Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
By Samuel Estefanous
Demystifying Higher Education
Sometime in the late 90s EPRDF reached a milestone decision. It needed an institute of higher education not only friendly to the FDRE Constitution but capable of ‘fleshing out’ its central and definitive tenet -a Constitution of the Nationalities by Nationalities and for Nationalities. Remember Lincoln’s famous words from the Gettysburg Address characterizing the American system of government as a government of the people by the people for the people? The FDRE Constitution doesn’t betray a hint to work out that way!
This Constitution isn’t just unique but it is a bold social experiment in founding and maintaining a Federation of Nationalities reminiscent of pre-colonial African societies. Whether we like it or not it will go down in history as one of a kind and I am positive ‘Comparative Constitutional lawyers’ will keep finding new meaning and significance in it if only for academic reasons and purposes. What am I talking about though, it is a reigning supreme law of the land and government officials are swearing by it and its study actually has got an existential significance.
I believe it was during the eventful months leading up to the phenomenal 3rd General Election, and we were having one of these heated debates that could possibly eject one from the tight knit circle of friendship. In an abject disregard to the unwritten constitution of our fellowship, one of our friends suddenly declared that he didn’t know why we keep demonizing the founding of the Civil Service College. In strong terms he argued that higher education had been unnecessarily limited to a selected few in the country for so long that the system needed to be held up to light. Following his statement, as the ferenjis say, one could cut the tense air building up around the table with a knife. The presumed irreverence of the statement was nothing less than taboo.
The one thing I like about EPRDF is it rarely disguises its intentions. It had given up on Addis Ababa University- staff, students and alumni alike. When it sent 42 world class scholars packing in plain terms it characterized the academics as misfits incapable of public service in EPRDF’s Ethiopia- in other words incapable of service in public functionaries established under the auspices of the FDRE Constitution, in other words relegating them to second class citizens. In the aftermath it founded a civil service College in the spitting image of the notorious International Lenin School in the pre WWII Soviet Russia.
So it was natural that when our friend blurted out in defense of the College the rest of us should lose our voices. To this day I remember the words he had employed to further drive his point home-scholarship should be demystified in this country, it shouldn’t be the privilege of a few but the right of the multitude and Colleges should be accessible to all high school graduates. Again I heard this very phrase ‘demystifying higher education’ from a government minister a few years later and I realized it was a deliberate official tacit party program.
Has any good come out of it? In all honesty I bet it has. Particularly the Peripheral predominantly pastoral Regions (the so called less developed Regions) owe the College a great deal. Had it not been for the said College some of the bright promising officials would have been jewels lost in the sand, I will have to admit it, but in the rest of the country steel was replaced with lead to support the Nation; and we are paying the price for the huge blunders of EPRDF. You can easily tell an institution where they hold sway. Intrigue, nepotism that feeds ድርጅታዊ አሰራር and dividing staff to rule without accountability are their distinguishing hallmarks – so much for demystifying higher education! No wonder the Ministry of Education is rolling back the demystification program.
After the Nation is thus dissected and mutilated beyond recognition by EPRDF’s Disciples of Reform( የለዉጥ ሐዋሪያዎች) , the reformed PP is trying to do some damage control by re-empowering the few viable universities and granting them autonomous Charters. Correspondingly, those Cadre School alumni running almost all public organs at the highest level are trying to launder their degrees by pursuing postgraduate studies at ‘recognized universities’ and are attending events hosted by the latter; sporting logos of the postgraduate school in an attempt to disassociate themselves from their mother college -talk of the prodigal son!
Only if they had seen the play ክፍተት by Teferi Alemu, they would think twice! The missing link in the pursuit of higher education haunts one till doomsday. Who knows Dr.Brehanu may be biding his time to pull the rugs from under their feet. How could they be so ungrateful, particularly considering the fact that their mother college has run successful postgraduate programs later in its existence? One may wonder but the weight of a guilty conscience is heavier than a ton of bricks. Bottom-line, giving allowance to a handful of stellar graduates of the College who could distinguish themselves anywhere, for the most part the College minted a bunch of political spongers and opportunistic chameleons who had been nursing grudges against the society. When they were let loose back on the communities that had spurned them they turned on it with vengeance.
Pretending like the Constitution doesn’t Exist
Among many Organs established to implement the FDRE Constitution from legislative and judicial perspectives are Federal and Regional Institutes of Law and Justice. Understandably, they were founded to launch and promote legal research and studies in the context of the existing Supreme Law of the land. However much we dislike and demonize it, the FDRE Constitution is indeed the Supreme Law of the land and its dictates supersede any piece of legislation, party program or judicial relief.
When it is revised as the 1955 Constitution or totally annulled as the 1987 one, the said Institutes goals remain valid-to make sure that subordinates laws and edicts are in compliance with the revised or new the Constitution. But in a despicable manner to pander to the current popular views or in a lame attempt to curry favors with the incumbent, they had their respective establishment regulation revised to revoke the fundamental and primary purpose of their establishment from the Preambles of the founding regulations. In such circumstances, would it be an overstatement to liken those folks to Gogol’s Chameleon? Guess what? Whether they like it or not the institutes are established to prop up the Constitution in theory and deed.
Then, they aren’t isolated instances. Post 2018 public institutions act like the FDRE Constitution isn’t out there. Looks like to me, officials are mentored and instructed not to mention the Constitution unless it is absolutely important and necessary to. If they assume they could wish it away just like that they are acting like the proverbial ostrich. In the event they are missing it wherever the Dialogue Commission goes it is confronted with questions relative to the fate of the reigning Constitution.
PP’s Manifesto
PP has done us a great service making its OS, By-laws and Program open to the public for scrutiny. Speaking of scrutiny, one can begin right away by questioning by what dint of entitlement does PP use a government domain to host its website? This apparently insignificant miscalculation betrays a bigger trend to collapse the boundary between party and government by staying loyal to the dominant party system perfected by EPRDF.
Contrary to what PP cadres say in public the Party program in no uncertain terms declares that PP is the continuation, heir and extraction of EPRDF. It declares allegiance to the FDRE Constitution. Only its eclectic populist attempt to please all distinguishes it from the parent Front. Commendably it vows to break free from puritanical ideological capsules and goes on to underline that group and individual rights are equal in importance. Makes one ponder obviously but on the most important Constitutional question emanating from Article 8 of the FDRE Constitution it chose to take it Fifth Amendment if I dare say so. Remember the reason I said EPRDF never disguised its intention? It didn’t make the source of political power a bone of contention.
It told us ‘I don’t have problems with individual rights but get it past your thick skull. Nationalities are the only Sovereign entities and sources of political power’. On the contrary PP released its Manifesto as if Article 8 of the Constitution is non-existent and organs of governments aren’t constituted pursuant to it.
Without beating about the bush, political parties should take the bull by the horn and make their respective intentions clear-are you for or against the amendment of the FDRE Constitution?
God Bless.
The writer can be reached at : estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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