Africa: The White Man’s “project”

by Alem Mamo

Sir Bob Geldof

It’s Christmas time… and the white goat that is going to save the African children has once again returned to the TV screen in time for the fundraising, I mean, holiday season. Television and social media are beginning to get saturated with appeals on behalf of poor brown and black boys, girls, mothers, grandmothers, farmers, and anyone in between. The competition to raise more funds on behalf of desperate black and brown people is on.

This year, Sir Bob Geldof, the indefatigable voice of the poor in Africa, has resurfaced with his sequel “Do they know it is Christmas? Part Two,” (Band Aid 30). This time around, Geldof is expanding his charitable colony, previously Ethiopia, into the Western part of the continent, this time to fight “this… foul little plague” Ebola. In the process, Sir Bob is baptizing the next generation of celebrities and followers into the sacred mission of saving black and brown people for the coming decades. (Two fun facts: Ethiopia is majority Christian, and one of the oldest Christian nations in the world, so, they know when it’s Christmas-time; but Ethiopian Christmas is often celebrated around January 5-7, following the Gregorian calendar.)

A few days ago, my wife and I received a catalogue in the mail from one of the organizations with the mission of “helping people around the world.” As we both slowly browsed through the pages, we couldn’t help but notice two clearly identifiable narratives. First, all those who are in the giving end of the spectrum are white, and those on the receiving end are black or brown. Second, those who are in the business of giving have their names and professions listed below their photographs, and the receivers appear nameless, many of them children.

Thirty years post-Band Aid, the current aid, NGO, and charity architecture, in its content and form, is as pervasive and paternalistic as the old days. The helpless Africa stretching its begging bowl year after year and the rich and generous West always ready to rescue this desolate and miserable place called Africa.

So, we see in the charity catalogue an example of a practice that continues from the period of colonialism to this day: taking photos of the locals. During colonial times, the anthropologists, colonial officers, etc., took images of the Africans the same way they would take a picture of a tree or grazing animals. No permission asked; no consent offered. This invasive practice continues to this day through the ubiquitous “selfies” and photo-ops by interns, volun-tourists, experts, NGO executives, politicians, and media personalities. They all snap photos of the “locals” in the same manner as the colonial masters. The people, who might be going on to their daily routines, working, making meals, trading in their open markets, or children playing, are subjected to the camera lens of those who are on the mission of “saving the Africans.”

Upon return to their home countries, these images are presented to school groups, communities, and donors in glaring power point presentations, along with a pictures of wild animals, lions, elephants, giraffes, depending on which part of the continent the mission took place. In most case, the individuals in the pictures do not have names; they are simply the “locals,” who, by the way, have nothing, apart from what we can give them. So, if our motivation is promoting human dignity, justice, and fairness, or even if we just treat others the way we want to be treated, how would we feel if someone snaps our picture, or takes a picture of our children, without permission or consent. How would that makes us feel? Would we even allow it to happen? Where is this entitlement and violation of privacy and identity coming from, when we casually take these photos?

Countries on the African continent are not inherently poor (being poor is always defined in monetary and material sense). They are, in fact, made materially poor because of a history of exploitation, initially by the colonial masters, and subsequently by multinational corporate masters, who have replaced the colonial economic order. When I hear television advertisement saying, “for the price of cup of coffee you can save the life of ….” I wonder if the narrator could tell his listeners where that cup of coffee might have come: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, etc. The products of these poor countries get re-branded as French roast, Italian medium, Belgian chocolate, English tea, and so on. This stripping of the identity and origins of products or images from Africa and elsewhere is a systemic way to develop a narrative of Western entitlement. This inverted racism packaged in the name of humanitarianism has reduced children from the African continent to the purchase of goats, chickens, and even worse, cups of coffee.

The discouraging reality of this charity, holiday, fundraising season, is that we haven’t seemed to really learn much in thirty years after Band Aid. By in large, we still are not interested scratching beyond the miserable image of Africa perpetuated by the media, Hollywood, NGOs, and charitable organizations that year after year continue to project a negative image of Africa.

This is not a criticism of the spirit of giving, though it may seem so. It is a plea for critical understanding and action that reinforces dignity and justice. I am in favor of positive human collaboration that fosters social, cultural, and economic exchange and equality. However, the prevailing Western orthodoxy that is on the hegemony of domination and superiority must be uprooted. I am hopeful this holiday season we all will be able to reflect on the root causes of economic and material poverty before we write a cheque to save the Africans.
The author can be reached at alem6711@gmail.com

Andinet (UDJ): The Need To Correct Things Before They Get Terribly Worse

by T. Goshu

As one of millions of genuinely concerned Ethiopians (by birth or citizenship), I have tried to reflect my view points about the recent political trends which I considered them as encouraging on the one hand ; and the very existence of challenging tasks ahead of us on the other hand. It appeared on ECADF web site on November 2, 2014. That point of view of mine refers to a relatively encouraging change within the leadership of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ); and the signing of the memorandum of understanding by nine opposition political parties aimed at coordinating and subsequently collaborating their political struggle for freedom and justice in Ethiopia. I strongly expressed my conviction that these kinds of desirable political steps deserve our rational, critical, constructive and forward-looking support; and I still truly believe.

I also have expressed my view point that these encouraging political trends were not and still are not without our rational sense of being cautious. I have tried to point out that so many terribly repeated political failures in this regard for the last two decades are very strong reasons for us not get ourselves into a state of self-deceiving and self-defeating celebrity. Needless to say, our political culture of being victims of not taking rational, critical, appropriately constructive, and respectful corrections with regard to some very clumsy and worrisome political arguments of some members of opposition political parties’ leadership has a lot to do with our repeated failures. Put simply, not to call spade a spade and deal with it accordingly whenever it is appropriate has been and continue to be one of the self-defeating factors in our political discourses. It goes without saying that this way of doing politics is not party politics; but it is kind of association of friends and likes which has no firm principles and governing mechanisms in the real sense of the terms. Do not get me wrong that I am foolish enough who believe that political engagement and work is and should be free from all kinds of messy, if not terribly damaging elements. I understand that this type of way of thinking does not reflect the reality of any human interaction let alone the very reality of politics going on in our country. What I am trying to say is that being victims of terribly repeated and senselessly self-defeating failures, and keeping going back to square one do not make sense at all. Absolutely it does not! The very common saying, “Failure is the mother of success” does not mean it is okay to make stupid mistakes now and then and going back to the same horrible failure, and then expect success. This is absolutely nonsensical! It is rather a matter of learning a painful lesson from what went wrong and taking painful but necessary steps that should help us to move forward, not slide back to the same or the worst political quagmire which we have come through a long period of our political history. We need to strive hard to find ourselves in a relatively better standards of doing politics, not to mention making our big and wonderful words of “enough is enough!” meaningfully practical.

Individuals who were supposed to play their leadership role in the real sense of the term have terribly and regrettably failed the Ethiopian people, particularly for the last quarter of a century (the tyranny of ethnic politics of TPLF/EPRDF). I strongly argue that if those opposition political parties which are relatively popular and with a fair sense of courage want to make a difference at this critical moment in time, they should try hard to make appropriate and constructive measures with regard to some of their colleagues/members whose political tendencies seem going stupidly and terribly wrong. I am well aware that some fellow Ethiopians may feel very uncomfortable when I mention some bad political players in our political discourse, particularly during and after the 2005 election. But I strongly believe it is necessary to make things straightforwardly clear so as to remind ourselves not to be victims of these kinds of horribly disgraceful and deeply damaging political games over and over again. The very serious political damages done by some political personalities (both at individual and grouping level) and their effects are still seriously hurting the struggle for freedom and justice. Let me be specific and clear.

The very shameful and harmful political damage done by Ato Lidetu Ayalew and few of his easy- going political- mates has helped a lot TPLF/EPRDF to survive at the very expense of the untold sufferings of the innocent people of Ethiopia. The very outrageously stupid political personalities such as Ato Ayele Chameso and his self-dehumanized colleagues have caused an incredible damage and a huge disgrace to the country and her people. The very rigidly arrogant and stupidly unsystematic political personalities of Ato Hailu Shawel and his own small circle have contributed a lot to the terrible political failures in our country. The political personalities of those who are being used as fake partners of TPLF/EPRDF (political robots) are typical examples of factors for miserable failures and the continuation of ethnic-based tyranny we are facing in a much more dangerous scale and intensity.

I do not think it is something that needs kind of investigative study or research to know that involving in the politics of our country is not only difficult but extremely dangerous. In other words, the dirty and deadly political agenda and practice by TPLF/EPRDF is a self-evident business. And it is not difficult to understand the political environment in which political opposition parties such as UDJ are trying to do their best. And I still sincerely believe that they deserve due recognition, critical appreciation and necessary support.

However, it is neither desirable nor helpful for us to remain silent when any damaging political behavior/tendency surfaces itself within the party’s or parties’ leadership. It is absolutely wrong for us to have a mentality of wait and see and being frustrated and devastated when things reach at a point where it would be difficult to prevent the horribly repeated failures we came across for the last two decades. Let me proceed to a very troubling case which has motivated me to come up with this piece of writing. It is about Ato Girma Seifu’s response to the question in relation to prisoners of conscience in the country, more specially members of opposition political parties during the press briefing he gave on the occasion of announcing the party’s decision to participate in the upcoming “election”.

I read the news about the decision by UDJ to participate in the upcoming “election.” I watched a video clip taken from awarmbatimes.com (?) posted on zehabesha .com; and I listened to the audio clip broadcast on ESAT Radio and a very brief interview by Mesay Mekonen of Esat with Ato Girma Seifu (deputy president of the party and member of the rubber stamp parliament of TPLF/EPRDF.) By the way, I sincerely admire Journalist Mesay the way he tried to politely but seriously engage and challenge Ato Girma. That is the way it is and it should be! Great job Mesay!

I am not here intended to say that the decision to participate in the upcoming “election” by UDJ is wrong or right as it is up to the party to decide what is the right strategy and tactic to advance its political mission. But I do not think it is wrong to remind UDJ and other opposition parties that at the end of day whatever the strategy and tactic they may choose have to be meaningfully in line with the very long- term national interest and the genuine prevalence of freedom, justice, human dignity and shared prosperity. I strongly argue that conducting a press briefing and declaring the decision to participate in the upcoming ‘election” instead of discussing how to put pressure on the tyrannical ruling elites to open the political space does not sound doing serious politics. I am sorry to say but I have to say that if UDJ is giving us a signal that it would take part in the “election” and sending a couple of members to the Parliament and be part of the ugly politics as usual (a good playing card of TPLF/EPRDF), that won’t be different from going back to the political vicious cycle we have come across for the last several years. I do not think the people of Ethiopia can afford keep sending a couple of opposition politicians not only to a hugely parasitic parliament but also the most disgraceful political arm of the ruling party and continue languishing under the same, if not the worst political drama. Yes, the people desperately need a genuine representation through which they could make their voices heard and have concrete impact on their political lives and socio-economic well-being. Yes, I strongly argue that the people of Ethiopia cannot afford to watch a couple opposition politicians sitting in meaningless parliamentary sessions and keep making good for nothing political rhetoric in the name of their endless plight. I once again want to be clear that I am not against taking part in election to run government offices as it is the most desirable political means to bring about a fairly just system. What I am trying to say is that elections should be instruments to make a difference or have opportunities of choices, not for the sake of merely participating in elections and sharing few seats that cannot have any effective influence in the making of policies.

I said Ato Girma Seifu is a member of a rubber stamp branch of government, not a legislative body in which honorable members are doing honorable tasks. I am sorry to say but I have to say that for me it is an insult to the country and her innocent people to address those attendees and admirers (parliamentarians) of the dirty, if not deadly political drama authored and performed by the very inner circle of TPLF as honorable members. Because I believe that it is stupid enough to honor those who have no any sense of honoring their own conscience or they have no any sense of speaking their own minds and hearts.

But I have to be honest that I used to be one of those fellow Ethiopians who genuinely believed that Ato Girma Seifu deserves to be exceptional because he belongs to an opposition party and he is the only dissenting voice that makes the voices of the people heard. It does not mean that I had and have an impression about the very real sense of his political character without reservation. Not in this sense at all. I have tried to read his commentaries, listen to his interviews, and his arguments in that lifeless political drama of “parliamentarians.” And I also carefully attended his town hall meetings he had with Ethiopians during his working visit in America (Washington DC metropolitan area) a couple years ago. And I have to say that I had and still have a fair sense observation about his political view and position. Let me be clear. I am not a student of psychology or political psychiatrist (if there is such a profession). But this does not prevent me from using my personal observation .Without going around the bush, I have an impression that he has kind of genuine political personality but with a difficulty to pinpoint where is his selflessly strong center of political gravity. I am not saying this because I want to foolishly undermine and blackmail his political career and his role in the party. It is to express my impression about his certain views and arguments he intentionally or unintentionally advances. I hope he would be willing and able to look at things the way they are and they should be, not the way he personally wanted to be.

I was not deeply shocked when I listened to not only what he said but also the way he said about prisoners of conscience in our country. But I have to say that I felt very sad about citizens who are victims of a state terror being victims a very naïve but painful words of mouth of Ato Girma who claims himself a politicians who stands for justice for all. I am not exaggerating when I say that what he said and the way he said both in the audio clip and during his very brief and nervous conversation with Mesay Mekonen sounds like a representative or spokesperson of the TPLF/EPRDF government, not a higher ranking member of an opposition party which struggles against all injustices being committed under the cover of national security, stability, and anti-terrorism. Is it an emotion-driven slip of tongue, or lack of articulation, or some sort of personal ulterior motive, or something else? It is not clear yet. And it will be clear enough when Ato Girma comes forward and make himself clear enough. And I hope he will be doing so before it is too late and things open themselves for any kind of speculation and highly undesirable damages of personal character. Gerry Spence, the author of a book, How to Argue and Win Every Time (1995) says,” Truth is never arrogant. …. To open the other to your argument, tell the truth. Be yourself. That is enough.”

There is no doubt this will have its own negative implications on the political performance of the party itself. Because Ato Girma has said that all what he said was not his personal view, but the view and position of the party. And it is necessary for the party to conduct an internal discussion and come up with genuine, constructive and teachable response. As I tried to reflect in my piece of writing I mentioned in my introductory part, I am still one of those cautiously optimistic fellow Ethiopians about the trends UDJ is moving with. The way Engneer Gizachew stepped aside from his position and the coming of relatively young and energetic members to the top leadership structure was and is truly encouraging. I strongly believe that this encouraging trend/ effort should not be negatively affected because of certain very undesirable, if not distractive words of mouths of members of the party’s leadership. Let’s not be shy of taking critical and rational inward-looking and keep going dynamic in this very dynamically changing world. Going otherwise will be nothing; but facing untimely or gradual death. I am reasonably optimistic that UDJ and all other genuinely concerned opposition parties will not only simply survive but will be able to lead the people in the right direction and bring about the change we desperately aspire.

The de-Ethiopianization of Ethiopia

• The TPLF’s ideology of de-Ethiopianization
• The “mechanics” of de-Ethiopianizing Ethiopia
• Trivialization of Ethiopian history and demonization of historical Ethiopian leaders
• Balkanization, dismemberment and merchandizing of Ethiopia and decomposition of Ethiopian territorial integrity and sovereignty

by Alemayehu G. Mariam*

For over four decades, the self-styled Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which clings to power by force in Ethiopia today, has been planning and waging a sustained and relentless political, social and cultural war to “de-Ethiopianize” Ethiopia. The TPLF’s de-Ethiopianization program and ideology are built around a set of specific strategies, policies, actions and practices intended to 1) strip Ethiopians of any meaningful consciousness of their national identity and expurgate from their collective social experience any sense of commonly shared values, beliefs and customs, and 2) balkanize, merchandize and dismember the country employing a variety of tactics and schemes.  The TPLF’s “de-Ethiopianization” ideology and programs were diabolically conceived, meticulously planned and systematically executed with the ultimate aim of obliterating the historical Ethiopia and replacing it with an “Ethiopia” fabricated from the warped figment of the TPLF’s imagination.  The TPLF has officially and openly implemented its de-Ethiopianization program since it seized power in 1991.

The TPLF’s ideology of de-Ethiopianization

What exactly is the TPLF’s ideology of “de-Ethiopianization of Ethiopia”?

The answer to that question comes with crystal clarity from Gebremedhin Araya, the former treasurer and top leader of the TPLF, who left that organization and distinguished himself as a fearless  and uncompromising patriotic Ethiopian truth-teller. In an extraordinary video interview posted on Youtube (with my English translation of the Amharic words below), Gebremedhin explained the TPLF’s four ideological pillars of de-Ethiopianizing Ethiopia by systematically cleansing Ethiopian national identity, history and consciousness:

1)      Eritrea is an Ethiopian colony. Eritrea is a developed country. Eritrea existed before Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a country created by (Emperor) Menelik. The name Ethiopia is not known. Ethiopia has no history, nothing.

2)      Tigray is an independent sovereign country which was invaded by (Emperor) Atse Menelik and became an Amhara colony. Tigray is a colonial territory of Amhara. That is what is stated in the woyane (TPLF) Manifesto which is the policy guideline (exhibiting the Manifesto in the video). [To read the original handwritten ‘TPLF Manifesto” in pdf format, click here; for the  online version click here]  Therefore, we must liberate Tigray from Amhara colonialism and create a Tigray republic.

3)      Amhara are the enemy of the Tigray people. Amhara are not only enemies but also double enemies. Therefore, we must crush Amhara. We have to destroy them. Unless Amhara are destroyed, beaten down, cleansed from the land, Tigray cannot live in freedom. For the government we intend to create, Amhara will be the main obstacle.

4)      Since Ethiopia is a country created by Menelik, created by Menelik’s invasion and sine there are many nations and nationalities invaded by Menelik, these groups (hold and exhibits Manifesto in the video) must gain their freedom from what is now called Ethiopia and establish their own country. The country known as Ethiopia is new and not even 100 years old. This country must be destroyed, zeroes out. Nations and nationalities and we must create our own governments. Eritrea gets her independence; that is the basis of our struggle.

It is important to note that neither the TPLF as an organization nor its leaders in power, marginalized from power or retired from power have ever jointly or severally disavowed the authenticity of the document known as the “TPLF Manifesto” nor repudiated any of its contents. The “Manifesto” remains to this day the guidepost and ideological underpinning of the TPLF.

The “mechanics” of de-Ethiopianizing Ethiopia

The TPLF’s decades-long “de-Ethiopianization” effort has been waged on multifaceted strategic fronts using multipronged approaches. The strategy is pretty sophisticated and combines political warfare with cultural, social and psychological warfare. In this commentary, I will touch upon only three of those strategies (and will address other related strategies in future commentaries): 1) trivialization of Ethiopian history and demonization of historical Ethiopian leaders, 2) demonization of “Amhara” and “Amhara” people, and 3) Balkanization, dismemberment and merchandizing of Ethiopia and decomposition of Ethiopian territorial integrity and sovereignty.

I. Trivialization of Ethiopian history and demonization of historical Ethiopian leaders

The first weapon in the TPLF’s arsenal of de-Ethiopianization of Ethiopia is the flagrant denial of the existence of a historical Ethiopia and denigration and disparagement of its past imperial leaders. For the TPLF, Ethiopia is a recent political invention, barely a century old. According to the TPLF mythos, Ethiopia is a geopolitical entity cobbled together by Atse (Emperor) Menelik towards the end of the Nineteenth Century. The TPLF narrative depicts Menelik was a ruthless warmonger hell-bent on creating an “Amhara” empire; he purportedly slashed and burned everything in his path to conquer and subjugate neighboring “nations and nationalities”. For the TPLF and its late godfather Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopia known as the land of the “Habasha people” (or the “Abyssinian people”) for millennia has little to do with the contemporary inhabitants of the land known as Ethiopia or the juridical land mass known as Ethiopia.

Such ignorant historical revisionism and benighted historical deconstruction by the TPLF is blind to the manifestly self-evident historical facts. According to the TPLF mythos, the dozens of references in the Old Testament and at least one in the New Testament to Ethiopia and Ethiopians have nothing to do with the contemporary inhabitants or land of Ethiopia. In Genesis (2:13) is written, “And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.” In Numbers (12:1) is written, “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.”). In Psalms (68:31) is written, “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”) According to the TPLF all of the references to Ethiopia in the Old Testament are about some other fictional Ethiopia.  None of the Biblical references have any relevance or reference to the present land known as Ethiopia or the ancestors of the people who presently inhabit the land known as Ethiopia.

Similarly, for the TPLF modern Ethiopia has nothing to do with the ancient Axumite Empire (3^rd-6^th Century A.D.). Axum is a place of extraordinarily importance in Ethiopia and Ethiopian history. There is no doubt that Axum is the political foundation of present day Ethiopia. Axum is considered by many Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians alike to be the capital city of the legendary Queen Sheba. King Ezana of Axum  made Christianity a state religion in the 4th Century. Tens of millions of present-day Ethiopian Christians throughout the country believe Axum is the “Second Jerusalem”, their holiest place because the Ark of the Covenant is believed to be housed at the cathedral of Tsion Maryam (Mary of Zion). According to the TPLF mythos, all of this is also pure fiction. It has nothing to do with present day Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

It was an Axumite king who gave protection and assistance to the first Muslims (First Hijra) who were sent to Axum as early as 615 A.D. by the Prophet Mohammed to find refuge from persecution. The Prophet recorded that event and showed his appreciation to the Axumite king and the Habasha people in the Hadith (the teachings, deeds and sayings of the Prophet Mohammed) when he said, “Leave the Habasha alone, so long as they do not take the offensive!” According to the TPLF all of this is pure fiction. The “Habasha” the Prophet spoke of have nothing to do with present day Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

Edward Gibbon, the Eighteenth Century English historian, in his monumental historical work, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, wrote, “Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion the Æthiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten”.  According to the TPLF, Gibbon was writing “fairy tales” when he wrote that because as the late Meles Zenawi argued in 1993, “Ethiopia is only 100 years old. Those who claim otherwise are indulging themselves in fairy tales.”

The victory of Ethiopia over the Kingdom of Italy in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa was an epochal event in recorded African history.  The Battle of Adwa marks the first time an African army decisively defeated a European power and expelled it from its territory. What is even most astounding is the fact that the Ethiopians defeated the mighty Italian army only two years after the Berlin Conference in which European powers agreed to carve up Africa and completely gobbled up the continent in less than a decade. Ethiopia was able to retain its long-held sovereignty and successfully resist all European colonization attempts.   According to the TPLF mythos, all of this is pure fiction. The victory over the colonial power has nothing to do with present day Ethiopia or Ethiopians. The victory of the Battle of Adwa belongs only to Tigreans.

The second prong of the TPLF’s trivialization and demonization campaign has been focused on a campaign of fear and smear against past Ethiopian imperial leaders. Atse (Emperor) Menelik II, the Nineteenth Century Ethiopian emperor who defeated the Italians at the Battle of Adwa (and whose centennial is being celebrated this year (Ethiopian calendar)), is a special target of TPLF vilification. Atse Menelik is depicted by the TPLF as a genocidal maniac and mass murderer. As I argued in my January 2014, commentary “Demonizing Ethiopian History”, the TPLF has undertaken a massive propaganda campaign in an attempt to caricature, demean and demonize the great Ethiopian king. Over one hundred years after Menelik’s his death, the TPLF has tried to resurrect him as the devil incarnate. Barely two years after Meles Zenawi’s death, the TPLF is waging a campaign  to resurrect Meles as the savior of Ethiopia. The TPLF wants to rewrite history by depicting Menelik as an enemy of the Oromo people. The fact of the matter is that there is more than sufficient evidence to prosecute Meles, if he were alive, and members of his gang for the untold and unspeakable crimes against humanity they committed against the Oromo people.

The late Meles Zenawi made every effort to deny the monumental contributions of Atse (H.I.M) Haile Selassie to the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor to the African Union. Meles fought tooth and nail to make sure H.I.M. Haile Selassie’s statute was not erected on the African Union grounds because he was not as “pan-Africanist” as Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president!  The historical facts tell a much different story. Nkrumah himself repeatedly said there would have been no Organization of African Unity but for the relentless efforts of H.I.M. Haile Selassie. It was H.I.M Haile Selassie who was elected “Father of African Unity” by his peers at the 1972 Ninth Heads of States and Governments meeting of the Organization of African Unity. H.I.M Haile Selassie was elected the first chairman of the OAU in 1963 and elected again in 1966 to serve in the same position, making him the only African leader to have held that position twice.

After Meles’ passing,  one news source reported an interview in which the former Ethiopian “president”, Girma Woldegiorgis, sent a letter to the current “prime minister” Hailemariam Desalegn stating, “A statue must be erected to commemorate the Emperor…he was the first leader of Africa and I think he deserves a statue.” Little action on this issue could be expected from a Meles wannabe!

Obviously, the trivialization of Ethiopian history and demonization of its historical leaders is intended to achieve one thing, unwind the historical clock to Year 1: The beginning of Ethiopian history with Meles Zenawi as the “parens patriae” literally (father of the nation) and the TPLF as midwives to the birth of a nation. The ludicrous distortion of the historical record by the TPLF and its leaders is a futile attempt to re-write, miswrite, overwrite and un-write Ethiopian history with the hagiography (tale of sainthood) of Meles Zenawi. They want to unwrite Menelik’s history and write up Meles’ history as the greatest African leader of modern times. They want to demonize Menelik and mythologize Meles as the “new breed of African leader”, the “bringer of developmental state democracy”, the “African leader on Global Warming and Climate change”, the “destroyer of Somali jihadists and terrorists” and so on.

II. Demonization of “Amhara” and “Amhara” people

The TPLFs anti-“Amhara” ideology and “Amhara” demonization campaign is totally incomprehensible and irrational. The TPLF Manifesto declares “Amhara” are the enemies of Tigreans.  As Gebremedhin, the former TPLF treasurer explained, the cornerstone of TPLF ideology is that “Amhara are the enemy of the Tigray people. Amhara are not only enemies but also double enemies. Therefore, we must crush Amhara. We have to destroy them. Unless Amhara are destroyed, beaten down, cleansed from the land, Tigray cannot live in freedom. For the government we intend to create, Amhara will be the main obstacle.” Once in power the late Meles and his TPLF fully implemented their hateful ideology against “Amhara” and “Amhara people” and did everything to crush them. But…

Who are the “Amhara” and “Amhara people” the TPLF has declared an enemy worthy of genocidal acts?

In as much as the TPLF has propagandized and depicted the “Amhara people” to be demonic monsters, the fact of the matter is that the “Amhara people ” are actually the POOREST PEOPLE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. That was the conclusion Al Jazeera reached in its recent report: “Amhara is one of the poorest region not only in Ethiopia but in Africa.”

Persecution and destruction of “Amhara people” has been and continues to be the driving ideology and force of the TPLF. The late Meles had such deep-rooted hatred for “Amhara people” that it could be said without exaggeration that anti- ”Amharism” defined his entire cosmology. Meles’ raison d’etre was hatred of Amhara!  There is no rhyme or reason for the TPLF’s and its leaders’ antipathy towards “Amhara people”. One is left wondering, forced to examine world history to try and fathom the TPLF’s and its leaders’ deep and inexorable hatred of the “Amhara” and “Amhara people”.

One may find compelling parallels between Meles’ and the TPLF’s irrational and demented hatred of “Amharas” and Hitler’s and the  Nazi’s irrational and demented hatred of Jews. Hitler blamed the Jews for all of the ills of German society. Meles blamed all of the ills of Ethiopian society, past and present, on “Amharas.”

Hitler and the Nazis believed in racial division of people; they also believed there will always be an ongoing struggle between these different races. They believed the “Aryan race” was the best and strongest race destined to rule. Jews and other non-Arayans were of the inferior race (“Untermensch” or subhuman creatures).

For Meles and the TPLF, “Tigreans” are the best and strongest ethnic group since they as a guerilla force defeated and routed a mighty army with tanks, planes and artillery. They are convinced that their military conquest and seizure of power grants them a birthright to rule perpetually. The TPLF and its leaders consider themselves to be the ethnic equivalent of the “Aryan race”.  The rest including “Amharas” are “subethnic kreatur” (subethnic creatures). Thus, the political leadership, the bureaucracy, the police, security and military institutions in Ethiopia today are totally and completely dominated by the TPLF.  The TPLF regime and its supporters today have total and complete control of all economic sectors in Ethiopia including banking, construction and cement production, mining, transportation, insurance and the import-export sectors.

The late Meles believed that Ethiopians could be divided strictly by their ethnic identity, linguistic and cultural characteristics that there is ongoing competition between the ethnic groups. Meles invented his own bogus “federalism” and implemented it in a system called “kilils” (homelands). In Article 39 of the “Constitution of Ethiopia”, Meles wrote, “A nation, nationality or people for the purpose of this Constitution, is a group of people who have or share a large measure of a common culture, or similar customs, mutual intelligibility of language, belief in a common or related identities, and who predominantly inhabit an identifiable, contiguous territory.”

The Nazis practiced mass deportation and forced removal of Jews and other “Untermensch” from their homes in Nazi-occupied countries. As I documented in my April 2012 commentary, “Green Justice or Ethnic Injustice”, the late Meles Zenawi personally ordered the removal and deportation of tens of thousands of “Amhara” from Southern Ethiopia. In justifying his actions, Meles called the North Gojam “Amhara” “sefaris” (criminals squatters or marauding land grabbers):

… By coincidence of history, over the past ten years numerous people — some 30,000 sefaris (squatters) from North Gojam – have settled in Benji Maji (BM) zone [in Southern Ethiopia]. In Gura Ferda, there are some 24,000 sefaris. Because the area is forested, not too many people live there. For all intents and purposes, Gura Ferda is little North Gojam complete with squatters’ local administration… Settlers cannot move into the area and destroy the forest for settlement. It is illegal and must stop… Those who allege persecution and displacement of Amharas are engaged in irresponsible agitation which is not useful to anyone…”

Former Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Herman Cohen, who mediated the transfer of power to the TPLF from the military junta in 1991 in an interview in January 2012 revealed: “And  I questioned him [Meles] about land ownership. I was promoting allowing the farmers to have ownership of the land. He said that was not good because the Amharas would come and take over and buy all the land; and these people [the farmers] would return to be serfs like they were under the Emperor.”

The Nazis demonized the Jews by calling them loathsome and names and using derogatory epithets against them. The TPLF demonizes “Amhara” by using loathsome stereotypes to inflame underlying ethnic hatreds and tensions. The “Amhara” are not just the “enemy”, they are the “double enemy”. The “Amhara” are “colonizers”, “arrogant oppressors”,  “criminal  squatters”,  “conquerors” , “neftegna”  (gun-toting, land grabbing settlers), “enslavers”, etc. The incessant “Amhara” demonization propaganda is created not only to dehumanize the “Amhara” but also to make the “Amhara” the target of persecution, mistreatment, abuse, ridicule and official neglect and indifference.

Just as it is difficult to establish Hitler’s hatred of the Jews to a specific event in his life growing up in Vienna, it is similarly difficult to explain Meles’ hatred of “Amharas” having grown up in Addis Ababa, the capital. Meles attended  one of the more exclusive high schools there and even had the prized opportunity to attend university.

III. Balkanization, dismemberment and merchandizing of Ethiopia and decomposition of Ethiopian territorial integrity and sovereignty

The late Meles and his TPLF today have gone to extraordinary lengths to Balkanize and merchandize Ethiopia and bargain away its sovereignty. In February 2014, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Saving Ethiopia From the Chopping Block” challenging the legal basis for Hailemariam Desalegn’s (puppet-mastered by the TPLF) to transfer sovereign Ethiopian territory to the Sudan. That commentary was a follow up on my 2008 commentary entitled, “All is not quiet on the Western Front” challenging the late Meles Zenawi’s secret land giveaway to the Sudan.

In “Saving Ethiopia”, I argued that “Meles had no legal authority to hand over Ethiopian land to the Sudan, or for that matter to anyone else. Today, Hailemariam also has no legal right or authority to turn over Ethiopian land to the Sudan. Having said that, there is no question that Meles has “signed” an “agreement” to relinquish a “large chunk of territory in the Amhara region” to the Sudan. Hailemariam and his puppet masters are now trying to make us swallow this illegal land transfer by sweet talk of a “strategic framework agreement”. The fact of the matter is that any transfer of Ethiopian land to the Sudan or any other country by the regime in power today is without any legal basis under the Ethiopian Constitution or international law.”

In March 2011, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Ethiopia: A Country for Sale” lamenting the fact that the country is being sold piecemeal to fly-by-night scammers disguised as “investors”:  “Ethiopia is on sale. Everybody is getting a piece of her. For next to nothing. The land vultures have been swooping down on Gambella from all parts of the world. Meles Zenawi proudly claims ‘36 countries including India, China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have leased farm land.’ This month (March 2011) the concessions are being worked at a breakneck pace, with giant tractors and heavy machinery clearing trees, draining swamps and ploughing the land…   Karuturi, ‘one of the world’s top 25 agri-businesses’ plans to ‘export palm oil, sugar, rice and other foods from Gambella province to world markets’.”

In my March 2013 commentary, “Land and Ethiopia’s Corruptocracy”, using the World Bank’s 550-page study “Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia”, I demonstrated that corruption in the land sector in Ethiopia occurs in several ways. First and foremost, “elite and senior officials” snatch the most desirable lands in the country for themselves. These fat cats manipulate the “weak policy and legal framework and poor systems to implement existing policies and laws” to their advantage. They engage in “fraudulent actions to allocate land to themselves in both urban and rural areas and to housing associations and developers in urban areas.” These “influential and well-connected individuals are able to have land allocated to them often in violation of existing laws and regulations.

For nearly a quarter of a century, the late Meles and the TPLF have been repackaging an atavistic style of  tribal politics in a fancy wrapper called “ethnic federalism.” The TPLF has managed to segregate the Ethiopian people by ethno-tribal classifications and corralled them like cattle into grotesque regional political units called “kilils” (literally means “reservation”, ethnic homelands; semantically, the word also suggests the notion of an exclusion zone, an enclave).

The ideology of “kililism” shares many of the attributes of apartheid’s “Bantustanism” (“black African tribal homelands”). In Article 39 of the “Constitution of Ethiopia” Meles created “ethnic homelands” just as apartheid South Africa’s Bantu (Black) Authorities Act of 1951 created “bantustans”. Article 39 provides, “A nation, nationality or people for the purpose of this Constitution, is a group of people who have or share a large measure of a common culture, or similar customs, mutual intelligibility of language, belief in a common or related identities, and who predominantly inhabit an identifiable, contiguous territory.” Both ideologies aim to concentrate members of designated ethnic groups into “homelands” by creating ethno-linguistically homogeneous territories which could ultimately morph into “autonomous” nation states.

Prof. Ted Vestal, in his article, “Human Rights Abuses in ‘Democratic’ Ethiopia: Government Sponsored Ethnic Hatred”, illuminates the underlying logic of the TPLF’s “kililism” strategy: “Another aspect of the EPRDF’s [the organizational shell used by the TPLF to project an image of pluralism] strategy is to establish a governing system of ethnic federalism emphasizing rights of ‘nations, nationalities, and peoples.’ This high-sounding principle, cribbed from Lenin, is more Machiavellian than Wilsonian however. If the outnumbered Tigrayans who direct the EPRDF/FDRE can keep other ethnic groups divided and roiled against each other in ethno-xenophobias or content to manage affairs in their own limited bailiwicks, then larger matters can be subsumed by the one governing party. Thus, what the EPRDF views as the false ideology of nationalism for a ‘Greater Ethiopia’ can be kept in check and its proponents divided and conquered.”

The late Meles and the TPLF have bargained away a sea outlet and landlocked Ethiopia. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Herman Jay Cohen are on record stating that they warned and urged Meles to retain an outlet to the sea for Ethiopia by keeping the port of Assab; but their exhortations fell on Meles’ deaf ears.

In 2000, after a two-year war with Eritrea and the deaths of some 80 thousands Ethiopian soldiers, the late Meles signed the Algiers Agreement formally ending the Ethiopian-Eritrean War. That Agreement established a boundary and claims commissions to resolve outstanding issues.  What is incredible and inexcusable about that Agreement is the fact that after the Eritreans invaded Badme in northern Ethiopia in 1998 and were decisively defeated, Meles promptly converted Ethiopia’s battlefield victory into total diplomatic defeat by agreeing to deliver Badme to the invaders in arbitration. This marks the first time in modern world history where a nation that successfully repelled an invasion of its territory at great cost of human lives promptly turned around and delivered that same territory to the enemy on a silver platter in binding international arbitration.

To be continued…