The Horn Of Africa States: The Absence Of Reason And Logic In The Region – OpEd
Long before the advent of the current leaderships, there was a loss of reason and logic in the region. Somalia had a brief exposure to democratic exercise in the sixties of the last century, albeit as clannish as it was, which brought in a twenty something years of military rule where the rule of law, discussion, debates and reasoning were thrown out of the window.
Ethiopia never had an opportunity to have a space for discussion and debates. It arrived at the modern world as an imperial country under the rule of a monarchy and ended up with a military dictatorship and then one-party ruling systems, thereafter. It stays in that political landscape till this date.
The countries of Eritrea and Djibouti were born into a region where the rule of law was under the thumb of one person or one party and perhaps still think this is the only way of governance in the region. They have leaders that have stayed long after they were supposed to leave in a normal democratic system.
No wonder there is opposition to the one-party dictatorships that currently run the region. This is not only normal opposition, but armed opposition shaded by tribalism and clannism and in some cases by religious extremism. Should the opposition succeed, they would probably continue on the same trajectory of no debates or discussion. The poor Horn African will be deprived of the freedom of choice, forever, unless there is a change in the societies of the region.
Many millions of Horn Africa States must be asking themselves “What is wrong with our region?” It is plain and simple. There are no independent judiciary systems, no independent parliaments (they are mostly nominated by the ruling parties), and there is no free speech. Everyone must tow the line or get booted, killed or jailed. It is a sad story, isn’t it?
The region has known no discourse for a long time. Perhaps, in the old pastoral society of Somalis, was there once, some kind of debate, but this was an oasis that perished on the advent of organized governance in the region. There seems to be no faith in accepting that a debating and logical society can govern themselves and create an organized society, not bent on fighting or killing each other.
It is a surprise to hear some of the leaders talking as thugs when addressing the public over international media. They do not follow evidence and truth in their logic but only their personal logic. There are no polls, no debates or discussions. Issues that have serious consequences for populations, are passed as laws on the spur of a moment.
They could probably be right in some of the legislations, but people generally do not like changes and, therefore, would probably have liked to have been prepared for the new laws through debates and discussions over longer periods of time, not only in the circles of governing parties but in public, academia, and media. Many of the discourses of rulers in the region are not truly based on honor and truths but on manipulations and political chicaneries.
Social media, as unbridled as it is, has added to the lack of debates where truth has been thrown out and replaced by whatever one believes is one’s truth. This is churned and repeated round the clock to confuse people. Open communication and free flow of information, instead of leading to truths has only led to different shades of truths and untruths, all side by side, which leaves one and the societies of the region ever more disturbed and scared.
The fear of loss of something, certainly fear of loss of power for the rulers, and fear of being oppressed by others on the part of the general public, organized ethnically as they are, is major element which affects the region and negatively. No wonder, there are tribal and clan conflicts in each of the countries or dispersal of populations away from home to other parts of the world.
It is most disheartening to note that many seem to have given up and the situation cannot be reversed. It is the way things are and should be accepted, some people seem to be beginning to believe. People are targeted on tribal and clan basis, but they also know that tribes and clans only serve individuals and not the tribe or clan. The general citizen lives in misery all the time.
It is, therefore, perhaps high time that those who can direct populations reorganized themselves in ways that can alter the current state which leaves a lot to desire. Things cannot go on as they are, and the countries of the region cannot let themselves be taken advantage of by others.
Poverty in the region is generally man-made, although natural disasters play a role. The poverty of the region, which has put it at the bottom of nations in the world is due to its ruling systems which do not allow discussions and/or debates and which over concentrates on tribal and clan interests in the place of citizen rights and interests.
There were no displacement camps made of plastic materials mostly in the Horn of African landscape before. There were no food distributions taken from stores and warehouses of other countries, probably nearing expiry dates if not already expired distributed by cruel NGOs. It most unfortunate that leaders allow those NGOs to operate in their countries when they should have encouraged their people to produce their own food.
People of the region should be rechanneled to produce their own foods as they used to do. The guns should be replaced by pens, the hoe and the hook. The land and the seas can still produce enough food instead of food from other parts. It is what the leadership of the region should be working on instead of over emphasis on their personal preservations. They should earn the love of their citizens instead of their scorn.
They should be serving their people and countries better. They only have limited periods on the seats of power, no matter how long, and since there is no permanency, they should probably leave behind, good news as their power periods end. They should not be remembered with disgust when they are mentioned long after they are gone.
Allowing people to debate and discuss before making changes to the ways people live and interact with each other and with the law and governance. This is perhaps one way to not only learn but to legislate what citizens approve of and with what they would abide with easily. Certainly, every society has its infrastructures of belief systems and values, which should be respected. The over-reliance on tribes and clans should be discouraged and the best and most qualified should be appointed and deployed. A good citizen would never disappoint his/her country. It is the only to bring in debates and discussions, reasoning and logic into the general public space of the Horn of Africa States.