The Ethiopian majority believes TPLF is autocratic, too primitive and has never measured up to leading the populous and historically significant African country of Ethiopia. It never measured up to the good people of Tigray either. While its ethnocentricity was known of from the beginning, there was some hope by most Ethiopians that it would learn, change overtime and work towards improving the country for all Ethiopians. However, that dream of the majority was quelled immediately and replaced by deceit, arrogance, divide and rule and pure evil. What we have now is twenty-six years of miserably failed leadership by a group that pretends to be a political party, but is equivalent to mafia organization.
TPLF leaders were arrogant and deeply entrenched in hatred, and after they came to power, they completely forgot how it happened. They would never have come to power without the help of Ethiopians of every ethnic background, Eritrean Fighters and the US, along with its European allies. If most Ethiopians were as ethnocentric as TPLF is and only cared about the ethnic background of their leaders, the TPLF would never have had a chance to grab power. Most Ethiopians do not care whether the leaders are Tigray, Oromo, Amhara, Afar, Anuak or a member of another ethnicity, as far as he or she is an Ethiopian who is capable of fair and civilized leadership. The attitude of most Ethiopians was obvious from the get go. People were happy to get rid of the ruthless military regime, and they never resisted against TPLF soldiers. In many cases Ethiopians showed TPLF soldiers the way to the capital. While there were discussions among Ethiopians at the time about the TPLF being a narrow minded, left leaning organization composed of only one ethnic minority, most people hoped that the group would change for the better when it had a chance to rule such a large, diverse and resourceful country. With that notion, Ethiopians have patiently waited, and they surely have waited too long. However, the TPLF failed repeatedly and it failed miserably as a leading entity.
The fact is, the TPLF was deeply autocratic from its inception and was never able to change, even after twenty-six years. Autocracy is a primitive way of governing and it never takes account of other people’s wishes, concerns or interests. While the TPLF was surely not ready to lead in 1991, it was determined to stay in power by any means necessary, including massacring and torturing of citizens that challenge it. Top leaders of the TPLF, including the late prime minister, who was considered by some as the smartest man in the organization, chose to forsake the integrity, unity and proud history of a diverse and ethnically mixed nation to their powermonger, so they decided to set up ethnic federalism, which is equivalent to ethnic apartheid.
It would have taken a great courage, dedication and ingenuity to design and implement a fare and democratic system that most citizens would enjoy, a system that would have addressed various issues that Ethiopians have raised over the years, be it inequality, suppression, lack of recognition or abuse of power by previous regimes. However, shortsighted TPLF leaders chose the effortless and primitive way of governing via deceit and divide and rule which is testimony to a lack of a vision and basic good leadership skills. TPLF leaders were incapable of thinking outside the box and working for the good of the country and its people. They were not even capable of thinking for people outside their ethnic group and their immediate families, let alone for close to one hundred million Ethiopians.
Despite complete lack of a vision and leadership skills, over the years the TPLF was able to con the outside world, their supports and some Ethiopians by talking about imaginary democratic rights, economic development and equality that never existed. Mastering and perpetuating deceit became the motto of the organization.
If the current scenario was different and TPLF leaders were wise enough to have a vision for all Ethiopians, a vision that is inclusive and democratic, a vision that respects human rights, and a vision that is dedicated to collective growth, it would never have been easy and would not have happened overnight, but majority of Ethiopians would have stood and worked hard along with the TPLF to achieve that dream. If that dream for Ethiopians was given a chance, the TPLF and its leaders would have been considered heroes instead of a group of corrupt looters, killers and torturers. Even more, they would have had a wonderful place in Ethiopian history for leading the country forward and they would have been remembered not only as a minority ethnic organization that helped to liberate the country from a ruthless military regime, but also as the first ethnically based organization to help establish a lasting democracy in a historic, diverse and populous Ethiopia. Unfortunately, the TPLF and its leaders chose a legacy of extreme corruption and distrust, a legacy of killings and tortures and a legacy of businesses and buildings built for and by TPLF families with money looted from the people of Ethiopia, and that is one pathetic legacy.
The sad reality is, once the TPLF chose corruption over fairness, killings to silence opposition rather than debate, and manufacturing opposition parties in its own backyard instead of allowing real opposition to flourish, its leaders felt like outsmarting everyone, and were unable to see themselves in the mirror. Covering up, and telling lies and manufacturing fake news and fake data became the norm. The TPLF told Ethiopians and the world that there is an election commission, but the election commission is imbedded with it. It tells the world there are courts, while most of the judges are its member cadres. That way they feel no shame when telling Ethiopians and the world that they have received hundred percent of the votes. Due to all these lies over the years to most Ethiopians, the TPLF became synonymous with deceit and uncivilized leadership.
Despite the wishes and expectations of most Ethiopians that the TPLF regime would change overtime, the TPLF’s core values never allowed it to convert to a democratic organization. Instead of educating itself, growing with democratic values and bringing about the needed change in economic, political, social, and educational sectors the TPLF was only focused on making sure its birthplace, Tigrai has the best of all. It was also too focused on stealing fertile territories from other neighboring provinces like Gonder and Wollo to achieve that goal at the expense of other Ethiopians. The TPLF became lawless, having to play silly games, including writing text books that misinform children about the geographical locations of rivers that have been flowing for thousands of years. Then, it resettled more Tigrian farmers in Welquite with an intent to claim the territory as Tigrian. Civilized leaders would work hard and help every corner of the country to grow, allowing for coexistence and mutual development that would naturally erase the man-made borders which do not even matter once you work towards establishing a democratic and civilized nation. While what the TPLF has done to accomplish its sick plan seems to be childish and even moronic, the fact that hundreds of citizens have been killed, imprisoned and tortured to carry on those sick plans makes it unbearable. While leaders are expected to have a vision for all their people, the TPLF is so narrow minded and uncivilized that it could not develop a vision that encompasses anyone who isn’t in their ethnic group.
Interestingly, most of the organizations evil plans were reported by former defectors, including Abraham Yayeh, who was considered by most Ethiopians a crazy man. At the time, most of his rhetoric sounded like fiction, and people did not want to believe that the TPLF is full of hatred towards Ethiopians. Things he was saying sounded fabricated, and even designed to please the Derg regime. But looking back, Abraham Yayeh sounds like an angel who was sent to tell the truth and prepare Ethiopians for the ugly reality named the TPLF.
Once it came to power, the TPLF worked hard to illegally control every vital sector of society, including resources, most businesses and the military. The fake ethnic federalism it imposed helped it to divide and control, while its military power was mainly used to terrorize people. To carry on its divide and rule plans, it made sure other ethnic groups were powerless, poor and antagonized. Civilized leaders would have encouraged civil discourse and unity among various sectors of society, and they would discourage divisions based on ethnicity, race, religion or class. Autocratic and primitive leaders on the other hand, prey on those differences. They magnify minor issues between various sectors of society and use it to their advantage. To find out if the TPLF is on the side of civilized or primitive leadership, we can examine one of the recent interviews given by a top TPLF leader. Abay Tsehay shamelessly told Ethiopians that there is no way the two major ethnic groups in Ethiopia will have a common cause. He even had the nerve to indicate that the only reason the two ethnic groups stand together is to promote destruction and corruption. Interestingly, this man who publicly promotes divisive rhetoric, is the head of federal affairs of Ethiopia and one of the founding members of the TPLF.
One of the well-known civil rights advocates in the USA Malcom X, has once said, “The greater weapon that the colonial powers have used in the past against our people has always been divide-and-conquer. America is a colonial power. She has colonized 22 million Afro Americans by depriving us of the first-class citizenship, by depriving us of civil rights, by depriving us of human rights. She has not only deprived us of the right to be a citizen, she has deprived us of the right to be human being, the right to be recognized and respected as men and women.” Similarly, as colonizers of Rwanda and Burundi, Germany and Belgium have minimized humanity and used deceit as the major force to divide and conquer. They reclassified the division between Hutus and Tutsis based on how many cows they own and whether they have a long nose. The British used the same technique in various places, including Nigeria, reclassifying regions to facilitate divide and rule, and in doing so, they intentionally generated conflict between the Igbo and the Hausa tribe to consolidate their power. The sad thing about that is the socioeconomic division that was exploited by the colonial powers in Rwanda between Tutsis and Hutus continued after Rwanda’s independence and was then re-exploited by moronic Rwandan leaders who never cared about their country except themselves resulting in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.
While Ethiopia has never been colonized by foreign powers, TPLF leaders have succeeded in showing Ethiopians what colonization would have looked like. They followed in the steps of British and German colonial powers in dehumanizing the population. In the process of amassing Africa’s wealth, colonialists have killed millions and have incited violence by creating rifts among various ethnic groups in Africa. Likewise, TPLF autocrats never have Ethiopia as their priority. All they care about is the wealth and resources of Ethiopia. That is why we have most of the top leaders, including Abay Tsehay, Arkebe Oqubay, Azeb Mesfin, Sibhat Nega, and their families along with the TPLF generals owning most of the looted wealth including buildings, land and factories in the country. Just like the colonial powers, these corrupt leaders and their families have accumulated wealth while massacring, killing and torturing, preaching division and inciting violence among Ethiopians. The question is can we classify all TPLF members as primitive thinkers, and if there are any better ones, how come they are so quite in the face of gross inhumanity and cruelty to their fellow Ethiopians. If there are any, how do they live with their conscious?
While it may take some time to answer those question, the clear indications that the TPLF is not only autocratic, but religiously primitive include
- It massacres people including kids and the elderly with no mercy. It is inhumane, incredibly barbaric and vindictive killing and torturing people that stand against it. The TPLF doesn’t compromise, it doesn’t like to receive ideas and it certainly doesn’t believe in debate. It burns people’s farms and businesses when the farm and business owners are against it. Civilized leaders would never display that level of cruelty. The recent killings of a 104-year-old grandmother in Somali region, more than 800 irreechaa celebrators and more than 50 Kobel youth are few examples.
- The TPLF functions as a colonial power and preys on creating rifts between various ethnic groups. Its leaders publicly admit that they want a divided nation. Just like the colonialists and feudalistic leaders the TPLF designed and implemented a system that would keep its members wealthy, with a desire to make others work for it forever.
- The TPLF never apologizes for its killings of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators. Instead it does its best to cover them up, accusing the poor victims by telling false stories.
- The TPLF urinate and defecate on political prisoners. They hang up heavy objects on the testicles of political prisoners to create extreme pain. They extract people’s nails, practice toilet deprivation, and crucify people to torture. While so many outrageous torture techniques have been recorded in history from Nazi camps to the Chinese red party, some of these techniques are unique to the TPLF.
- The TPLF tortured a mother on her son’s dead body. They will do anything to dehumanize people in their own country because they think they own them, just like slave owners felt they owned their slaves as their personal commodities. The approval of that cruel technique by TPLF leaders was concluded based on their complete silence about the situation. TPLF leaders and their puppet prime minister have yet to apologize for their inhumane actions to the people of Ethiopia and specifically to the people of Dembidolo.
Clear indications the TPLF is the deceit master of the century and has no clue about democratic values include:
- It pretends to be democratic while it never allows any democratic institution in the country. It imprisons bloggers and reporters who dare to expose it to the public. It puts opposition leaders in prison. The imprisonment of Dr. Merera Gudina, Andargachew Tsige, Bekele Gerba and Andualem Arage are a few examples. It also spends millions of dollars to spy on its citizens and prevent people from accessing independent media while millions of its citizens are on the verge of starvation.
- The TPLF never listens to opinions of others. It manufactures its own opposition parties just to pretend its government is democratic. When donor nations ask it to negotiate with others and open political space, it pretends to do so while talking to itself.
- It talks about amazing economic growth while most of the population is being displaced and millions are on the verge of starvation. The recent displacements of half a million Ethiopians in the eastern part of the country and the death of hundreds by a garbage landslide in Addis Ababa are a few examples
- It talks about getting rid of corruption while almost all its top leadership is looting the country’s wealth and resources. If the TPLF starts fighting corruption for real, it will have to put most of its leaders in prison and it would be unrealistic to expect that to happen.
- The TPLF gives false data to the IMF, the world bank and donor nations, with an intent to convince them to give it more money, so its members can keep looting the aid money collected in the name of poor farmers.
The deceit and primitive characteristics of the TPLF were on public and international display several times including the 2005. elections. The TPLF deceived Ethiopians and western nations into thinking that it will carry on a democratic election. However, when the election was not going its way, it killed hundreds, imprisoned and tortured opposition and shamelessly stole the election.
These characteristics of the TPLF are now rearing their heads again in a different form. Their original plan of inciting violence and making various ethnic groups fight each other did not work well. The TPLF has realized the fact that most of the public and some officials have understood its evil plan. That resulted in the autocrats to running and hiding in their birthplaces for months to redesign another evil plan. The fact that the TPLF has been running to Tigrai whenever it faces challenges is also a clear indication of its immaturity, lack of openness, lack of inclusiveness, lack of trust of others, and lack of courage.
TPLF leaders now see the work they have done for over 26 years to antagonize Oromos and Amharas did not bear fruit. As much as they despise it, they will try to swallow the hard pill of pretending to be unifiers, which will be going against their own policy, but again, they have no shame, so they will try it one more time. TPLF autocrats will do anything they can to stay in power, not because they want to do better for the country, but because they want to keep looting and enriching themselves. Furthermore, TPLF leaders know they are responsible for the killings, the massacres, and the tortures of so many Ethiopians, so they will fight to keep the corrupt system even if it means killing, massacring and torturing more Ethiopians. We also shouldn’t be surprised if the same officials talking about antagonizing the two major ethnic groups march to the city hall and start leading marriage ceremonies between Amharas and Oromos for a couple of months until they get what they want.
However, that is not going to work this time. Ethiopians are now standing together for real democratic changes, they are saying no more TPLF, no more tortures, no more killings, no more corruption, no more ethnocentricity and no more serial liars. They want a government that works for them. Ethiopians should no longer be slaves to their greedy leaders. Leaders should be open to criticism, be fair to all, step down when they lose elections and be accountable. Ethiopians are demanding for leaders that are civilized and hard working to eradicate poverty and injustice at every corner of the country.
Ethiopians do not need incompetent leaders who function as puppets for others with evil purpose. They do not deserve looters, killer, tortures, and deceitful leaders. Ethiopians deserve leaders that have a vision for the whole country and who care about the prosperity of Ethiopia and Ethiopians instead of their own little circles. Ethiopians deserve leaders that are forward thinking, civilized and measure up to good leadership standards in the 21st century.
Divide and rule is primitive leadership!!
Down with the TPLF and Long Live Ethiopian Unity!!
