A lesson, the Ethiopian Ministry of Information hates to learn

By Abebe Gelaw

Aug 10, 2005 — It is a well-established fact that the ruling party goes to great lengths to create confusion by misinforming and disinforming the Ethiopian people as well as the foreign community. For the last fourteen years, cadre-run media outlets have been competing amongst themselves to churn out cheap and substandard propaganda. The main goal of propaganda, being manipulating public opinions, is mainly attained by deliberately selecting and distorting facts, figures, symbols, stories and arguments. For a good reason, the latest misquoting and misreporting by the ?state’ media angered H.E Tim Clark, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Ethiopia, who responded with a great open letter to Ato Bereket Simon, Minister of ?Information’ and mouthpiece of the ruling party. Nonetheless, this high profile case has brought the age-old quest to change the unhealthy propaganda machinery into a sharper focus.

The chief Nazi propaganda architect, Joseph Goebbles, is immortalized by nothing other than the work of zealot propagandists who faithfully put his words into practice. He is widely credited as saying: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it…It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

The so-called government ?editorial boards’, composed of diehard cadres, meet three or four times a day to discuss issues unrelated to real news coverage. It is a routine for the boards, directed by the Minister of Propaganda, to issue the same kinds of decrees everyday; newspaper layout editors are told to paste life-size photos of the Prime Minister on front pages, copy editors are ordered to write gimmickry headlines, radio and TV producers are warned to give a great portion of primetime to the shinning words of the PM and his cohorts, reporters are reminded every now and then that all stories should be one-sided. Criticizing the infallible TPLF and its puppies is a mortal sin! If there is any editing, the preferred method is cutting out, censoring or imposing media blackout to whatever puts the regime in a bad light. The real journalists, the majority of whom have long been resenting the mismanagement of the public media, have even been denied any rights to complain or challenge the inexperienced, untrained and unprofessional propaganda chiefs who proudly monitor every trivial matter in the newsrooms and the corridors.

When there is an economic downturn, they make the economy grow by leaps and bounds. When there are killings of peaceful protesters, the propaganda machine declares victory over a band of bank robbers. When there is massive starvation, it conjures up stories of excess, bumper harvest and ?green revolution.’ For all such gross abuses and misuses of public media, the poor taxpayer, condemned to live in abject poverty, is obliged to pick up the bills.

Mr. Clark must have been very upset with the way he was recently misrepresented and misquoted by the ruling party’s propaganda machinery. His strong-worded open letter to Ato Bereket Simon is another body blow to the already tarnished image of the ministry, which has long been engaged in producing and disseminating highly poisonous pollution on the airwaves and on papers. In the unhealthy process, Mr. Clark, a respected diplomat who has been playing a pivotal role in brokering peace to end the current political stalemate, has fallen a victim as his credibility has been seriously damaged and compromised.

We were all confused when the TPLF-commandeered public media quoted Mr. Clark as saying the election board was doing a ?uniquely’ fantastic job and the opposition should stop undermining the democratic process. It was very unusual for a diplomat of his stature to utter such damaging statements.

Here is a story based on an interview with him: “Tim Clarke has praised the work of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) during its investigations into alleged electoral irregularities. Mr Clarke said the NEBE has done a “remarkable job”….

The story continues, “He went on to say that attempts to disrupt this process could cause more anxiety and tension and potentially lead to crisis.

“According to Mr Clarke, there would be a very high number of representatives of the opposition parties in the new parliament, which would be a unique development for Ethiopia. He also said the international community strongly believes that opposition parties should take up their seats in the parliament and work in a constructive way. …

”I myself participated in one investigation in one area to see how it worked. It was a fascinating and unique process as no other country in the world has gone through the same process like here,” he said, “It was professionally managed and chaired by NEBE.”

The ?story’ was highly contentious as some statements attributed to Mr. Clark called into question his diplomatic skills as well as credentials. As soon as the story was released through ENA, Ethiopian cyber discussion forums started dissecting and analysing Mr. Clark’s purportedly unguarded statements. The consensus was that the diplomat had joined the ranks of Paul Henze and made himself available to serve the ruling monarchy as another foreign butler.

Unfortunately, we all came to realize too late that the confusion was just another backlash of misrepresentation, misreporting and distortion by the Ministry of Misinformation. The problem with a game of misinformation and disinformation, which are slightly different as the latter is more deliberate and calculated, is that it backfires causing serious injuries and consequences not only to the prime target but also to the masterminds of the trickery.

In his open letter to Bereket Simon, Tim Clark has been honest enough to tell the ?Minister’, in no uncertain terms, that the game of misreporting and misquoting was disturbing. “I personally have been misquoted in some cases causing confusion and misunderstanding,” he complained.

“This episode reinforces my belief that little is more important than to the successful conclusion of the democratic transformation process in the course of the next few weeks than a professional, unbiased, fact-based, media working in the interest of the people rather than party propaganda machines,” His Excellency Tim Clark underscored, disproving our legitimate suspicions.

He went on to emphasize that it was only through such a responsible, professional public and private media that the issues facing multi-party democracy could be addressed in an open and transparent way. That was exactly what the people have long been calling for. The irony is that the Ethiopian constitution declares the same thing in much more glittering words.

Article 29 not only ?guarantees’ everyone the right to hold opinions and freedom of expressions without any interference but also states that the mass media shall be independent to ensure divergence of opinions.

Whenever serious issues are raised, people are told than the constitution is as holy as the Bible. If there is such a reverence to the constitution, why is it that our rulers do not refer to its verses to make sure that their unruly actions do not breach basic constitutional provisions? Article 29 begs more questions than it gives any satisfactory answer to clarify the confusion surrounding current practices related to freedom of expressions and usage of the taxpayer-funded mass media.

Do we have a right to hold opinions or exercise our freedom of expression without undue interference by the ruling party? Is censorship prohibited whether in the private or the public media? Can we have access to information of public interest? Can we ask, for instance, very simple questions like how much our Prime Minister and his cohorts earn and spend from the public purse each month and how much it costs the poor people to keep them entertained and happy in opulent palaces and villas? Is the state media legally protected to ensure its operational independence and its capacity to entertain diverse opinions? Does the constitution guarantee the TPLF and its puppies a monopolistic control on public funded media? Unfortunately, the answers to all these basic questions are negative.

In contravention of the constitution, the ruling party neither allows any divergence of opinions nor the independence of the mass media. People are harassed, beaten up and jailed for expressing their views. They keep on telling us like a miracle that opposition parties were allowed, a few days before the election, to air their views via ETV and Radio Ethiopia. When they realized that their tricks turned the table on them and their bankruptcy exposed, they declared that the opposition could only listen and watch when they speak whatever they like. Not only that, Bereket Simon officially revoked the press credentials of reporters working for the Voice of America and Deutsche Welle in violation of the constitution for reporting the widespread public protests against the regime. The ruling clique likes calling the unfolding drama a democratic process even if we can only witness a tyrannical process getting more and more ruthless.

Although we have been told that Ato Bereket is also a leader of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), one of the TPLF political puppies, he has refused to talk to the VOA in Amharic but gives interviews, in unsavoury English, to the same station to reporters like William Eagles. I am sure he knows that millions of Ethiopians who have boycotted Radio Ethiopia and ETV listen to VOA Amharic service. It is up to him to speak in a language that suits him best. However, he should try to answer a number of crucial questions in a language that can best be understood by his audience. It is common knowledge that Americans are too busy to listen to an Ethiopian minister, who tends to misspend a great deal of his energy to communicate with them and other Anglophones. But the simple fact is that over 87 per cent of the Ethiopian people, who may be interested in whatever His Excellency has to say, do not speak or understand English. His messages in English might even be lost in translations. Apart from that, it may be good to remind His Excellency that Article 5 of the much talked about Ethiopian constitution clearly states that the working language of the Federal Government, which he serves as a cabinet minister, is Amharic, not English.

In fact, what makes a constitution valid is not the dossier but the practice called constitutionalism. So a constitution without constitutionalism is a non-binding collection of provisions copied from American and European textbooks for the sake of self-deception. A significant compromise that the ruling party can make at this critical juncture is respecting and adhering to its own constitution. Conversely, one of the most challenging demands that the opposition can pose to the ruling party is urging it to give an assurance to the supremacy of the constitution. As the constitution guarantees the independence of the mass media, let it be managed by a non-partisan body, not by diehard party fanatics who have very little grasp of journalism or constitutionally enshrined rights.

As Mr. Clark puts it aptly in his letter: “There is a deep-seated need to tackle the present ills of the media-to raise professionalism and standards of integrity. This is a prerequisite for democracy to take roots and thrive. The Ministry of Information must set and adhere to the highest standards of integrity too. All stake holders, journalists, private and public media institutions, advertising companies etc. must be part of the drive to improve standards.” He highlighted with great candour, that he public funded mass media should work in the interests of the people rather than serve as party propaganda machines. It is quite obvious that the expensive and obsolete propaganda wheels should grind to a halt and make drastic changes in the interests of the people. The ruling party must accept the fact that an ancient propaganda machine, which was set up by the Emperor and propped up by the Derg, cannot change the minds of the people determined to do away with a divisive corrupt system, which never represents their hopes, aspirations and visions for a new Ethiopia.

The ministry of misinformation should never forget Mr. Clark’s unforgettable lessons on the basics of democracy. His Excellency the minister of misinformation should also have the courage to stand up and apologize, on behalf of himself and the party apparatus, openly and unreservedly not only to Mr. Clark but also to the people of Ethiopia who have been subjected to poisonous Goebbelsian propaganda for many decades.

According to Article 8 of the constitutional document, all sovereign power resides in the Ethiopian people. Civilized public servants, who have to abide by their constitutional job descriptions, must make amends by admitting their mistakes and begging for the mercy of the sovereign, i.e. the people of Ethiopia. Our rulers, who are behaving more like absolute monarchs than public servants, should not be laden with a great debt of apology that they owe the sovereign for so long.

In any case, Mr. Tim Clark should be well commended for his candour and integrity. He has proved beyond reasonable doubt that diplomacy is not always an art of pretension. It is good to know that real diplomats can at times break the rules of diplomatic pretensions when propaganda gets out of control and becomes a source of great confusion, misunderstanding, ills and public nuisance. Selective stories, half-truths, narrow source of ?experts’, demonizing the ?enemy’, praising officials, misrepresentations, media blackout on public matters…can only make the image of the regime more tarnished than ever before.

The war for hearts and minds can only be productive if the truth prevails. When a despotic government does not represent the people, the truth becomes its greatest enemy. It is high time that we made the truth the greatest value of a new society. That can only be achieved when democracy prevails and the mass media starts serving the people as much loyally as the truth. In the ?information age’ and democratic transformations across the globe, the archaic trick of misinformation, disinformation, distortion, half-truth…should be buried along with tyranny. In a democracy the people dictate the news. In a tyranny the rulers dictate what the people should hear and read. That is one of the worst forms of oppression. In light of the felonies of the Ministry of Misinformation, it is ridiculous and absurd that free press journalists, who try to tell the truth, end up in jails and face a great deal of hardship.

As the winds of change are now blowing across Ethiopia, the bumper harvest of venomous propaganda is severely infecting the health of the society at large. If at all we are to have a democratic system of governance, all the obstacles should be removed one by one. It will be a great relief for the Ethiopian people if the Ministry of Misinformation, which is an outdated and expensive propaganda machine, is wound up and surrenders the public media to its rightful owner-the people. That might reduce the unhealthy public nuisance and pollution that the ruling monarchy is causing.

* Abebe Gelaw is an exiled Ethiopian journalist in London.