Public Participation is Indispensable to Curb Malpractices

Recently, The Ethiopian Herald held an exclusive interview with Desta Tesfaw, Head of EPRDF's Public and External Relations Office concerning good governance and current issues. Here under follows the full text. Excerpts;

What are the main features of lack of good governance in the country and your party's assessment on the issue? What will be done to curb malpractices in government offices in the coming five years?

Generally speaking, the issue of good governance could be seen in two ways by Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). First, any issue related to lack of good governance could be solved so long as the nation's development is sustained and further broaden.

This is because most of the complaints that are lodged with regards to good governance by the public at large, more or less have something to do with development issues such as the construction of more roads, hospitals, schools and the like. Hence, we could not build many more roads or other infrastructures at once as we do have some financial limitations. But, this is what we do, we identify the dire needs of public and exert relentless efforts to meet the required infrastructure. Therefore, with continuous public consultations, we make a schedule to carry out development activities.

Second, there are some bad governance issues that could be resolved easily as they are mainly caused by inefficiency, rent seeking mentality and lack of system to deliver quality services. Obviously, when there is democratic and development thinking in public service, there will be a strong sense of serving the interests of general public. Thus, we have to keep giving trainings to the civil servants to upgrade their skills in a bid to ensure excellency in service delivery.

Apart from fighting rent seeking mentality, we need to ensure transparency and accountability in public service with a view to satisfy the interests of the public. Moreover, we have to develop and expand our democratization process via active participation of the general public.

What measures your party would take to fight illegal migration and human trafficking in the next five years?

In fact, due to abject poverty, millions of Ethiopians were forced to take refuge in other countries in the past. But, these days, Ethiopia is registering fastest economic development and so the government discourages migration. If someone wants to work overseas in accordance to the law, they will definitely have job security and life insurance. However, those who are victims of illegal migration are highly vulnerable to various abuses of human traffickers. They are likely trapped by false promises of heavenly life in western countries by human trafficker and illegal brokers. To stop illegal migration, first of all, every individual needs to be aware of the bad consequences of going abroad illegally.

One should note that any person can now lead a better life, if he/she uses the ample opportunities here in Ethiopia. Today's Ethiopia is not like the former one where people died of starvation and war. Presently, there are a lot of job opportunities in this country. Some of the illegal migrants spend a huge amount of money to go to their dream country.

If these individuals invest their money here, they will completely change their life for better. Therefore, we need to work hard to bring about attitudinal change in this regard than never before. The government will continue taking legal measures against human traffickers and illegal brokers. In meantime, it has to keep its efforts in creating job opportunities for citizens.

Most of the contending political parties have not yet accepted the 2015 preliminary election result. They also said that the result can be used as a showcase for the dead of multiparty system in Ethiopia. What is your comment on this?

Of course, there are some political parties which reject the result of this year's election. But, there are also some political parties which have officially accepted the result and publicly announced to work together with the winning party. Particularly, members of the joint council of Ethiopian political parties have already accepted the election results.

To judge weather a given election is fair, free and democrat or not, we need to look seriously the conduct of 2015 election and the international standards. For instance, unlike many other African and western countries, there was the highest turnout in this year's Ethiopian elections.

Plus, public election observers were democratically elected and observed the conduct of the elections at every polling station. The public went to polling station giving deaf ears to those who used to make several ill attempts day and night to discredit the elections here and abroad. Therefore, this is one of the standards of conducting fair, free and democratic election.

Contesting political parties were equally treated in terms of getting registered their candidates and carrying out election campaigns. As it is very simple to establish a political party in Ethiopia, over seventy political parties have registered so far. Fifty eight political parties and over five thousand opposition parties' candidates were registered to compete in the 2015 general elections alone.

Moreover, contending political parties did not encounter any obstacles in carrying out election campaigns using the allotted air time and the newspaper space. Even sometimes they disseminated unlawful information on media. Almost all contesting political parties were given the chance to debate on various political , social and economic issues in organized public forums.

Concerning the budget allocation for the political parties, the money was fairly allotted and disbursed for them. On the top of this, the election board and its rules and regulations meet the international standards in every respect. The capacity of election officers have been reinforced from time to time. EPRDF has been teaching its members the electorate code of conduct and taking corrective measures against those who were found violating the code of conduct.

Therefore, the 2015 election had passed through the aforementioned processes and finally the public cast vote for EPRDF and its allied parties. I think the public have a strong trust in EPRDF as it has brought development, peace and security to Ethiopia. They are also confident enough that EPRDF will give solutions for any socioeconomic impediments in the future. In contrast, the electorate evaluated the stances of the opposition parties based on their election campaigns.

For example , There were some political parties which publicly said and wished to bring back the regimes of Derg and the monarchy during the election campaigns in addition to denying the sheer facts regarding the so far registered economic growth of the nation. Therefore, the public have given the right decision in the elections. They have voted for the party that brings progress and prosperity to them. I would like to say to the defeated political parties that they have to stop externalizing their problems and blaming EPRDF for their failure.

Where will be Ethiopia after five years?

This question will be answered in accordance with the Growth and Transformation Plan. But, my personal view is that we will find a better Ethiopia in all socio-economic and political domains at the end of the next five years. There will be better democratic process and good governance as well as the peace and security of Ethiopia will be secured and safeguarded than never before.

Source: Ethiopian Herald