{"id":428814,"date":"2011-05-23T13:19:05","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T13:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/"},"modified":"2011-05-23T13:19:05","modified_gmt":"2011-05-23T13:19:05","slug":"meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/","title":{"rendered":"Meles Zenawi’s Subterfuge on Pastoralism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

\"Fahamu<\/a><\/p>\n

Abebech Belachew<\/p>\n

19 May 2011<\/p>\n

\n

analysis<\/p>\n

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi needs to seriously rethink his ideas around the ‘backwardness’ of pastoralism and the need for ‘modernity’, argues Abebech Belachew.<\/em><\/p>\n

On 25 January 2011, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day, Meles Zenawi (il duce dei TPLF (TPLF’s Mussolini)) gave a speech in Jinka about pastoralism and development for pastoral communities.[1] Before we expose the subterfuge in his speech, a bit of the history of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day is the order of the day here which many in the diaspora may not be aware of.[2]<\/p>\n

On 25 January 1998, an Ethiopian NGO working on pastoral development, Pastoralist Concern Association of Ethiopia (PCAE), organised a mass cultural gathering in a place called Filtu, Ogaden, for the pastoral communities in the surrounding area. At the end of the gathering, the pastoral elders resolved that 25 January should be observed every year as the pastoralist day. In 2000, when the Pastorlaist Forum Ethiopia (PFE), a national network of NGOs and of which PCAE is a member, was formed, the responsibility of organising the pastoralist day was passed over to the PFE.<\/p>\n

Thereafter, all the Ethiopian Pastoralist Days had been organised by PFE, until 2005 when the government of il duce (Meles) nationalised it and made it its own. On that year, the PFE was completely thrown out of the management and Meles started to appear for the first time. From then on, the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day became the occasion through which the regime uses as a propaganda tool to deceive pastoral communities. Let’s now turn to what Meles said in Jinka on 25 January. It should be noted that it is not just Meles Zenawi but a great many Ethiopians, and Africans at large for that matter, who do not understand pastoralism or who do not have the right perception on pastoralism. On the contrary, pastoralism is understood by many Ethiopians in the negative sense, as backward and barbaric. Hence, a brief introduction is required right from the outset.[3]<\/p>\n

Pastoralism is, in the first place, a traditional way of life whose livelihood system is ingrained in the livestock production. In the same manner as small-scale farming is a traditional livelihood system to the peasantry, livestock production is also the livelihood system of pastoral communities. There are an estimated 50 million pastoralists spread throughout Africa from Senegal and Mauritania in the west to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, and to the San people of southern Africa (Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa). In some countries, pastoralists constitute a majority and some countries are predominantly pastoral by origin. Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia are 100 per cent pastoral by origin. Pastoralists constitute one huge section of the population in the continent.<\/p>\n

However, pastoralists are very much misunderstood and\/or viewed with negative perceptions. The misconception or prejudice towards pastoralism emanated from the conflict they always had with farming\/highland communities because of competition over grazing land. Colonisation fuelled the prejudice further. Colonialists were resisted by pastoralists in many parts of the continent. As the colonial construction has it, pastoralism is a backward way of life that has to change and pastoralists have to become farmers by changing their livelihood system from livestock rearing to farming. Decolonisation has not undergone a thorough deconstruction in Africa that the colonial construction on pastoralism (like many ideological, religious, social, political and economic constructs for that matter) is taken as the gospel of ‘development’ and ‘modernity’.<\/p>\n

In Ethiopia, similar prejudice towards pastoralism was constructed partly due to the fierce rivalry between the kingdoms based on pastoral communities, mainly the caliphates that reigned in Harrar, Afar and Somali regions and that of the Christian kingdoms based on the highlands. The infamous conflict that went in history as the ‘religious war’ of the 16th century between Ahmed ‘Gragn’s’ caliphate and Libnedingil’s Christian kingdom can be cited as an example. Now the various anti-pastoral constructs that emanated in the highland have their origins in these conflicts.<\/p>\n

In the final analysis, pastoralism is baptised as ‘nomadism’ and the common Amharic word for pastoralists is zelan, which is derogatory through and through. There is a great deal of prejudice among the highland population towards pastoralists and the typical depiction of pastoralists is ‘backward’ and ‘uncivilised’. Even the radical revolutionaries of the 1960s and 1970s who emerged on the political scene in Ethiopia all postulated development and modernity from the Eurocentric point of view – which includes Marxism – and still shared the prevailing prejudicial perception on pastoralism. Woyane swung ideologically from Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung thinking of the Albanian brand (during the struggle) to the today’s neoliberal Washington consensus, and undoubtedly shares this prejudicial construct on pastoralism, as Meles Zenawi’s infamous subterfuge attests below.<\/p>\n

Pastoralism in Ethiopia is strongly related to pertinent issues of development such as environment and climatic-change mitigation, rural development, macro-economic growth, conflict resolution and governance. Seen from these perspectives, pastoralism occupies a crucial position in the development process in Ethiopia. In this regard, needless to say that the policy perspective at the macro level equally occupies a crucial position in the development process of our country and the type of governance that we need. Pastoralists are important components of the category of communities referred to as indigenous that are increasingly assuming huge importance internationally and for whom various instruments of rights (indigenous, pastoral) are already in place, the latest being the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), Agenda 21 (Rio Summit, 1992), ILO Convention 169 (1989), the 2003 Report of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and many more. In Africa, post-apartheid South Africa is the first to recognise indigenous people’s rights and accord them with legal and constitutional protection.<\/p>\n

Lately, the Central African Republic has become the first African country to ratify ILO Convention 169 (2010) and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) has become the first African country to come up with a special law to protect indigenous people’s rights (February, 2011). In addition, the African Union’s Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has set up a working group of experts on indigenous issues to specifically focus and work on the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in the continent. We can see that indigenous peoples issues and their rights in particular are increasingly attracting attention internationally. But the governments in Ethiopia have never ratified any of these international instruments despite the fact that Ethiopia is still the seat of the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. (We have no idea whether or not Meles Zenawi is aware of these developments. But, let’s see what he says.)<\/p>\n

‘CIVILISATION’ AND ‘MODERNISATION’<\/p>\n

Referring to the pastoral areas of South Omo, Meles Zenawi flatly states, ‘… this area is known as backward in terms of civilisation’. Now, what makes pastoralism ‘backward’ and what is this gibberish that Meles refers to as ‘civilisation’? Is he really aware of the impact of his statement? I doubt it but, typical of him, he asserts that pastoralism constitutes backwardness and secondly it is backward ‘in terms of civilisation’. The paradox is, however, in the very first sentence of his speech, he espouses to distance himself from the erstwhile positions of his predecessors, Mengistu’s and Haile Selassie’s regime. The fact that he hasn’t moved an inch from his predecessors’ perceptions and policies on pastoralism is clear when he still refers to pastoralists as backward and through his policy of ‘modernisation’ that he prescribes to undo this ‘backwardness’. As an Amharic saying has it, ‘Amed beduket yisikal’ (something like ‘Ash which is worthless compared to grain flour mocks the latter’).<\/p>\n

Harry Truman introduced the term ‘under-development’ to describe all developing countries in the Third World, a concept that was heavily criticised later. Who is to say you are developed or under-developed, you are civilised and\/or you are not? What does civilisation really constitute? What is the yardstick and who set the yardstick and with what right and mandate? Take the case of the capitalist system. It has brought the countries it reigned in to the brink of collapse and acute crisis more than three times since the 1930s, the latest being the current crisis we are in.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMore News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n

AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Read more here:
\nMeles Zenawi’s Subterfuge on Pastoralism<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abebech Belachew 19 May 2011 analysis Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi needs to seriously rethink his ideas around the ‘backwardness’ of pastoralism and the need for ‘modernity’, argues Abebech Belachew. On 25 January 2011, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day, Meles Zenawi (il duce dei TPLF (TPLF’s Mussolini)) gave a speech in Jinka about pastoralism and development for pastoral communities.[1] Before we expose the subterfuge in his speech, a bit of the history of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day is the order of the day here which many in the diaspora may not be aware of.[2] On 25 January 1998, an Ethiopian NGO working on pastoral development, Pastoralist Concern Association of Ethiopia (PCAE), organised a mass cultural gathering in a place called Filtu, Ogaden, for the pastoral communities in the surrounding area. At the end of the gathering, the pastoral elders resolved that 25 January should be observed every year as the pastoralist day. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nMeles Zenawi's Subterfuge on Pastoralism - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Meles Zenawi's Subterfuge on Pastoralism - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Abebech Belachew 19 May 2011 analysis Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi needs to seriously rethink his ideas around the 'backwardness' of pastoralism and the need for 'modernity', argues Abebech Belachew. On 25 January 2011, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day, Meles Zenawi (il duce dei TPLF (TPLF's Mussolini)) gave a speech in Jinka about pastoralism and development for pastoral communities.[1] Before we expose the subterfuge in his speech, a bit of the history of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day is the order of the day here which many in the diaspora may not be aware of.[2] On 25 January 1998, an Ethiopian NGO working on pastoral development, Pastoralist Concern Association of Ethiopia (PCAE), organised a mass cultural gathering in a place called Filtu, Ogaden, for the pastoral communities in the surrounding area. At the end of the gathering, the pastoral elders resolved that 25 January should be observed every year as the pastoralist day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Meles Zenawi’s Subterfuge on Pastoralism\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-23T13:19:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/\"},\"wordCount\":1389,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/\",\"name\":\"Meles Zenawi's Subterfuge on Pastoralism - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-23T13:19:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meles Zenawi's Subterfuge on Pastoralism - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Meles Zenawi's Subterfuge on Pastoralism - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Abebech Belachew 19 May 2011 analysis Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi needs to seriously rethink his ideas around the 'backwardness' of pastoralism and the need for 'modernity', argues Abebech Belachew. On 25 January 2011, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day, Meles Zenawi (il duce dei TPLF (TPLF's Mussolini)) gave a speech in Jinka about pastoralism and development for pastoral communities.[1] Before we expose the subterfuge in his speech, a bit of the history of the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day is the order of the day here which many in the diaspora may not be aware of.[2] On 25 January 1998, an Ethiopian NGO working on pastoral development, Pastoralist Concern Association of Ethiopia (PCAE), organised a mass cultural gathering in a place called Filtu, Ogaden, for the pastoral communities in the surrounding area. At the end of the gathering, the pastoral elders resolved that 25 January should be observed every year as the pastoralist day.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Meles Zenawi’s Subterfuge on Pastoralism","datePublished":"2011-05-23T13:19:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/"},"wordCount":1389,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/","name":"Meles Zenawi's Subterfuge on Pastoralism - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-23T13:19:05+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/23\/meles-zenawis-subterfuge-on-pastoralism\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/fahamu180.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}