Personal experience

In the course of my political life there has been often moments of high optimism as well as downright pessimism. Yet my pessimism has never taken the form of deep personal resentment. Somehow I kept my humour evenin the worst existential situation. This may be partly due to my family background and partly the fact that I did grow up in a relatively relaxed multi-cultural environment. Have I learned my lessons properly? At this stage I cannot be sure. Certainly I have grwon both emotionally and intellectually so that I am more thankfull to life for everything.I am more cautious of generalizations and paradoxically more free at the same time to speak out my mind openly even on very controversial issues. Yet I have also learned how openness and candour can at times be dangerous in an oppressive political atmosphere full of intrigues. In the wake of the downfall of the former regime in 1991, I joined briefly the socalled transitional government of Ethiopia and represented the EPRDF in Bale. This organization, which is no more than a cover behind which the TPLF hides, was begging then for time to transform itself to what it called a multi- national political force. The leaders of TPLF said to us , new recruits, it was not their falt that the struggle started in the north against the former regime, and they were now ready to put things right. I thought somewhat hesitatingly that givig them time was not unreasonable as they were a new political force, with no previous record in power . I was full of optimism after a long period of time in exile. I went out of my way praising them lavishly without fully knowing their background and their techniques. A little later my openness brought me almost on the verge of personal disaster. At one point I found myself telling the EPRDF that they had crossed the Rubicon and I calmly explained why. I said there were military units moving around in Bale region without my knowledge , terrorizing people with the intention of intimidating them systematically. They could not take this criticism and reacted angerily .I was removed from Bale at once and was for a few days under what looked like house-arrest in the capital. I had enough of their gimmicks and pretensions . Finally I realized also how brutal they were. Propaganda, no matter how skillfully practiced , has ist own inherent limitations..

Later , when I turned down a new post in the headquarters of the EPRDF in the capital, I was told in extremely rude manner not to leave the city without a written permission. Dr. Nagaso Gidada was instigated to accuse me openly in OPDO headquarters in Addis Ababa of slamistic affiliation, a very dangerous accusation in Ethiopia’s political reality. Gidada and I had known each other for years in Germany.The EPRDF approached us together in 1991 when we were both invited together repeatedly to its office in Cologne. The two of us agreed and joined the EPRDF conditional on its fulfilling certain conditions concerning the OPDO, in reality a structure invented by the TPLF to deceive the Oromo people. The moment he was given a portfolio, Gidada dropped all the conditions we put forward together and turned against me without blinking the eyes. The TPLF discoverered soon that all he needed was some attention and some income and raised him to a nominal head of state.After years of silently obeying orders and cooallaboration he was dropped finally after he miscalculated the situation inside the TPLF, siding with losers. Today he challenges the regime single handedly and quixotically as a so-called independent member of the parliament and still gets enough media attention working with all kinds of opportunuistic opposition factions. The number of such faceless elements in Ethiopia are legion.They are capable of betraying close friends and even family members. Thanks to German citizenship, I could extricate myself from extremely risky situation returninng to Germany in 1995.