The other day, a visibly distressed EBC anchorman was trying to get the Deputy Director of the now-infamous ICS (Immigration and Citizenship Services) the chance to redeem himself and his office at the primetime mid-day news bulletin.
Unfortunately, the more the Deputy Chief tried to do some damage control, the deeper he was burying the organization. Who would blame him? I mean, who would come across neat and suave trying to defend the indefensible?
1- Committed to uphold the highest standards of service quality?
So declares the portal of the ICS. It is a farce. It is a mockery; it is like adding insult to the injury. Three years ago, I needed to renew my passport and tried to learn the procedure. I was genuinely and positively impressed that almost half the job is done online through networking internet kiosks and the Bank. Wrong. The humiliating experience was saved for the drama behind the dungeon-like establishment located around Black Lion Hospital.
As a matter of standard procedure, one is subjected to unnecessary humiliation- both verbal and physical. You are herded like a flock of sheep with officers wielding batons, and they don’t hesitate to use it, particularly on the unfortunate peasant girls destined to Arabia from all corners of the country.
There are ‘eagle scouts’ who would -not so randomly- approach some hapless customers with questionable origin. This category, for the most part, includes the diaspora and members of the border communities who are shared among and between the neighboring countries. Then the mills of the cottage industry (corruption) magically begin to roll, making the otherwise truly questionable applicants premium first-rate treasured customers.
I am glad recently a team from the House of People Representatives was able to witness such incidents, up front and personal, going incognito. Bottom-line? The destitute are flogged and the well-to-do are fleeced. Invariably, that is the experience one gets at the standard-bearer Office of the hallowed Citizenship Services.
2- The Opening lyrics of the National Anthem.
The honor of Citizenship is thus firmly guaranteed, begins our National anthem, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.
I would very much like to know how? I mean, this is a country which doesn’t trust its citizens just enough to issue them residency ID without paying a king’s ransom to some kebele chiefs. I mean, just look at the youth, they are fleeing the country like it is caught on fire or like one abandoning a sinking ship and would rather play Russian roulette with their life than stay at home and enjoy the ‘fruits of the honor of citizenship’. Three generations have been subjected to this never-ending humiliation, and the government wonders why. I would suggest, for starters, looking at the ICS; you may get some clues. The handpicked, freshly installed team of cadres has doubled down on the malpractice initiated by the previous avaricious cadres.
The Deputy Director of the Organization intimated that ‘citizenship service is for sale’. He went on to detail how this uniquely disgraceful system works.
It looks like if you have the money, they will dispatch a committed team to your doorstep, and you will get any kind of citizenship services while still in your PJ, sipping steaming hot coffee in the comfort of your living room.
I remember saying to myself—I assumed they were doing this behind closed doors, screened from the prying eyes of the public and law enforcement. A passport was supposed to be the Great Equalizer. I assumed that when it comes to citizenship services, a poor girl hailing from rural Arsi, wearing plastic boots and a bright flower-spotted nylon dress, is equal to an upstart tycoon driving a 30+ million birr SUV. Beware, as the old saying goes, when the former isn’t the case, Colonel Colt becomes the alternate Great Equalizer.
3-ICS: No number of regulations entitles you to sell the service!
I know regulation number 550/24 is tripping from the tongues of officials at the ICS. But this piece of legislation is superseded by the constitution. To begin with, the Organization is established as an ‘Organ of the Federal Government’. Just like the Ministry of Education or the National Institute of Metrology, the ICS isn’t allowed to generate income. Budget is allocated to the Service by the FHoPR for this purpose. The public pays taxes to defray such expenses.
The reason it isn’t allowed to generate income, among others, is to prevent it from discriminating among citizens depending on their ability to pay or otherwise.
How could members of the Council of Ministers issue such a regulation in good conscience?
Even if allowances are given to enable the Organization to charge service fees and collect reimbursement of costs, under normal circumstances, the sum collected should be credited to the accounts of FMo Finance.
Assuming it is allowed to keep it, the charges should strictly be to cover the costs and no more. However, from the rates quoted in the regulation, one can fairly conclude that the ICS is doing business. What is more, keeping a straight face, the Deputy Director said that considering the current actual market value of the birr, the cost of printing and coding a single Passport costs more than 5,000 birr. By his reckoning, the birr has lost three quarters of its previous value, which isn’t true.
4-Two Thumbs Up for Meseret Damte—the Auditor General to my knowledge, one of the few credible institutions keeping the government afloat is the Office of the Auditor General. Following its scathing report on the ICS, the public expected a major shake-up. However, there were unabashed efforts made to belittle and counter the findings of the Auditor General.
It makes me wonder why…
God bless.
You can reach the writer via estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
