However, I refuse to take a side in this, even if it is often in our human nature to do so. Yet, if I have to take a side, I take the side of the Ethiopian public. For their sake, I am calling on you Kinijit leaders to reconcile and to resolve this problem within Kinijit and then to reach out to others. I ask you to do this for the sake of those who lost their loved ones whose killers still walk free, for those begging on the streets, for the young child who is selling her body on the street because she has nothing to eat, for the sake of the Ethiopians who are burying their dead children because of water-born diseases. For the sake of the Ethiopian children who are raising their siblings because their parents have been taken away from HIV/AIDS, for the sake of the Ethiopian children in the orphanages who have no chance of surviving except by being taken away for adoption to a western country where they will never know their culture and I ask you to do this for the sake of the Ethiopians who will die on the road as they run away, trying to find an opportunity somewhere else. Because of all these things affecting our people, I call on you to find a solution to the inner problems of Kinijit and then call us others to all work together. For the sake of these people, we have to find a way. There is no other humane choice for the people of Ethiopia.

The Kinijit has created an atmosphere of change and you should not help kill it now. People who died in the streets of Addis and throughout the country, died because they wanted change, but the reasons for which they died still remain and in fact have worsened. We should not allow them to die in vain. The seed you planted has become a tree and that tree is taller and bigger than yourselves, thanks to the sun, the rain and the soil given through the contributions of others and through God’s help. The shade of this tree is now protecting the people and the fruit is nourishing the people.

Because of this, I am compelled to preserve this tree by telling you how I believe it must be maintained. That means it is my duty to tell you what I think regardless if you or others disagree with me. If there is something that I have said that has hurt or offended you, please forgive me — my intention is to help bring about a solution to this crisis. I am not saying I am correct or perfect, but I must speak truthfully and openly about how I see it or my words will be empty and meaningless. Therefore, discard what you want and use what you can, but foremost, let the discussion begin. I must do this because what happens in the next days, weeks and months will either positively or negatively affect all of us and I want to see us all
succeed together.

First, let us recognize that the problem in the Kinijit leadership is obvious to everyone. As one my friend from New York who called me said, “We, the Abasha, (or the highlanders) are very good in pretending there is no elephant in the room, but everyone knows there is a problem within the Kinijit right now and if you look, it seems like no one is doing anything about it.” Instead, what is happening is that some people are quietly taking sides with one or the other, but for me, I am not taking sides. I want the success of the Kinijit. I do not want the Kinijit to split in two, but instead to broaden its scope to become, not a larger political party, but instead to reach out to all Ethiopian groups to form a united national movement for a better Ethiopia. In doing that, I take the side of the Ethiopian public and not one or the other particular side within the Kinijit.

As it looks from the outside, both sides may have done something wrong or may have not done enough to correct the problem. In doing so, you are sending the Ethiopian public very confusing messages about your internal state of affairs, one message with words and another contradictory message by your actions or lack of actions. This problem started over a year ago over leadership and financial accountability. This damaged the momentum of the struggle and must be resolved. Ethiopian people hoped that when you were released, that you would address this problem and solve it once and for all, but it seems to be worsening instead. People have started wondering if this division originated from within the prison, even
though it first appeared to originate on the outside…continued on next page >>