From Peace Prize to Irrelevance: How Abiy Ahmed Failed Ethiopia
Posted: 01 Jul 2021, 03:16
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was presented with a golden opportunity when the terrorist TPLF regime finally succumbed to internal and external pressure three years ago. After 27 years of brutalizing Ethiopians and maintaining power with iron fists, the party founded by Meles Zenawi fell from disgrace in 2018. Seemingly out of nowhere, a previously unknown co-founder of the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency, Ethiopia's version of the NSA, scaled the political ladder and became Ethiopia's Prime Minister.
From the outset, Mr. Ahmed captured the imagination of tens of millions of Ethiopians back home and millions scattered around the world. His telegenic persona, youthful disposition and charm captivated a people who had been demoralized by decades of tyrannical rule and legions of political "activists" who promise change only to embezzle their supporters, eat the finest kitfo and drink black labels while our people back home were being ground into dust. Abiy Ahmed was kryptonite to the super-cowardice of the EPRDF, or so we thought as he pretended to be the polar opposite of the junta that revived apartheid in Ethiopia.
Mr. Ahmed slickly glommed on to Ethiopiawinet, the essence that we are one people above our differences, as he leveraged the political slogan "medemer" to offer unity to a country that was being torn apart by political and social strife. The focus on oneness and his insistence that we are greater together than we are when we are latching on to ethnocentrism is the reason why legions of Ethiopians flocked to his side. We were in desperate need of a leader who would put an end to division and instead lead a national conversation based on truth and reconciliation.
Ethiopians were so hungry for change that we accepted his check without confirming if there was money in his bank account. The same way Barack Obama electrified Americans who were ready for a radical departure from eight years of Bush's criminality, Mr. Ahmed mesmerized the hearts and minds of countless millions of Ethiopians by promising to turn the page of the EPRDF's playbook of despotism. Almost overnight, Mr. Ahmed was canonized and elevated to the position of saint before he did anything worth of note. Just like Obama, Mr. Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and showered with praise from the international community.
Even though he was an integral part of the ruthless TPLF regime that rebranded itself as the EPRDF, Mr. Ahmed deftly transformed himself from a vulture into a dove overnight in ways would impress a reformed prostitute. When he flew to America and held court at the Washington Convention Center, tens of thousands of Ethiopians stood in line for hours to get a glimpse of a man they thought would revive their homeland. The minute he embraced Tamagne Beyene, a hard core TPLF opponent, I became personally invested and thought Mr. Ahmed was the change we have been waiting for. Twice in ten years, I got bamboozled by a charlatan who professed to be about the people when he was actually a puppet of the status quo.
The honeymoon lasted as long as unrefrigerated injera, within a year Mr. Ahmed exposed himself to be all flash and no substance. Instead of addressing root causes of poverty and strife by revamping the economy to empower Ethiopians, he decided to turn to the failed "privatization" schemes that are decimated the working and middle-class in America and countless nations around the world. His greatest economic accomplishment to date is handing over 40% of Ethio Telecom to multinational corporations. Far from a visionary leader, he revealed himself to be a stooge of globalists.
As is turning Ethiopia into a destination of choice for corporations who want to profit by indenturing workers into a life of minimal-wage oppression, he gave a cold shoulder to Tigaru people during the same time he was giving a warm embrace to most ethnic communities. Even though he visited countless areas of Ethiopia and jaunted around the world to bask in the glow of his adoring fans, he barely set foot in Tigray. He could have followed in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela by extending an olive branch to the Tigaru community, including forgiving TPLF officials who have blood on their hands in an effort to reconcile a country that was on the precipice of an implosion after nearly three decades of ethnic separatism. . ....continued...
I am writing this live at this exact moment unable to sleep given what is going on in Ethiopia, I will continue to update this post as I write the rest of the article. The full article will be published in an hour or so at www.ghionjournal.com.... stay tuned...in the meantime, feel free to comment, hopefully I will insert one of the comments in the article by the time it is published. Amesegenealew.
From the outset, Mr. Ahmed captured the imagination of tens of millions of Ethiopians back home and millions scattered around the world. His telegenic persona, youthful disposition and charm captivated a people who had been demoralized by decades of tyrannical rule and legions of political "activists" who promise change only to embezzle their supporters, eat the finest kitfo and drink black labels while our people back home were being ground into dust. Abiy Ahmed was kryptonite to the super-cowardice of the EPRDF, or so we thought as he pretended to be the polar opposite of the junta that revived apartheid in Ethiopia.
Mr. Ahmed slickly glommed on to Ethiopiawinet, the essence that we are one people above our differences, as he leveraged the political slogan "medemer" to offer unity to a country that was being torn apart by political and social strife. The focus on oneness and his insistence that we are greater together than we are when we are latching on to ethnocentrism is the reason why legions of Ethiopians flocked to his side. We were in desperate need of a leader who would put an end to division and instead lead a national conversation based on truth and reconciliation.
Ethiopians were so hungry for change that we accepted his check without confirming if there was money in his bank account. The same way Barack Obama electrified Americans who were ready for a radical departure from eight years of Bush's criminality, Mr. Ahmed mesmerized the hearts and minds of countless millions of Ethiopians by promising to turn the page of the EPRDF's playbook of despotism. Almost overnight, Mr. Ahmed was canonized and elevated to the position of saint before he did anything worth of note. Just like Obama, Mr. Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and showered with praise from the international community.
Even though he was an integral part of the ruthless TPLF regime that rebranded itself as the EPRDF, Mr. Ahmed deftly transformed himself from a vulture into a dove overnight in ways would impress a reformed prostitute. When he flew to America and held court at the Washington Convention Center, tens of thousands of Ethiopians stood in line for hours to get a glimpse of a man they thought would revive their homeland. The minute he embraced Tamagne Beyene, a hard core TPLF opponent, I became personally invested and thought Mr. Ahmed was the change we have been waiting for. Twice in ten years, I got bamboozled by a charlatan who professed to be about the people when he was actually a puppet of the status quo.
The honeymoon lasted as long as unrefrigerated injera, within a year Mr. Ahmed exposed himself to be all flash and no substance. Instead of addressing root causes of poverty and strife by revamping the economy to empower Ethiopians, he decided to turn to the failed "privatization" schemes that are decimated the working and middle-class in America and countless nations around the world. His greatest economic accomplishment to date is handing over 40% of Ethio Telecom to multinational corporations. Far from a visionary leader, he revealed himself to be a stooge of globalists.
As is turning Ethiopia into a destination of choice for corporations who want to profit by indenturing workers into a life of minimal-wage oppression, he gave a cold shoulder to Tigaru people during the same time he was giving a warm embrace to most ethnic communities. Even though he visited countless areas of Ethiopia and jaunted around the world to bask in the glow of his adoring fans, he barely set foot in Tigray. He could have followed in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela by extending an olive branch to the Tigaru community, including forgiving TPLF officials who have blood on their hands in an effort to reconcile a country that was on the precipice of an implosion after nearly three decades of ethnic separatism. . ....continued...
I am writing this live at this exact moment unable to sleep given what is going on in Ethiopia, I will continue to update this post as I write the rest of the article. The full article will be published in an hour or so at www.ghionjournal.com.... stay tuned...in the meantime, feel free to comment, hopefully I will insert one of the comments in the article by the time it is published. Amesegenealew.
