#TigrayGenocide | 150 People Die from Starvation in Tigray, Humanitarian Intervention Blocked

This video reflects the severe humanitarian situation in Tigray with supplies of food aid running out and the United Nations warning that a de facto blockade is bringing millions to the brink of famine. Video by WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME via REUTERS

😈 አይ ኦሮሞ! አይ አማራ! ዋይ! ዋይ! ዋይ! “የድል ዜናችሁ” ይህ ነው፤ አይደል?! ለአሥር ዓመታት በጋራ ያቀዳችሁትን ዲያብሎሳዊ ተግባር እየተገበራችሁት ነው፤ አይደል!? አዬዬ! በጌታችን ስም፤ በቅዱሳን አባቶቼ ስም በጭራሽ ለሰከንድ እንኳን አልለቃችሁም! እንደ ሌሎች በሃዘን የምፍረከሰከስ አይደለሁም፤ ከልጅነቴ ጀምሮ የገጠመኝና ያያሁት ብሎም ድል እየተቀዳጀሁ ያለፍኩበት ነገር ነው። አሁን ጸሎቴ ሁሉ በእናንተ ላይ ያተኮረ ነው! እ ህ ህ ህ!!! ከእነዚህ አውሬዎች ጋር፤ ከዚህ ፋሺስታዊ የኦሮሞ አገዛዝ ጋር ያበራችሁ ኦሮሞ፣ አማራ፣ ሶማሌ፣ ጉራጌ፣ ወላይታ፣ ሲዳማ፣ ጋሞ ወዘተ ሁሉ የአብርሐም፣ የይስሐቅና የያዕቆብ እግዚአብሔር አምላክ እሳቱን ያዝንብባችሁ ፤ ንብረታችሁ ኃብታችሁ ሁሉ ይውደም ፤ ጤናችሁ ይጉደል ፤ ዘራችሁ ይጥፋ ፤ በስብሳችሁ ተልታችሁ ኑሩ፣ ቀዝናችሁ ሙቱ ፤ ሬሳችሁን ውሾችና ጥንብ አንሳዎች ይብሉት! አሜን! አሜን! አሜን!

💭 እነ አቡነ ማትያስ፣ ዶ/ር ቴድሮስ አድሃኖም፣ ዶ/ር ሊያ ታደሰ እና አቶ ተወልደ ገብረ መድሕን ምን እየሠሩ ነው? አዲስ አበባ ያሉ ጽዮናውያን ምን እየጠበቁ ነው? የአክሱማውያን አስቴር እና መርዶክዮስ የት ናቸው?

❖ TDF = ELA (ኢነሠ) = ‘የኢትዮጵያ ነፃ አውጪ ሠራዊት’ ባፋጣኝ ግራኝን መያዝ አለበት፤ ጦርነት አያስፈልግም፤ ዓለምን የሚያስጮህ የጀግነንት ተግባር ሳይፈጸም አንድም ቀን ማለፍ የለበትም፤ ልዩ ኮማንዶ ወደ አዲስ አበባ ልካችሁ ጽዮናውያንን በረሃብ ጨርሶ እስላማዊት ኦሮሚያ ኤሚራትን ለመመስረት ያለመውን አረመኔ የኦሮሞ አገዛዝ 😈 ሙሉ በሙል በእሳት ጠራርጓችሁ አጥፉት። ከዓመት በፊት አስጠንቅቀናል፤ WEP/USAID ወዘተ ሁሉም ጽዮናውያንን በስልት ለመጨረስ ተናብበው የሚሠሩ የሉሲፈራውያኑ ተቋማት ናቸው። “የ2019 + 2020 የኖቤል ሰላም ሽልማት ለግራኝ እና ለተባበሩት መንግስታት የምግብ ፕሮግራም ተቋም መሰጠቱ ጽዮናውያንን በእሳት እና በረሃብ የመፍጂያ ቀብድ ነው” ያልነው ያው ደረሰ፤ እያየነው ነው። ሁሉም የትግራይን ሕዝብ በድራማቸው እየጨረሱት ነው። ፍጠኑ! እውነት ለሕዝባችሁ የቆማችሁ ከሆ፤ በኦሮሚያ የቱርኮችን የመጨፍጨፊያ ድሮኖቹን በመገጣጠም ላይ ያለው የኦሮሞዎቹ የእነ ሽመልስ አብዲሳ እና ለማ መገርሳ ቡድን ‘OLA’ በሞኝነት ”ይረዳናል” ብላችሁ ተስፋ አታድርጉ፤ በጭራሽ አትጠብቁ፤ ቢፈልጉና ቢችሉ ኖሮ በአንድ ቀን ሁሉንም ነገር በፈጸሙት ነበር፤ ፍላጎቱም ብቃቱም የላቸውም! አማራዎቹም እንዲሁ! አሁን ተስፋው ያለው በጽዮናውያን ላይ ብቻ እና ብቻ ነው፤ ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድን እራሳችሁ ባፋጣኝ ድፉት!

ጽዮናውያን፤ ባካችሁ እንደ እባብ ልባምና ብልህ ሁኑ፤ ረሃቡን፣ ጦርነቱንና ሰቆቃውን ሁሉ ባጭሩ ለመግታት አውሬውን መያዝ ወይም መድፋት ግድ ነው! እስካሁን አንድም የወንጀለኛው ግራኝ ባልደረባ አለመያዙ እና በእሳት አለመጠረጉ በጣም የሚያስገርም ነው፤ እነ ባጫ፣ ጁላ እና የፋሺስቱ ኦሮሞ አገዛዝ ፈላጭ ቆራጮች ይህን ሁሉ ግፍ ሠርተው ለአንድም ቀን እንኳን ቢሆን እንዴት አየር መሳብ ተፈቀደላቸው? ያውም እስከ ሃምሳ ሺህ የታጠቁ ጽዮናውያን በሚገኙባት በአዲስ አበባ። ኧረ ባካችሁ፤ አንድ በአንድ ድፏቸው!

💭 Ethiopia’s Tigray Crisis: Tplf Says 150 Have Died of Starvation

About 150 people died of starvation in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region in August, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has said.

These are the first hunger-related deaths that the TPLF has reported since its fighters recaptured most of the region from federal forces in June.

There is no independent confirmation of its statement.

The UN previously said that about 400,000 were already living in famine-like conditions in Tigray.

The government has not responded the to the TPLF statement.

About 5.2 million people – or 90% of Tigray’s population – urgently needed aid “to avert the world’s worst famine situation in decades”, the UN said last week.

The TPLF and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed were once allies in the government, but fell out over his political reforms, triggering the war that has killed thousands and displaced millions since November.

TPLF recaptured most of the region, including the capital, Mekelle, in June after losing control of most of it early in the war.

The TPLF says it is the legitimate government of Tigray, having won regional elections in 2020. The Ethiopian government denounced the poll as illegal. It regards the TPLF as a terrorist organisation.

Dying ‘in front of our eyes’

In a statement on Monday, the TPLF said there was a “complete depletion of food stocks” in Tigray.

People living in camps after being displaced by conflict were receiving “no aid” and host communities were running out of food, it said.

The TPLF said the 150 deaths were recorded in the central, southern and eastern zones of Tigray, as well in camps in the city of Shire – the birthplace of the group’s leader Debretsion Gebremichael.

“One million people are at risk of fatal famine if they are prohibited from receiving life-saving aid within the next few days,” it added.

In a BBC Tigrinya interview, TPLF agriculture chief Atinkut Mezgebo said that people were dying “in front of our eyes”.

“In the villages and towns, there is a shortage of food and medicine, and the crisis might be bigger than what we know,” he said.

Dr Atinkut said that women and children were the main victims of hunger.

“Previously, people shared what they had, but now they don’t have anything to eat,” he added.

It is hard to confirm details of what is happening in Tigray as telephone and internet communications have been cut.

The BBC has asked the federal government for a reaction to the TPLF statement but has so far not got a response. But in a statement on Monday, the foreign ministry said the TPLF had exacerbated the humanitarian problems by invading neighbouring regions and looting aid supplies.

Last week, the UN’s acting humanitarian coordinator for Ethiopia, Grant Leaity, called on the Ethiopian government to allow the unimpeded entry of aid to Tigray.

On Sunday, the World Food Programme said that more than 100 trucks of its aid had reached Mekelle for the first time in a fortnight.

In the past, the government has denied that it is blocking aid but has said it is concerned about security.

On Saturday, it announced that 500 trucks carrying supplies had entered the region, with 152 arriving in the last two days.

Source

➡ በትግራይ ሕዝብ ላይ ትኩሱ የዘር ማጥፋት ጦርነት ከመጀመሩ ከዓመት በፊት የሚከተለውን መል ዕክት አስተላልፌ ነበር፦

“አቡነ ማትያስ + ዶ/ር ቴዎድሮስ + ዶ/ር ሊያ ታደሰ + አቶ ተወልደ ገ/ማርያም ካልዘገየ የስልጣን ወንበራቸውን ባፋጣኝ እንዲያስረክቡ ትግራዋያን ወገኖቼ መጠየቅ አለባችሁ! የትግራይን ሕዝብ ለሚመጣው ጥፋት ተጠያቂ ለማድረግ ነው ያስቀመጧቸው ናቸውና!”

“የጦር ወንጀል | ግራኝ አህመድ የተከዜን ግድብ አፈረሰው፥ ቀጣዩ የሕዳሴው ነው | ወላሂ! ወላሂ!”

አይሁዶቹ ንግሥት አስቴር እና አጎቷ መርዶክዮስ (ትግሬዎች) ለሐማ (ግራኝ) አንሰግድም ስላሉት ሊያጠፋቸው ወሰነ

👉 ‘ከዚህም ነገር በኋላ ንጉሡ አርጤክስስ የአጋጋዊውን (ኦነጋዊውን) የሐመዳቱን (የአሕመድን) ልጅ ሐማን ከፍ ከፍ አደረገው’

በመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ የመጽሐፍ አስቴር ታሪክ ንግሥት አስቴር እና አጎቷ መርዶክዮስ ፤ ሐማ ተብሎ በሚጠራው ተንኮለኛ ፣ እብሪተኛና፣ ፀረ–አይሁድ/ፀረ–ሴማዊ በፋርስ ንጉሥ አርጤክስስ በተሾመ ባላባት ላይ ለአይሁድ ማንነታቸው እና ውርሻቸው እንዴት እንደቆሙ ይዘግባል።

ከህንድ ጀምሮ እስከ ኢትዮጵያ ባሉ መቶ ሀያ ሰባት አገሮች ሲገዛ የነበረው የፋርስ ንጉሥ የአርጤክስስ ባሪያዎች ሁሉ ለሐማ ተደፍተው ይሰግዱ ነበር። አሁዱ መርዶክዮስ ግን አልተደፋም፥ አልሰገደለትም። ታዲያ ሐማን መርዶክዮስ እንዳልተደፋለት እንዳልሰገደለትም ባየ ጊዜ እጅግ ተቈጣ።። መርዶክዮስ እና አይሁድ ህዝቡ ስለ ሐማን ክብር፣ ቁመት እና ስልጣን ከሚያስቡት በላይ ሃይማኖታቸውን፣ እና እሴቶቻቸውን አብልጠው ስለሚወዱ ሐማን በጣም ይበሳጭ ነበር። ስለዚህ ሐማን በንጉሥ አርጤክስስ መንግሥት አገዛዝ ይኖሩ የነበሩትን አይሁዳውያኑን የመርዶክዮስን ሕዝብ ሁሉ ሊያጠፋቸው ወሰነ።

ንጉሥ አርጤክስስ ንግሥት አስቴርን ከልብ ይወዳት ነበር፤ ግን በፋርስ ስላደገች አይሁድ እንደሆነች አያውቅም ነበር። በተጨማሪም አሳዳጊዋ እና አይሁዳዊው አጎቷ መርዶክዮስ ንጉሡን ለመግደል እያሴሩ የነበሩትን ሁለት የንጉሡን ረዳቶች በማባረር የንጉሡን ሕይወት እንዳዳነውም ገና አላወቀም ነበር።

ታሪኩን ለማሳጠር ፣ አስቴር በመጨረሻ ሐማ ማን/ምን እንደ ሆነና ምን እንዳቀደ ለንጉሥ አርጤክስስ ለመንገር እራሷን በቆራጥነት ማሳመን ነበረባት። እርሷም መርዶክዮስ ምናልባት ንግሥት የሆነችው “እንደዚህ ላለው ጊዜ” ሊሆን ይችላል ብሎ ስላሳመናት ይህን አደረገች፦

ሐማ የንጉሡን ሕይወት ያተረፈውን መርዶክዮስን ጨምሮ ሕዝቧን ሁሉ ለመግደል ቆርጦ እንደወጣ ለንጉሡ ደፍራ በተናገረች ጊዜ ወዲያውኑ ንጉሡ ወደ ሐማ በቁጣ ዞረበት። ብዙም ሳይቆይ ሐማ ለእርሱ የማይሰግደውን መርዶክዮስን ለመስቀል ሲል እራሱ በሠራው ግንድ ላይ እንዲሰቀል ንጉሡ ትዕዛዝ ሰጥቶ ሐማ እንዲሰቀል ተደረገ።

ድንቁ የአስቴር ታሪክ አንዳንድ ትምህርቶችን ይጠቁመናል ፥ እንዲሁም አንዳንድ ትይዩዎችን ያሳየናል። ቆሻሻው ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ እንኳን በአቅሙ ለእርሱ የማይሰግድሉተን ሁሉ አግቷቸዋል፣ ገደሏቸዋል፤ መጨረሻ የቀሩት ትግሬዎቹ ነበሩ፤ ስለዚህ ባጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ፊቱን ወደእነርሱ አዞረ፤ ዘራቸውን ሁሉ ለማጥፋትም ዘመተ። መጨረሻው ምን ሊሆን እንደሚችል መጽሐፍ አስቴር ጠቁሞናል። ይህ የሉሲፈር አሽከር የእባብነት ቆዳ ቀይሮ ሕዝቡን ሊገዛ የተገሰለ ጨካኝ አላጋጭ ነውና እንደ ሐማ ክፉ አሟሟትን ይሞታል፤ ወደ ምድር ጥልቅም ይገባል።

[መጽሐፈ አስቴር ምዕራፍ ፫]

፩ ከዚህም ነገር በኋላ ንጉሡ አርጤክስስ የአጋጋዊውን የሐመዳቱን ልጅ ሐማን ከፍ ከፍ አደረገው፥ አከበረውም፥ ወንበሩንም ከእርሱ ጋር ከነበሩት አዛውንት ሁሉ በላይ አደረገለት።

፪ ንጉሡም ስለ እርሱ እንዲሁ አዝዞ ነበርና በንጉሡ በር ያሉት የንጉሡ ባሪያዎች ሁሉ ተደፍተው ለሐማ ይሰግዱ ነበር። መርዶክዮስ ግን አልተደፋም፥ አልሰገደለትም።

፫ በንጉሡም በር ያሉት የንጉሡ ባሪያዎች መርዶክዮስን። የንጉሡን ትእዛዝ ለምን ትተላለፋለህ? አሉት።

፬ ይህንም ዕለት ዕለት እየተናገሩ እርሱ ባልሰማቸው ጊዜ አይሁዳዊ እንደ ሆነ ነግሮአቸው ነበርና የመርዶክዮስ ነገር እንዴት እንደ ሆነ ያዩ ዘንድ ለሐማ ነገሩት።

፭ ሐማም መርዶክዮስ እንዳልተደፋለት እንዳልሰገደለትም ባየ ጊዜ እጅግ ተቈጣ።

፮ የመርዶክዮስን ወገን ነግረውት ነበርና በመርዶክዮስ ብቻ እጁን ይጭን ዘንድ በዓይኑ ተናቀ፤ ሐማም በአርጤክስስ መንግሥት ሁሉ የነበሩትን የመርዶክዮስን ሕዝብ አይሁድን ሁሉ ሊያጠፋ ፈለገ።

፯ በንጉሡም በአርጤክስስ በአሥራ ሁለተኛው ዓመት ከመጀመሪያው ወር ከኒሳን ጀምሮ በየዕለቱና በየወሩ እስከ አሥራ ሁለተኛው ወር እስከ አዳር ድረስ በሐማ ፊት ፉር የተባለውን ዕጣ ይጥሉ ነበር።

፰ ሐማም ንጉሡን አርጤክስስን። አንድ ሕዝብ በአሕዛብ መካከል በመንግሥትህ አገሮች ሁሉ ተበትነዋል፤ ሕጋቸውም ከሕዝቡ ሁሉ ሕግ የተለየ ነው፥ የንጉሡንም ሕግ አይጠብቁም፤ ንጉሡም ይተዋቸው ዘንድ አይገባውም።

፱ ንጉሡም ቢፈቅድ እንዲጠፉ ይጻፍ፤ እኔም ወደ ንጉሡ ግምጃ ቤት ያገቡት ዘንድ አሥር ሺህ መክሊት ብር የንጉሡን ሥራ በሚሠሩት እጅ እመዝናለሁ አለው።

፲ ንጉሡም ቀለበቱን ከእጁ አወለቀ፥ ለአይሁድም ጠላት ለአጋጋዊው ለሐመዳቱ ልጅ ለሐማ ሰጠው።

፲፩ ንጉሡም ሐማን። ደስ የሚያሰኝህን ነገር ታደርግባቸው ዘንድ ብሩም ሕዝቡም ለአንተ ተሰጥቶሃል አለው።

፲፪ በመጀመሪያውም ወር ከወሩም በአሥራ ሦስተኛው ቀን የንጉሡ ጸሐፊዎች ተጠሩ፤ ከህንድ ጀምሮ እስከ ኢትዮጵያ ድረስ ወዳሉ መቶ ሀያ ሰባት አገሮች፥ በየአገሩ ወዳሉ ሹማምትና አለቆች ወደ አሕዛብም ሁሉ ገዢዎች እንደ ቋንቋቸው በንጉሡ በአርጤክስስ ቃል ሐማ እንዳዘዘ ተጻፈ፥ በንጉሡም ቀለበት ታተመ።

፲፫ በአሥራ ሁለተኛው ወር በአዳር በአሥራ ሦስተኛው ቀን አይሁድን ሁሉ፥ ልጆችንና ሽማግሌዎችን፥ ሕፃናቶችንና ሴቶችን፥ በአንድ ቀን ያጠፉና ይገድሉ ዘንድ፥ ይደመስሱም ዘንድ፥ ምርኮአቸውንም ይዘርፉ ዘንድ ደብዳቤዎች በመልእክተኞች እጅ ወደ ንጉሡ አገሮች ሁሉ ተላኩ።

፲፬ በዚያም ቀን ይዘጋጁ ዘንድ የደብዳቤው ቅጅ በየአገሩ ላሉ አሕዛብ ሁሉ ታወጀ።

፲፭ መልእክተኞቹም በንጉሡ ትእዛዝ እየቸኰሉ ሄዱ፥ አዋጁም በሱሳ ግንብ ተነገረ። ንጉሡና ሐማ ሊጠጡ ተቀመጡ፤ ከተማይቱ ሱሳ ግን ተደናገጠች።

[መጽሐፈ አስቴር ምዕራፍ ፯]

፩ ንጉሡና ሐማም ከንግሥቲቱ ከአስቴር ጋር ለመጠጣት መጡ።

፪ በሁለተኛውም ቀን ንጉሡ በወይኑ ጠጅ ግብዣ ሳለ አስቴርን። ንግሥት አስቴር ሆይ፥ የምትለምኚኝ ምንድር ነው? ይሰጥሻል፤ የምትሺውስ ምንድር ነው? እስከ መንግሥቴ እኵሌታ እንኳ ቢሆን ይደረግልሻል አላት።

፫ ንግሥቲቱም አስቴር መልሳ። ንጉሥ ሆይ፥ በአንተ ዘንድ ሞገስ አግኝቼ እንደ ሆነ፥ ንጉሡንም ደስ ቢያሰኘው፥ ሕይወቴ በልመናዬ ሕዝቤም በመሻቴ ይሰጠኝ፤

፬ እኔና ሕዝቤ ለመጥፋትና ለመገደል ለመደምሰስም ተሸጠናልና። ባርያዎች ልንሆን ተሸጠን እንደ ሆነ ዝም ባልሁ ነበር፤ የሆነ ሆኖ ጠላቱ የንጉሡን ጉዳት ለማቅናት ባልቻለም ነበር አለች።

፭ ንጉሡም አርጤክስስ ንግሥቲቱን አስቴርን። ይህን ያደርግ ዘንድ በልቡ የደፈረ ማን ነው? እርሱስ ወዴት ነው? ብሎ ተናገራት።

፮ አስቴርም። ያ ጠላትና ባለጋራ ሰው ክፉው ሐማ ነው አለች። ሐማም በንጉሡና በንግሥቲቱ ፊት ደነገጠ።

፯ ንጉሡም ተቈጥቶ የወይን ጠጅ ከመጠጣቱ ተነሣ፥ ወደ ንጉሡም ቤት አታክልት ውስጥ ሄደ። ሐማም ከንጉሡ ዘንድ ክፉ ነገር እንደ ታሰበበት አይቶአልና ከንግሥቲቱ ከአስቴር ሕይወቱን ይለምን ዘንድ ቆመ።

፰ ንጉሡም ከቤቱ አታክልት ወደ ወይን ጠጁ ግብዣ ስፍራ ተመለሰ፤ ሐማም አስቴር ባለችበት አልጋ ላይ ወድቆ ነበር። ንጉሡም። ደግሞ በቤቴ በእኔ ፊት ንግሥቲቱን ይጋፋታልን? አለ። ይህም ቃል ከንጉሡ አፍ በወጣ ጊዜ የሐማን ፊት ሸፈኑት።

፱ በንጉሡም ፊት ካሉት ጃንደረቦች አንዱ ሐርቦና። እነሆ ሐማ ለንጉሡ በጎ ለተናገረው ለመርዶክዮስ ያሠራው ርዝመቱ አምሳ ክንድ የሆነው ግንድ በሐማን ቤት ተተክሎአል አለ። ንጉሡም። በእርሱ ላይ ስቀሉት አለ።

፲ ሐማንም ለመርዶክዮስ ባዘጋጀው ግንድ ላይ ሰቀሉት፤ በዚያም ጊዜ የንጉሡ ቍጣ በረደ።

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CNN: From Nobel Laureate to Global Pariah: How The World Got Abiy Ahmed And Ethiopia So Wrong

By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN, September 7, 2021

❖ TDF = ELA (ኢነሠ) = ‘የኢትዮጵያ ነፃ አውጪ ሠራዊት’ ባፋጣኝ ግራኝን መያዝ አለበት፤ ጦርነት አያስፈልግም፤ ዓለምን የሚያስጮህ የጀግነንት ተግባር ሳይፈጸም አንድም ቀን ማለፍ የለበትም፤ ልዩ ኮማንዶ ወደ አዲስ አበባ ልካችሁ ጽዮናውያንን በረሃብ ጨርሶ እስላማዊት ኦሮሚያ ኤሚራትን ለመመስረት ያለመውን አረመኔ የኦሮሞ አገዛዝ 😈 ሙሉ በሙል በእሳት ጠራርጓችሁ አጥፉት። ከዓመት በፊት አስጠንቅቀናል፤ WEP/USAID ወዘተ ሁሉም ጽዮናውያንን በስልት ለመጨረስ ተናብበው የሚሠሩ የሉሲፈራውያኑ ተቋማት ናቸው። “የ2019 + 2020 የኖቤል ሰላም ሽልማት ለግራኝ እና ለተባበሩት መንግስታት የምግብ ፕሮግራም ተቋም መሰጠቱ ጽዮናውያንን በእሳት እና በረሃብ የመፍጂያ ቀብድ ነው” ያልነው ያው ደረሰ፤ እያየነው ነው። ሁሉም የትግራይን ሕዝብ በድራማቸው እየጨረሱት ነው። ፍጠኑ! እውነት ለሕዝባችሁ የቆማችሁ ከሆ፤ በኦሮሚያ የቱርኮችን የመጨፍጨፊያ ድሮኖቹን በመገጣጠም ላይ ያለው የኦሮሞዎቹ የእነ ሽመልስ አብዲሳ እና ለማ መገርሳ ቡድን ‘OLA’ በሞኝነት ”ይረዳናል” ብላችሁ በጭራሽ አትጠብቁ፤ ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድን እራሳችሁ ባፋጣኝ ድፉት!

“When Kidanemariam, who is from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, approached the dais to introduce his longtime friend and colleague to the crowd, he said he was greeted with heckles from members of the audience: “Get out of the podium Tigrayan, get out of the podium Woyane,” and other ethnic slurs. He expected Abiy, who preached a political philosophy of inclusion, to chide the crowd, but he said nothing. Later, over lunch, when Kidanemariam asked why, he said Abiy told him: “There was nothing to correct.“”

“Abiy’s early advocates and supporters say he not only misled the world, but his own people — and they are now paying a steep price.

In his open letter announcing he was leaving his post, Kidanemariam wrote of Abiy: “Instead of fulfilling his initial promise, he has led Ethiopia down a dark path toward destruction and disintegration.””

“Abiy, Abiy,” the crowd chanted, waving Ethiopia’s tricolor flag and cheering as the country’s new prime minister, dressed in a white blazer with gold trim and smiling broadly, waved to a packed basketball arena at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, part of a whirlwind three-city tour of the United States to woo the diaspora.

It was July 2018, just three months after Abiy Ahmed had been appointed leader of Africa’s second-most populous country, and his star was rising both at home and abroad. Excitement was surging into an almost religious fervor around the young politician, who promised to bring peace, prosperity and reconciliation to a troubled corner of Africa and a nation on the brink of crisis.

But even in those early, optimistic days of Abiy’s premiership, as he kickstarted a flurry of ambitious reforms — freeing thousands of political prisoners, lifting restrictions on the press, welcoming back exiles and banned opposition parties, appointing women to positions in his cabinet, opening up the country’s tightly-controlled economy to new investment and negotiating peace with neighboring Eritrea — Berhane Kidanemariam had his doubts.

The Ethiopian diplomat has known the prime minister for almost 20 years, forging a friendship when he worked for the governing coalition’s communications team and, later, as CEO of two state-run news organizations, while Abiy was in military intelligence and then heading Ethiopia’s cybersecurity agency, INSA. Before working for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kidanemariam ran the country’s national broadcaster, the EBC, and he said Abiy sat on its board of directors.

In a recent phone interview, Kidanemariam said he, like many Ethiopians, had hoped Abiy could transform the nation’s fractious politics and usher in genuine democratic change. But he struggled to square his understanding of the man he’d first met in 2004 — who he described as power-hungry intelligence officer obsessed by fame and fortune — with the portrait emerging of a visionary peacemaker from humble beginnings.

In 2018, Kidanemariam was serving as Ethiopia’s consul general in Los Angeles and said he helped organize Abiy’s visit.

When Kidanemariam, who is from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, approached the dais to introduce his longtime friend and colleague to the crowd, he said he was greeted with heckles from members of the audience: “Get out of the podium Tigrayan, get out of the podium Woyane,” and other ethnic slurs. He expected Abiy, who preached a political philosophy of inclusion, to chide the crowd, but he said nothing. Later, over lunch, when Kidanemariam asked why, he said Abiy told him: “There was nothing to correct.”

“One of the ironies of a prime minister who came to office promising unity is that he has deliberately exacerbated hatred between different groups,” Kidanemariam wrote in an open letter in March, announcing that he was quitting his post as the deputy chief of mission at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, DC, in protest over Abiy’s monthslong war in Tigray, which has spurred a refugee crisis, atrocities and famine.

Kidanemariam said to CNN he believed Abiy’s focus had never been about “reform or democracy or human rights or freedom of the press. It is simply consolidating power for himself, and getting money out of it … We may call it authoritarianism or dictatorship, but he is really getting to be a king.”

“By the way,” he added, “the problem is not only for Tigrayans. It’s for all Ethiopians. Everybody is suffering everywhere.”

In an email to CNN, Abiy’s spokeswoman, Billene Seyoum, described Kidanemariam’s characterization of the prime minister as “baseless” and a “reflection.”

‘The epitome of hell’

Much has changed since Abiy accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in November 2019, telling an audience in Oslo, Norway, that “war is the epitome of hell.”

In less than two years, Abiy has gone from darling of the international community to pariah, condemned for his role in presiding over a protracted civil war that, by many accounts, bears the hallmarks of genocide and has the potential to destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region.

The 45-year-old’s fall from grace has confounded many observers, who wonder how they could have gotten him so wrong. But diplomats, analysts, independent Ethiopian journalists, acquaintances and others who have followed his career closely say that even at the height of “Abiymania,” there were warning signs.

Critics say that by blessing Abiy with an array of international endorsements, the West not only failed to see — or willfully ignored — those signals, but gave him a blank check and then turned a blind eye.

“Soon after Abiy was crowned with that Nobel Peace Prize, he lost an appetite in pursuing domestic reform,” Tsedale Lemma, founder and editor-in-chief of Addis Standard, an independent monthly news magazine based in Ethiopia, told CNN on a Skype call. “He considered it a blanket pass to do as he wishes.”

The war in Tigray is not the first time he’s used that pass, she said, adding that since Abiy came to power on the platform of unifying Ethiopia’s people and in its state, he has ruthlessly consolidated control and alienated critical regional players.

Lemma has covered Abiy’s rise for the Addis Standard — which was briefly suspended by Ethiopia’s media regulator in July — and was an early critic of his government when few were sounding the alarm. Days after Abiy was awarded the Nobel Prize, she wrote an editorial warning that the initiatives he had been recognized for — the peace process with Eritrea and political reforms in Ethiopia — had sidelined a key stakeholder, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and were in serious jeopardy.

The TPLF had governed Ethiopia with an iron grip for decades, overseeing a period of stability and economic growth at the cost of basic civil and political rights. The party’s authoritarian rule provoked a popular uprising that ultimately forced Abiy’s predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn, to resign. Abiy was appointed by the ruling class to bring change, without upending the old political order. But almost as soon as he came to power, Abiy announced the rearrangement of the ruling coalition that the TPLF had founded — the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front, or EPRDF, which was composed of four parties — into a single, new Prosperity Party, ostracizing the TPLF in the process.

Abiy’s appointment had been intended to quell tensions. Instead, his drive for a new pan-Ethiopian political party sparked fears in some regions that the country’s federal system, which guarantees significant autonomy to ethnically-defined states, such as Tigray, was under threat.

The Tigrayans weren’t the only ones who were worried. In Abiy’s home region, Oromia, and other administrative zones, people began to demand self-rule. Soon, the government began backsliding into the authoritarian practices Abiy had once renounced: Violent crackdowns on protesters, the jailing of journalists and opposition politicians, and twice postponing elections.

Ahmed Soliman, a research fellow at Chatham House and an expert on the Horn of Africa, said Abiy’s reform plan also increased expectations among constituencies with conflicting agendas, further heightening tensions.

“Abiy and his government have rightly been blamed for implementing uneven reforms and for insecurity increasing throughout the country, but to an extent, some of that was inherited. These simmering ethnic and political divisions that exist in the country have very deep roots,” he said.

Tensions reached a boiling point last September, when the Tigrayans defied Abiy by holding a vote which had been delayed due to the pandemic, setting off a tit-for-tat series of recriminations that spilled into open conflict in November 2020.

This July, in the midst of the war, Abiy and his party won a landslide victory in a general election that was boycotted by opposition parties, marred by logistical issues and excluded many voters, including all those in Tigray — a crushing disappointment to many who had high hopes that the democratic transition Abiy promised three years ago would be realized.

“He sees himself as a Messiah, as chosen, as someone who’s destined to ‘Make Ethiopia Great Again,’ but this country is collapsing,” Lemma said, adding that the international community’s folly was falling for the picture Abiy painted of himself — “a post-ethnic, contemporary capitalist” — in their desperation for a dazzling success story.

‘A monumental failure of analysis’

Still, many Ethiopians are reluctant to lay the blame for the country’s unravelling at Abiy’s feet. Ahead of the election in June, residents in Addis Ababa told CNN they felt Abiy had inherited a mess from the previous regime and had always faced an uphill battle pushing reforms forward — an assessment shared by some regional experts.

“Lots of people were hopeful that the liberalizing changes, after those years of anti-government protests and all of the state violence in response, […] marked a moment where Ethiopia would start to conduct its politics more peacefully. But that thinking glossed over some of the major problems and contradictions in Ethiopia,” said William Davidson, senior Ethiopia analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“There was always a massive challenge ahead for Abiy, and for everyone. Just the promise of a more pluralistic political system did nothing necessarily to resolve the clashing nationalisms, opposing visions, and bitter political rivalries.”

In recent months, Abiy has tried to dodge international condemnation by pledging to protect civilians, open up humanitarian access to stave off famine and kick out Eritrean troops, who have supported Ethiopian forces in the conflict and stand accused of some of the most horrifying of the many atrocities in Tigray — pledges that American officials say he has not delivered on. After the United States issued sanctions in May, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry accused it of meddling in the country’s internal affairs and misunderstanding the significant challenges on the ground.

As the tide of international opinion has turned against Abiy, the prime minister’s office has maintained he is not concerned about his deteriorating reputation; his supporters have increasingly blamed the West for the crisis unfolding in the country. “The prime minister need not be a darling of the west, east, south or north,” Abiy’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum told reporters in June. “It is sufficient that he stands for the people of Ethiopia and the development of the nation.”

But it is difficult to reconcile the government’s narrative with reality. Setting to one side the staggering loss of life and destruction inside Tigray, the war has eroded Abiy’s aggressive development plans and derailed the country’s economic trajectory, experts say. Ethiopia’s economy had grown at nearly 10% for the last decade, before slowing in 2020, dragged down by a combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, debt and conflict. The war has also drained national coffers, decimated a large slice of the country’s industry and eroded its reputation among foreign investors and financial institutions.

“From where I sit, I think there was a monumental failure of analysis, internationally,” Rashid Abdi, a Kenya-based analyst and researcher who specializes in the Horn of Africa, said, including himself in that group. “I think people failed to apprehend the complex nature of Ethiopia’s transition, especially they failed to appreciate also the complex side of Abiy, that he was not all this sunny, smiling guy. That beneath was a much more calculating, and even Machiavellian figure, who eventually will I think push the country towards a much more dangerous path.”

“We should have begun to take notice of some of the red flags quite quickly. A lot of complacency is what got us here,” he added.

The seventh king of Ethiopia

During his inaugural address to parliament in 2018, Abiy made a point of thanking his mother, a Christian from the Amhara region, who he said had told him at the age of seven that, despite his modest background, he would one day be the seventh king of Ethiopia. The remark was met with a round of laughter from his cabinet members, but Abiy’s belief in his mother’s prophecy was no joke.

“In the initial stages of the war, actually, he spoke openly about how this was God’s plan, and that this was a kind of divine mission for him. This is a man who early in the morning, instead of meeting his top advisors, would meet with some of his spiritual advisers, these are pastors who are very powerful now in a sort of ‘kitchen cabinet,'” Abdi said.

But the most glaring of warning signs, by many accounts, was Abiy’s surprise allegiance with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, for which he ultimately won the Nobel Prize.

Abiy’s critics say that what cemented his status as a peacemaker on the world stage was based on a farce, and that the alignment with Eritrea was yet another effort to consolidate his power, paving the way for the two sides to wage war against their mutual enemy, the TPLF. Soon after the Eritrea-Ethiopia border reopened in 2018, reuniting families after 20 years, it closed again. Three years on, Eritrean troops are operating with impunity in Tigray, and there is little sign of a durable peace.

In response, Abiy’s spokeswoman rejected this assertion, calling it a “toxic narrative.”

Mehari Taddele Maru, a professor of governance and migration at the European University Institute, who was skeptical of the peace deal early on — a deeply unpopular view at the time — believes the Nobel Committee’s endorsement of Abiy has contributed to the current conflict.

“I am of the strongest opinion that the Nobel Prize Committee is responsible for what is happening in Ethiopia, at least partially. They had reliable information; many experts sounded their early warning,” Mehari, who is from Tigray, told CNN.

“The Committee was basing its decision on a peace deal that we flagged for a false start, a peace that is not only achieved but perhaps unachievable and an agreement that was not meant for peace but actually for war. What he [Abiy] did with Isaias was not meant to bring peace. He knew that, Isaias knew that. They were working, basically, to execute a war, to sandwich Tigray from South and North carefully by ostracizing one political party first.”

The most palpable and lasting impact of the award, according to several analysts and observers, was a chilling effect on any criticism of Abiy.

The persona he cultivated, cemented in part through his many early accolades — being named African of the Year in 2018, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, and one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Global Thinkers in 2019 — captivated the imagination of Ethiopians, the country’s large diaspora and the world. Many now feel betrayed, having lost any optimism about the future of the country, but others are still intent on retaining that glittering image of Abiy, reluctant to see the writing on the wall.

“By the time the war started in November, the international community was extremely committed to the idea of Abiy Ahmed as a reformer still, and they didn’t want to give up on that,” said Goitom Gebreluel, a Horn of Africa researcher from Tigray, who was in Addis Ababa at the start of the conflict.

“I had meetings with various diplomats before the war and it was obvious that the war was coming, and what they were saying was, ‘you know, he still has this project, we have to let him realize his political vision,'” he said. “To this day, I think not everyone is convinced that this is an autocrat.”

Now, with Ethiopia facing a “man-made” famine and a war apparently without end, Abiy stands alone, largely isolated from the international community and with a shrinking cadre of allies.

Abiy’s early advocates and supporters say he not only misled the world, but his own people — and they are now paying a steep price.

In his open letter announcing he was leaving his post, Kidanemariam wrote of Abiy: “Instead of fulfilling his initial promise, he has led Ethiopia down a dark path toward destruction and disintegration.”

“Like so many others who thought the prime minister had the potential to lead Ethiopia to a bright future, I am filled with despair and anguish at the direction he is taking our country.”

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