NGOs for Political Lobbying? By Biniam Yohannes

NGOs like the Irish VITA (former RTI) and Finn Church Aid are exempt from the general rules that govern the presence of NGOs in Eritrea. Both NGOs are active in Eritrea, ten years after most of their counterparts were kicked out of the country. This begs the question: How are these NGOs able to charm one of the most hostile governments in the world? Or could it be the other way round? Yemane Gebremeskel, the minister for information of Eritrea, has been invited to the European Parliament on 28 November 2016 for an event organized by an Irish member of the European Parliament, who cooperates with VITA. Could it be that VITA has to placate the Eritrean regime’s leadership by serving as a diplomatic lobby in Ireland and the EU in return for being allowed to stay?

Quarter a Century of Eritrean Identity - By Biniam Yohannes

A popular joke in Asmara goes like this:

“A man and his children watch the state TV every night because they are too poor to afford a satellite receiver. The president is always on TV and the father, like every other Eritrean, cries ‘Thief!’ whenever he sees the image of the president on the screen. 

The father takes his youngest son to the yearly festival in Asmara. He walks around the exposition grounds carrying his son on his shoulders. The president is visiting the various attractions at the festival. The son sees him and cries, ‘Daddy, daddy! The thief is here, the thief is here'.

The father lifts the child from his shoulder and cries out, ‘Has anyone lost a boy? Has anyone lost a boy?!’

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PFDJ: REDEFINING REALITY IN ERITREA By Biniam Yohannes

Inventing the truth

However untenable the explanations might be, everything about the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) is about redefining reality to fit its purposes. The PFDJ achieves this by initially confusing people and then making them dependent on official versions of reality. Understanding immediate events and situations individually is taboo, as reflected in the government-controlled media’s ‘automatic interviews’, where people are confronted with a microphone at public events and asked to spontaneously repeat their understanding of current party thought.

ናብ ቤት ፍርዲ ዝኸስስ ደፋር ሽፍታ! ብሙሴ ሓድጉ

“ግናይ-ሲ ኣብ ክንድ ዝስተራስ፡ ይግተራ!” ድዩ ዝበሃል፧

ናይ ሎሚ ዘመን ከምኡ እዩ ኰይኑ ዘሎ ነገራቱ። ናይ ሎሚ ዛዕባ መጽሓፍኤይ ጒዳይ፡ እዚ ኣብዚ ቅንያት ኣዛራቢ ኰይኑ ቀንዩ ዘሎ ጒዳይ እዩ። ጒዳይ ፕሮፌሰር ሚርያም ቫን ራይሰንን ኣቶ መሰረት ባህልብን።

ፕሮፌሰር ሚርያም፡ ሆላንዳዊት ዜጋ እያ። መሰረት ባህልቢ ድማ ኣዲኡ፡ ‘ኤርትራ’ ከፊፋቶ ሆላንድ ኣትኲዓ ዘዕበየቶ እዩ። ከምኡ’ውን ሆላንዳዊ ዜግነት ዓዲላቶን ካብ በረኸት ናይ ሆላንድ ንኽቋደስ ልግሳ ኣርእያቶን እያ። እንተኾነ ግን፡  መሰረት ባህልቢ፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ነቲ ዝተለገሰሉ ሓልዮት ብሰላም ዘስተማቕር፤ ከምኡ እውን ግዝይኡን ፍልጠቱን ብግቡእ ዝጥቀመሉ፡ ኣብ ሰናይ መዓላ ዘዉዕሎን፡ መራሒ ናይ’ቲ  ብመንእሰያት ህግደፍ ዝፍለጥ ኩርኩር ህግደፍ ኣብ ሆላንድ ኮይኑ ብምዕሳብ ነቲ ሽፍታ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ከገልግል እዩ መሪጹ።

The Nakfa Cadre School - By Biniam Yohannes

When the PFDJ central office started its cadre courses in the Sawa military training center in 2003, the unpopular place was not helping their desired aims. Understanding that all Eritreans recognized Nakfa as a national symbol of patriotism, they moved the cadre course to the mountain town. Understanding that most of the population had already been fed up with Marxist and revolutionary terminology they named the school ‘School of Social Sciences’. For the few people that might visit the town the name is a joke at best. The school has no classes except for one huge amphitheater that can hold more than two thousand people at any given point. Lodged onto the side of a mountain, the amphitheater is covered by a dome like iron sheet roof that gives it the appearance of a turtle back, the name by which it is recognized among PFDJ circles.

Indefinite National Service in Eritrea: By Biniam Yohannes

Since the declaration of national service in Eritrea in 1994 hundreds of thousands of people have gone to military training and national service, originally for a duration of 18 months. According to one of the earliest proclamations by the newly setup government, all able bodied citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 would have to do national service at one point in their lives. But in Eritrea, neither the early post independence proclamations nor the 1997 constitution are respected by the government.

DICTATORIAL NEEDS - AND EVOLUTION OF THE YPFDJ: By Biniam Yohannes

SEARCH FOR SECOND GENERATION CADRE:

A decade after independence, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), which won the war of independence from Ethiopian colonisation in 1991, had started becoming the very enemy it drove out during its 30-year popular struggle. In 1994, a year after a national referendum almost unanimously voted for independence from Ethiopia, the party had dropped the word ‘Liberation’ from its name and added ‘Democracy and Justice’. A national army was set up, an Eritrean currency circulated and a new constitution ratified. The first seven years of independence seemed to hold true promise for the future of the newly independent nation. But, even before the euphoria of independence had worn off, a border war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998. The war took a heavy toll on Eritrean politics, society and the economy. By 2001, a blame game within the party about the handling of the war had led to the imprisonment of major politicians and army commanders. The free press was shut down, the economy slowed and any freedoms that the people had enjoyed for the few years between independence and the war were taken away.