth are escaping in such massive numbers and as to why the people continue to complain about the rampant corruption in his administration.  Hearing no answers, he asked them to treat the people with care.

The cabinet has learned its lesson: dissent or disagreement can result in verbal or physical abuse or, in some cases, a referral to jail.  None dared tell Isaias Afwerki that it is his policies that are resulting in mass exile, corruption and shortages.

Whenever confronted with the issue of corruption, Isaias Afwerki shifts his wrath either on the complainants or on the targets.

When he used to hold “town hall meetings” in the 1990s, Isaias used to chastise complainants for exaggerating minor and temporary hardships and to remind them that the “people’s front” was committed to the people.  When the crescendo of complaints became overpowering, he often finds some scapegoats to haul to the “special court”—a court whose judges are entirely selected by him, thereby shifting the blame away from himself.