Eritrea: The Military and corruption in Eritrea (Part 2)

The background of corruption in EPLF: In its early period of struggle, the EPLF was an egalitarian organization where one can’t differentiate between a superior and a foot soldier. EPLF fighters used to criticize ELF leaders for acting as feudal lords because they used to have special treatment. The EPLF’s egalitarian system however became eroded soon after the ELF was defeated in a military operation in July 1981 and was driven out to the Sudan.  After the sixth Ethiopian offensive failed to dislodge the EPLF from its Sahel fortifications, there was a relative peace in the base areas of Sahel. The various units started bartering sheep and goats with flour (humanitarian aid) from the Sahel nomads. They also started poultry farming in earnest. By 1984 the units in the base area looked as if they were agricultural experiment centers. Similarly, the commanders of the frontlines started raising their own sheep, goats and poultry. This was followed by beautifully constructed underground villas allegedly meant for offices of the commanders. These places however became centers of prostitution and embezzlement. The military commanders became so notorious that they started having sex with their comrades’ wives. The pattern became so open that everyone began to talk about it and Isaias (then deputy secretary) made a tour of the trenches and addressed the issue to soothe the grumbling fighters[1]. He held huge meetings of all fighters at the frontlines and castigated the commanders for their opportunistic and un-revolutionary behavior. Their actions of illicit drinking, womanizing, miss-using of funds of victuals etc. were disclosed at the meetings, but the commanders were neither penalized nor detained. It was just window dressing so as to satisfy the rank and file. No one can ever believe being told that the commanders used to drink red label whisky in the arid mountains of Sahel which are very far from the nearest town. They also adulterated their comrade’s wives and had several mistresses that cocked food, washed clothes and boiled traditional coffee for them. This run counter to EPLF tradition and became a hot issue in the nineties.  

Corruption after independence: After independence the military commanders were busy roaming around the bars of Asmara and the regional towns and did not have time even for their wives. The cash they ransacked from the Ethiopian military was too much and they started spending it as hell. They also had access to the victuals of the army and they used to hand over sugar, flour and cooking oil to whoever they wanted. But their biggest asset was the cash they collected after the battles. It should be known that after every battle the cash collected from prisoners or from any garrison was handed over to the commander of the battalion or brigade commander. As a result, while the army had only an average pocket money of 50 Eth. Birr per month, the military chiefs were seen paying more than 150 Eth. birr every night at the bars and cabarets of Asmara. While the rank and file got nothing, they lived in state owned villas for free and miss-used government vehicles and fuel for their personal benefit. But this was too elementary to mention with what happened after the war broke out. Specifically after the proclamation of the Warsay Yikealo Campaign (Marshal Plan) or unlimited military service, corruption within the military became a daily affair and every man in Eritrea became aware of it. We can elaborate this as follows:

Agricultural sector: After the military became involved in agriculture, every general, colonel or major did his utmost to garner some material or financial advantage from the project at hand. The agricultural projects had no feasibility study or any business plan. They simply started in a haphazard manner under the scrutiny of the colonels or generals. The technical administration and manpower was provided by the unpaid labor of the national service members which were not allowed even a kilo of tomato or onion. The entire product from the farms was sold in the towns and not accounted for because there was no transparency or auditing. Especially leaders of the divisions located in the western lowlands profited the most in the sense that there is a lot of arable land there. In such a way, without anyone calculating the cost benefit analysis of the projects, the free labor (slave labor) of the conscripts was exploited to the maximum. No report was ever made about the projects either in the military or the mass media. But worst of all, the military commanders used to steal machinery from private plantations and even confiscated whole private plantation machinery by claiming they will make it more productive because it was not very productive under the owners. It was not rare to see military vehicles selling agricultural products like potato, tomato or onion in broad daylight in Asmara. A friend of mine used to buy fifty kilos of sugar from a merchant he knew. When we asked the trader if he is not afraid from the customs officers he replied by saying, “It is the colonels themselves who sell me the sugar, so I have nothing to be afraid of.” I had an acquaintance who was a colonel and he never lacked any consumable material thanks to the military victuals.  

Trade and commerce: The military commanders started trading in earnest after the proclamation of 2006 that forbade all free trade, construction and import export. The military filled the gap and started contraband activity. Those located in Dankalia region exploited the maritime business and started importing electronic and other goods in short supply from Yemen and sold it in Asmara. The army based in the lowlands was active in transporting imported goods from Massawa to Sudan and smuggling people for an exorbitant price. The worst came with the advent of transit trade to Sudan. Since importation was only allowed with a hard to get special permit, people became involved in transit trade with a license registered under a Sudanese merchant. The trucks start from Massawa to Sudan but are diverted to Asmara in complicity with the commanders of the regions. There were several cases where the military were confronted with customs officers at road blocks but overpowered them by claiming the goods are military hardware. In such a way, whereas importation of goods was as a law forbidden, all imported consumer goods and construction materials became available albeit at sky-rocketed prices. A close friend told me that when a certain minister asked Hagos Kisha that the proclamation that prohibits the importation of goods must be reversed because smuggling has become rampant and the prohibited goods are in every shop but at an extremely high price. Hagos replied, “We will not change the law as long as we are getting 4,000 USD from each container in transit the transit trade.” As a result, a kilo of sugar was sold for 3.20 USD and fifty kilos of cement circa 120.00 USD.       

Military companies: The establishment of various military companies engaged in the construction business is another arena where the commanders misused government money and property. They sold cement and iron rod meant for the construction of houses. Not only this, they build their personal villas with the unpaid labor of the conscripts and construction material from stores of the military companies. More than a dozen conscripts died on two occasions when a trucks they were on overturned. The trucks were loaded with construction materials meant for the construction of the personal villas. As usual, this was not disclosed in the mass media and was hushed up. The list is so long it can go on and on. Since the regional administrators are answerable to the military regional commanders, it becomes easy for the military to go unchecked everywhere. Even the police are helpless because there are military police MP’s who can detain whoever they want. In such a situation if someone has a conflict with another person, with complicity of the military he can detain that person. There are many stories like this. Eritrea has almost become a mafia state. As recently as two months ago; a friend who resides in Europe, told me that his cousin has come to Port Sudan illegally in a land-cruiser with four other boys. His father and other three persons all of them veteran fighters paid a total of 1,2 Million Nakfa (24,000 USD). The trafficker was a colonel and he took the cash which was filled in a sack in broad daylight and drove off in his car. It was as simple as that. Nowadays, there is nothing that can’t be done in Eritrea.

The military and deconstruction: Almost all of the construction works done by the military is under the control of the generals. The veteran engineers of EPLF era are no longer there because they are either frozen[2] or demobilized. As a result most of the projects are monitored by people ill equipped for the job. There are various examples of dams, bridges and agricultural schemes gone bust because they lack basic plan and expertise. Not only this, all the projects are initiated by the president himself and are not reported other than being shown on TV when the president visits the place. The ministries are totally blind about these projects and nobody except the president know how they are financed and implemented. These companies do not have any financial books, are not audited, pay no taxes and are not accountable to any government body. It would not be misplaced if I mentioned the experience of the military companies with the ICRC and UN agencies in Eritrea.

A.      ICRC: It is common knowledge that ICRC has been doing a great job in rehabilitating people displaced by the war. It built houses, micro dams, schools, clinics, drilled wells and vaccinated cattle. It should be mentioned that the Eritrean TV known as EriTv broadcasted the projects done by ICRC as having been done by the government and people of Eritrea without mentioning ICRC. But this is not the basic issue. When ICRC publicizes bids it is the military corporation under such names as Deb’at construction, Wina construction, Mereb construction, Debai Sima etc. which compete in the bid. The ICRC has no knowledge that they are EDF corporations and gives the bid to the winner. Finally the ICRC came to know about the issue and stopped the issuing of bids. Instead it provided the people with cement, planks, nails, so the people do it themselves. ICRC also supervised the progress of the work on site. However, the then regional administrator of Zoba Debub Mustafa Nurhusein stopped their movement so that they will be helpless and come to him for help. But they were able to devise other intricate means to bypass the hindrance he created.  

B.      The UN: Similarly when UN agencies want to embark on a project they must employ some workers. To do this they must contact the regional administrators who are the military commanders. The only workers they can get happen to be members of the national service who are forced to sign in a pay-sheet for which they get no salary. Nobody knows for sure if the UN agencies know about the issue. In such an undertaking, those who refuse to sign in the pay-sheet are imprisoned in an undisclosed location. The ex fighter who told me this was an artisan and used to sleep in our house when he travelled from Barentu to his family. This brutal system was the standard practice before the UN peace keeping force left Eritrea. Nobody knows whether the UN staff knew the secret or not. Any project in Eritrea, whether it be NGO’s or private mining companies is done in such a manner where the labor of the conscripts is exploited to the maximum without pay. In such contracts, the workers or slaves are told, “If you finish this task in three months time you will be given a vacation of one month.” The problem was; the conscripts are eager to go to their families and finish it in a lesser time by toiling nonstop. Then the military bosses reduce the duration of time in the next project. It was a miserable life according to the ex fighter. In other words, the president is trying to create a slavery system where people’s labor is exploited to the maximum under the guise of nation building. With the private sector banned from doing business nobody can expect a better picture of the nation. The result is not nation building but human degradation, corruption of the highest order, lack of basic commodities, water and electricity. And the funniest thing is that there are people who believe what the regime says about this fake nation building program at face value and deny that there is oppression and lack of justice in the country. The regime’s survival is based on lies, disinformation and obfuscation.