Awramba Times, an Amharic language weekly newspaper that is published in Addis Ababa, has extensive coverage of Ginbot 7 Secretary General Andargachew Tisge’s recent visit to Eritrea. The paper, relying on its own sources, reports that Ato Andargachew’s visit includes a meeting with Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki. Ginbot 7 Chairman Berhanu Nega denies such a meeting has taken place, in an interview with Ato Abebe Belew of Addis Dimts Radio (click here to listen – May 31st program), but explains that a Ginbot 7 delegation has been in Eritrea recently to receive soldiers who have defected from the Woyanne army.
Click here to read the report by Awramba Times [pdf, Amhairc].
Ginbot’s mission to Eritrea was a shock to the Woyanne junta and the Tigrean supremacy elite. They were confident that the $40-million propaganda bombardment was working in discouraging such a rapprochement by an Ethiopian political organization such as Ginbot 7 with the Government of Eritrea. Bereket Simon, the Woyanne propaganda chief, may lose his job over this. Such a move is one more nail in the Woyanne coffin.
Those who oppose Ginbot 7’s cooperation with Eritrea are either:
1) Woyannes, or
2) Victims of Woyanne propaganda, or
3) Tigrean supremacists who want to replace Meles but keep Woyanne in power, or
4) Those who serve Woyanne for crumbs (hodams).
This is the time for political leaders to lead, not to follow. It is the time to march forward, not to look left and right. It is the time to be one step ahead of Woyanne, not react to what it does.
32 thoughts on “Awramba Times reports about Ginbot 7’s mission to Eritrea”
The PDF file is null. please upload it again. thanks
Those who oppose Ginbot 7’s cooperation with Eritrea are either:
1) Woyannes, or
2) Victims of Woyanne propaganda, or
3) Tigrean supremacists who want to replace Meles but keep Woyanne in power, or
4) Those who serve Woyanne for crumbs (hodams).
I know you will never post this comment. Yet it is enough atleast you read it.
Elias you are arrogant and always believe you are always right. I am mebmber of Ginbot 7, but even me, i don’t have the right to say you are “hodam” if you oppose G7. But you, Elias, you are naive and unmature.
where is the pdf (awramba times)?
“This is the time for political leaders to lead, not to follow.” 100000% true! G7 leaders don’t have to wait for hodams reaction on working with Eritrea. What we want is not only remove Meles but expel the whole WEGENye, WEGENye drivel. I appeal to all my fellow Ethiopian brothers to delete the word WEGENye from the vocabulary and get united to lead the historic land of kings to the high level. What for other option do we have to remove the Weyane, we have tried all options except one i.e. Eritrea.
How about dogs who enjoy barking but never bite. There is no hell on earth you get to move the TPLF out without the help from Eritrea. It is that simple.
Dear Elias:
Sending a delegation to Eritrea is a big step for Ginbot 7. Hopefully they build on this positive development.
Elias, you don’t have to post this, you just have to read it. I know you and your eritrean scums are dying to get your hands on ethiopian mar ena wetet, but trust me, life means life. you will never touch ethiopia. it’s a dead case!
We Ethiopian are victims of woyanne propaganda. Working with Eritrea is the solution.
I agree to 100% with you ER. Ethiopia and Eritrea need to cooperate to get rig of the Weyanne junta. We shall triumph.
#2 i can’t understand your point but if you are amember of Ginbot 7 go to ethiopia fight your enemies and take your party with you other wise you are obstacle.
You should allow experienced people to share their opinion on the advantage and disadvantage of working with Isayas. Advise (not force or insult) oppositions on what you thought good. Please cool down Elias. Though you are eager to see the death of weyane, remember that this struggle can’t be won within one day as you wish. SO PLEASE BE SHREWD POLITICIAN (Journalist if you like it).
Elias,
nice to see that Eritreans and Ethiopians are cooperating. But don’t forget the Oromia factor, if you really want to promote regional Integration of Ethiopia/HoAfrica or continwental integration of Africa. Anyways the common ground/purpose for our UNITY must be an attempt of forging Independent Oromia, Independent Tigrai, Independent Amhara…etc in an Integrated Africa. That meanse we need to forge Independent Oromia in an Integrated Africa with Finfinne being the capital of both Oromia and Africa. Oromia being at the center, all languages (nations) in Africa can forge their mononational or multinational states. Africa will be the Language based Federation (Union) of these states with national freedom. Then we can ask the question: which level politician are we? Continental? National? Provincial? District? or Local?
The reason why we dare to ask this question is the following. We nations in Africa suffer from conflicts based on colonial borders and because of disregarding national rights as some thing “ethnic”. This desigantion “ethnic” instead of nation/nationality/people is used by both European colonizers and their puppet African colonizers aka Abyssinians. In reality Africa was borderless, all being called as Ethiopia (meanse black faced in Greek) or Sudan (also meanse black faced in Arab), both refer to land of blacks. It is true all of Africa is land of blacks.
To tackle the problems of nations in Africa and to deal with the present global challenge, Africans are trying to come together and forge an AUG (African Union Government). We are looking at USA or EU as an example. But both can not be good examples. USA is the melting pot for all nations around the world migrating to America and learning english. EU is the Union of well developed and independent mono-national-states, all with their own respective languages good developed and used.
Africa can be neither a melting pot nor a union of well developed only mono-national-states. The nations in Africa are diverse in development and size. What is good for Africa is to build a union (federation) with autonomous national areas for all nations aka “ethnies”.
Based on their size and development, some nations can forge mono-national-state like Oromia. The others, which are too small to have their own state can forge multi-national-state like SNNP of Ethiopia, with all nations having their own Province/Zone, District/Wereda or Community/Qebele as autonomous natonal areas based on their size. Relatively bigger nations like Sidama can have their own autonomous Province, nations smaller than this like Alaba can have autonomous District and the smallest nations like Dorze can have their own Community. Based on their geographical position, certain small nations like Agew and Harari can join the bigger neighbour nations like Amhara or Oromia, but have their own autonomy, be it as province, district or community. Such 5 tier organization (African Federation — Mono-/Multinational States — Mono-/Multinational Provinces — Mono-/Multionational Districts and Mono-/Multinational Communities) is the best way of adiministrative Organization for Africa.
In Short Ethiopian model can be used as that of African, just changing its fake status under Weyane to a very genuine one, for which OLF and the likes are struggling!! Then we will have not only an Integrated region named Ethiopia/HoAfrica, but also an Integrated continent Africa build on the center called Oromia with Finfinne as a capital. The only question we people need to ask our selves is that, at which level are we thinking, talking and walking when we try to deal with politics?? Language Based Federalism (LBF), rather than Geography Based Federalism (GBF)which you seem to support, is the panacea for regional integration of Ethiopia/HoAfrica and continental integration of Africa.
Those of us Ethiopians who believe Ethiopians and Eritreans are one volk (people) then why are we bothered if the contacts among Eritreans and Ethiopians is restored. There is a clear understanding now among ourselves except Woyane clique and its lackeys. “In time of prosperity friends are plenty, in time of adversity no one amongst twenty.” Now, the Eritrean govt. under the leadership of Pres. Isaias has shown serious concern about the situation of Ethiopia in the last eighteen years. He is as equally concerned as most Ethiopians about our destiny. So to work hand in hand with Eritrean govt. and its people is the best choice to remove this sadist, rogue ruling Woyane clique from power by any means. Viva the friendship between Ethiopia & Eritrea
One thing we learn from the entire issue of Eritrea is that the Weyanes are very furious when it comes with the relationship between G7 and Eritrea. Soon after Elias went to Asmara All Weyane dogs are barking because they fear that this is the true relationship between Eritrean people and Ethiopian people and the beginning of the end of Weyanes. In order to survive, the Weyanes are kept the two people apart with added propaganda that is Shabia this Shabia that. Now thanks to Brother Elias the wall between us is open and the relationship between the two people will be that the sky will be the limit. I have one question to every body how come the Weyanes after the wall Ethi- Eri was opened by brother Elias and now in the sadden they try to be a friends of Eritreans by try to give them back the money the weyane staled 10 years ago but the Eritrean people will never fall for this because not only they staled their money they separated people. In Ethiopian history every Eritrean knows let alone Haile Slassie Mengustu Halemariiam have not done this shame act single a person because of that persons ethnicity. It is a shame this racist Weyane split a family because his father or his mother has Eritrean ethnicity. To Weyane splitting family cost more than stealing money because the damage is done you can’t reverse that. Finally I am glad that the government of Eritrea believes on one united strong Ethiopia I will ask President Isayas one favor is that to help united all Ethiopian opposition to one big FRONT for the benefit of united and strong Ethiopia. Weyane Eritrean and Ethiopian people relationship is clear like a water we never have to sill and try to give it back unlike the Weyane Ethiopian people are “ CHEWA HIZB NEW” Brother Elias your name will be in the history book of Ethiopia and Eritrea for years to come . Peace Ethio- Erin People Go G7.
Elias, you have brought two brotherly people together. There is no need to beat around the bush about this matter anymore. What is needed is a bold move that turns the issue into a non-issue. Ginbot 7 should not shy away from fully collaborating with Eritrea to bring an end to this woyane nuisance. The woyane are just too irritating and too much of a nuisance to be allowed to stay in power even a single extra day
If G7s are really series about a change in Ethiopia, they have to work with the Eritrean people and the Eritrean Government. If they want us take them seriously, they have to have an armed group like EPPF. All inclusive struggle minus army is equal to zero. Victory is a result of arduous struggle and sacrifice. To form an alliance with the other political groups, G7 has to go to the bushes and mountains of Ethiopia via Eritrea because there is no other way of entry.
Elias a while back you have encountered fearmongers, wolves in a sheep skin when you nominated PIA for a man of the year. Back then I said “what a gut.” Still do and… to those who ever think Gonbot 7 will achieve its goal from US or Europe are sick, hodam or TPLF thugs or if not, fools. Ginbot 7 is floating and need to put its feet on the ground. The ground is Eritrea, no more no less. As PIA said ‘there is cooperation going on on the ground’. Ginbot 7, the organization with only one purpose for its existence, that is, to organize resistance groups in one united front against TPLF, isn’t it supposed to be stationed where the action is. What is the end result Ginbot 7 being in the WEST. And if you think you support Ginbot 7 and oppose the Eritrean Government, you better think twice why you support G7 in the first place. Eritrea is the best and logical choice. It is not Elias’s arrogance. It is the fact on the ground he observed. Go G7
Regards!
This is a good news, our people are going to get the chance to remove Woyane from power and from Ethiopia.
Ogina,
Your way of thinking is so primitive. I just want to remind you that people are forging this alliance to fight your kind of thinking.
The Eritreans have historical responsibility to help Ethiopians get rid of this mafia group, since they are the ones who installed them in the first place against the wishes of the people.
To: #2 Asayew
If by any chance you are a member of “Ginbot 7” as you claim, God forbid we are in trouble. “Asayew” – you are an ignorant, illiterate woyane masquerading as Ginbot 7 member! Go back to “Ethiomedia” or “Aigaforum” where you belong!!!
Vision,
don’t think that you get rid of Oromo question just by labeling my view as primitive. You like it or not the cooperation of Eritrea with Ethiopia at the expence of Oromia will be doomed to fail. The only lasting integration of the Horn/Ethiopia can happen only by respecting the right of Oromos to self-determination. Only feassible fact is an integration of independent Oromia, Amhara, Tigrai, Eritrea, Somalia…etc. You either live with this fact or you better kill your self!!!
I couldn’t stop laughing when I was reading the weyane in sheep cloth in comment #2.
First & foremost, he doesn’t make sense.
secondly, he is esist weyane ebab trying to mingle here as G7 member or in his word G7 mebmber.
Last but not least, this weyane clown calling Elias ‘unmature’. He must have been refering to his Malelit-weyaneyawi dictionary to write ‘unmature’ instead of immature.
It only reveals his immaturity.
Ydweyane qelet mechem mabqeya yelewim.
Elias:
We Ginbot 7 supporters do not want you to write about our party. We don’t need your support. Don’t you get it? Stay away from Ginbot 7!
Jemberu I think Jemberwa telkabhe alech. You said we. Who are to say we. Get a life. Elias is working day and night for the common good. It is hard to some boneheads to understand.
እናንተ ስልጣን ላይ ብትወጡ እነ ደደቢት እገባለሁ
ኤልያስ!
ወደ ኤርትራ በመጓዝ የሰራኸው ስራ የሚመሰገን ነው። ግንቦት 7 ቁርጠኛነት ይጠበቅበታል። ወያኔን የሚልስ በግ አይደለም የምንፈልገው። የሚናከስ ጥርስ እንሆን ዘንድ ተጠይቀናል። ቲማቲም እየወረወርን ትግል የለም። በቂ ቲማቲም ወርውረናል። ትግሉ ከቲማቲምና ከእንቁላል ከፍ ማለት አለበት። ድንች ማለቴ አይደለም። ቦምብ! ፈንጂ! ይሄ ነው ጥያቄው!!!!!!!!!
It is not difficalt to judge the ability and willingnes of President Issayas afework to words forming good Governance and democracy in Ethiopia as he did his home work in Eritrea.What I wonder is why we Ethiopians could not learn our lessons?
To #21 & #22
Guys! My comment is with regard to Elias statement stating
“Those who oppose Ginbot 7’s cooperation with Eritrea are Hodams and so on……..”
We shouldn’t insult or intimidate others with different views from us. Otherwise we are the same as weyane. Let them tell us why they are opposing our idea. ER should entertain different views and we can learn from different ideas.
For #21 & #22, you are much arrogant & silly than those weyanes. Persons like you always see those people with different view as enemy. Amazing. Me, i fill sick when ever i thought about weyane and asinine peoples like Namara & Tsere-Esist who are fast to attack any one with different view and lebel them as weyane. You guys didn’t even read what my comment is. My comment is to elias not to insult others. We shouldn’t encourage Elias when he say “If you oppose this you are HODAM and so on”.
May God Bless our Ginbot7 leaders and gave them the wisdom to lead us in the struggle not only to oust Weyane but also to bring democracy & prospority to our mama Ethiopia.
Ethiopia hopes for a better future!
Issayas Afeworki, the hope of Eritrea, is also the hope of Ethiopia.
Eritrea’s genuine wishes to be free from Ethiopia and establish its own government has been fulfilled through its determined, honest and courageous hero, Issayas Afeworki.
We know Eritrea and Ethiopia are still two beloved sisters separated from each other by one ruthless enemy, and that greedy, swindler, and an evil eye (Buda) person is no one else but Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi) who planted enmity between the two sisters before and after the separation of the two.
As he is one of our bloods and flesh, Issayas Afeworki has an obligation to restore the peace, bury the differences, open the boarders and establish the rule of law in Ethiopia. We need his help, not the help of the United States to liberate us from this tyrannical Meles Seitanawi who sold out some of our fertile lands to the Sudanese, and who is selling more farm lands to the Arabs and to the Chinese without the consent of the Ethiopian people.
If we are giving the Arabs and the Chinese hundreds of acres of our farmlands, why are we so greedy that we have refused to give Badime to our sister Eritrea? When are we going to be matured or grown up and think logically?
Issayas Afeworki is ready to give us whatever help we need to get rid of our contagious diseases – Meles Seitanawi. We thought for a while we were free from such diseases when Mengistu Haile Mariam left Ethiopia, but that disease has now become, not only contagious, but a cancerous one, and Meles Seitanawi is very comfortable to be the unquestionable leader of a weak nation, a nation whose people have been devastated by diseases, famine, boarder conflicts, and more than these they have been prohibited from owning their own ancestral lands.
Their defenders, their voices, and their educated daughters and sons are living in exile or in the diaspora, and one of their defenders, Elias Kifle, has now given them a stepping stone to move from their worst present conditions to a better, brighter, and achievable future, and that stepping stone is Issayas Afeworki.
Eritrea as the only sister of Ethiopia, feels the pains and the sufferings of Ethiopia; Eritrea cannot sleep peacefully while her sister Ethiopia is crying day and night bitterly for help because of her excruciating pain – Meles Seitanawi. It is, in fact, immoral for Issayas Afeworki to ignore Ethiopia’s disturbing pain.
As his recent interview with Elias Kifle and Sileshi Tilahun indicates, Issayas Afeworki is not ignoring Ethiopia’s pain; in reality, he has been helping all those organizations inside and outside of Ethiopia to bring a quick recovery to the ailing sister of Eritrea – Ethiopia – and at that a lasting one.
As Issayas Afeworki is doing his best for the Ethiopian people, we Ethiopians also must accept him as one of our brothers, as one of our Ethiopian patriots, and as one of our liberators from the oppressive Woyanne regime.
As it is immoral for Issayas Afeworki not to help Ethiopia, it is also immoral for us Ethiopians not to accept him as a strong, peace-loving, and considerate leader in the modern histories of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, and other neighboring countries do not understand our problems, even if they do, we are not linguistically, culturally, and traditionally related to them as much as we are to our sister country, Eritrea, so our true help must come from our blood and our flesh – the people of Eritrea.
Perhaps, the two leaders, Issayas Afeworki (golden mouth or Chrysostom) and Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi) may have irreconcilable differences about many personal issues we the common people do not know at this particular time; however, the people of Ethiopia and the people of Eritrea do not have any deeper vendetta that cannot be solved easily and timely without shading anyone’s blood on the ground.
What the Ethiopian people want from Eritrea is not Mesewa or Aseb but something better, bigger, and deeper than the ports of Mesewa and Aseb, i.e., a meaningful and a lasting friendship that ties the two sovereign nations together forever and ever – a friendship that says: “Your property is my property, and my property is your property; my people are your people, and your people are my people. If an enemy attacks me, you will attack my enemy, and if that enemy attacks you, I will attack him. Your suffering is my suffering, and your joy is my joy. Your victory is my victory, and your defeat is my defeat.”
Once the two countries have covenanted themselves as friends and allies, no foreign enemy will ever dare to cross their boundaries and attack them, but if one of them breaks the covenant, then they both will be exposed to any foreign enemy to be attacked easily.
Only aggressive leaders such as Meles Seitanawi and others may break a covenant entered by oaths in the presence of the Almighty God. I’m sure Meles Seitanawi had entered before he entered Addis Ababa a solemn covenant with Essayas Afeworki to govern Ethiopia according to the rule of law that defies ethnicity and tribalism; however, Meles, a lawless leader, has broken that covenant and has gone beyond the breaking of that earthly covenant as he is now breaking the bones and hearts of the Ethiopian people by sending their boys and girls into Kaliti Jail without any charge of any crime.
Helpless Somalia has lived for about twenty years without a functioning government, but Ethiopia has also lived for eighteen years under illegitimate government – a government detested by the majority of the Ethiopian people.
What is holding down the Ethiopian people from carrying arms and rebelling against their hated government is not the power of Meles’ army; rather it is the power of ethnicity in the army and in all parts of the country. This is the weapon Meles Seitanawi has been using for all these years just to stay in power and enjoy the fruits of the land farmed and gathered by the Ethiopian poor peasants.
His tactics of holding down the Ethiopian people has been widely known by the best friend of Ethiopia, Issayas Afeworki, and that is why he accepted the interview by Elias Kifle and Sileshi Tilahun to tell to the Ethiopian people and reveal the evil motives of Meles Seitanawi.
In those remarkable interviews, President Issayas Afeworki has made it clear that he has no intention whatsoever to invade Ethiopia and take some parts of Ethiopia as Meles Seitanawi took Wolkait-Tegedie and some other parts of Wollo region and gave those fertile lands to Tigray Abay based on the theory or doctrine of irredentism.
My fellow Ethiopians, believe me, Issayas Afeworki is not Meles Seitanawi, and Meles Seitanawi is not Issayas Afeworki either. The first one is a man of principle, order, peace, stability, and a bright vision; the latter one is a man of division, doubts, chaos, shenanigan, and abnormal behavior. Let us follow the man of peace rather than the man of war and
division.
We either “sink or swim” together!
Dear Ogina #12:
You have expressed to Elias Kifle that you are happy that “Eritreans and Ethiopians are cooperating.” Then, you have tried to remind Elias not to forget “the Oromia factor” if Elias actually wants “to promote regional integration of Ethiopia….”
First of all, Oromia has been part of Ethiopia for centuries, and when we speak about Ethiopia, we are speaking about all the Ethiopian regions, including Oromia as part of Ethiopia.
Your statement – “Eritreans and Ethiopians are cooperating”- seems to me you are suggesting that Oromia is not part of Ethiopia.
My question to you is why do you intend to fragment Ethiopia into several broken pieces; then try to pick up each piece, mend one piece as a whole, after that create many wholes, and then making the many small wholes into one gigantic whole?
To your ill-conceived-plan, each region claims its independence; then the conflict between each independent region will be endless, each region claiming a piece of land from the other neighboring independent region. Or each region advocates certain areas belong to it because the people at its border speak the same language, have the same culture and tradition. To take your idea a little bit farther, each independent region, suspicious of being attacked by its neighbor, my ally itself with China or other foreign countries and attack its neighbor. This will be a catastrophe for all independent regions in Ethiopia.
We know for quite sometime the Oromos, changing the name Addis Ababa to finfinne as their capital city and Oromia as the center of Africa, want to secede from Ethiopia because they boast they are the majorities, or because they hate the Amharas and the Tigreans. As to taking Addis Ababa as their capital city and driving out the Amharas, the Tigreans, and the other tribes from finfinne is unachievable dream; it is like the Palestinian dream to claim East Jerusalem as their perpetual capital city. The Palestinians may achieve their dream, but the Oromos never; if they do, it will be on our dead bodies!
In my view, your political thinking will bring Ethiopia the fate of Yugoslavia after Marshal Tito, President of Yugoslavia, died in 1980.
I don’t want to see such fragmentations happen to Ethiopia, if it does, the Oromos will be the great losers. Their unity will never be realized as far as Addis Ababa is the capital city of the Amhara or the Tigrean people. So, before you dream about a United State of Africa, you must first believe in a united Ethiopia. Do not try to break the unity of Ethiopia built by the blood of the Amhara and the Tigrean people. Stay in Ethiopia and have peace!
those of you talking about Oromia..let me tell you the fact Oromia means ethiopia and u can never separate the hand and the fingers..just shut up and cry for the true democracy and justice for all