Unfortunately, we are not new to a one-man band in Ethiopian politics. In its 17-year rule, the brutal Dergue regime wiped out Amhara intellectuals during the campaign of Red Terror. The Derg era was followed by ultra-leftist movement of the TPLF that from the outset wrote a Manifesto declaring the Amhara as its enemy number one blinded by the hate for them and fearful of the challenges it could face from them.
TPLF sowed the seeds of hate and bred an ideology to justify the suppression and unabated brutal killings of Amharas during its rule and under the current regime. The short-sightedness and the miscalculation of the Amhara of both the TPLF and Oromo extremist elites lies in the same hate and trepidation of them. Despite granting themselves the privilege of governing the country by passing the baton of spiteful leadership from the extremist TPLF to the extremist Oromo. They both remain separatist movements fixated on their deluded dreams of carving out Oromia at the expense of Ethiopia and greater Tigray predominantly at the expense of the Amhara both taking a chunk of Amhara land.
In its fight against the Dergue regime TPLF promised the Amhara people an inclusive and democratic Ethiopia to get their crucial support. The Tigreans were promised prosperity in repeatedly famine-stricken Tigray.
It turned out in the end that the youth of Tigray fought for the benefit of few TPLF elites and the Amhara helped TPLF only to be subjected to an unprecedented attack. Even with its strong support from the west through its deceitful and cunning manners, TPLF would not have come anywhere near any power without the help of the Amhara people.
The Amhara were fed up of their marginalisation, ongoing massacres and collective punishment. Under the leadership of Mr Tamirat Laine they extended their help to TPLF and managed to overthrow the Dergue regime. Had the Amharas not joined the fight, TPLF would have remained a small rebel faction in the gorges of Temben.
After just a few years having consolidated its grip on power, Meles Zenawi of TPLF got rid of the Amhara leader who galvanised the Amhara support to bring him to power. The Amharas lived under total suppression, political and economic marginalisation as well as genocide and the poor Tigreans never lived a better life under the rule of TPLF. Those who held high places enriched themselves, their cronies and relatives at the expense of the poor. The money the western leaders gave to Meles Zenawi for his repeated invasions of Somalia in the name of fighting international terrorism was embezzled and deposited out of Ethiopian for the elite of TPLF now to live in luxury abandoning war ravaged Tigray.
With the help of lobbyist groups at the cost of millions of dollars if not billions in its rule during nearly three decades TPLF got close to the Western leaders. The orchestrator Meles Zenawi found himself rubbing shoulders with the G8 leaders. The lead singer, the conductor of the TPLF orchestra and the star actor of the show, Meles Zenawi, never lent his ears to anyone during his rule. As internal discord gathered momentum and popular protests grew wider, he resorted to even a bigger and bigger crackdown to continue ruling Ethiopia with an iron fist. Reports of gross human rights violations were brushed aside. When pressure from external forces grew he went into his charm offensive and more lobbying to remain in the seat of power for another day. Whoever got close to him were the same old members of the exclusive club with no opposition in the parliament or alternative views.
When Mother Nature struck out on Meles Zenawi, who until then appeared invincible and died, TPLF was scrambling to find a successor. With no one groomed as a successor and the exclusive club that was full of puppets and well-trained puppies who were there to perform as trained for the delight of their master could no longer function. It did not take long for the regime to collapse after the death of dictator Zenawi. Logic and common sense would dictate that it would have been time to establish a transitional period for the suppressed political parties to emerge and hold a free and fair election. But with their hands soaked with blood, TPLF wouldn’t risk that for the fear of being held accountable for the blood spilt unnecessarily, for the innocent people murdered in cold blood, for the bright minds driven out of the country and for the many prisoners of concussions who were languishing in jail. The panic-stricken regime could not extend its time in power any longer. It was desperate to find someone trustworthy within to save face and avoid liabilities for their crimes.
Abiy Ahmed, a vicious Rottweiler puppy that was trained by TPLF, poisoned with tribalist venom and brought up to hate the Amharas was placed on the throne. Anyone who is against the division of Ethiopians along ethnic lines, someone who would unite the fragmented society, or someone with a vision to form a future that treats all Ethiopians equally, anyone who could pave the way for peaceful and harmonious Ethiopia would have been either killed or arrested or driven out of the country.
The dysfunctional Abiy Ahmed’s regime is the result of this. He dragged Ethiopia from the bad situation it was in into an even more dangerous one where Tigray is totally devastated by the conflict that was brought about by the fallout between him and TPLF. It never crossed the minds of TPLF elites that the ferocious animal they trained would one day turn against its masters and would badly bite them on their back. The same rabid dog is running loose in the Amhara region, tearing up lives and causing so much suffering. Abiy Ahmed who is poisoned by ethnic federalism is singing the worst version of the same song of hate of the Amharas and dances to the same tune as the TPLF. Acts of barbarism are going on in the Amhara region which is under constant bombardment and the Oromo region is partly under the control of the Oromo liberation army.
Just like our Tigrean brothers and sisters died and spilled their blood to bring TPLF to power, the youth in Ethiopia are spilling their blood and dying in their hundreds of thousands forcefully sent to the battlefield to fight their fellow Ethiopians to keep Abiy Ahmed’s regime in power.
It is getting clearer from what we are noticing that a new exclusive club composed of the previous and current Oromo extremist leaders continues with the same pattern. One cannot teach this old tribalist dog new tricks of harmony and this exclusive club is holding meetings and summits excluding all other stakeholders in Ethiopia. The topics of their recent meetings may be unknown to the public but what is obvious is that inclusivity, a democratic and transparent system is as elusive now as it was during Meles Zenawi.
While life is good, plentiful, and abundant, at the time one is daydreaming surrounded by close subservient friends plotting self-serving senseless agendas, at a stage alternative ideas and thinkings are not just put aside but bright minds are killed, as gang mentality dowses flames of consideration for others, when everyone is dancing to the same tunes and singing the same old familiar hymns with nothing to fear and corrupted by absolute power, all may seem going well even though the joyous island of the few elites is surrounded by a sea of frustration, disappointment, resentment and displeasure.
When those poisoned minds wake up with a banging headache and horrible hangover after the toxic party, then the party members turn against each other. We are witnessing it in the camps of TPLF, which is in disarray and grappling to govern Tigray. Some of the elites of TPLF have fled to the sanctuary of the west to live in luxury leaving the ordinary civilians who paid a very high price behind and the economy of Tigray in tatters. The ordinary Tigreans are much worse off now than ever before.
TPLF received a lot of support for nearly 3 decades, a life support machine during its dying days, and even now there are attempts to resuscitate it. Whether it will be revived back to full health and work again or it is taking its last gasp remains to be seen. What is giving a lifeline to the current club members of Abiy Ahmed is the disunity of the Fano movement. The lame duck is just standing on its last leg. The moment the Fanos solve their differences and come together for the final push, the Oromo extremist club members will turn against each other just like the TPLF have turned against each other.
Initially our Tigrean brothers and sisters paid the ultimate sacrifice followed by the Amharas to bring the TPLF to power. Tigreans died once again in their hundreds of thousands to save the lives of a few elites in the dying days of the TPLF to be abandoned and impoverished. Ethiopian people who spill their blood to get rid of the Meles Zenawi regime to bring about a better future found themselves under the rule of Oromo extremist elites. It is a familiar story all over again that ordinary citizens who never benefit from the change they died for die again to keep a few extremist elites in power. But the beneficiaries of the change abandon those who pay a very high price and go to sanctuaries of their choosing with billions of stolen dollars.
The current deluded daydream of taking a chunk of Ethiopia, Kenya, all the way to Tanzania and carving out a greater Oromia stays not just as a wild dream as creating a Greater Tigray that never materialises but will turn into a horrific nightmare. That exclusive party club who looked untouchable in Ethiopia and joined the exclusive club of the G8 leaders is now incapable of administering even Tigray. The Oromo extremist club officials will not have a better fate!
