Democratic nations who are ruled by law have three branches of government – legislative, executive, and judicial. The Ethiopian Constitution provides for only two branches: legislative and executive. To top it off, the PM has disenfranchised the legislative branch. In so doing he has reduced the nation to a one branch government. He rules the nation with the aura and presumptions of an absolute monarch. አለቃ, as his subordinates call him, decides on everything large and small. The Kim Jong Un-ization of Ethiopia is under construction. See my earlier articles titled: የጠቅላይ ሚኒስቴሩ እንደ ስላሴዎች አንድም ሶስተም እየሆኑ የመምጣት አደጋዎች and Abiyonomics: The Off-Budget Seduction of the Economy and the Constitution.
The fact that the PM is increasingly becoming an autocrat is not so much an inevitable source of his failure. There are many autocrats who have led their nations to stability and prosperity, at least as far as their economies go, leaving their human rights abuse records aside. China under Deng Xiaoping, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, Korea under Park Chung-hee, Chile under Augusto Pinochet and Rwanda under Paul Kagame serve as emblems of autocratic success.
These leaders had one thing in common. They sought supremely qualified subject matter experts from home and the diaspora and brought them to bear in their nations’ development endeavors. The story of the Chicago boys in Chile is an example. Similarly, Chung-hee headhunted top Korea economists from around the world and brought them home to help him chart his nation’s economic plan. In Singapore, Yew sought and recruited the best and brightest and appointed them to top cabinet level, encouraged debate within his bureaucracy, and paid heed to the opinions of experts in and outside of his administration to govern his nation.
In China, Xiaoping relied on intellectual deliberative processes. He nurtured the so-called epistemic community, consisting of a network of professionals who helped shape China’s economic and geopolitical policy debates. In Rwanda, Kagame sought out talent and educated Rwandese from abroad. Four things standout about his leadership: meritocracy, strategy, expert input, and communication. He meets with his Presidential Advisory Council twice a year in April and September. He has done so without fail since 2007.
PM Abiy is the antithesis of such crops of leaders. His I-know-it-all attitude and predisposition toward “yes-men” subordinates have denied the nation a competent leadership team. Where other leaders headhunt and attract best talent from home and abroad to fill key positions, the PM appoints his young admirers as if he is building a fan club. Some of the key people in his management team appear internship apprentice. See my articles titled PM’s Vision Is Like a Ferrari Driven by a Volkswagen Engine (October 2019).
His executive handicap is rooted in his narcissistic and anti-intellectual tendencies. The following ten points are often used as common traits of narcissistic politicians that the PM abundantly exhibits.
https://borkena.com/2023/01/14/ethiopia ... biy-ahmed/