The U.S. Gov’t went to “the end of the earth” to find a kill bin Laden, a monster who murdered 3,000 of its citizens. When Joe Biden, at the Democratic Convention this evening, presented the killing of bin Laden as one of the Obama Administration’s major accomplishments, the 20,000 people in the hall responded with roars and cheers. Here is what he said:
In 2008, Barack Obama made a promise to the American people. He said, “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights, we will take him out. That has to be our biggest national security priority.” Barack understood that the search for bin Laden was about a lot more than taking a monstrous leader off the battlefield. It was about righting an unspeakable wrong, healing a nearly unbearable wound in America’s heart. He also knew the message we had to send to terrorists around the world—if you attack innocent Americans, we will follow you to the ends of the earth.
Obama and Biden hunted down and killed a terrorist, but they turn around and send a pompous ‘ambassador’ to Ethiopia to praise and glorify another terrorist, Meles Zenawi, who slaughtered 100 times more innocent people in Ethiopia. We Ethiopians are suffering from an “unbearable wound” that has been inflicted upon us by a monstrous dictator who was financed by the Obama-Biden Administration to the tune of billions of dollars.
Joe Biden, you are the worst type of hypocrite! Your and Obama’s hypocrisy is causing bloodshed and misery in another part of the world.
The ruling junta in Ethiopia, Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), is preparing to replace the late dictator Meles Zenawi. However, there seems to be no clear choice so far, as the various factions within TPLF vie for control. According to Wikileaks, in a previous TPLF election, Meles Zenawi had lost to Arkebe Equbay, but Arkebe reportedly declined the chairmanship for fear of disunity. Two years later, Meles purged him from the TPLF politburo. Could the TPLF central committee reelect Arkebe now? Read the Wikileaks file here.
Mr. Obang Metho encourages Ethiopians to not be discouraged by the fictionalized legacy of Meles because any government that stages the mourning for its deceased leader is a government in trouble. It is a sign of internal and external weakness and marks the beginning of the end of a dictatorship. The people of Ethiopia should take hold of this opportunity to demand intellectual freedom, rights, justice and a peoples’ government.
My fellow Ethiopians,
Our difficult journey together with Meles at the helm is over. The official TPLF-controlled mourning for him has ended. Many of you may be worried about the unknown direction of our country following Meles’ death, the infighting among the TPLF insiders for power and the absence of a strong alternative on the ground. There is an answer and it involves you at the grassroots.
We now need the people of Ethiopia, many of whom have not previously been involved, to take ownership of the direction we take as a people, like has been done successfully in other countries like Benin, Ghana, Zambia and South Africa, in order to ensure that our people—the primary stakeholders of Ethiopia—are controlling and managing our country’s transition from dictatorship to a free and democratic Ethiopia.
Together we begin a new day; yet, most of us are still reeling from the shock of how Meles’ brutal authoritarian legacy was publically portrayed so glowingly by both insiders and foreigners. What did we expect other than a charade? Probably nothing marked the Meles era more than its creation of a “sham Ethiopia” through pervasive intellectual dishonesty and the destruction of the people and the watchdog institutions meant to challenge it.After this week’s extreme measures to give the pretense that Meles was loved by the people—when he so brutally tyrannized them—should make us, the people, all the more determined to dismantle the foundational pillar of his and other dictatorships—intellectual tyranny. If we do not want to “live a lie,” each of us must start speaking the truth today—it is a powerful weapon against an evil system.
The famous Czech dissident, Vaclav Havel, who later became the country’s first president, wrote in his essay, “The Power of the Powerless,” how the “crust presented by the life of lies is made of strange stuff. As long as it seals off hermetically the entire society, it appears to be made of stone.… [until] a single person breaks the rules of the game, thus exposing it as a game—everything suddenly appears in another light and the whole crust seems then to be made of a tissue on the point of tearing and disintegrating uncontrollably.”
Meles feared intellectual freedom above all threats and waged an unceasing war against it; using his abilities to ruthlessly and systematically attack it from every possible angle. He was effective. It therefore should not surprise us that some of those eulogizing him created an “imaginary” Meles that none of us knew. Meles was a master illusionist, able to persuade or intimidate many to his point of view, carefully “managing” any facts—or voices—from the ground that might “interfere” with achieving his objectives. This was a man who cared so greatly about his image that he brought the “art of deception to a new level.” No wonder his funeral and now his legacy are being so highly staged. The fact that the bogus mourning of Ethiopians could only be accomplished through intimidation, bribery and force is only further evidence of this manufactured legacy.
As many of our people were forced to cry or to come out to publically mourn his passing, I hear the bitter irony in the stories of some of them. For example, one of those forced to publically weep for Meles was an Anuak mother from Gambella whose son was a victim of the Anuak genocide. As you may recall, the plans for the genocide, called “Operation Sunny Mountain,” began in the presence of Meles in his own office, according to official documents. The local government prevented this mother and others who had lost loved ones from an outward display of sorrow at the time as well as at memorial services as it would have cast a negative light on the regime. When recently ordered to cry for Meles, this mother refused. She said, “I could not cry when my own son was murdered by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces; why would I cry for the man who was in charge of the defense forces?”
In Meles’ fictional Ethiopia—a falsified Ethiopia controlled by a narrow-minded, ethno-centric model of nations and nationalities that denied the people their rights based on ethnicity, rather recognizing their rights based on their humanity—Meles was called a visionary leader and a champion of the poor. Admittedly, some did benefit, particularly those beneficiaries from his own minority ethnic group—7 % of the population—and his own region as well as those chosen as demonstration sites funded by international donors; but outside of these, many Ethiopians are worse off as they have been neglected; or worse yet, they have lost their land and livelihoods to regime cronies and their foreign partners.
Had many Ethiopians truly been better off because of Meles, Ethiopians would have honestly wept for him without coercion. Those in government jobs and those students attending government schools would have freely mourned rather than been forced to do so on the streets of Addis. Even patients in hospitals were forced from their beds out to the streets. Security agents would not have made lists of people required to cry on the streets if these people would have truly benefited from Meles’ policies.
Others would not have been beaten when they resisted, like the political prisoner who refused to cry inside prison before the cameras of the government-controlled Ethiopian Television station. To the outsider, it may look like Meles had a popular following, but to insiders, it was a demonstration reminiscent of the mourning for North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il last December. Deception has been a tool of the government and must be exposed.
Meles has won the war against intellectual freedom while he lived. Just because he is gone does not mean that the system that promoted and maintained false delusions is gone. The structures supporting this dictatorship—like intellectual dishonesty—must be dismantled and reformed or the movement to freedom and democracy of the people will be hijacked.
The national crisis in our homeland is not only about one ethnic group, one religious group, one regional group or one political group. For millions of Ethiopians living within the country, every new day brings the harsh realities of life under a system of dictatorship, but today, as never before during this regime, we have an opportunity. The dictator is gone and the system of dictatorship remains, but please understands this very clearly; the system requires the cooperation of millions of Ethiopians to sustain it. Do not do it.
We have an opportunity before us and if we are ever to see a free and democratic Ethiopia, we must seize what may be our God-given moment to reclaim ownership of our country. We the people of Ethiopia can join together, wherever we are, in restoring truth to our land as the cornerstone of a free society.
When the SMNE was formed in 2008, we envisioned a mission where Ethiopians would not be separated by ethnicity, but where we might all come together by individually and collectively doing our share to solve our common problems as one people and as one family—an Ethiopian family—for we are people who come from the same land, who breath the same air and who have the same thirst for freedom. We have now lived under a dictatorship for forty years and it has brought us to a dead end.
We in the SMNE, along with others, can work on a vision and plan for the country, but without the backing of the people, even Mandela could not lead. Only a force of Ethiopians, demanding their God-given rights by making noise in the public square, will give voice to the people and provide the legitimacy and authority needed for change.It will take a pluralistic voice of all Ethiopians—from every part of our country, from every ethnic group, religious group, and political group—to be heard.
Start by reconciling with your neighbor. Take his or her hand in yours as together we move forward to replace a dictatorial system with a free and democratic Ethiopia. Speak the truth! Expose the lies! Dismantle the criminalization of free speech! Be the single person who breaks the rules of the game! This applies to all Ethiopians, including the TPLF and EPRDF members, not only those opposed to Meles. It includes those who glorified him and who maintained his ethnic-based-apartheid system; for this system is coming to an end.
We hear the rumblings of the shaken unity of the TPLF/EPRDF from within and know its foundation is crumbling. It is a matter of time before it will collapse. It is like the African tree which only bears such bitter fruit that no one eats it—even the wild animals and birds. Yet, its fruit is so heavy that its weight can break its own branches and bring down the whole tree. The fruit of the tree brings its own destruction by itself. In other words, the sham policies of the TPLF have produced bitter fruit the majority of Ethiopians does not want and its infighting and rejection by the people will soon bring it down by itself.
Now, the TPLF central committee officials are trying to avoid their demise by refusing to give over power to those outside their own ethnic group. This is seen in their reluctance to appoint Hailemariam Desalegn, the Acting Deputy Prime Minister, as interim prime minister or by even refusing to call him acting prime minister. He is from the wrong tribe and therefore is not trusted by the TPLF inner circle. Meles put him into this position give the charade of diverse ethnic governance for public view, but it is now backfiring on the TPLF.
In conclusion, the TPLF/EPRDF has reached a dead end and has nowhere to go and now the only driver who knew how to quickly maneuver the ethnic train from impending destruction is gone. The collision of the ethnic train with the will of the people is imminent. The only way to rescue Ethiopians, including the TPLF/ERPDF supporters, is through reconciliation and the restoration of intellectual freedom and justice based on mutually beneficial interests.
The SMNE has been working behind the scenes to play a collaborative role in a meaningful people-empowered process to make sure that easy short-cuts do not hijack a movement to a transformed and reformed Ethiopian society.
May God help us, give us courage and protection, and be honored in all we do. May He show us the right road to truth, freedom, justice and reconciliation!
Ethiopia’s ruling junta, EPRDF (a coalition composed of TPLF, OPDO, ANDM, and SEPDM), is engulfed in leadership crisis after it failed to agree on a new chairman in the wake of Meles Zenawi’s death.
Meles died without putting in place a succession plan, and as a result the ruling junta is facing disintegration, according to observers.
OPDO, ANDM and SEPDM are backing the current acting prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn to assume both the chairmanship of EPRDF and the prime minister’s position, but the TPLF seems to be having a second thought.
The junta has scheduled another executive committee meeting for next week, allowing TPLF time to elect a new chairman. TPLF leaders are hoping that their new chairman will also become the EPRDF chairman.
The state-run ETV reported (watch below) that the EPRDF meeting focused on the regime’s “growth and transformation plan” (GTP), but what really happened in the meeting was a heated debate on the late dictator’s replacement. It is OPDO-ANDM-SEPDM vs. TPLF, but there seems to be a disagreement even among the TPLF, with Berhane Gebrekristos and Tedros Adhanom leaning toward Hailemariam.
Propaganda chief Bereket Simon and ANDM member, who is now the most senior member of the junta, appears to be playing a dominant role in the EPRDF. He is also fully backing Hailemariam.
An Ethiopian with election envy. By Yilma Bekele
The US is getting ready for presidential elections. 2012 will be the 57th time elections have taken place. The first election was held in 1788 and there were five contestants and it was won by George Washington. Barack Obama is the 44th President. The Republican Party held its convention a week ago and the Democrats started their nomination process yesterday. The candidates are thinned down by the grueling primary campaign. The conventions are more or less a coronation event and come November one of the nominees wins and everybody goes home and wait for another four years. This routine has not changed for over 224 years. If the American citizen is so jaded about the event you can see why. It is nothing to write home about.
Non-American citizens are not allowed to participate in the process. It is unthinkable any government will try to influence the election in any covert manner. The American people determine their own future without help or interference from any outside body.
As you know our Prime Minster died a few months back and we have been operating without a leader for quite a while. Either the Ethiopian people are extremely low abiding or phenomenally docile because nothing has happened that is alarming under the circumstances of operating without central power. The PM was buried last Sunday, or at least a casket was laid to rest and still no decision has been made regarding a leader.
We in Ethiopia have not developed a system regarding how we would like to be governed. Until about forty years ago our regional warlords duked it out among themselves and the one standing at the end crowned himself or herself king, Queen or Emperor. Haile Selassie was the last Emperor. Colonel Mengistu was the next warlord disguised as head of the Military Junta or the Derge. He was in the process of legitimizing his rule by forming a party when he was overthrown by the TPLF guerrilla army.
The next chapter of our history is a little bit murky and sort of opaque. We have held four elections since the demise of Mengistu. All four have been won by the ruling TPLF party. As a matter of fact the 2005 election is the only one that will be considered partially free and fair. It was won by the opposition. Today that election is looked upon with nostalgia by the majority of our people.
In 2005 the recently departed PM miscalculated his and his party’s popularity big time. It is what happens when one is locked in a palace for too long and is surrounded by yes men and sycophants. The TPLF party learned a negative lesson from this debacle and the last election held in 2010 was a travesty of what election is all about. As they lost big time in 2005 they won the whole enchilada in 2010. We have a broken system with warlordism disguised as democracy.
This is why we are having this hiccup replacing the tyrant. He left a mess behind and cleaning it up is no small matter. There are so many rumors, theories and explanations’ twirling around the situation makes a Spanish novella look like a children’s bedtime story.
First and foremost to note in this tragic affair is that the Ethiopian people are not involved in this drama in any form or shape. We the people are ring side spectators waiting to be told the outcome of this three ring circus. We are keeping score.
Star of the show is no other than the Tigrayan people TPLF Party. It is rumored the party have different factions. The internal bickering is not expected to reach a boiling point. Others playing minor parts are the Amhara Party (ANDM), the Oromo Party (OPDO) and the Southern people’s Party (SEPDM). There are others like the Gambellan, Benishangel-Gumuz etc. but they are for all practical purposes as observers as the Ethiopian people. Everyone is organized under the umbrella known as the EPRDF.
The Executive Committee of EPRDF held its first meeting since the death of warlord numero uno and you would think their first agenda will be filling the void. No such luck in revolutionary Ethiopia. According to Woyane TV “The executive committee passed decision to strive towards success of the Growth and Transformation Plan and further strengthen efforts towards renaissance of the country.” As to the most important issue at hand the “The meeting passed decision to name chairperson and vice chairperson for the Front in its meeting to be held in mid September 2012. It called on the Ethiopian people to rally behind the Front in the efforts to reduce poverty and realize renaissance of the country.”
The only conclusion to reach after reading such a press release is that the EPRDF cannot agree regarding giving the position of PM to the person who was designated as the vice. Why do you think that is? Is it because the number one position has always been reserved to the TPLF Party? It looks like they have found themselves in a very difficult situation at the moment. Appointing a TPLF person would not be looked at kindly by all involved especially the foreign enablers. It is not that they have any objection to the TPLF but they are not willing to chance anything that would destabilize the current cozy situation they have gotten used to. Why rock the boat now must be what they are asking the ruling mafia.
It is said the EPRDF Executive Committee has thirty five members. Since the country is divided on the basis of ethnicity the EC is composed of representatives from four regions. What is peculiar about this situation is the number of participants in the EC. It is said that each Party sends eight people but how they arrived at this number is not clear. The Oromos’ constitute 34.5%, the Amaras’ 26.9% and the Tigrais’ 6.1% of the population. The disparity in representation does beg for an answer.
At the moment the situation the Vice/Acting Prime Minster finds himself is not enviable at all. It looks like he is going up a creek without a paddle. The military is in the hands of the TPLF Party. The Security service is beholden to the TPLF Party. The Media is under the control of the TPLF Party. Major industries such as banking, telecommunications etc. are under the TPLF Party. The Vice/Acting PM does not have a party he controls. He does not have a constituent to fall back on. Up a creek with no paddle seems to describe the situation.
Most of Ethiopians find themselves in a quandary. They want peace and stability. The problem is this situation of being governed by unelected individuals is getting a little too old to accept. The last time this happened it has taken us over twenty years to even replace one person. We find ourselves where we were in 1991. We were told to give the new government time, to be patient and not be so negative. I believe twenty one years is long enough to learn that those that assume power without the consent of the people are not in any position to let it go without hassle.
I started by reciting the news regarding the election in the US. It is clear to see that having a tradition of fair, open contest for the highest office in the land has resulted in the construction of a stable and prosperous country. Campaigns help the people to see what the candidates have in mind and how they intend to fulfill the wishes of the citizen. The elected leader is given a limited amount of time to show what he can accomplish. The citizen is given the power to remove him if he does not perform to expectations.
That is what we need in our ancient homeland. Our people are smart enough to know what is good for them. You do not need a PhD from Harvard to know your interest. This concept of discussing our business behind closed doors is not a winning strategy. Sooner or later it is bound to create problems and contradictions. A leader not answerable to the citizen is a recipe for disaster. A leader with no mandate from his people but beholden to a few with guns will in end harvest contempt and disrespect by all. We hope the EPRDF EC will quit deluding themselves into thinking fear will solve everything. We hope they will learn the lesson of what happened to the occupier of the office not long ago. Twenty one years behind barbed wire fence, with no love, no respect from those he was supposed to serve is not a life style to emulate. In the end we all lost. There was no winner in this game. Our country is still backward, our people are dispersed all over the planet and our future does not look bright if we continue this road of rule by force.
