Most of us hoped that once you were released from prison and came to the United States, you would be
able to delve into the reasons behind the split between the KIC and the KIL, to resolve it and in doing so,
would be able to renew the spirit of unity that existed before the election of 2005. We ask for your
devoted and undivided attention in addressing and resolving the current divisions so we Ethiopians can
fight together in a united struggle against the oppression, deprivation and corruption that surrounds our
people like the bars of a prison cell.

Why is it that the most difficult part of our battle has not been fighting our adversary on the frontlines, but
instead it has been the struggle from within? It creeps in quietly through the backdoors of unspoken
conflicts, unwarranted criticism, misunderstanding, lack of communication, unverified assumptions and
avoidance. Sometimes there is clear wrongdoing on the part of someone and relative innocence on the
part of others or there can be shared responsibility for a problem.

I encourage to come together and resolve the crisis because I fear that the alternative would be like a wind that spins into
a damaging tornado, tearing down what you and we have started to build. You showed how you sided
with the Ethiopian public when you spent all these months of your lives in filthy, rat-infested prisons.
You know much better than do I, the wretched conditions under which you lived. This should make it all
the more important for you to stand on those same moral principles now and not to give up on what you
have suffered for. You are still fighting a battle for freedom even though the chains that hold you are now
invisible. In some ways the battle is now more intense, especially if some of the obstacles are ourselves or
those close around us.

Please be motivated by remembering that there are Ethiopians who sacrificed even more than you. These
are those Ethiopians who came out wanting change — only asking for their God-given rights, but when
they came out onto streets, those who were supposed to protect them, were those who stole away their
future. From the hospitals of Addis Ababa and other cities around the country, their bodies reluctantly
gave up the fight for life and ended up instead in body bags. They were finally put to rest in their graves.
These people have sacrificed more than any of us.

The May election in Ethiopia brought hope to me and to some of the Anuak because they realized that
there was hope for change here and that a new government could not only bring those who committed
atrocities to justice, but could help bring to a halt the ongoing human rights abuses. Even though we did
not read the Kinijit Manifesto, the fact that there was an Ethiopian opposition who opposed the
government, was like a light of hope in our darkness. Hearing that there was a chance that this opposition
might win, was like hearing a beautiful song in our own Anuak language.

Now,
because there is clear indication that there are serious problems within the Kinijit, I have an obligation not
to be silent, but to speak up. I have hope that these words and those words from other concerned
Ethiopians may help to bring about a satisfying resolution. You are leaders who have listened to the
people and who have been different from other leaders in the past. Now, I ask you to listen very carefully
once again or the greater movement for freedom and justice in Ethiopia may disintegrate into ineffective
factions who are more concerned with their own personal interests and agendas.

Therefore, for the sake of the majority of the Ethiopian people, I am calling on you Kinijit leaders to
reconcile and to resolve this problem within Kinijit and then to reach out to others. I ask you to do
this for the sake of those who lost their loved ones whose killers still walk free, for those begging on
the streets, for the young child who is selling her body on the street because she has nothing to eat,
for the sake of the Ethiopians who are burying their dead children because of water-born diseases.

For the sake of the Ethiopian children who are raising their siblings because their parents have
been taken away from HIV/AIDS, for the sake of the Ethiopian children in the orphanages who
have no chance of surviving except by being taken away for adoption to a western country where
they will never know their culture and I ask you to do this for the sake of the Ethiopians who will
die on the road as they run away, trying to find an opportunity somewhere else. Because of all these
things affecting our people, I call on you to find a solution to the inner problems of Kinijit and then
call us others to all work together. For the sake of these people, we have to find a way. There is no
other humane choice for the people of Ethiopia.

You (Kinijit Leaders) have to be bold enough to come forward and tell us your differences,
whatever they may be. Ethiopians need to know the real truth. Is it a personal problem where
someone is not acting democratically? Is it a financial accountability problem? Is it a policy
problem, organizational problem, ideological problem or an ethical problem? Whatever it may be,
the Ethiopian public has a right to know before the movement collapses. What Ethiopians want are
people who will uphold principles, but not individuals at the sake of higher principles. If leaders are
unable to uphold such higher principles, unity is not possible between those who do and those who
do not.

I still have hope that you can come together to lead this country to greater freedom, justice and
opportunity, but unless you tackle the inner problems within your leadership group and until there
is some resolution that can be publicly announced to the Ethiopian public, how can you address the
complex issues affecting Ethiopians today?

We call on you to resolve your own internal problems as well and to find a way to reach out to each other,
including the Kinijit because the problem of Ethiopia is beyond ourselves, our ethnic group, our political
party, our religion and our region. We hope that all Ethiopian organizations can resolve your differences
and then join together with others based on what we can agree on such as human rights, lack of property
rights, lack of political representation, a war on poverty and so forth. We can agree on these things. Let us
keep above the fray and seek God’s help in pray for our leaders and the direction of our country. May
God help us to be people of virtue, love, integrity, compassion and justice.

——-
Renowned Ethiopian human rights activist Obang Metho can be reached at [email protected].