By Yilma Bekele

I got home and powered my computer. First thing is first; I always check the usual Ethiopian Web sites when I get home. When you are an Ethiopian you have to do that because you never know when the other shoe is about to fall. If you haven’t noticed we are a people full of surprises, not necessarily good ones either. So here I am surfing from site to site and on ‘ethioforum.org’ I saw a report about First advisor to the PM, Member of Parliament from Wollo (poor Wollo) his Excellency Ato Bereket Smeon. Well, at least that is how we know him. You see, with these TPLF folks you never know if it is the original name or a recently acquired one. I stopped in my tracks. I knew I was in for a treat. God bless Bereket, he did not disappoint me.

Ato Bereket always in my mind evokes the picture of Mohamed Said Al-Sahaf, the Information Minister of the dearly departed (may his soul burn in hell) Saddam Hussein. The U.S. media used to refer to him as ‘Baghdad Bob.’ If you remember during Gulf War II, Mohamed was famous for detailing the havoc the Iraqi army was causing on the ‘retreating’ U.S. forces. At one point, you can see the smoke rising from the bombing in the background and Baghdad Bob was giving ultimatum to the U.S. to surrender or perish. He was a comic figure with full military uniform, a ranger hat cocked to the right, Armani glasses and a friendly smile. He made the destruction bearable.

Ato Bereket is our own ‘Baghdad Bob.’ What the heck, let us call him ‘Addis Bob.’ Before the 2005 General Elections, he was full of bravado about how the TPLF juggernaut was going to annihilate the little Kinijit and render it useless. He was so sure of his victory, the Champagne was put on Ice months before the election. During the ‘Prague Spring’ in Addis when the TPLF decided to go head on against Kinijit in the famous debates, Ato Bereket was the point man involved in the negotiations. The record shows us he miserably miscalculated. The cadres were left naked in front of the Ethiopian people. The Ethiopian people said in unison ‘enezeh nachew ye mi gezune?’ This did not deter ‘Addis Bob’ from declaring victory. This is not the first time TPLF has turned defeat into victory. Let us count the ways (just the major ones please)

o There was the time when we were told that our cousin from the North was getting ready to invade and the ‘Politburo’ was laughing and moving the Army to the Eastern Front.
o Used all foreign currency reserves to buy arms from Eastern Europe and Korea, lost over 60,000 lives on the way to Asmara. Suddenly put on the brakes and agree to arbitration.
o Hire ferenji lawyers and got taken in for a ride and loose Badame. Never mind, declare a win and break out the Ice.
o They invaded Somalia claiming they will be back in Addis for Lunch. It is past dinnertime and no sign of them. They call it getting ‘bogged down in Mogadishu’
o Declare from the top of Ras Dashen that we will join the ‘middle income countries’ in a short time and few weeks later they were seen asking for leftover due to famine caused by a failed economic policy.

You can see my excitement when I read that dear old Bereket was having a POW Wow with his minions in London. Apparently He was returning from a trip to Paris after a little disinformation campaign on the current situation or may be a shopping trip. Whatever it was, you know we paid for it.

So our esteemed ‘First Advisor’ was explaining how TPLF was able to divide and conquer Kinijit. You can read the laughable details on ‘ethioforum.org’. There was no mention of the disappeared ballots, nor the declaration of state of emergency. The cold-blooded shooting of peaceful protesters was forgotten. The imprisonment of all the top leadership of Kinijit, over 30,000 Kinijit and OLF supporters, Human Right activists, civic leaders was erased from memory.

I told you Ato Bereket was not about to disappoint us. So he flies all the way to Europe — I guess he thought we can hear him better if he was closer — to tell us this fantastic strategy devised by the topnotch TPLF brains on the plan to destroy Kinijit. After all, this illegal and criminal acts perpetuated by his government he is talking about disrupting power lines and water service. He is discussing the strategy of moderate and radical Kinijit. Makes one wonder what kind of khat he has been chewing? Poor Bereket does not get it. It is just another miscalculation and blunder by the TPLF mafia. As obvious as the war with Eritrea was ultimately lost, as certain as the invasion of Somalia is an absolute failure, so will this premature talk of victory over Kinijit. You see what is not clear to Ato Bereket is that Kinijit is not just a party. Rather, it is a movement. It is the deep hunger of the Ethiopian people for Freedom and Democracy. It is a force that cannot be defeated by conventional means. As Birtukan said ‘Kinijit is spirit’ How do you fight the ‘spirit of Kinijit’?

It is possible to attract a few weak individuals to your camp. You can pass a law giving the name Kinijit to who ever you like. You can even donate the Kinijit symbol to your good friend. But isn’t that missing the point. What about the “Kinijit Spirit” The Ethiopian people are imbued with that. The spirit of Kinijit is woven deep inside our DNA. I know this will drive you crazy. Crazy with Kinijit envy. Crazy and helpless. All that Federal Police at your calling, all that Agazi force rearing for action but this force called Kinijit cannot be conquered. The more you rile against it, the more powerful it becomes. Resistance is futile! And we are watching you. We are watching Kenya, waiting and learning. We are not going anywhere. Enjoy it now; it might be your last trip outside of Ethiopia. HR2003 is around the corner.
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The writer, Ato Yilma Bekele, can be reached at [email protected]