Translated and revised by Dawit Mesfin

London, 14 Jan 2025

This story is partly based on a report produced by the BBC-Tigrinya Service on 6 Jan 2025.

Eritrea, like many other Western nations, welcomed 2025 last week. It is to be remembered that the country got rid of the Ge’ez and ushered in the Gregorian calendar in January 1992.

On that very first festive New Year, the streets of Asmara were lit up by colourful bright lights and adorned by Christmas decorations. The streets were flooded with former fighters, visiting citizens from abroad and local residents who welcomed their lost children with open arms. The atmosphere was electric. The air was filled with songs of hope and victory. Those were the euphoric days of the early 90’s.

Who would have imagined as soon as Eritrea stepped into nationhood its fate would be sealed? Certainly, times have drastically changed since then. Now Eritreans are simply wallowing in nostalgia about the good old days.

The people, who had endured the unbearable, lived through bitter suffering, and paid high price to see independence were heard to proclaim during the inauguration period, optimistically and rather prematurely, “Our suffering is over now! We are free at last!”

People celebrated the new era as if there was no tomorrow.  Beyond doubt, the bright smiles, radiant joy, beautiful dreams of a brighter future are nothing more than distant memories now. “Eritrea’s experience has been sheer hell for the last 33 years of ‘independence’” say some seasoned critics.

This account will assess the expectations and realities surrounding Eritrea’s ‘independence’ and the aftermath of its journey since birth.

Every day many Eritreans ask what went wrong with the country of their dreams. What happened to the country that was supposed to welcome the arrival of all its children from all corners of the globe, accommodate them and fulfil their dreams? Why did liberated Eritrea fail to fulfil its citizens’ expectations and ended up generating more refugees than before (independence) instead? The simple answer is bad governance.  Lack of transparency is the most mentioned cause of bad governance, in Eritrea we have a leader who rules with total authority and in a brutal manner.

One is necessitated to ask the most twisted question of our times: does the state of pre-independence Eritrea was better than post-independence Eritrea?

A naïve outsider could ask how many times Eritrea has held national elections to date, how many leaders it has seen come and go, and how many peaceful democratic transfers of power has it witnessed since its birth. … tsk-tsk!

In direct opposite to the above questions, Eritrean citizens ask when will Eritrea transition from dictatorship to democracy? When will its youth replace the aging and fatigued leaders? When will the people determine their future? When will the regime stop twisting the arms of its citizens to promote its own interests? When will the unelected president ever stop shoving his personal wishes down our throats?

It is to be remembered that the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), which defeated the Derg – Ethiopia’s military Junta – in 1991, held its 3rd Party Congress after the Referendum of 1993. The charter that was published then stated that Eritrea would fulfil its promises made during the armed struggle – establishing a constitutional democracy.  That was the number one promise that was put down in Eritrea’s post-independence politics.

The PFDJ (the party that replaced the EPLF) abstained, rather conveniently, from holding another Party Congress in order to put important issues to sleep – abstinence that has lasted for three decades.  

So far, the top leaders, ministers and generals are in their 70s and 80s; they have been in leadership circles for over 40+ years – since the armed struggle era.  None of them have made it possible for the younger generation to move up to the upper echelon. BTW, the President himself is pushing 80.

What is more worrying is the fact that the ministers and generals are still in office while senility awaits around the corner.

The young people of Eritrea who have been summoned up to take part in the national service since 1994 have been serving in the defence forces of the country and various ministries are simply stuck in there. Many youngsters who manage to flee to neighbouring countries describe their employment as slave labour.  At the moment there is no sign that indicates that change will come to relieve them from the open-ended service.

Many citizens point out that the Eritrean National Assembly has not met since 2002.  The Cabinet has not met since 2018. In plain language, the country has been ruled by a dictatorship since independence. In addition, the legislative and regulatory bodies are paralysed and out of action.

More can be said about the current state of affairs. Out of the 75 members of the Central Committee who took office in February 1994 (government and Front leaders), more than half of the 40 are missing due to illness, death, imprisonment and exile; and what is more perplexing is the fact that none have been replaced.  Fewer than the remaining 35 senior leaders are in active duty.

So who is running the country? Is ‘gerontocracy’ in control? The simple answer is that more and more power has been accumulating in the hands of the aging president. As he is culling the herd the rest of his entourage are simply puffing and blowing along. The big question is what if the regime’s wheels suddenly come off and it ceases to exist?

Concerned about this prevalent reality, and the inevitability of death, Eritreans are constantly talking about the need for change on social media.

BTW, there is no official vice president in the Eritrean government structure.

Traditionally, however, the minister in charge of the Ministry of Regional Administration is considered the vice-president. The last vice-president was Mahmoud A. Sheriffo, who has been jailed since 2001 without a day in court.

Moreover, the country lacks an appropriate civil service. The Civil Service, under normal circumstances, is a body that is politically impartial and independent of government. In the past 33 years, no proficient institutions have been built to look after the needs of the people. The importance of the civil service lies in the continuity of services and administration without interruption. Nonetheless, many services work on an ‘on and off’ basis in Eritrea. For instance, water and electricity supplies are two departments that can be considered good cases in point.

Generally speaking, major governmental policies cannot be decided on a whim; they have to be carefully and rationally thought through. But the president is renowned for instating and changing policies and personnel on a whim.

He behaves as if Eritrea is his personal property. He appoints and dismisses government officials at will. He arrests citizens on trumped-up charges. He makes colleagues disappear at slight suspicion of insubordination. He makes sure his subordinates merely provide a rubber stamp for his decisions. He throws out a ratified constitution. He declares wars with questionable legitimacy. He shuts down government departments arbitrarily. He runs an administration without a budget …etc.

As a result of his whimsical decisions, there is a great concern about a potential for more affliction in future Eritrea.

Who would have thought …

  • Who would have thought Eritrea, the homeland that we thought was ahead of the pack, would be last (literally in everything imaginable)?
  • Who would have thought Eritrea would squander so many chances to get ahead?
  • Who would have thought Eritrea would be isolated and its leader, to put shame on us all, be regarded as a social pariah?
  • Who would have thought, after 30 years of armed struggle, Eritrea would declare more wars on neighbouring countries.
  • Who would have thought Eritrea would throw away the mighty potential of its resourceful citizens by systematically banning them from returning home.
  • Who would have thought Eritrea would produce more refugees than before independence. 
  • Who would have thought Eritrea would send its former freedom fighters into exile to seek asylum abroad.
  • Who would have thought Eritreans, with all that patriotic passion coursing through their veins, would end up with someone like Isaias.
  • Who would have thought that Eritreans, although aware of their chronic plight, are busy going after each other’s throats while others are gradually turning into his stooges and apologists?

Unfortunately, 2025 is not the dawn of a new year in Eritrea but a prolongation of its chronic tyranny.