things under the leaders who had liberated them from colonial domination .
One thing is certain : liberation movements have tended to fall short of achieving the ambitious objectives that they set for themselves . The goals have included : democratisation of politics and respect for civil liberties ; fighting disease , poverty and ignorance , which meant building functioning health and education systems and promoting prosperity ; promoting national unity and ending all forms of marginalisation ; and recalibrating relations with external actors , particularly former colonial rulers .
Failure to achieve many or all of these objectives has usually stemmed from liberation movements having not dedicated ample time or any time at all to setting out how they were going to be pursued and achieved . Those that have achieved success or significant success are usually those which have taken seriously the tasks of defining and laying out their short- and long-term objectives and how to pursue and achieve them . Two salutary examples of liberation movements which failed to define and lay out their historical missions and build consensus around them and then pursue them with consistency and commitment , include the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement ( SPLM ), and the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire ( ADFL ), which ousted Mobutu Sese Seko from power in the then Zaire .
Another key failure of liberation movements has been to not work out post-war reconstruction strategies that included as many of their key potential adversaries as possible in decision making . Deciding what is important and what therefore should be pursued with a sense of urgency , and also what is not important , which could be pursued later , is critical . This ensures that the new elites in charge of the state remain focused on working together in pursuit of shared goals and that they are not distracted by short-term , unprincipled and narrowly-focused contestations for power by competing factions .
Three examples of liberation movements which have been rather successful in these respects , admittedly to varying degrees , are the usually maligned Rwandan Patriotic Front ( RPF ), the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front ( EPLF , now PFDJ ) and the now beleaguered Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front ( TPLF ). Post-war , and again to varying degree of consistency and success , all three movements set out to focus on the plight of the ordinary person plagued by poverty , disease and ignorance and do what was necessary to address this triple challenge . Tufts University scholar Alex de Waal has written compellingly about the amount of time the TPLF / EPRDF spent , during the war of liberation , on discussing the issue of how to tackle poverty among the peasantry in Ethiopia . There is also some evidence that both the EPLF and the RPF spent time examining what needed to be done to achieve prosperity and social justice for all . They have not achieved roaring success by way of eliminating poverty . However , in terms of remaining focused on the issue and lifting large numbers of people out of poverty , all three movements have been successful .
Clearly , on the issue of national unity , there are strong indications now , that the TPLF / EPRDF ’ s solution of choice , ethnic federalism , could have been a mistake . For the RPF and the EPLF / PFDJ , however , there is ample evidence that much progress has been made , with lots of room left for more . Three decades down the road for one ( PFDJ ) and almost 3 decades on for the other ( RPF ) both movements continue to hold their respective countries together amidst greater internal unity than was the case prior to their ascendance to power . For the EPLF / PFDJ , decisive military triumph over its rivals and its subsequent enjoyment of total dominance has been an important factor preventing disruptions to unity and stability which in other countries spring from elite fragmentation . The RPF has achieved remarkable success at selling its vision to political groups which , under a conventional multi-party system , would have been actively seeking to replace it at the helm . Today , thanks to a post-war political system built on consensus about what kind of country Rwanda should become , Rwanda is more united and significantly insulated against internally-generated upheaval , thanks to inclusion , than it ever was during its first 30 years of independence .
In terms of recalibrating relationships with former colonial powers and dominant actors on the international scene , again the three movements have achieved varying degrees of successes . In Eritrea , the PFDJ has been uncompromising , some would say to the extreme , in its pursuit of self-reliance and autonomy in decision-making . EPRDF / TPLF-led Ethiopia was
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