The Enemy Within: Ethiopia’s Struggle Against Invisible Chains — The Case of Mamo Mihretu

Eyassu Epheraim G Hanna
London, UK

Ethiopia has faced many external enemies throughout its history. From Mussolini’s invasion to IMF conditionalities, the struggle has always been for sovereignty. Yet today, the greatest threat may not come from tanks or foreign armies, but from within: Western-educated technocrats who wear Ethiopian names but serve international interests. Among them, Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu stands out. His career, his policies, and his praise from foreign powers raise a troubling question: Did Ethiopia’s enemy arrive not with weapons, but with diplomas and policy prescriptions?

This same sentiment is echoed in recent Ethiopian intellectual discourse. In a YouTube debate under the banner “ኢትዮጵያ ከየት ወዴት?” (Ethiopia: From Where to Where?), organized by the Ethiopian Solidarity Movement, one of the presenters, Beniam Awash, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York, Oneonta, warned:

“If we do not agree on the source of our problem, we cannot agree on the solution. The way I understand Ethiopia’s economic and political crisis is as an erosion of sovereignty — sovereignty that is being eaten away by an invisible enemy. Today, our enemies no longer arrive with guns and tanks, but in business suits, armed with debt restructuring packages and policy conditionalities. They represent bankers, investors, and financial interests. These forces are a greater enemy to Ethiopia than even the Italians who once invaded the country.”

His words describe exactly the role played by Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu.

The Stepmother Cave: IMF and World Bank

Once, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed referred to the IMF as “እናት ጉዳ” (“mother’s quarters”), suggesting that, like a child entering his mother’s room for food, he could always expect generosity from the IMF, World Bank, and other institutions. Yet history has proven the opposite. If these organizations are a mother’s quarters, then they are not a real mother’s cave but a stepmother’s cave — places traditionally associated with cruelty, stinginess, and neglect.

For decades, IMF and World Bank policies have left African economies shattered as if struck by a 200-ton truck. Their prescriptions come with devastating side effects:

• Debt and Austerity: Loans tied to harsh conditions trap nations in cycles of repayment while slashing public spending.
• Increased Inequality: Removing subsidies and raising indirect taxes hits the poor hardest.
• Reduced Public Services: Austerity undermines education, healthcare, and employment, with women disproportionately harmed.
• Stifled Development: Short-term fixes replace long-term growth, fostering dependency instead of self-reliance.
• Loss of Sovereignty: Countries are pressured to abandon independent policy choices in favour of market-oriented models.

To call such institutions እናት ጉዳ is naïve at best, treacherous at worst. They are not mothers — they are stepmothers who drain rather than nourish.

Human Capital and Mamo Qilo

When I was in my final year of high school, there was a quotation written on the wall that read: “If we want to measure and know the social and economic status of a nation, visit the schools.” At the time, I did not fully grasp its meaning. Today, however, the truth of that statement is clear: schools are the mirror of a nation’s condition. If a country does not invest in the next generation, it is investing in its own decline.

According to the World Bank’s 2020 report on Ethiopia, “Ethiopia’s Human Capital Index is at a low 0.38, which means that a child born in Ethiopia today will achieve only 38% of their development potential. Learning poverty stands at 90%, and 37% of children under 5 are stunted.” Even though the data is five years old, its reality still holds. In effect, Ethiopia is losing 62% of the potential of its future generation — and with it, the nation itself is losing 62% of its strength and promise.

This human capital crisis is not accidental. It is the direct outcome of the economic policies pursued under Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu. By prioritizing IMF-style macroeconomic adjustments over investment in people, he has suffocated today’s children and robbed Ethiopia of tomorrow.

Mamo, in truth, is ማሞ ቂሎ (Mamo Qilo) — the foolish folk character in Ethiopian children’s tales, famously drawn carrying a donkey on his shoulders and engaging in absurd, destructive acts. Just like that character, Mamo has carried Ethiopia’s burden in the most foolish, self-defeating way, turning himself into a symbol of how misguided leadership can cripple a nation’s future.

Betrayal Rewarded

Mamo’s resignation as Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia in 2025 was greeted with gratitude not from Ethiopians, but from the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, which publicly thanked him for his “service and vision.” Shortly after, reports surfaced of his appointment as Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). This is not a coincidence; it is a reward for betrayal.

Ethiopians must recognize this pattern: those who implement IMF and World Bank prescriptions at home, no matter how damaging to their people, are later elevated to prestigious posts abroad. What foreign embassies call “service” is, in reality, service to their own interests — not to Ethiopia’s sovereignty.

A Continental Pattern

Ethiopia is not alone in this. Across Africa, technocrats with deep ties to the IMF and World Bank have been elevated to positions of power, where they implement reforms that often weaken their nations while earning praise abroad.

• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria): Twice Nigeria’s finance minister, she enforced IMF-style reforms including subsidy removals and debt deals. Today she is celebrated internationally as Director-General of the WTO.
• Tidjane Thiam (Ivory Coast/UK): Former finance minister trained in Western institutions, praised for restructuring but criticized at home for fostering dependency. Later rewarded with leadership roles in global finance.
• Eleni Gabre-Madhin (Ethiopia): Founder of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, linked to World Bank circles, praised abroad but seen by many Ethiopians as opening the door to neoliberal capture.
• Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda): Former AfDB President, educated in the UK, aligned with IMF/World Bank frameworks while his policies drew mixed reactions at home.

The pattern is clear: implement reforms dictated from Washington or Brussels, accept the social costs at home, and in return, secure elite international appointments. Mamo’s trajectory — from the World Bank to Ethiopia’s central bank, and now to AfDB — is only the latest example of this betrayal cycle.

Summary Table: Technocrats with IMF/WB Background

Ethiopia’s Lost Resistance: From Meles to Abiy

It is important to remember that Ethiopia has not always bowed to IMF and World Bank pressures. Under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia often resisted conditionalities imposed by international financial institutions. While he was far from perfect, Meles understood that blind adoption of IMF prescriptions would hollow out the state and destroy the nation’s capacity for independent development.

Meles even sought the advice of economists like Jeffrey Sachs, who himself criticized IMF austerity in Africa, to strengthen Ethiopia’s bargaining position. During his era, Ethiopia pursued state-led development: building infrastructure, investing in public services, and expanding agricultural support. He saw the IMF and World Bank as institutions to be negotiated with, not obeyed.

A prime example of Meles’s visionary leadership is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Strategically planned and initiated during his tenure, the dam symbolizes Ethiopia’s sovereignty, ambition, and determination to harness its own resources. Despite political pressure, technical challenges, and external threats, Meles laid the foundation that inspired Ethiopians and Africans alike to dream bigger.

Tragically, the journey came with sacrifices. Engineer Semegne Bekel, among others who devoted their lives to the dam, was assassinated by enemies of Ethiopia’s sovereignty and development. Today, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurates the dam, it is critical to acknowledge that the true hero is Meles Zenawi and the countless Ethiopians who risked and gave their lives for this project.

Contrast this with Abiy’s approach, guided by Mamo Mihretu: while embracing IMF and World Bank prescriptions, the administration prioritized macroeconomic optics over strategic national projects, leaving Ethiopia vulnerable to external influence and economic instability. Where Meles sought to shield Ethiopia’s sovereignty from foreign domination, Abiy’s administration, staffed by Western-trained technocrats, opened the gates. This marks a tragic reversal: Ethiopia went from negotiating with global powers to simply executing their orders.

Conclusion: Treason in a Suit

Ethiopia has survived invasions, wars, and famines. But the most dangerous threat it now faces comes not from armies with guns, but from technocrats in suits who serve foreign masters. The IMF and World Bank have long been the stepmother cave, and Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu became their willing agent, implementing reforms that enriched investors while devastating ordinary people.

His betrayal is not abstract — it is written on the faces of malnourished children, in crumbling schools, in the wasted potential of an entire generation. If Mussolini was an enemy at the gate, Mamo is the enemy within. And the reward for his betrayal? Applause from foreign embassies and a corner office in a global bank, while Ethiopia pays the price.

The lesson is clear: Ethiopia must guard not only against external enemies, but against those who wear its name while serving others. True sovereignty requires rejecting the false prophets of development who speak the language of reform while destroying the nation’s future. Treason is not only collaboration with foreign armies — it is also collaboration with foreign institutions that rob Ethiopia of its dignity, its sovereignty, and its children’s tomorrow.

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com  

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