To Ato Abay Weldu, President of Tigray Region

I have little doubt that one way or the other this piece is going to make it to your office, at least considering the many operatives you have buzzing the worldwide web. I am writing as a concerned individual on the ongoing destruction of Raya by your Adwa administration. Of course, I am well aware that your office and that of your predecessors have been implored repeatedly though to no avail. Still I want to dispatch this to your office.

This time, I am not going to present another data since it would be “diqhabarisya arda-e”, as it is said in Raya. I am rather encouraged by your recent distribution of tents for those made homeless by the demolition and permitting them to erect it on the rubbles of their previous homes. Even though the act exactly mirrors the Palestinian situation, it still is far better than trying to live in the open air (recall that some families comprise up to 10 members). I will try to list just a few burning issues that demand your urgent action. I hope I am not asking too much.

Stop the killing and harassment of innocents. It is just beyond comprehension why an Adwa man would engage in a killing rampage against those who never complained his domination. People are murdered, harassed or humiliated on a daily basis all across Raya. Halt this immediately. The other week, Gidey Deribew, a prominent and successful business man in Alamata town is murdered by the Adwa death squad in the usual sophisticated operation.

Mr. President, I ask your good office to make a serious investigation into this and bring the killers to justice. I mean if you are not part of the killing machine. Of course, the full list of those murdered at different times, including ranking TPLF officers, will be made public. Thanks to technology, it is also possible to establish the cause of death in post-mortem whether it is by a Polonium, mustard or any other poison or physical suffocation. This truth will be revealed in due time.

Immediately release all the victims you incarcerated. Under your full knowledge and blessing, the Adwa administration has demolished thousands of property and made tens of thousands homeless in just few days. As if that were not enough, the Adwa savages have incarcerated the victims and are currently being tortured in the most brutal form in Adwa-run especial prisons.

Obviously, you are well aware that those belongings bulldozed took years of hard work to build and were the livelihood of the tens of thousands displaced. If it was built with “EFFORT’ or other blood money that you see in Adi-abun or Enticho, the residents would not have complained in the first place. A minimal peaceful complaint to the demolition of a belonging is not a treason or other serious crime that warrants torture.

We demand self-governance. As you know very well, one of the key issues that gave birth to the Raya Weyane of the 1930’s was the question of self-governance. The inhabitants of the time felt that locally elected leaders are more inclined, among other things, to understand issues pertinent to the Raya population, address them more amicably and efficiently. What a far-away appointee can do is no clearer than what the Adwa brutes have caused in Raya over the span of just a decade. Paradoxically, the idea of self-rule is on the constitution of the government. Mr. President, we demand you to take note of your constitution and replace the illegitimate and irrational Adwans by elected locals leaders.

We demand our fair share from Tigray state. Raya never complained as the Adwans went as outrageous as diverting UNDP funds for irrigation project in Raya into building an “echo-tourism” in Adwa and this on a non-existent echo-system. It is not hard to imagine what you would have been done if Adwa had the resources of Raya. We demand our fair share not only from such UN funds, but also from the Tigray budget allocated by the central government. We also demand to have equal representation and equal say on the state matters as well as on national levels.

Mr. President,

This is not the first time that Raya has come under the control of far-away appointees. The difference is that unlike today’s ruthless, incompetent and illiterate Adwans, the previous ones are more capable, more caring, self-respecting and friendly on personal level. If the rebellion of the 1930’s was triggered by injustice, the current discriminations and destructions actually invite for more than that. My hope is that as it is never too late your office will not sit and watch the irreversible transformation of Tigray into unnecessary state.

Sincerely,
Teumay