Tigrean Nationalism: A Weapon of Repression

January 12th, 2010 | | 23 Comments

By Jawar Siraj Mohammed

Browse through any Ethiopian websites, and you will discover that almost every article or commentary says something about the Tigrean domination of the country. The cyber world is crammed with statistics, testimonies, conspiracy theories and condemnations. Some of the fervent cases brought forth include;

* How Tigray disproportionally benefits under this regime,

* How 95% of all important military and security posts have been occupied by ethnic Tigreans,

* Reports over the TPLF-owned giant conglomerate known by its acronym, EFFORT

* Accounts of how the Tigrean-only Agazi commando force has been used to commit heinous crimes,

* The meteoric rise of Tigrean elites into the club of world millionaires, and

* Denunciations of the unacceptable monopolization of the church and mosque leadership by rebels-turned-men-of-God.

Most of these allegations are true, while some are perhaps exaggerated. However, there is no doubt that they are indicative of the growing rift between Tigrean elites, who deny or defend their hegemonic and exclusive economic advantage, and their adversaries, who offer evidence after evidence to back up their complaints. I have been a keen observer of how the system actually functions under the shadow of the current regime. As I read arguments and analyses provided by different individuals and groups, I find a lack of revealing analysis of the true purpose behind the blatantly pro-Tigrean policies of the current regime. Therefore, in this article I will analyze the strategies, tactics and politics behind the transformation of the TPLF from a peasant revolutionary force into Africa's richest oligarchy.

First encounter with a Tigrean Nationalist

My initial encounter with a Tigrean nationalist took place sometime in the mid-„90s, at a time when the fight between TPLF and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) was at its peak. A discussion between an older neighbor and a TPLF soldier called Manjus caught my attention. Manjus was passionately talking about how he joined TPLF. His story begins about ten years earlier, when the young Tigrean and his sister were attending high school in a town far away from their village. One day, they returned home for a mid-semester vacation and found their village virtually burned to the ground. The two students came home to discover a completely demolished house, dead parents and whatever property the peasant family owned gone. In a tragic incident, the two siblings lost everything. They had no hope, no family or means of support that could help them go back to school. To make matters worse, they were told that the Derg cadres were hunting for them. As they tried to cope with the sudden shock, anger, and despair, they were met by TPLF recruiters who came with a promise of a means for revenge towards those who slaughtered their parents and also bring peace, justice and democracy to their oppressed Tigrean people. The helpless mourners and enraged youngsters could not resist the offer, so they joined the freedom fighters. A few years later, Manjus lost his sister to the war shortly before TPLF controlled Finfinne. Soon things turned upside down. When Meles replaced Mengistu, Manjus‟ turn came to chase another rebel group and burn down many other villages, including mine.

I was a young boy back then. But it still baffles me why someone who picked up arms against an oppressive regime because his village was burned would come to destroy mine or someone who joined freedom fighters to free his people would suppress my people. It remains a question for which I still seek an answer. During my high school years, I read the history of TPLF in newspapers and magazines, listened to the radio and watched television during the Yekatit 11th and Ginbot 20th celebrations, when TPLF leaders would talk for days about the cause for which they had waged a fierce struggle, the hardships they went through and the glory of defeating the “murderous” enemy. As a young Oromo nationalist with grievances against the dominant culture, I understood why they rebelled against oppressive system. But none of their explanations ever answered my question as to why those freedom fighters turned into ruthless oppressors within such a short period of time.

As I grew older, the list of my questions has also grown. The Tigrean people suffered economic alienation under Haile Selassie and were subjected to ruthless suppression and persecution under the Derg regime. It was their grievances that gave birth to TPLF, and Tigreans supported and sustained the front through years of bloody struggle for their freedom. Then, how could such freedom-loving people remain loyal to a party that oppresses, kills, loots and destroys the lives of other ethnic groups? There is no easy answer to this question but one might begin to understand it by assessing the historic and contemporary relationships between the people of Tigray and the TPLF. … Continue reading. Click here. on
http://ethioforum.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/tigrean_nationalism_final.pdf






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23 Responses to “Tigrean Nationalism: A Weapon of Repression”1.Ethiopia Forward says:
There is no doubt mr. Siraj has put his finger where the pulse is beating.

January 13th, 2010 at 4:26 AM

2.shake says:
how could such freedom-loving people remain loyal to a party that oppresses, kills, loots and destroys the lives of other ethnic groups? ,,,,,its good question ,,but its obvious,,,

January 13th, 2010 at 7:36 AM

3.sharki says:
Good article. No one is advocating against the Tigrians. They are victims of their own sons like the rest of the country. The question is how do we claim Ethiopia from the cancer that is eating her alive. Many good writers and pen worriers out there. However, I like to see an advocation of uniting the mass population and a support of EPPF, OlF ONLF… is vital. Act now!

January 13th, 2010 at 9:57 AM

4.Anonymous says:
May be this is the best analysis ever written on Meles and Co. good Job. Keep it up Mr.Jawar Siraj.

Mesfin

January 13th, 2010 at 1:14 PM

5.zemene mesafint says:
i don't think if the writer well know Ato Meles.
Meles is not blind nationlaist as well as not egostric as other friends.
The stupied thing he did is, he lets Tigray rob others. ex. Any asir-aleqa of Tigre can give order for Oromo generals.
at the time of Meles, there is no rule of Law. at the time of Mengistu, no rule of law. at the time of Hailesilse, there was no rule of law. at the time of Menelik, there was no rule of Law. so, if we examine the lif of Ethiopia since the 1890ths, they are killers of each others, robbing each others… so, for the stabilty of the horn and human freedom, we must divided Ethiopia into different elements. we must destroye Amharic language, orhtodx church, which may help as a unity for the leaders. then every body will leave in peace at his own village

January 13th, 2010 at 3:15 PM

6.King Ezana says:
Hi, ER readers, i am Eritrean and tigringna speaker. At the time of Hailesellasie and Dergue we were feeling oppressed by the Amhara people, as second citizens. And now is the reverse. I don't know when is the time habesha people will understand that all HABESHA people are all HABESHA, nobody is superior or inferior.

January 13th, 2010 at 4:31 PM

7.Eyasu says:
I don't think Tigrees are the victim of Woyannes. In stead they are the recipe of the regime. Remember this : TIGRAY ESKITILEMA LELAW AGER YIDIMA.

January 13th, 2010 at 7:57 PM

8.Assta B. Gettu says:
Mr. Jawar Siraj Mohammed has clearly identified the distinct political techniques Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi) utilizes to buy time and to stay in power by changing his body guards. When it comes to power grip, Meles prefers losing his wife to losing his power; therefore, he can do anything weird to prolong his destructive power.

The half-Ethiopian and half Eritrean Meles has been playing for a long time the ethnicity card, the color card, the poverty card, the money card, the birth card, and the religion card, but one day, he will be out of these deceptive cards. Then what? He will device something else such as favoring the Amhara or the Oromo over the Tegarues or over the other tribes. Then the relations between the Amharas and the Tegarues will become sour, each tribe working hard to get some kind of favoritism or trust from Meles, and if the Amharas are not loyal to him, then he would favor the Oromos, ignoring the Amharas. I call such a political device the rule of the harems or concubines where the husband of more than ten concubines makes a rule that subjugates each one of the harems to remain faithful to this one husband of the other harems. The husband may favor one of the ten harems, and then the rest must work hard to win the favor of their only one husband.

In the same way, Meles is playing this kind of game to stay in power. As the writer of the article asserts that Meles trusted friends are not the Tegarues but those who have mixed birth like himself. In this case, the pure Oromos and the pure Amharas born from the same parents who belong to the same region are then marginalized and overlooked by Meles Seitanawi. Then the fight between people of different family and those who came out of the same family from the same place will be intensified, and in the mean time Meles enjoys the fight between such groups of different ethnicities and births of mixed heritage.

To firmly establish his oppressive power, Meles likes the disintegration of the Tegarue’s elites from the other tribes; in separating the Tegarues from the rest of the Ethiopian tribes, considering them as loyalists, and recruiting his soldiers from such inclusive tribes hurts the Tegarues in the long term and unifies the other tribes against him, and this is a blessing in disguise for the opposition.

However, unknowingly, Meles is bringing his own total destruction and the destructions of all who are looting the country by favoring the Tegarue’s students, the Tegarue’s region, and the Tegarue’s army while ignoring the rest of the other Ethiopian tribes. As he continues favoring one tribe upon the other, the Amharas, the Oromos, and the rest of the other tribes at home and abroad are watching him very closely; they don’t want to fall with him as the Tegarues will be; therefore, the Amharas, the Oromos, and the other tribes distance themselves from Meles Seitanawi as far as they could.

Meles is creating a new headquarter with the blessing of a new, unqualified, and morally unfit Patriarch in Mekelle City, and the Ethiopian people know his intention why he has been pouring millions of dollars to such a small region like Mekelle. His intention is to secede from Ethiopia and make himself Yohannes the V of Tigre, attributing the history of ancient Axum to the Mekelle City that has no significance in having its own history.
The diaspora Tegarues are not different from the rest of us here abroad, and they must choose between Meles and the opposition group and speak out about their positions. Like them, most of us also have families back at home where they are being harassed every day because of our comments against Meles Seitanawi and his wife Jezebel.

It is a wishful thinking that the wealthy Tegarues think that the wealth that they have amassed by looting the country will be protected by the future democratically elected liberal government of Ethiopia, and if not, they threat they will take out their wealth and put it in a foreign bank. They will be lucky if they only save their own skins rather than their stolen money. In other words, if they are smart, they can decide now whether they have to stick with the criminal Meles Seitanawi for a long time or join the Ethiopian Freedom Fighters and support them financially and morally.

To tell the truth, these wealthy Tegarues, even if they flee to another country, will never feel secure there because of their unjustified wealth they are holding. Therefore, a liberal democracy is the one that allows the Ethiopian peasants to reclaim their stolen money and land from the hands of the lousy rich Tegarues, not the one that protects the wealth of the criminals. The Meles highly paid security people, the Agazi or the death squad, will not be there to protective them. Once Meles is gone, they are under the mercy of the other Ethiopian tribes. Yes, the opposition party may not touch the innocent Tegarues but only the few elite criminal Tegarues that the opposing party will be looking at after the collapse of the Meles regime.

Over all, the article has good information about the wickedness of Meles Seitanawi and the way he handles his friends and foes, but I am troubled why the author uses repeatedly Finfinne instead of Addis Ababa. Is he telling us that Finfinne will be the capital city of the future Oromo Kingdom? This kind of malicious thought angers the Amharas and the rest of the other tribes.

January 13th, 2010 at 8:04 PM

9.jungle says:
Jawar Siraj Mohammed indeed thank you did great job you articulated what the opposition failed to consider in 2005. you not only gave us the blue print to fight but also to understand the mechanism used by the regime. The Tigran are held hostage just like the rest of us, from this point the Ethiopian people must come to the conclusion that there is not government in Ethiopia, but gangsters. your analysis touch up on many points, it needs to be studied, one of the most progressive analysis thus far
thank you

January 13th, 2010 at 9:42 PM

10.Kaba says:
Wow what a wonderful analysis! I urge all oppositions (from right to left) that struggle for the peoples living on the land of the present "Ethiopia" to join hand in hand and cut TPLF rule short. Aside from the tone that oppositions should reflect regarding the Tigray and its people, such unity among oppositions based on trust will create more pressure on the Tigrian elite to appreciate the injustice sooner. That in turn will hasten TPLF's down fall.

January 13th, 2010 at 11:11 PM

11.Assta B. Gettu says:
Zemene Mesafint#5,

Why don’t you add to the destruction list of yours the Ethiopian Arab Muslims?

You fool; it is the Amharic language and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that have been holding together, like glue, the unity, the integrity, and the freedom of Ethiopia for centuries, not any other language or religion.

January 14th, 2010 at 4:14 AM

12.Arsema says:
Thanks Jawar for your insightful article. I truthfully plead to all peoples and their leaders under Woyane control to look for common interests and work hard in unity to destroy it. The struggle should involve all forces small, big, old, new, armed or (non armed) diplomatic.

I also plead in earnest all to ignore any provoking, insulting, offensive etc. remarks. These are meant distract us. Whether intentional or not they serve only our enemy. It is an obvious attempt to play with our emotions so that we lose track of the main course-Divide and Rule. I deliberately refuse to mention which of the comments have such purpose since they are crystal clear for the reader.

Let us focus on our common interest-tear down Woyane in unity (Oromo, Amhara, Somali, Tigre, Benishangul etc.)

I pray for unity that is long last and that is based on honesty, mutual respectcomposure, and understanding.

January 14th, 2010 at 8:41 PM

13.Anonymous says:
Well done Jawar Siraj. This is the best analysis ever written on Meles and Co. Mr.
Assta B. Gettu get over yourself as you suggested if Amharas get anger for calling Addis Ababa Finfinne please get your history 101. The simple fact is Addis Ababa is Finfinne till it changed.

January 14th, 2010 at 9:24 PM

14.biddho hafash says:
I thank you Ato,Jawar for the brilliant analysis of weyanes evil intentions.Meles Zenawi and his criminal organization weyane are neither Ethiopian nationalists nor tigrayan seccesionists they are a bunch narrow minded backword individuals who unfortunately deceived most or all tigray ethnic population and promised them that they will be wealthy in a very short period by sucking Ethiopian wealth and natural resources even though this was not in a public record and was a day time secret that every ethiopian intellegencia knew about it.
One of the criminal weyane activities is to accumulate hard currency and put it in few tigrayans a I mean millions of dollars to get the targeted cash weyane have decided to sell ethio fertile land to middle east investors,encurage prostitution of young ethiopians,be a mercenary army to any foreign powers specially to U.S.Meles has long planned to destroy ethiopia through ethnic division by the name of ethnic democracy which is a pre-condition to long lasting bloddy civil conflict and that is why it is never practiced by any african country.
I hope weyanes rule will be short lived and people of horn live in peace and harmony.

January 15th, 2010 at 2:33 AM

15.Assta B. Gettu says:
Anonymous#13

What is wrong with this historical name Addis Ababa, and why do you want to change it to the old, forgotten, and unpopular name – Finfinne? Changing name for the sake of name-change benefits nobody, either the Oromos who are dying for self-determination and secession or for the Amharas who are working tirelessly for the unity of Ethiopia.

No one knows what Finfinne stands for, but the whole world understands what Addis Ababa stands for. It represents the unity of all the Ethiopian tribes, including the Oromos, a selfish tribe that wants to leave the other tribes and create divisions and endless border conflicts. Let us stay together, and together, we can achieve our goals – to defeat our common enemies – Meles Seitanawi (Zenawi) and his wife Jezebel.

January 15th, 2010 at 4:43 AM

16.Jason says:
Assta,

Who cares about the world?…Your logic lacks merit. For instance you want the empire to stay together yet you denounce other people wishes to re-name their beloved city back to it's original name.

For Oromos the name Addis Ababa brings dark memories. I thought the whole idea of unity and togetherness is when a brother feel the pain of his brothers and try to share his pain when he's hurt?…

It may seem selfish to you that the natives prefer to restore their city to it's righteous name but Oromos the Name Finifinee represents peace, justice, prosperity.

If you don't like the name that's your problem but millions of us wants to restore it.

Oh! Please save us from your ignorance.

January 15th, 2010 at 1:16 PM

17.Assta B. Gettu says:
Jason #16,

If you don’t care about the world, then you don’t care about Ethiopia because Ethiopia is in the world, not outside of the world. In this case, your interrogative opening remark is absurd and lacks sound logic.

In fact, your question: “Who cares about the world?” tells me exactly about the selfish motives of the Oromo people who care nothing about the unity of the Ethiopian people. What they care is just for Oromo, and Oromo is the only world they know.

Today, they are asking to change the name Addis Ababa to Finfinne because Addis Ababa is an Amharic name and Finfinne is a Galligna name. Tomorrow, they will ask any trees, mountains, valleys, birds, caws, donkeys, dogs, cats, sheep, horses, mules, insects, and any living-and non-living things that have the Amharic names must be renamed and be given the Galligna names. And any person who is Oromo by birth but mistakenly has assumed the Amharic name must be assigned to a new Oromo name. That is exactly what the Oromos think: get rid of the Amharas, and let the Oromos live with their Finfinne.

My opinion about changing historical names to an obscure name, like Finfinne, can be easily done after all of us Ethiopians are free from the oppressive regime of Meles Seitanawi. When we are free, we will put the name Finfinne into a referendum or a ballot question, and let the Ethiopian people decide whether to replace Addis Ababa with the name Finfinne or to keep it as it is. And that is the way to solve such a divisive issue.

So, you believe if Finfinne replaces Addis Ababa, then there will be peace, justice, prosperity throughout the land of Ethiopia because Finfinne, you said, “represents peace, justice, prosperity.” This kind of statements is indeed logically faulty and nothing else.

Finally, you wrote; “Oh! Please save us from your ignorance.” Is changing the name Addis Ababa to Finfinne wisdom? If so, please, God of wisdom spare me from such kind of wisdom!

January 15th, 2010 at 5:38 PM

18.Dani says:
Juar’s writing is grand but some of the comments that follow are not helpful for our struggle against TPLF. Comment #5,8,11,13,15,16, and 17 are not useful in achieving cooperation among peoples and their leaders. In such kind of critical moments we have to focus on major issues and matters that can bring us closer. This should not be the time to overdo certain matters that maybe important but not pressing now.

Particularly Assta seems maliciously trying to create more misunderstanding and/or magnify the already existing cleavages. Such efforts on paper as well as on the ground will only help EPRDF at the Expense of the Ethiopian peoples.

Assta has consistently been handing out sugar- coated poisonous comments to provoke others and more importantly misdirect our focus. I think he has been successful to derail the discussion from that of achieving understanding and reconciliation. We should not allow him to play with our emotions, distract us from our focus, and end up condemning one another. I do feel though that Assta is a fake Amhara-Christian who is serving Zenawi and Aba Paulos in disguise.

I think he can use Reporter, Ethiopian Herald, Walta Information Center to disseminate such serpenteous poison.

May Elias refer such comments to the above news agencies?

January 15th, 2010 at 8:46 PM

19.Assta B. Gettu says:
Dani#18,

No one has talked for a month or two about the provocative old name – Finfinne – until Jawar Siraj Mohammad’s article that mentioned Finfinne to ignite the fire instead of mentioning the name Addis Ababa to create harmony between the Amharas and the Oromos.

Mohammad has a valid reason why he wrote this article, and that is to revenge the burning of his Oromo village by Manju, a TPLF fighter whose house had also been destroyed, perhaps, by the Derg.

Therefore, the heart or substance of Mohammad’s article is “revenge,” and in order to achieve this costly goal, Mohammad has to find some allies who can listen to his sad stories and to the burning of his Oromo village.

Mohammad thinks his allies on this matter must be those who have been suffering under the Woyanne government: the Oromos, the Amharas and some other Ethiopian tribes. Instead of getting complete support from most of the Ethiopian tribes, especially from the Amhara tribe, Mohammad, innocently or intentionally, disqualified the Amharas from helping him by claiming Finfinne as the capital city of the Oromo people. Then, it is normal for me to respond to his hidden agenda in kind and to Jason#16 who wrote: “For Oromos the name Addis Ababa brings dark memories….If you don’t like the name that’s your problem but millions of us wants [want] to restore it.”

These are the people who don’t want the wound to heal fast, and I responded to each one of them in the language they can understand.

Yes, Dani, for Oromos, Finfinne is a pressing issue; the elimination of the Amhara language is a pressing issue, and the total destruction of the Amhara people, their Churches, and their long histories has been the short and the long term issues of the bigot Oromos; however, for the peace-loving Amharas, the unity of Ethiopia is the most pressing issue.

Dani, contrary to the live issue, you have been uttering spiteful comments about my religion and tribe, but I’m not offended by your noetic defamation that needs time for correction.

My view is not a sugar-coated view as you suggested; my view is clear: I’m against Islam; I’m against self-determination; I’m committed to defend the Amharic language to remain as the national language of Ethiopia, and there is no referendum for the Amharic language, no Shimagle (ሺማግሌ) is allowed to mediate between the Oromo language and the Amharic language, which is an international language (Case closed!)

Dani, you crossed the line when you ask Elias Kifle, the chief editor, to refer critical comments such as mines to other news media and never to post them on the Ethiopian Review.
Elias will never take short-sighted views from indisposed people like you whose daily work is to calumniate the good names of the innocent, the righteous, and the good Christian heroes. You want Elias to refer my comments and articles to Ethiopian Herald, Walta Information Center and to Reporter that I have never seen such news media exist because the only best news media, as far as I know, is the Ethiopian Review. I don’t know how you came to know those other news media. Let me please resume my friendly discussion with Jason, Zemene mesafint, and others. Don’t spy on our freedom we have with the Ethiopian Review; you must go to those other dormant news media you mentioned and exercise your views there.

January 16th, 2010 at 11:48 AM

20.Mekuria says:
I agree with Dani. Assta has sinister message/objective. His approach does more damage than good. On the one hand, he talks about Ethiopia's unity and on the other hand, he calls all Oromos selfish people. Assta cool it. You're part of the problem than part of the solution.

January 16th, 2010 at 1:52 PM

21.Love says:
I don't agree wit Assta. It is very unusual of Amara to express such things on website. That is why I suspect him to be a Weyane, Shaebia or even OLF to instigate hate among us. I have argued with him severally in the past. If he says he is who he is then, I will really be careful if I were you, as Amaras are weakening day-by-day with the help of Meles regime. You are also adding a salt to your own wound by talking against the Oromos. You are not even mentioning the OLF, you keep generalizing the Oromos. good luck to you.

It is true however, if we believe in democracy, unity and security for Ethioia, any complacency with a plan that leads to the destruction of Ethiopia is detrimental. Without verbal attack, we must take action to safeguard Ethiopia and bring true democracy to Ethioia. Silence, supporting blindly those that threaten the sovereignty of Ethiopia will be dangerous.

January 16th, 2010 at 6:12 PM

22.Assta B. Gettu says:
Mekuria#20,

Agree or not, my objective is clear to those who carefully analyze the comments I post; I always denounce those who work hard day and night to fragment my Christian country into pieces and pit in each piece against the other. Some people who claim Finfinne is Addis Ababa, the Amhara people are Abyssinians, not Ethiopians, Ethiopia is an Arab-Muslim country, not a Christian country, Emperor Yohannes IV is a tyrant, Emperor Tewodros II is a cruel person, and Menelik II is the enemy of the Oromos are part of the Ethiopian problems who are hiding under the umbrella of the Amhara people, and later to rise up against the Amharas after the dust is settled.

Ato Mekuria, the dissenters are the real sinister; I am the unifier by hitting hard those who are determined to tear down this island of Christianity, and before they destroy the country, I have to stifle their flaccid thoughts and dismantle their fey plans to get rid of the Amharas. The Scripture says: “Be serious and keep watch; the Evil one, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food.” (1st Peter 5:8)

We have to be careful about these splinters who are determined to give us problems in the latter days and who are very quiet for the time being. Of course, there may be some Oromos in shipshape manners, and we respect those ones.

January 16th, 2010 at 8:22 PM

23.Assta B. Gettu says:
Love#21,

Whether you disagree with me that the unity of Ethiopia is important to the survival of its people, or you agree with me that the Amharas are the corner stones of the Ethiopian society, I don’t trust you that Amharas are getting weaker and weaker every day as you assert to make their enemies happier than ever before to hear the weaknesses of the Amhara people and their fall from grace and power, wealth and fame. In fact, the
Amharas are being energized by their faith in the power of the Almighty God who has been keeping them safe for thousands of years as they have been fighting against the Arab-Muslim power to keep Ethiopia united and never to surrender to a foreign enemy.

The Ethiopian enemies are, without doubt, the insiders, the Arab Muslims led by Al Amoudi, stationed in the region of Jima and Wollo, and spread all over Ethiopia and joined by the Ethiopian land speculators – the Egyptians, the Saudis, the Turks, and the Indians. Yes, the defenders of the old and the new Ethiopia are confronting foreign as well as domestic adversaries but with God’s help, the Ethiopians will defeat their enemies politically and militarily.

Verbal attack accompanied by lethal attack is the only good source of achieving lasting victory over one’s ruthless enemies such as Meles Seitanawi and his wife Jezebel who came to power by the same means of overwhelming force.

My friend, I don’t have any wound, and why are you trying to intimidate or frighten me by declaring that the Amharas are getting weak and that I’m adding too much sodium to a wound that I have never had? Indeed, Meles has tried to oppress the Amharas more than any other tribe in Ethiopia, but he cannot finish us because we are everywhere, and there is no place on this earth where one cannot find the Amharas.

To find out my identity, you scribbled: “…I suspect him to be a Woyanne, Shaabia or even OlF to instigate hate among us.” In the first place, there is no love or cohesiveness within you to depend on, and that is why you are guessing my political affiliation instead of discussing the urgent issues facing our country as its enemies – you and your likes – multiply each day and try to enervate Ethiopia and to completely demoralize the Amharas by declaring Finfinne as the future capital city of Oromia and the Amharic language as the language of Gondar city only and Orominga as the language of the Ethiopian Federal government. Why don’t you just forget the Finfinne and the Oromo staff for at least until the coming Election is over, and then you can say anything you want, convenient or inconvenient?

January 16th, 2010 at 11:11 PM