Proving them wrong – the Ethiopian way

July 18, 2013

They say
all kinds of bad stuff about us. It is said so many times and so often
sometimes some of us start to believe the lie. That is always the problem with
being lied to. I am sure by now Woyanes are drunk with their own silly
propaganda. The situation with us is that they used to own the means of
communication and we were their potted plants waiting to be told, lectured and
abused to no end.

I have so
many instances of this situation I just don’t know where to start. I believe
2005 is day one in recent Ethiopian history. From 1992 to 2005 were the golden
years of Woyane where they could do nothing wrong. They could have declared
black is white and no one would have challenged them. They held three elections
before 2005 and trounced the so called opposition like a beach ball. The loyal
opposition led by such luminaries as Dr. Beyene Petros were amenable in a
fantastic manner and submitted without much fanfare.

It was the
height of believing your own lie to hear the late dictator lament about the
lack of a worthy opposition to challenge his TPLF mafia outfit. What is more
our benefactor’s embassies were reporting that ‘there is no viable alternative
to EPDRF.’ So our people lied low. You know how we operate. We flash that
winning smile while in the back ground the brain is on overdrive to find a way
out. That is what our people did in 2005.

In a closed
door session with the foreigners Ato Meles was so sure of victory this is what
he told them regarding his reason for allowing free discussion on his TV “That is why we were so generous in
allocating airtime to the opposition. We wanted to give them a long enough rope
for them to hang politically, by expressing their views in the ugliest form so
that the people can see what they stand for…So as far as our rhetoric is
concerned, we have said that they are the Interhamwe. Not because they will
send the Tutsis back home, but the Tigrayans back home, normally on all fours.”

This is
how much the TPLF was detached from reality. What did our people do? They annihilated
the TPLF machine in every corner of our beautiful land. No worthy TPLF was left
standing. Bereket Semon was knocked out, Aba Dulla was left for dead, Arkebe
was humiliated and Meles Ashebari Zenawi was rendered mute. My best
recollection is the letter to the editor to the Ethiopian Herald written by no
other than the tyrant himself. Until today I believe that is the best insight into
that murky criminal mind of the dear departed leader. I have a printed copy of
that infamous letter hanging on my wall. In 2005 the Ethiopian people spoke
loud and clear when given a chance. We proved them wrong in no uncertain ways.

Recently I
read an editorial by the Ethiopian newspaper ‘The reporter’. Let me say first
the Amharic version has a motto above the name and it says ‘Free press, Free thought and Free spirit.’  That motto is absent in the English version. I
would think it would be easier to lie in a foreign language but I guess the
Reporter thinks otherwise. They have no shame. Here is the title of the
editorial ‘የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ተቃዋሚዎችን እየታዘበ ነው’  According the
‘Fearless Reporter’ here in a nutshell is what the editor is preaching. The
opposition claims the government is putting hurdles to keep them weak and the
editorial says they in good faith cannot claim the government has helped,
supported or encouraged the opposition. But the Reporter opines we do not think
the government is responsible for the weakness and the problems of the
opposition.

In
the Reporters opinion ‘the opposition
lacks resolve strength and good will and is not ready to sacrifice otherwise
they would have been stronger.’  We
believe the opposition is responsible for their weakness. The Reporter goes on
to say plenty of nasty stuff about the opposition none of it worth repeating.
The Reporter that practices what is called ‘yellow journalism’ and is the
unofficial mouthpiece of the TPLF is one of those weapons that insistently
peddles hate, fear, hopelessness and attempts to kill the spirit of
Ethiopianism. I also believe the English version is written by someone with a
second grade education.  

Who
else in his right mind would blame the victims that cannot even rent a meeting
hall, that do not have a newspaper, that are denied airtime and cannot even
raise funds to operate for being weak? The Ethiopian opposition has paid and is
paying a heavy price for freedom. They have been hounded from their homes,
fired from their jobs, their children denied schooling some murdered and the
jails are full of our brave and resolute comrades in arms. You can see the
shameless Reporter that does not even have an iota of honor and that lacks the
moral capacity to pass any form of judgment on those that operate under a
ruthless and criminal regime using precious paper to spread ignorance.  

Despite
what is being done to them, despite the power of the state that belittles their
efforts 24/7 on national TV, Radio and rags like the Reporter the Ethiopian
opposition is alive and well. There are ups and downs in this long journey. Today
the torch of freedom is burning bright. We got a few choices that are steeled
in the struggle and are raising the banner of hope. Semayawi Party is the new
kid on the block. They are redefining the agenda. Despite the Reporters
lamentations, the TPLF’s unending threats of dire consequences and the fear
mongering by the old guard on June 2^nd the Ethiopians came out in
droves to support their party. The young and old, men and women, Christian and Moslem
regardless of ethnic affiliation all showed under the banner of freedom and
democracy. They said it was impossible, cannot be done but we proved them all
wrong.

The recent
ESFNA’s 30^th. Celebration in Maryland is another occasion where we
rose up to the challenge. They say we are one combative people. The rumor is we
love to fight with each other, we don’t care to unite and we are always
badmouthing our own people. They claim there is nothing on earth that will
bring us together and we are one selfish people. It is supposed to be common
knowledge that Abeshas are envious, uncooperative and hopeless. They say it and
we repeat after them. After a certain time we reach a point
where we start believing it ourselves. So we thought.

It is
lucky for us that those that try to put us down and demoralize us start to be
swayed by their own propaganda. Our clueless bandas believed their lies and
organized a tournament to compete with ESFNA. They rented the best stadium
there is, they bribed youngster from all over America with free ticket and free
lodgings, they brought plane load of the nouveau rich from home and waited for
the party to begin.  They really thought we
would sell our soul for a fist full of dollars. They inadvertently gave us a
stark choice. Money or country was on the table. The people spoke. You can
always buy a few bandas like the Italians did but Ethiopia or death became the
cry of the many. How many you asked? Over forty thousand and that was the
capacity of the stadium. We might quarrel, we might have disagreements but when
it comes to Ethiopia we are tight. How tight you ask? We don’t even allow a
skinny Woyane to pass between us. We proved them wrong! Thank you ESFNA, thank
you my brothers and sisters, I knew you will not let mother down. Prove them
wrong is the battle cry. We shall overcome.