The man who is fondly called by TPLFites (Woyannes) as Abo Sebhat is reportedly spending more of his time in his home region of Tigray after the ruling couple Meles Zenawi and Azeb Mesfin unceremoniously ousted him from the party last month.
More than Meles, according to observers, it was Azeb who orchestrated Sebhat’s humiliating departure from TPLF, enraging his supporters in Ethiopia and the Diaspora.
Azeb has been amassing enormous wealth to the point now she is the second most powerful person in Ethiopia next to Meles, who also has consolidated his power in a recent leadership reshuffle. However, by going after Sebhat, who is called the father of TPLF by Woyanne veterans, Meles and Azeb might have overreached.
Sebhat may be a drunkard old man, but he still commands the loyalty of a significant number of rank-and-file TPLF members.
Another disgruntled member of the ruling junta is Berhane Gebrekristos, who had hopped to become Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The internal squabbles inside the Woyanne camp is affecting the social life of Woyanne kids as well. Recently Sebhat Nega’s son Tekeste has removed from his Facebook those “friends” whose parents are thought to be Meles loyalists.
Billionaire Al Amoudi is also unhappy these days with the Meles regime. Azeb is taking over the real estate industry, which forced his high rise office buildings to remain vacant. Sheraton Hotel is losing money and could be taken over by the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.
When Al Amoudi’s chief assistant, Abinet Gebremeskel, was in Washington DC recently, he was bitterly complaining about Azeb to friends. He confided to friends that he might drop every thing in Ethiopia and move to the U.S.
On the surface, Meles and Azeb may currently seem to be in full control, but there is trouble brewing every where.