On ‘Rooftop of Africa,’ Ethiopia’s Troops Hunt Fugitive Former Rulers
Politicians and military commanders who once led Ethiopia are being tracked down, caught and sometimes killed by their own country’s soldiers in the war in the Tigray region.
By Simon Marks and Declan Walsh
Jan. 22, 2021
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — For two decades, as foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin was Ethiopia’s face to the world — a personable and soft-spoken diplomat who brokered peace in neighboring war-torn countries, delivered speeches at the United Nations and helped establish his country as a weighty African power.
That distinguished career came to an ignominious end last week when Ethiopian soldiers tracked down Mr. Seyoum, now labeled an enemy of the state, and killed him in a muddy and remote corner of the mountainous north of the country. The government said he died in a shootout, but Mr. Seyoum’s allies say he was executed.
Mr. Seyoum, 71, was the most prominent casualty yet of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s 11-week-old war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The main target of Mr. Abiy’s military campaign is not a ragtag group of provincial rebels, but the politicians and generals of Tigray, who ruled Africa’s second-most populous country for much of the past three decades through their political party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or T.P.L.F.
Now Ethiopia’s former rulers are on the run in their Tigray heartland, and on the defensive against the forces they once commanded. Since Jan. 7, Ethiopia’s military has killed or captured at least 47 people from a most-wanted list of 167 senior leaders of the T.P.L.F., including four of the party’s nine-member executive committee, according to Ethiopian state media reports.
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The government accuses Western media of falsely portraying Mr. Abiy as a warmonger. Critics say he is hewing to the traditions of a political culture that prizes dominance.
“Abiy is buying into an old, aggressive warrior tradition in which you vanquish your enemy,” said Mr. Abdi, the analyst. “In countries like Kenya, you weaken your enemy in order to negotiate with him later. In Ethiopia, you obliterate him.”
Re: “In countries like Kenya, you weaken your enemy in order to negotiate with him later. In Ethiopia ....” NY Times
It looks like Ethiopia is on ቁልቁለት መንገድ because Prof. Ghelawdewos Araia is saying the politics during Menelik / Ras Mengesha was also the politics of weakening your opponent. This ከፍታ / ቁልቁለት is confusing for some 
"የነሚኒልክ ራስ መንገሻ ጊዜ የማዳከም ፖለቲካ ነበር። የኣሁኖቹ፣ ትግራይን እንደ ኣገርና እንደ ሕዝብ የማጥፋት ነው። የተለየ ነው።" ፕሮፌሰር ገላውዲዎስ ኣርኣያ
FF around 20
"የነሚኒልክ ራስ መንገሻ ጊዜ የማዳከም ፖለቲካ ነበር። የኣሁኖቹ፣ ትግራይን እንደ ኣገርና እንደ ሕዝብ የማጥፋት ነው። የተለየ ነው።" ፕሮፌሰር ገላውዲዎስ ኣርኣያ
FF around 20