Great news from Ethiopia. Brehanu Nega and friends are finally out of Kaliti prison.
But why did this all happen when and how it did? Reading up in Addis Fortune, it is clear that homegrown mediation had a major part to do with this, not least of which, the participation Haile G. Selassie, the great distance runner. (Has ever a professional athlete worked so effectively outside the sports arena?)
But risking to poke at Ethiopian nationalism, the release only serves to underline the fact that donor countries function as a full fledged branch of government in Ethiopia. Collectively, the donors -with the US on top and EU some distance behind- have the sway of a national political institution within the local political landscape. It is their pressure that forced Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's hand.
This doesn't, in my view, make Ethiopia a "banana republic", it just admits the reality on the ground. (Besides, in similar fashion, global or international forces play a real role in US affairs or European affairs. It's obviously not openly acknowledged in Washington, but what happens to the US economy if China starts dumping its mountain of dollar reserves?)
The foreign influence in Ethiopia is clear. It has a budget, ambassadors, country representatives all housed in specific buildings with gates, cars and secretaries. Isn't it time that these foreigners finally openly acknowledge their influence instead of misleadingly operating in the shadows? The rulers of Ethiopia would gain legitimacy if the facts were more openly out on the table.
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