Trajectories for Moulding a Plural & Enterprising Citizenry and a Clarion call for a Resilient Ethiopianess - CXV, MMXVI RL Volume IX No CCXXIII

Trajectories for Moulding a Plural &  

Enterprising Citizenry and a Clarion call for a

Resilient Ethiopianess

Respublica Literaria CXV, MMXVI RL Volume IX No CCXXIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy, School of Graduate Studies,

College of Business & Economics, AAU

Abstract

     Students of the 1970s demanded land to the tiller and the equality of nations & nationalities, an ideological arsenal that informed the era and that continues to enlighten politics heretofore, undergirded the ubiquity of imperious economic policy, the stress on political organization and the national question. Half a century later, a human rights crisis stemming from the protest against impunity is emergent, triggered by identity issues, mal governance, corruption and impunity of officials. The state must look into local elders (shimagiles) to contain the mayhem. Coupled with this, lodged in a highly turbulent region, new martial and security scenarios threaten the nation. Hence, while ethnic liberation has been accomplished, Ethiopianness must now take the front stage to defend and advance the nation.

      While nations & nationalities have realized their freedom, what is simmering on is exigency for pluralistic governance and the statutory veneration they deserve as Ethiopians. The transformation achieved so far also means citizens are becoming more affluent and civically refined, demanding to be heard. A collective psyche that puts so much trust in the trappings of hegemony must be supplanted by a social awareness that gives due respect to the highest moral and professional benchmarks in social life. State collapse that stems from a society, which is not based on strong institutional pillars and robust meritocracy in its public administration, is bound to fail. Thus, the merit system is consequential as a tried and tested route to success in constitutional self-governance. The mystique of power is closely linked to the lack of execution of constitutional rules and political institutions such as the coordinates of the state and pillars of civil society.

        In advancing the economy, private sector, capital and liberalisation of the big state owned enterprises that would unleash untapped billions for development, are indispensible allies to employment and livelihood security. In its transformational stance, the state must focus on streamlining discretionary rule of officials, eliminate monopolies and the economic distortions that facilitate them and improve accountability. Finally, a requisite for pluralism is a spirit of tolerance and transparency - discords resolved in a spirit of respect for the views of citizens. Visionary leadership, political will and public support are vital to the state’s legitimacy that twigs from meritorious choices to district-cum-zonal officers that are in direct contact with the populace and reform of policy-making and governing institutions. Society’s watchdogs and responsible and independent media are indispensible assets in curbing corruption and pursuing good governance goals consistently and in varying contexts, but do so without resorting to a self-defeating, overly scripted and stage-managed political gambit. The protests and the apologies herald a new era of openness, albeit at a price!

Key words: corruption, mal governance, pluralism, human rights, meritocracy