Book Review: “Medemer”,A Book by Dr.

Abiy Ahmed
(Review of Part I of Medemer)
Assefa A. Lemu 11-12-19

Exordium

The book titled “Medemer” and written by Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy was
launched on October 19, 2019 at a Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa (Finfinne). At a
launching ceremony, the Author and Prime Minster of Ethiopia Dr. Abiy Ahmed cut a
cake baked by the Government owned Hotel and Tourism Training Institute under the
Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The ceremony was also streamed live on the
Government owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation’s TV channel. I hope the cost of
the cake and other costs of the launching ceremony were not paid from public funds
because Medemer condemns “tie wearing thieves in government offices” who use public
resources for their personal benefits and take bribes. I also hope that neither public
resources were used for the publication and distributions of the book nor gifts were
accepted under the cover of “sponsor” for these purposes because corruption is one of
the redlines of Medemer.

The proceeds from the sale of the book is said be used for the expansion of education in
rural Ethiopia and I hope there are many Authors, including myself, who are willing to
donate their books for such social development purposes if they get similar support,
coverage, and publicity because the aim of some of the Authors is to share ideas more
than getting income from the sale of their books. According to Dr. Abiy, Medemer was
written to save Ethiopia from vanishing. In fact, it is not surprising to hear politicians
saying they did this and that for the benefit of the people.The former Prime Minister of
Ethiopia Hailemariam Dessalegn who failed to govern the cuntry and forced to resign
told us that he resigned for the benefit of Ethiopian peoples. President Evo Morales of
Bolivia who was forced to resign also claimed that he resigned for the benefit of the
Bolvian people.
On the launching ceremony, Dr. Abiy disclosed that he has four published books under
the pen name of “DRAZ” and Medemer is his fifth published book and the first book
published under his real name. Writing a book by politicians to win election or to stay in
power is not a new thing. Last year, in 2018, one of Madagascar’s multi-millionaire and
politician Andry Rajoelina wrote a book which has 271 pages and titled “Initiative pour
l’Emergence de Madagascar” (Initiative for the Emergence of Madagascar (IEM)) in
which he outlined his political and campaign programs. He used his money and IEM to
win Madagascar’s 2018 Presidential electionand became the President of Madagascar in
January 2019. IEM was Rajoelina’sand hisparty’s (TanoramalaGasy Vonona(TGV)or
Young Malagasies Determined) vision written with the help of international and
national experts to seek a concrete solution for Madagascar's development
(https://www.dw.com/en/andry-rajoelina-plans-political-comeback-in-madagascar/a-
44984197). Unlike IEM, Medemer is said to be a philosophy and written by one man for
sale like anyother books.

In his
October 29, 2019 article written in Amharic and titled “ካለንበት ወዴት?”,Major Dawit
Woldegiorgis listed some of African leaders who wrote a book and claimed that they are
philosophers and teachers of political philosophy
(https://www.ethiopanorama.com/?p=110443&lang=en). His list includes Muammar
Gaddafi of Libya who wrote a book titled “Direct Democracy”,Yahya Jammeh of Gambia
who wrote a book titled “Patriotic Reorientation and Construction”, and Mobutu
SeseSeko of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) who wrote a book titled
“Authenticite”. These African leaders“followed” Plato’s advice in which he said the best
form of government is that which is ruledby “philosopher king”; thus the kings (the
rulers) should become philosophers or that philosophers should become kings (rulers).

In his Medemer book launching speech

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM72u1oI53Q) Prime Minister Dr. Abiy invited
comments and critiques on the book. This makes him different from the rest of “African
philosopher kings” and may be help to save Ethiopia from becoming another Libiya or
another D. R. Congo. This review/comment is in response to Dr. Abiy’s invitation to offer
comments and critiques. In addition, Dr. Abiy said that the contest for the next
Ethiopian election will be based on the written and bounded ideas. Therefore, we need
to carefully evaluate the ideas which are written and bounded and presented to us by
our politicians so that we will be able to differentiate those who stand for our interest
from those who try to cheat us.

In contract law, there is a principle which says, when a government enters into business
contract, it loses its sovereignty status and becomes no different than a mere private
corporation or individual. In other words, when the government enters into a contract
to do business with a private firm or individual, it lays down its sovereignty and takes
the character and status of a private citizen. In such a case, the sovereign government
and non-sovereign firm or individual are treated equally. As a private citizen, I thank Dr.
Abiy Ahmed for publishing a book under his name and inviting us to critique it because
this shows his willingness to be treated as a private citizen in relation to his book called
Medemer. His descending to the level of a mere private citizen encourages us to provide
our frank opinion on the book without fear of repercussion from his government.

The Medemer book was published in September 2019 and has 280 pages divided in four
parts and sixteen chapters. Even though the book was written in Amharic and Afan
Oromo languages, the version which was officially launched at the presence of the
Author is the Amharic version. Therefore, this review is based on the version which is
considered by the Author as an “official” version.

Medemer is defined differently by different individuals and groups. Some say,Medemer

means “unity”, “togetherness”, “reconciliation”, “synergy”, “synthesis”, “consolidation”,
“combination”, or “cooperation”,but others say it is “putting everyone in one melting pot
to create homogeneous society out of heterogeneous society”, “unitary”, “elimination of
identity and diversity by the means of aggregation”, “domination through combination
or expansion”, “clustering”, “bundling”, “merging”, or “cannibalization”.The Author
defined Medemer by referring to three Amharic dictionaries as “coming together”, “to
be combined”, “to be accumulated”, “to stand together”. He also said Medemer is “an
idea” (example on pages, II, IV, V, 35, 42, 44), “a framework” (example on page iv), “a
philosophy” (example on pages III,4,49, 73), “an outlook” (example on page 4).
However, since the Author repeatedly said Medemer is “a philosophy”, I would like to
consider Medemer as a philosophy.
It should be noted that Medemer (addition) is not only about increase, but also about
decrease. For example, +6 + (+4) = 6 + 4 = 10 and shows increase. However, +6+ (-4) =
6 - 4 = 2 and shows decrease. In other words, the addition of numbers with like signs
leads to an increase and the addition of numbers with unlike signs leads to decrease.
Therefore, when we do addition, we must know the natures (signs) of what we are
adding together because our addition may result in negative, rather than positive.

In terms of form, except for not including the titles of the four parts of the book into the
tables of contents and not correcting a word in line three, paragraph one, on page IV, the
Medemer book looks well proof read. I will offer my review of its contents under each
chapter so that the readers can go to the relevant chapter and evaluate the
reasonableness of my comments. Since the book has four parts, not to bore the readers,
I would like to make my review in four parts. Here is the review of Part One of
Medemer.

Acknowledgement

In the acknowledgement section, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, herein after the
Author, thanked his friends, coworkers, and comrades who accepted the idea of
Medemer and helped him to develop it.

Preface (Pages I-V)

The Author opened the preface with a saying in Afan Oromo but written in Sabean/
Ge’ez / Amharic alphabet: “Bashasha, olmaafigaliinbilasha”. He translated this Afan
Oromo saying to Amharic and the Amharic meaning shows that what he wanted to say
is “Bashasha, olmaafigallibilasha” meaning “in Bashashayou can spend a day and return
home without incurring cost”. “Galii” and “galli” have two different meanings. The first
one means “income” or “revenue” and the second one means “going back home”.
Therefore, the AfanOromo saying written in Sabean alphabet about Bashasha doesn’t
convey the message the Author wanted to convey. This is a simple example that shows
why Sabean (Amharic) alphabet doesn’t suit for writing Afan Oromo. I hope Medemer
philosophy understands this fact and will not ask Oromo to abandon QubeAfan Oromo
to proof that they are “added”.

In this section, the Author told the reader that Medemer was with him since he started
thinking about life and grew with him. I wish he also told us how Medemer and his
aspiration to be the seventh king of Ethiopia grew side by side with him without
contradicting each other. He said the two contributors to Medemer idea are Ethiopian
values and the law of nature. I wish also he listed these Ethiopian values which are
different from the values of non-Ethiopians and contributed to Medemer philosophy. He
said, Medemer idea took the shape of philosophy after he made it part of leadership
value and institutional building in the institutions he worked as an employee. He
believes that Medemer offers key solutions for Ethiopia’s key problems. He argues that
there is no problem that Medemer can’t solve. Congratulations to Ethiopia! He says, in
Ethiopian history, the successes achieved including the victory of Adwa were the results
of Medemer. Based on this statement, one can say that Medemer is not a new idea, but
existed even before the Author was born.
In addition to expressing Medemer as a concept which he said grew to be a philosophy,
the Author presented it as a framework in which he compiled alternative solutions to
overcome political, economic, and social problems and which can bring changes in leaps
and bounds. The Author explained that he developed the Medemer idea based on his
previous research works and papers. He also tried to give authoritative power to the
ideas in the Medemer book by saying “as a leader who has an interest to plan the
current and future goals of the country, I present this Medemer idea as a key solution to
the problems of the country….”(page V).

Introduction (Pages V-VIII)

In the introduction section, the Author argues that Ethiopia’s problems will be solved by
being inward looking rather than looking for solutions either from the West or East. He
says, we have to follow the principle of “domestic solution for domestic problem” rather
than looking for solutions from outside. It is not clear how this inward looking principle
solve all problems that Ethiopia faces and brings progress to Ethiopia in the globalized
world. In his September 2019 interview with Sheger FM Radio journalist Meaza Birru,
the Author said when he came to power in April 2018, Ethiopia was a country that was
not able to pay the salaries of Ethiopian Government employees and debts but he solved
these problems by securing millions of dollars from foreign assistances
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyQIVgOZ10k). The question is how come
Medemer philosophy which has grown with him and hoped to offer domestic solution
for all domestic problems didn’t solve the problem of incapability to pay salary for
domestic Ethiopian Government employees?

PART 1: THE BASIS FOR MEDEMER

IDEA

Chapter one: Human-beings’ Increasing Needsand Capacity (Pages 1-12)

In this chapter, the Author discussed about human needs. He divided human needs in to
two main categories1) Direct Survival Needs (need to protect oneself from danger and
to live) and 2) Indirect Survival Needs [a) needs to eat, drink, and shelter; b)needs to be
valued and honored, respected and glorified; c)need to be free] and argued that these
needs can be met only by coming together (Medemer), not by working individually. This
statement reminds me the argument in favor of cooperatives and villagizationas well as
the justification for establishing different associations such as farmers association,
women’s association, youth association, labor union, etc. under Socialist Ethiopia. The
Author argues that human needs are survival needs and not addressing these needs is
considered as playing with human-beings’ survival needs. He says, human beings have
the capacity to cooperate or to compete and to fulfill the survival need, understanding
these capacities is a must.

Chapter Two: The Contradiction of Two Ideologies (Pages 13-34)

In this chapter, the Author discussed Liberalism and Socialism. He says Liberalism gives
priority to the need to be free, but Socialism gives priority to the need to be equal.
According to the evaluation of the Author, Liberalism/Capitalism and Socialism as well
as Social Democracy which emerged as a middle point between Liberalism and
Socialism and attempted to reconcile the principles of both ideologies, failed to address
the need of the majority. He also tried to show how Socialism and Liberalism
(Developmental State) failed to work in Ethiopia and how the effort to bring Social
Democracy through Revolutionary Democracy failed in Ethiopia.
According to the Author, the instabilities that Ethiopia faced were the outcomes of the
conflict between the knowledges acquired from abroad and the conditions in the
country. He argues, Liberal Democracy is based on the European liberal culture and it
doesn’t fit to Ethiopia who is not in a position even to feed itself (page 34). In the
Author’s opinion, Ethiopia needs independent and Ethiopian philosophy, i.e. Medemer. I
wish he showed us how Medemer which advocates for coming together can address the
needs of the majority where Socialism which is based on the principle of "Workers of
the world unite!" failed. He argues introducing Liberalism to a country with illiterate
and hungry population is wrong. I wish he explained in this chapter how Medemer fits
to a country with illiterate and hungry population so that most developing countries
that have illiterate and hungry people can use it.

Chapter Three: The Verdict of Medemer (Pages 35-48)

In this chapter, the Author presented the definition of Medemer. He has a subtitle which
says “Medemer Means” (page 36), but instead of providing the definition of Medemer
under this subtitle, he explained the objective of Medemer. It seems that he intentionally
wanted to leave his readers in the dark regarding the meaning of Medemer.

On page 40 of the book, the Author shared the meaning of the word Medemer obtained
from three Amharic-Amharic Dictionaries. The common meaning of the three
dictionaries for the word Medemer is “to bring together to make one”. On the same
page, the Author said something is created by coming together of small things, from
their accumulation and this is what is called Medemer. This is why pro-federal system
groups are suspicious to the idea of Medemer. They are wary of what Prime Minister is
doing and see Medemer as his plan to take the country back to the unitary system
where power is accumulate at the center.

The Author says the main objective of Medemer is to build upon the political and
economic gains, to correct mistakes done, and achieve the needs and benefits of the
future generation. He says, in terms of political analysis Medemer is indigenous; in
terms of finding solutions it was designed by taking domestic and foreign knowledges.
Here, the ideologue admitted that Medemer is using knowledge obtained from outside
Ethiopia, the act he said in the previous pages a mistake and criticized. He also said
Medemer is a concept/theory which touches upon all private and social life including
political, economic, and social sectors. Here, Medemer looks like a religion which
governs the holistic life of an individual and a society. The Author argues, unless we
bring together our ideas, money, knowledge, etc and add one on the top of another,
individualism will lead us to decay and extinct. If this statement is true, I wonder how
the Western capitalist countries where the concept of individualism is prevalent
managed to survive.

The Author explained the benefit of building upon the achievement of the past instead
of destroying what were done in the past and focusing on the clearing the debris of the
past. He also repeated the explanation about the benefit of building on the achievements
of the past on page 57. If that is the case, why wasting that much time and energy to
destroy what weredone by EPRDF, especially revising the federal structure, selling
public enterprises and ongoing projects.
On page 42, the Author says “Since Ethiopia lived in isolation for epochs by burring
itself within mountains and closing its doors, she has been in solitary deficit”. This
contradicts with the statement that he made on page 33 of the book where he said the
instabilities that Ethiopia faced were the outcome of the conflict between the
knowledges acquired from abroad and the conditions in the country. Such conflicting
statements are some of challenges a reader may face while reading the book and while
trying to see consistent flow of ideas in the book.

The Author identified “common goal” and “taking initiative” as fundamentals of

Medemer. He also divided Medemer’s process into three: being passerby (ignoring
Medemers concepts, being an observer, and external), being a gust (showing interest for
Medemer and learning its concepts), and being resident (understanding and following
Medemer theory). It is like issuing Red, Yellow, and Green cards for someone based on
his/her position towards and knowledge about Medemer. I have no idea what color of
card the opponents of Medemer should be given.

The Author also identified “unity of the country”, “respect for citizens”, and “prosperity”
as the values of Medemer. He said the fate of nations and nationalities of Ethiopia are
only to live together, not to live alone. Unity of the country is the matter of survival, not
a matter of choice. Here, the Author resembles Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam who sent
thousands of Ethiopians to war to keep Eritrea within Ethiopia and to protect territorial
integrity of Ethiopia by force. Until I read this statement, I never compared Lieutenant
Colonel Abiy Ahmed with Lieutenant Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam. The Author also
contradicts the principle of self-determination of nations and nationalities enshrined in
the Ethiopian constitution. This clearly shows that the value of Medemer is
contradictory to the values of Ethiopian constitution because Medemer says nations and
nationalities have no other choice except living within Ethiopia in unity and accuses
anyone who thinks different from this as a racist (page 47-48).

Chapter Four: The Problemsof Addend (Pages 49- 76)

The Author says Medemer is measurable philosophy and our closeness to Medemer can
be expressed in Medemer meter. I wish I knew how many meters I am close to Medemer
or how many meters I am away from it.
The Author says Medemer has two main problems of addend: Problems of idea and
problems of practice. He categorized extreme ideas,dependency on time (fixing one’s
idea in the past, or in the present, or in the future rather than linking them together),
simplifying things rather than looking at them as a complex whole, disrespecting
professions, being revolutionary, mockery, and opportunist as problems of idea. On the
other hand, he categorized lack of conscience (insensibility or heartlessness) and
sluggishness as a problems of practice and Medemer’s redlines and behaviors which
Medemer despise. He said Medemer will not tolerate corruption and laziness. This
reminds me National Control Committee under Derg and Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission under EPRDF both of which were established to control corruption but
failed to achieve their objectives.

In this Part I of the book, the Author advised Ethiopians to stop using words and terms
which put someone in a certain category such as chauvinist, narrow nationalist, anti-
peace, anti-development, anti-people, and reactionary, but as stated on page 46 of the
book, he created another labeling words such as “passerby”, “guest”, and “resident” of
Medemer.
Frankly speaking, even though the Author repeatedly used the phrase “Medemer
philosophy” in the Part I of the book, I didn’t get how discussing ordinary topics like the
needs of human being which everyone discusses at a family level, the need to come
together which every Ethiopian discusses at Edir and Equb gatherings in their villages,
liberalism and socialism which were discussed enough in Ethiopia for the last 45 years,
discussing the benefit of accumulating wealth which is even known by “tie wearing
thieves in the Government offices”, and telling how bad corruption and laziness are
which are well known even among the Tuk-tuk (Bajaj) drivers considered a philosophy
and the only solution which can save Ethiopia and its people from vanishing. I hope, I
will be able to get answer and clarification for this question from the rest parts of the
book.

To be continued….Part II: The Fracture of Ethiopian Politics and Its Maintenance

Option