THANK YOU (አመሰግናለሁ) ETHIOPIA FOR MAKING ME PROUD IN ELECTION 2021!
I am the happiest and proudest man on earth today!
And I thank the people of Ethiopia who voted on June 21, 2021 for it.
Why am I the happiest person on earth today?
Well, for the first time in its millennia-long history Ethiopia had a free, fair and peaceful election on June 21, 2021. The results were reported on July 10, 2021 though there are pending elections in a certain areas.
“Free election” means all citizens of Ethiopia entitled to vote exercised their right to be registered and voted for their choice of political party and candidates without external pressure or interference.
“Fair” means all registered Ethiopian political parties had an equal right to contest the elections, campaign for voter support, reach out and mobilize potential voters at meetings and rallies.
“Peaceful election” means free of violence, fear and intimidation despite the efforts of those who within and without Ethiopia tried to stoke hatred and uncertainty with divisive rhetoric and actions to scuttle the election.
Beginning at the stroke of midnight on June 21, 2021, Ethiopians came out by the tens of millions to vote and freely elect their government for the next five years.
They stood in lines for hours to cast their votes.
It did not matter if was rain or scorching sun. Ethiopians proudly held their ballots to bury the bullets in the ballet box.
They made me so proud on June 21 that I could not hold back my tears of joy.
But on June 21, 2021, I also remembered May 15, 2005 and my tears of anguish and sorrow.
On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia had an “election”.
It was an election stolen in broad daylight by the late Meles Zenawi and his Tigray People’s Liberation Front thugs.
Barely had the polls closed when Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency and placed the police, security and military forces under his direct personal command. He outlawed any public gatherings, and replaced the capital city police with federal police and special forces drawn from military units.
Meles Zenawi issued shoot first and ask questions later policy. TPLF forces under Meles’ command and control massacred and maimed hundreds of unarmed protesters.
I joined the Ethiopian human rights movement after the Meles Massacres filled with anger, despair and an overwhelming sense of “I must do something, anything to stop the TPLF S.O.B.s.”
Before 2005, my interest in Ethiopian politics was purely academic. I had all but given up on Ethiopia. It had become a figment of my imagination.
It is said that in the course of human events, most people face their own “defining moments”.
Often that “moment” is a point in time when we gain a certain clarity about things that may have eluded us in the past or clouded our judgment.
The Meles Massacres of 2005 were the defining moments in my life.
I decided to bring an end to the regime of Meles & TPLF Mafia criminal enterprise the only way I knew how. With my pen or more accurately my computer keyboard.
For over 15 years, every week without fail, I charged, tried and convicted Meles and his TPLF thugs in the court of public opinion in my weekly commentaries.
For over 15 years, every week without fail, I preached the gospel of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
For 15 years, every single day, I agonized over and bemoaned Ethiopia’s fate under the thugtatorship of the TPLF.
Well, it is now official.
The Dawn of Democracy I waxed poetic for a decade and half is a fact in Ethiopia today.
The multiparty democracy for which I fought day and night, rain or shine, snow or sleet for over 15 years is now a reality in Ethiopia.
The democracy I yearned for Ethiopia in 2009, tormented in my soul and asking, “Why is democracy in motion in Ghana, and on life-support in Ethiopia? What do Ghanaians got, we ain’t got?” is alive and raring to go in Ethiopia.
The question I posed in 2015, “Why Can’t Ethiopia Become Like Ghana?” is answered today.
In 2015, I had envy for the Ghanaians but tears for Ethiopia.
Today Ethiopia has become land of beggar-leaders! I cry for Ethiopia! Ethiopians have lost their honor and dignity gained through the blood, sweat and tears of their forefathers. Today Ethiopia’s children stand by and watch as Ethiopia is drawn and quartered by thugs. Regardless, I insist Ethiopia is still the beacon light of Africa.
When Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo in December 2017 told French President Emmanuel Macron to take his aid and shove it in a nice way, I was proud of Ghana.
Akufo-Ado told Macron, “We can no longer continue to make policy for ourselves and for our country and our region and our continent on the basis of whatever support the Western world or France or the European Union can give us. It will not work. It has not worked, and it will not work.”
Just as I was proud of Ghana, I was also ashamed of Ethiopia constantly asking myself, “When will Ethiopia rise up and tell the international poverty pimps to take their aid and shove it?”
My imagination was running wild. “Begone, knaves! We do not want your damned charity to keep us trapped in poverty. Take your aid and shove it!”
I knew the day will come when extraordinary young leaders will suddenly rise and lead Ethiopia out of the darkness of TPLF dictatorship into the light of multiparty democracy.
I laid it out in prophetic voice on September 15, 2016.
But I did not know exactly when the young leaders will rise in Ethiopia and begin the task.
So, in despair and consumed by envy of Ghana’s democracy, I would quietly paraphrase and recite Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29:
When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, /I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries for Ethiopia,/ And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope for democracy in Ethiopia,/Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this country’s election and that country’s government,/With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,/ Haply I think on Ethiopia, and then my miserable state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love of Ethiopia remembered such wealth brings/ That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Ahh! Those were the bad old days!
I would not give up my love for Ethiopia for all the diamonds, gold and silver in the world!
On January 20, 2018, in despair, I prophetically posed rhetorical questions for Ethiopia’s youth in King-esque style:
How long, eske meche (እስከ መቼ!) will wounded justice remain downtrodden on the dirt roads in the countryside and the highways be lifted and the hearts and minds of every Ethiopian healed?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
How long, eske meche (እስከ መቼ!) before the truth crushed to earth rise up again in Ethiopia?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
When will the dark cloud of TPLF oppression be lifted from the Ethiopian skies and the sun return to the Land of 13 Months of Sunshine?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
How long before Ethiopia is free from the yoke of ethnic apartheid?
Not long! Qenu derswal (ቀኑ ደርሷል)!
We shall overcome!
“When” came to pass on April 2, 2018, barely three months after my bout of despair.
On April 8, 2018, I laid it all out in “My Personal Letter to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia”.
On July 10, 2021, the prophesy came to pass as the NEBE announced Prosperity Party had won by a “landslide”.
ETHIOPIA OVERCAME.
ETHIOPIA WON.
ETHIOPIA INVICTUS!
Thank you, Ethiopian Voters
Thank you Ethiopian voters for coming out by the millions and electing your government and leaders.
Thank you Ethiopian voters for shaming our Western “friends” and their media press-titutes who predicted we will make the election killing fields and send Ethiopia to hell in a handbasket.
Thank you Ethiopian voters for teaching the wicked purveyors of doom and gloom that Ethiopians are peaceful, cultured and wise. Ethiopians are slow to anger, have great understanding of politics and will not indulge in the folly of violence prepared for them by outsiders.
Thank you Ethiopian voters for teaching the world elections are won by conquering the hearts and minds of the people and not by killing them, stealing elections, moaning and groaning about stolen elections and passing restrictive voting laws that deprive racial and ethnic minorities the right to vote in a free and fair election.
Thank you Ethiopian voters for making history. Never shall a government arise in Ethiopia from now until eternity that is not elected of the people, by the people and for the people.
Thank You National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE)
Thank you NEBE for taking the “im” from impossible and holding the first free, fair and peaceful election in Ethiopia.
Thank you NEBE for doing all of the heavy lifting and working through the complex electoral logistics in such a short time while facing the extraordinary challenges of Covid-19.
Thank you NEBE for organizing the voter registration campaign and swiftly responding to problems and issues on election day.
Thank you NEBE for administering the election law fairly, equally and without malice or favor to any party or candidate.
Thank you NEBE for staffing and managing the polls and for ensuing every vote was counted and every questionable vote was verified for authenticity and accuracy.
Thank you NEBE for consulting with the political parties and addressing their complaints and demands swiftly and fairly.
Thank you NEBE for litigating legal issues in the electoral process and abiding by court decisions when you were unable to prevail in your arguments.
Thank you NEBE for the complete transparency, accountability and regular and timely press briefing in managing the election over so many months.
Thank you NEBE Chairwoman Birtukan Midekssa for service above and beyond the call of duty. You were unjustly imprisoned for standing up when the 2005 election was stolen. You came back 16 years later and showed them how it is done! I am so proud of you, Burtukan!
Political parties
Thank you Ethiopian political parties and leaders who participated in the June 2021 election for you showed the world Ethiopians can do a democratic election for themselves and by themselves without direction or manipulation by Ethiopia’s enemies foreign and domestic.
Thank you Ethiopian political parties and leaders for closing rank and standing up for Ethiopia when Ethiopia’s enemies plotted and schemed to divide Ethiopians with hateful and divisive propaganda.
Thank you Ethiopian political parties and leaders for conducting yourselves with dignity, honor and for your respect of the electoral process and the voters of Ethiopia and accepting their decision with grace.
Thank you Ethiopian political parties and leaders for making history. Because of what you have done, Ethiopia shall always have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Media
Thank you Ethiopian journalists, reporters, editors and producers for becoming the eyes, ears and mouths of the people of Ethiopia.
Thank you for informing the people daily, for holding debates and for ensuring transparency and accountability of the ruling party and competing political parties.
Thank you for engaging the man and woman on the street and giving them voice, and letting the people know how ordinary Ethiopians like themselves feel about the election.
Thank you for making diaspora Ethiopians stakeholders in the election even though we could not vote. You made it possible for our Ethiopian brothers and sisters to know how much we support their efforts to build a democratic and just society.
National Election Security Committee
Thank you National Election Security Committee comprising members of the Federal Police, the Attorney General Office, the National Intelligence and Security Service, the Ministry of Defense as well as regional law enforcement representatives for ensuring the June 21, 2021 election was held in a secure and peaceful environment.
Thank you for your advance preventive planning, interagency cooperation, security and safekeeping of ballots and swift reaction to security issues at polling stations.
Courts
Thank you judges, lawyers and all court personnel who assisted in resolving election related disputes fairly, impartially and expeditiously.
Thank you for standing up for the principle of the rule of law and maintaining the independence of the judiciary from any external influence or interference.
Thank you for inspiring public confidence in the electoral process by holding the NEBE and the political parties strictly accountable under the law.
Thank you and congratulations, PM Abiy and Prosperity Party!
Last but not least I thank and congratulate PM Abiy Ahmed and the leadership and membership of Prosperity Party for having won the election.
I gave PM Abiy Ahmed my full and unconditional support the day he took the oath of office on April 2, 2018 in an interview on the Voice of America.
When I declared my support for PM Abiy, I had only seen 2 or 3 short YouTube videos.
I knew nothing about him. Absolutely nothing!
But I knew without doubt that he was the young leader I had prophetically spoken about in 2012 and in 2016, the leader of the Cheetah Generation, the Ethiopian Abo Shemanes, who will transition Ethiopia out of dictatorship and into democracy.
In my April 8, 2018 letter, written six days after he became prime minister, I told him: “I have always believed Ethiopia’s salvation and resurrection (Tinsae) can only come through her youth. Above all, I regard you as the leader of Ethiopia’s youth. That said, know that I am in your corner and got your back.”
I support Abiy Ahmed because I knew he will lead Ethiopia out of the wilderness and darkness of hate and out of the graveyard of division and poverty the TPLF had plunged us for decades and into to the promised land of peace, unity, and prosperity.
PM Abiy is an ordinary man with extraordinary abilities.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,” wrote Shakespeare.
Abiy Ahmed is a great leader because he has a great heart filled with compassion; a great mind endlessly percolating with new ideas; a great soul filled with the divine; great character with unbending honesty and integrity; and a great temperament free of anger, revenge and grudge.
Above all, we love Abiy Ahmed because he is our son, our brother, our uncle, our cousin and our friend.
In less than six-months in office, PM Abiy had transformed the political and legal landscape in Ethiopia.
He flung open the TPLF prison gates and set free thousands of political prisoners.
He invited opposition leaders exiled abroad to return home and engage peacefully in the political process.
He granted amnesty to those once deemed “terrorists” and sentenced to death.
He pleaded with opposition leaders in the country to freely organize for an internationally-monitored free and fair election in 2020. Covid-19 scrapped that plan.
He began laying the groundwork for true multiparty democracy.
He restored the people’s constitutional right to free expression, allowed opposition media to operate freely and even invited opposition media from the Diaspora to establish local offices.
On December 31, 2018, I thanked PM Abiy for all he has done for Ethiopia in such a short time.
Truth be told, I have my special reasons for thanking PM Abiy.
To me, he brought back the sun to the Land of 13-Months of Sunshine.
He brought Ethiopia sun and flowers after 27 years of darkness and gloom.
He brought back the lost rainbow to our rainbow nation.
He appointed women to lead one-half of his cabinet.
He bridged the chasm between factions of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church and Islamic community.
When the Forces of Darkness from within raised their swords and attacked our Northern Command and told him he is not strong enough to weather their storm, their blitzkrieg (Mebreqawi), Abiy Ahmed told them calmy, “But I am the storm”.
The Forces of Darkness learned the truth the hard way.
When the Forces of Darkness from without cutoff their measly and lousy aid, imposed sanctions and told him he is not strong enough to weather the storm, he reassured them, “I am the calm in the eye of the storm.”
Today, with the election over and our GERD undergoing the second filling, the stormy skies over the Ethiopian rainbow nation have turned azure and we can see clearly over the horizon.
We see a rising and shining New Ethiopia over the horizon.
And what a difference Abiy Ahmed made in just three years!
Abiy Ahmed made a difference not by changing Ethiopia but by changing the hearts and minds of Ethiopians.
Abiy Ahmed liberated our minds from the mental slavery of ethnic politics.
Oh, Yes! There are some of us who are still enslaved in the politics of ethnicity. It takes time to kick that ethnic monkey off our backs.
Abiy Ahmed went into the countryside, the hamlets and towns to talk to the people. He listened to them and answered their questions. His answers are for the ages.
He scoured the Horn of Africa and the Middle East looking for our exiled brothers and sisters forgotten in the jails and prisons, found them and brought them home.
He even travelled ten thousand miles to America to bring home the banished, the exiled, the defiant, the indefatigable and unconquerable.
He even managed to bring home one native son who was presumed lost for 48 years.
For 27 years, we lived through the darkness of an ethnic apartheid system.
Abiy Ahmed came along and told us straight up there is no Oromo Ethiopia, Amhara Ethiopia, Tigray Ethiopia…
There is only Ethiopiawinet.
There is Medemer, or all Ethiopians working together to make Ethiopia a shining city upon a hill.
Abiy Ahmed often reminded us, “When we are alive, we are Ethiopians. When we die (and turn to dust) we become the land that is Ethiopia.”
Abiy Ahmed proved to us that the old idea of “power comes out of the barrel of the gun” is outdated, antiquated and passé. “Killing to remain in or to grab power is the politics of losers,” he proclaimed.
Real winners do not kill, they heal. We have only one country and the only way we can solve our problems peacefully is through dialogue, not through the barrel of an AK-47.
Abiy Ahmed made us feel proud to be Ethiopians.
Today, we wear our Ethiopiawinet as a badge of fame, as a medallion of our pride in a country that had preserved its independence for over three thousand years.
Abiy Ahmed made us feel safe and secure even though the Forces of Darkness tried their best to stoke fear and hatred every single day.
Today, Abiy Ahmed has set us free to dream and to achieve anything our heart desires for our country and ourselves because the sky is not the limit.
We stand tall and walk in full confidence that our rights are secure because Abiy Ahmed is standing vigil for us around the clock.
Abiy Ahmed taught to love because it is the only way to live. Dying and hating isn’t much of a living.
Abiy Ahmed’s formula for good governance is simple: Ethiopia will rise up as a nation only when the power of love overcomes the love of power of those in power and those hungry and thirsty for power.
On July 10, 2021, he declared opposition party leaders will have a voice and share in governance responsibilities when the new government is established.
Ethiopia’s foreign enemies talk about “inclusive government”. Abiy Ahmed practices inclusive government!
Abiy Ahmed taught us we cannot make progress unless we learn and practice to forgive and reconcile.
Abiy Ahmed showed us there is a better way, the Medemer Way.
Abiy Ahmed reached out and touched everyone. That is everyone who loves Ethiopia, wishes the best for Ethiopians and believes Ethiopia shall soon become the beacon light of Africa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
In three years, Abiy Ahmed lifted every voice in our nation as our choirmaster leading us in harmony:
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
We shall march on to victory with Abiy Ahmed leading the way till victory is won: The New Ethiopia!
Abiy Ahmed did not do it all by himself.
There are two unsung heroines I must thank for gifting Abiy Ahmed the Ethiopian people.
It is true that behind every great man, there is a great woman.
There would have been no Abiy Ahmed without his mother Tezeta Wolde who inculcated in him that he is destined to lead his nation one day. That prophesy deeply inspired Abiy Ahmed.
With his wife Zinash Tayachew, Abiy Ahmed would not have been able to accomplish even one-half of the things he attempted. First Lady Zinash is living proof that a strong family is the foundation of a strong nation.
Ask Not What Abiy Ahmed Can Do for Ethiopia, Ask What You Can Do for Your Ethiopia!
On April 29, 2018, 27 days after PM Abiy took office, I wrote a commentary entitled, “Ask Not What Abiy Ahmed Can Do for Ethiopia, Ask What You Can Do for Your Ethiopia!”
I reissue that call today.
PM Abiy and Prosperity Party have their work cut out for them. They face daunting challenges but they are ready to do the heavy lifting.
So, those of us particularly in the diaspora must face one and only one question: Are we prepared to put our shoulders to the grindstone and noses to the wheel and help Abiy Ahmed and Prosperity Party in the heavy lifting or are we going to sit around as we have for decades moaning and groaning about the past?
My answer is clear. I will do everything I can to help Prosperity Party carry out the landslide mandate it got from Ethiopian voters.
I would have done exactly the same thing regardless of which party had won the election.
My support for political parties and leaders is conditional.
My support for Ethiopia is unconditional. YES, MY COUNTRY RIGHT OR WRONG!
Any individual, leader, political party or entity who has the best interests of Ethiopia is a bosom friend of mine.
It is written, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to love and a time to hate, and a time for war and a time for peace.”
The time for the game of useless carping, hate, division and political nonsense is OVER!
It is time to put our shoulders to the grindstone and noses to the wheel and get to work.
What time is it in Ethiopia now?
I SAY IT IS TIME TO JOIN PM ABIY AHMED AND PROSPERITY PARTY AND DO THE HEAVY LIFITNG TO BUILD THE NEW ETHIOPIA!
