In Defense of Dr.Abiy

In Defense of Dr.Abiy

By Samuel Estefanous 30 July 2018

By way of preface…

This I will admit-hands down, yes, I have always maintained that eventually a fractured and divided EPRDF is the only agent that secures Ethiopia’s Salvation and smooth transition to a Just, Democratic and United Nation of its Equal Citizens. You know why? From its very inception, the Front has been an air tight Masonic like exclusive club run as a middle age Secret Society liable to implode as a direct consequence of its compressed mega force.

They have rechristened the system as democratic centralism but it is a scary system of utter subjugation Lenin had borrowed from the Masons to quell dissent more than a century ago. It is a degrading inhumane system that makes a man behave like a trained canine the way Tamrat Layne humiliated himself at the HPR decades ago. That is why I contend that only the broken decomposed pieces of this colossus that is capable of germinating the seeds of the coming benevolent great leaders of the Nation.

You have only to read the Tale of Two Elections by Simon Bereket, Gebru Asrat’s memoir, Giday Zeratsion and Aregawi Berhe’s thesis and the like to get the general idea. When you fold the last pages of those books, you feel like you have a much closer affinity to Putin’s United Russia than to EPRDF. The Front has tried to chart the fate of the Nation as befits its total whims and caprices-like we, the people, are some unruly goat herd to be tended to or something. ‘We EPRDFites…’ they would say, ‘We EPRDFites have such inviolable culture that there is no way we are going to dent under any earthly pressure and you will never have any clue about the sources of our invincible prowess.’ Even Haile Mariam used to say that. Naturally we were like-where do we-the multitude-come in this vortex of intricate and complex elite culture of EPRDF? I mean until Lemma Megerssa unequivocally spurned it and chose to part with the ‘Culture’ famously asserting’…the Front doesn’t mean…to us in as much as the people stand to gain little from it.’

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For the most part, the Front hand picks a bunch of half-baked desperados and molds them in to willing executioners-of its policy that is. They are so ruthlessly brainwashed that they tend to speak in a language easily identified as EPRDFite by the common folks. True, they are generously rewarded for their effort and sacrifice and they are themselves under such impression or illusion that they are indeed the New Ruling Class.

Basically, that is why we say that the Front has got to be VENTILATED, the only way it could be ventilated is if there are multiple air pockets in the system and as much exit canals to let in fresh breath and spew out toxic gas.

Yes, I have been counting on the ever changing demography and the ultimate arbiter- TIME- to do the inevitable trick. God knows time does break the will to power. If you expect Abiy to behave like Aba Dula, you will be a lone demography skeptic. In case you forgot, Generation-X has long come aboard as a force to reckon with. Yes, beginning from my days in College I have been mentally wrestling this ego-maniac accidental coalition of a bunch of ‘pathetic losers’ and a group of wily ‘generous’ winners.

The funny thing is deep inside I would rather EPRDF stay in power than have my beloved country run amok on the hands of some ultra-ego-maniac and even more selfish brutes. No, I can mentally wrestle EPRDF but these latter ones scare the day light out of my soul. I am talking about their cold mean spiritedness and thinly veiled hatred…

The other day I was watching a loosely set, round table discussion program hosted by TV Tigray in Amarigna . A group of seasoned journalists and academics were supposed to reflect on current issues and hold to light some cloud shrouded motives and views but it kinda ended up being a little tensed up forum of recrimination. Guess what? Against ANDM and OPDO! They were saying stuff like how TPLF was ever so generous in sharing the booty and how it is ever readily up front to take on the enemy. It is kinda true, TPLF did the fighting and the others might have done the dancing. Coming to think of it, they even write about it in their memoirs and ‘chew the old cud’ in their oral reminiscences.

If you really want to know the truth it is ‘the generosity’ that gets on my nerves and leaves a sour taste in my mouth. You know this thing about the gallant winner pitying the vanquished and propping the latter high enough to enable it feed as an equal partner. I remember reading something like pity hurting more than cruelty does in one of FMD’s epic novels. Such as this pity hurts more than the guillotine does.

If you ask me, Aba Dula’s latest protest to the effect that his party and people were disrespected was ‘understandable’ even if it came about a little too late and suffered from anachronism. The thing is no one single people or Nation or party could possibly be generous to another. If some didn’t have the will or gut to fight the old enemy it simply means they had little faith in the Cause, not that they were less brave or something. Just look at the kind of bitter feeling this generosity has bred in the long run.

Being a thorough bred EPRDFite the Premier knows the weak links and strength of the Front. He has been working on key government services beginning from his early twenties or late teens and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge. Uprooting a system has made us look like a bunch of cannibals-ስር ነቀል movements know no other diction but ‘kill- kill- annihilate- annihilate-decimate-decimate’.

At this critical cross road, we need a level headed benevolent Dr. Fix with his bag of tools hanging from his shoulder. We are totally weary of the long tale… how EPRDF is such a shining jewel in a sea of sand but speaks little about it. I was positively marveled when a ‘gumtu’ EPRDFite concluded that the only sin EPRDF could be held to account was speaking no or little of its spectacular achievements and went on to let loose an army of ‘smooth talker’ on government institutions.

Contrast that to what Dr. Abiy has declared in public. Considering the level of gross injustice we have been administering on grand scale on the trusting wide public our rightful places are state and federal correctional facilities all over the country, he had told us. He went on to roll call some of the blood curling infamous crimes the Front has visited up on us.

In such circumstances the alternative we have is the saber rattling fanatical camp who have little idea as to how and when the people of Ethiopia had said ‘Farewell to Arms’. They got zero chance of winning the trust of the people with guns and bayonets. Perhaps they do have a very good idea of the futile endeavor …who knows… I mean since they have readily committed themselves and followers to ‘beat all the swords in to ploughshares.’

Does Dr. Abiy have the erudition of Professor Mesfin or Dr. Brehanu? May be not. Does he have the military acumen of General Tsadikan? May be not. Does he have the bureaucratic effectiveness of Girma Birru? I am afraid not…does he command the diplomatic finesse of Dr. Adhanom…I am afraid not.

But he got what all these gentlemen don’t have combined-charisma. At the first opportunity he got, instead of vowing to blindly serve the Front that had honored him with the one single highest executive office at this young age, he turned to the general public and flat out submitted to its collective will. At the first opportunity he got, he broke with tradition and jumped over the concrete fence of the Ivory Tower and joined our ranks-that of the common dustman’s.

However nice they speak, no matter how well educated they are, irrespective of their total commitment and readiness to ‘die’ for the cause they believed in-that generation has ended up being the total ruin of this Nation. They are incapable of inducing, maintaining or living with any positive change. They all are closed minded Rambo wanna be dreamers of that 70s’ show.

Dr. Abiy has been bidding his time- with God’s help, of course. He has well cemented his academic base. He has belted a well-founded military experience. He has been climbing the party leadership ladder ramp by ramp. All these have lent him a high measure of confidence and a great degree of independence of thought. There is no way he is kowtowing to ‘his mentors’ and ‘the founding elders’ of the Front’s hierarchy.