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2010 Person of The Year

Posted on , Updated on by EthiopianReview.com

By Elias Kifle

In 2011 Ethiopian Review, the longest running independent Ethiopian journal, celebrates its 20th year in service. It is a milestone period in the journal’s history and a special occasion for those of us who have labored hard to keep it going. As the editor-in-chief, in deciding who to select as Ethiopian Review’s Person of the Year,  this time I have decided to look at our own accomplishments and recognize those who have been there through thick and thin over the years. While there are many individuals — too many to list here — who have been providing valuable support to Ethiopian Review, for their enduring contribution special recognition goes to: (In alphabetical order)

Wzr. Meseret Agonafer, who is a fountain of inspiration and moral support, as well an authentic example of a genuine friend.

Ato Elias Wondimu, who once served as the managing editor and after launching his own publishing house, Tsehai Publishers, continued to consult on the editorial direction of the journal.

There is another person who deserves even greater appreciation, for without his consistent moral support and advise there would not have been Ethiopian Review. He is my own father Kifle Seifu.

My father is currently in the US. I, along with my sister and brothers, have brought him and our mother here a few months ago after witnessing Woyanne going after the families of its opponents. He had already survived an attack about 15 years ago by Woyanne gunmen who sprayed his house in Addis Ababa with machine gun bullets. He returned fire taking down (wounding) one of the shooters. It was nothing short of a miracle that he survived the attack. He spent 3 months in jail and was released with the help of the American charge d’affairs in Addis Ababa and Ted Dagne at the U.S Congressional Service.

After he was released, for the past 15 years, Woyanne made sure that my father could not do any business in Ethiopia. Every venture he tried was blocked. After a long legal battle, about 4 years ago, three different courts, including the supreme court of Ethiopia ruled that properties (worth over 63 million birr) that Derg confiscated from my father returned. Woyanne refused to obey the court order and told my father that his properties would be returned under one condition: That he must stop his son from publishing critical opinions and reports about the ruling junta on Ethiopian Review. My father’s answer was unequivocal no. I’m proud of him for that to no end.

I don’t know any one who has worked so hard through out his life as my father did. One time when he was working as a contractor on the Ethiopian Air Force base in Debre Zeit he collapsed due to sleep deprivation. It was normal for him to disappear for several months at a time exploring mines in some of the remotest parts of Ethiopia.

Kifle Seifu, 2010

He is now 84 years old and after all the hard work through out his life he doesn’t have a penny in the bank. During the Derg era its prime minister FikreSelassie Wogderes, and security chief Tesfaye WoldeSelassie confiscated (robbed) most of his properties. The Woyanne junta that replaced the Derg refused to return his properties ignoring court orders, and made sure that he doesn’t earn a living in Ethiopia.

There are countless others who have lost much more than properties in the hands of the two barbaric regimes. They have taken away the lives of so many innocent Ethiopians. I am lucky and grateful to have my father still alive.

The two vampire regimes, Derg and Woyanne, have left my father penniless. But he has one thing that is more precious and that no one could take away from him — honor.

With his skills, experience and hard work, my father could have been one of the wealthiest individuals in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, in a country where the president is a pig, the prime minister is a mass murderer and the patriarch is a thief, it is extremely difficult for a person of honor to succeed and thrive.

I’m profoundly blessed to have a father like Kifle Seifu and in this special milestone year for the journal it is my honor to choose him as Ethiopian Review’s 2010 Person of the year.

153 thoughts on “2010 Person of The Year”

  3. Abate Kifle Seifu your recognition as a person of the year is well deserved. I wish you many more years to live and see mother Ethiopia free from looters and killers.

    We are proud of your son Elias kifle whom I want to nominate as the best journalist for 2010. Elias Kilfle is not going with the tide rather do his job tell the story as it is and reach to a conclusion most of us we do not like.

    TPLF death penalty on Elias is recognizing him as a journalist who is not afraid of the big mafia and very hard to bribe.

    I am proud of you Abate Kifle and pray for you God to give you many more years. You are our father too because through you we see our fathers who said no to fascist Italy and sacrificed and sadly the sons of those bandas are in power and avenging the patriots sons and daughters.

  5. Hi Elias I know you dad history. I am proud of him!
    Ato Elias Wondimu
    For press freedom, Help for journalists to gates asylum, Keeping alive our country history And so on he is very determined guy I am proud of him.
    E. Worku Atlanta

  6. Elisa, Though I don’t agree with you all the time, you have done so much exposing Weyane. And lately you exposed the mistreatment of Ethiopian Opposition forces in Eritrea. It takes a good upbringing for a person to get where you are. Since your father is responsible for you to be here in addtion his own contribution to Ethiopia I vote for your dad. I wish you had included your mother. Mothers have equal contribution in most cases for a person’s achievements. Kudos to your dad. Dr Alemayehu G. Mariam is my second choice. I also wish you had included Bertukan Mideksa. Happy New year.

  10. Elias I don’t agree with you most of the time but when you nominate your own father you touch my heart. What a best honor, I wish many brothers and sisters learn from you and attribute their honor towards their parents. You mentioned a robbery from the previous regime and the current one, Like your family my family was robed by DERG. But the the burglary is going on and you are Luck to have a father to witness the good the bad and the ugly. Congratulation! Still I don’t agree with you most of the time.

  13. VERY DEEP, IT EXPLAINS YOUR PERSONALITY THAT WORKS TIRELESSLY TO BRING JUSTICE AND MORAL INTEGRITY IN ETHIOPIA, I WISH THERE ARE MORE ETHIOPIANS LIKE YOU WHO APPRECIATE HARD WORKS, NATIONALISM AND HONOR OF THE FATHERS, WHILE YOUR WORK HONORS YOUR FATHER, WOYANNES DISHONOR THEIR ANCESTORS BY THEIR EVIL DEEDS, I WONDER WHAT THE FATHERS LIKE MELES AND HIS BANDITS THINK OF THEIR CHILDREN WHO ARE DESTROYING THE NATION THEIR FOREFATHERS BUILT. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WITH HEALTH, PROSPERITY AND HONOR RECOGNIZED BY ALL ETHIOPIANS. MAY GOD THE ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU TRULY.

  17. Dear Elias,

    It needs a mature judgment to honor the very people who brought you to this world, nurture you in your time of need, and above all mold you into the person who you are today.

    Good choice!

  19. What a blessed, educated, and true Ethiopian family!

    Indeed, Elias, you are one of the luckiest person in this world to have such a graceful, determined, and hard-working father, a father who has never lost hope to be, one day, with his son. Elias, I am sure, for your father, it is just like the biblical Jacob meeting his lost son, Joseph in Egypt. But your father is lucky you are living in America, not in Egypt run by a dictator like Ethiopia.

    The burden you have been carrying all these years about the life of your father in Ethiopia, whether he will be killed today or tomorrow, might have lifted from your head as your father is now a free man, living with his free son in a free country – America. However, as I know you very well for few years now through your web site, your thought about the other Ethiopian people who are suffering under Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi) will not give you a complete joy even though your beloved father is with you. You want all Ethiopians to be free and live in their country without fear and intimidation; until that happens, you are still and remain a sad person. You worked so hard to bring peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and at the same time to bring your father from Ethiopia to America. You have succeeded in achieving your father’s wish, but one day you will also be able to achieve in liberating Ethiopia and in establishing a lasting peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

    Your father represents those who are still suffering in Ethiopia; therefore, nominating your father as the 2010 Person of The Year is like nominating all the other Ethiopians under the oppression of the Woyanne regime, and the nomination is absolutely correct, timely, and ennobling. In respecting your father, no doubt, you will get the blessing of the Lord, Jesus Christ; in fact, one of the commandments of God is: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:10). The land the good Lord is giving you is America, and who knows he will give you Ethiopia too, which is now in the hands of the Woyanne criminals.

    For honoring your father in this way, may the good Lord honor you, love you, and be always with you!

    Welcome to America, Mr. Kifle Seifu, father of Elias Kifle, Chief Editor of the Ethiopian Review!

  22. I am sorry your father went through all that at the hands of Ethiopian regimes and I am glad that your father is alive and well with his kids including you. Although I have been telling you that lately you have been wacko in your emotional bursts regarding Eritrea, EPPF, OLF, TPDM and other fighting forces, I must congratulate you on this selection since nobody knows your father and his contributions better than yourself and your family.

  23. Brother Elias,

    May Allah’s Blessings Be Upon Him!!! I myself am in my late 60’s and will have him in my prayers everyday. Please count your blessings that he is here with you along with your siblings. Insha Allah!!!!

  24. Here we go again! Seifu Kiflen Wolede, Kifle Eliasen………….A family of jegna. We are proud of you guys. The apple does not fall from the tree. I am as an Ethiopian proud that you guys are ethiopians.

  26. God Bless Mr.Kifle. Ababa Kifle you are very lackey to be alive and be with your family. This arrogant geb woyane will eat you live if you stay longer in Ethiopia. Ye Ethiopian tensae yasayewot.
    You look very strong.

  27. I was always asking where you got the courage to stand up for what you believe in, now i got my answer. what a wonderfull family. people like you and your dad are the reason that make us not to give up the fight.
    god bless you all and happy new year.

  28. Elias you are lucky to have your father alive than see him suffer in weyane’s prison.For me this day made me think my own father who have passed away before weyane took over Ethiopia.It sounds weird but I’m glad he didn’t live to see this parasites, but having to see your father in the free world out of the big prison is another thing.Happy new year and you couldn’t chose a better person than Mr Kifle Seifu. Elias you look just like your father ,enjoy every minuet of this time and thank you for sharing your story with us.

  30. Dear elias
    The best choice to urs father u are very lucky man my father was killed while he was sleeping by gougemangue woyanai in our house imagen how they fill my mom, sisters brothers still up to now they are sick, I appreciate urs father strength but I am deeply sorry withs age he become refugee, lets unite and fight those banda woyani ,.elias I will pray for yrs father health. He deserve to be the person of the year he represent all the father of ethiopea, again my god father ATO ATANAW WASAI an old man he was kidnap in sudan and passed away in kality mass chameber ,please I chose urs father, god bless him,
    Tesfaye kitaw

  31. Excellent choice. In a country where there are millions who have sold their soul for woyane crumbs, your father’s integrity is admirable. He is not only a highly principled man, he has also raised an Ethiopian who loves his country and works hard every day to bring a better day in Ethiopia. By making your father person of the year, you also allow us to honor you through him.Thank you Elias for your love of Ethiopia and its people. you are a battalion plus in this struggle. keep up the good work.

  32. Good Choice. Your father is a hero and you had a good choice.
    Congratulations to you as well and a happy new Year. we hope the year 2011 will be a better year for those who oppose the woyane government and a great success in uniting against woyane.

  33. Elias,

    Thanks for opening up. We Ethiopians have really disconnected with our community and going back to our origins, connecting to soul and serving our community and opening up like Elias is what bonds us all therefore unite us against all evils.

    Let 2011 be the year that brings the heroism in us like our ancestors to give us strength to protect our beloved Ethiopia against all odds.

  34. elias, I like your father’s picture. he looks very graceful(Girma moges). you see our fathers and fore fathers are like that! They are God fearing, very fast to listen rather than blubbing.May God bless him with longivity!
    mesfin

  35. Dear Elias;
    I thought at first this is a classic case of “LERAS SIKORSU AYASANSU.”However,after reading your father’s story,I not only agreed that you have made the right choice in nominating him as the person of the year.Your family story also led me to conclude that unwavering patriotism comes from a strong family bond where the head of the family leads by example.I envy you and congratulate you that your father is still alive despite the harrowing experience in the two consecutive evil regimes.Most Ethiopian fathers had succumbed to the frustration and silently and untimely checked out.Once again,many congratulations.

  36. Dear Elias,
    Be proud of your father, as a saying goes in Amharic, “WORRK BE-ESAT ENDEMFETEN” your father went enormous dangerous ways, and he has approved by his persistence in perseverance. And you have to follow your father’s footsteps until the sovereignty of Ethiopians.
    Zooma

  37. It is great to have people like your father who stands for truth and justice. Since we cannot airlift all Ethiopians under woyane state terrorism, I hope you and others like you continue their fight to build an Ethiopia free from tyranny and poverty. I hope we all including your father survive long to witness the liberation of Ethiopia from Woyane looting and killing.

  38. This is a perfect choice, especially now. In a society that is currently crowded with too many hodams, Ato Kifle stands out as a man of integrity and honor. It is Ethiopians like him what makes Ethiopia is worth fighting for. Elias please continue to write about individuals like your father so that the new generation can learn what honor and integrity means. Happy New Year!!

  39. Dear a respected journalist and Editor Elias
    I heartily wish you a Happy New Year encluding your family, particularlly your beloved Dad and Mam. I know the pain, but dedicated struggle for justice and freedom is an absolute winner. Mine also a similar witness when my beloved grandfather Dr.Caalaa Gudataa jailed for more than two years for being an Oromo a suspected OLF Supporter now lives in Germany. What was interesting to me was his motto: ” one day Oromians and Ahmaraland will be come as a Regional Strategical Alliance for common interest and Stabilty”. As he said, if we the two Big Nations come together we will make a difference the last breath of the racist regime rule on our land.
    Have a year of success for your planned project!!
    Boun Anno!( Italian )

  41. That was a good choice. Your father is obviously a strong person and proud Ethiopian, we can see his influence in you too. He also symbolizes the tenacity and determination of our fathers who bequeathed us this pround and glorious nation. But, considering his lifetime endaevour and perseverance, I doubt if ‘person of the year’ is the most appropriate recognition. I would rather recommend some other lifetime-accolade for him and similar people in his generation.

  42. ውድ አቶ ክፍሌ ሰይፉ ኽንኩዋን ለፈረንጆቹ አዲስ አመት አደረሰዎ፡፡ ኤልያስ ላመንከው ነገር ወደሁዋላ የማትል ሰው መሆንህን ማንም ኢትዮጵያዊ ያውቀዋል፡፡ ከሁሉ በፊት ያገርን ክብር ማስቀደም የቀደሙ አባቶቻችን ያቆዩልን ቅርስ ነው፡፡ ከያንዳንዱ ጀግና ጀርባ እንዲህ ያለ ታሪክ እንዳለ ሁሉ፡ ከሆዳሞቹም ጀርባ ያድፈ ታሪክ አለ፡ ሁሉንም ታሪክና ጊዜ ያወጣዋል፡፡ለህሊናና ለክብር ምኖርን የመሰለ ታላቅ ፍፁማዊነት የለም፡፡ አሁንም በምርጫህ ከሚስማሙት ሰዎች እንዱ ነኝ፡፡መሪ ከሚዋሽበት ፅዩፍ ቃል ከሚተፋበት፡ለሆድ ያደሩ ሰዎች ከነገሱበት፡ጳጳስ ለእግዚአብሄር አባት ሳይሆን ለሐውልት ከሚሰግድበት፡የነገ የልጆቹን ዘመን በዱቤ የሚበላ ትውልድ እንዳሸን ክፈላባት፡አገረ- ኢትዮጵያ፡አውጥቶ አዛውንትና ታታሪ ለህሊናቸው አዳሪ ታሪካቸውን አክባሪ እና ልጆቻቸውን አስከባሪ የሆኑ ወላጆቸህን እጅህ ያገባልህ አምላክ የተመሰገነ ይሁን የከበረ ኢትዮጵያዊ ሰላምታዬንም አድርስልኝ፡፡ እንተ እድለኛ ነህ ብዙዎች በነዚህ ክፉዎች ምክንያት እናት አባቶቻቸውን ማየት መሰብሰብ ሳይሆን ላፈር ያላበቁ ጨዋ ኢትዮጵያውያን በአለማችን ሞልተዋልና ለነሱም ያንተ አይነት እድል ቅዱስ እግዚአብሄር ይሰጣቸው ዘንድ እመኛለሁ ነፃይቱም ሁሉን ሰብሳቢ የሆነችውን ሀገረ አሜሪካ እግዚአብሄር ይባርክ፡ አሜን፡፡

  43. even if i dont agree about every thing you write and speak today i do honestly appriciate for selecting your father.it would have been wise to Add your mother. with out your mother your dadi might have not that physical and spritual streangth. so……..plzzzzzzzzz add your mother tooooooo. and that makes more sense to everybodyyyyyyyy

    Happy newyear

  45. ኤሊያስ – ምርጫህ ተገቢ ነው። ያን ሁሉ መከራ አለፈው ለዛሬይቱ ቀን በመድረሳችው ሰላም ወዳድ ሁሉ ደስ ሊለው ይገባል። ደርግ አልፎአል። ወያኔም በጊዜው ያልፋል። ጊዜ ሁሉን ይሽራል።

  46. I would love to have a father like you.Unfortunately he passed away without recieving JESUS CHRIST as his savier,So what about you Mr Kifle Seifu?Please,Please,Read the BIBLE,
    John chapter 3
    Today is your day.
    may GOD bless you and your family.

  50. sons who appreciate their father are most of the time had a good upbringing. Certainily Elias is one of the good guys out there. The problem he has is sometimes he tries to dump his view on others. But his relentless exposition of woyane parasites and his dedication to see a democratic Ethiopia makes him a good example for many ‘hode aders’ out there. Happy new year Elias.

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