Ethiopian Review had reported on Wednesday that Kinijit Chairman Hailu Shawel is in critical condition and that no one except close family members are allowed to see him. Ato Hailu’s condition was held in secret until it was discovered by ER’s Intelligence Unit.
The reason for the secrecy was that Shaleqa Yoseph and Taye Woldesemayat wanted to hold the public meeting/fund raising in Washington DC this coming Sunday as scheduled even though they know that doctors have told Ato Hailu not to travel. Yoseph and Taye wanted to go ahead with the event so that they can collect money ($40 per person) and then inform the gathering that Ato Hailu could not come due to illness.
There was a heated debate among the Shaleqa-Taye group about keeping the scheduled event. Taye Woldesemayat, Assefa Dires and others argued that the meeting should be held as planned. Others, fearing public backlash, argued that it must be postponed.
Taye’s side won. But the defeated side leaked the information to ER about Ato Hailu’s condition and asked us to inform the public that the meeting/fund raising event in Washington DC has been postponed. Ato Assefa Dires, the person who is assigned by Taye to watch Ato Hailu 24/7 and restrict access to him from the media and individuals who are not approved by Taye, said yesterday in an interview listen here listen here that Ato Hailu is in good health and that he is traveling to Washington DC for the Sept. 30 event.
In the afternoon, Shaleqa Yoseph also said in another interview that Ato Hailu is in good shape, but confirmed that no one is allowed to visit him other than close family members.
Finally, this morning, the Shaleqa-Taye group were forced to post in their web site that the meeting has been postponed since now every body knows that Ato Hailu is not coming.
These crooks were going to rip us off in the name of Hailu Shawel, again.