“REPORTER THE GREAT OF AMARE AREGAWI: REPORTING ON THE GREAT LEADER”

COMMENTARY

As I always do, I went to Reporter website and tried to  find out if  today’s  (08/26/12) Amharic version of the Ethiopian Reporter has come out with an editorial, news, news analysis, commentaries and interviews which could make  a balanced, fair, rational  and above all truthful sense to the innocent people of Ethiopia who had very powerful first hand experiences for a quarter of a century under a tyrannical ruling circle lead by its mastermind, the late Meles Zenawi.  I was very sure that this latest issue of the newspaper would devote its entire volume to the late prime minister; Ato Meles Zenawi which I sincerely believe is not a bad thing as such. It was with this kind of assumption and expectation that I tried to go through it with a sense of interest to get something beyond a very huge work of propaganda and unbelievable mystification of the personality of the late Ato Meles Zenawi. Unfortunately enough, I found the newspaper worse than very ugly propaganda machines directly controlled and used by the ruling party (TPLF/EPRDF) to promote and indoctrinate its dangerous ideology and political agenda .As one of the readers who often visit its website, I know very well that the Reporter has never been and couldn’t be an independent press by any standard. I do not think I need to go far in search of evidence as it is a very self-evident practice since its inception. Well, we might have come across some reflections in this newspaper which seem critical to some practices of government officials. But, that has nothing to do with a real sense of concern about the system which has been and is very ill-guided from its very top or head to its lower structure. Having said this about the nature and practice of the Reporter, let me try to express my observation and comment about some of the information and views reflected in this latest version:

1)      The Reporter has devoted its editorial to the death of Ato Meles Zenawi and how the people are devastated by his death. It has tried to convince us that the people including individuals or groups who have been victims of the ruthless regime led by the late prime minister have been deeply sad and shade their tears. I have no problem if this “devastation “was expressed with the free will of the people who really believed that they had and have a decent way of living in every aspect of their lives ( political freedom, real sense of human dignity, rule of law , socio-economic justice, etc.)  It is ridiculous, disingenuous and very cynical to try to make a very cheap popularity by calling the innocent people of Ethiopia who have suffered unbelievable level of humiliation “as gold is tested with fire, the people of Ethiopia are showing the same quality because of the death of  Ato Mels Zenawi.”  The Reporter is trying to convince us that  the people of Ethiopia  are showing that their hearts are broken because of the death of the mastermind of the ruling circle who has brought about a” miraculous “ change not only to” his beloved “people but also the people of in the Horn of Africa in particular and in Africa in general. Ridiculously enough, the editorial stated that the people did not” kill each other as some were wishing to see.” Well, there might be some kind of fears expressed by individuals, and I do not think that should be taken as a big deal or something out of human feeling unless we want use it for our dirty propaganda. As long as the concerns being expressed about the very fate of the country after the death of Ato Meles Zenawi by genuinely concerned individuals and groups are concerned, there is no doubt it is a very legitimate and justified way of thinking.

If the Reporter is trying to tell us that everything will continue as smooth as anything, it is either a foolish way of thinking or mere propaganda which emanates from a very frustrated state of mind. What is so nonsensical is that the editorial of the Reporter is trying hard to convince the people who are being forced by the deadly parasitic cadres of the highly frustrated and wicked ruling elite to mourn the death of Ato Mels as if they are shading their tears from the bottom of their hearts and minds. I do not know whether the Reporter is trying to pretend or lie that it is not trying to deny that it is propagating the instruction (warning) by one of the big miscommunication cadres, Bereket Simon that people should cry hard by showing up in their respective tents for mourning .Any way ,all these very nonsensical propaganda will never change the reality on the ground , the dirty game  being played by the tyrannical and frustrated ruling elite on the one hand, and the struggle for the realization of genuine democracy on the other hand.

2)      The second point I want to raise is concerning the interview given by Professor Ephrem Yesahak. Thanks for telling his longtime, very hepocriticical and cynical relationship with the late prime minister. He told us that the so-called coalition of elders opened its office back in early 1990s and become part of the dirty political game of TPLF/EPRDF in general and a good messenger of the late Ato Meles Zenawi’s highly hypocritical and disingenuous political agenda .Thanks for making himself that he was the one who did the dirty job given by the late Ato Meles Zenawi that resulted in the abortion of the 2005 peoples’ determination to live with freedom and dignity. He told us that the killings of hundreds of innocent citizens, the sufferings of tens of thousands of Ethiopians and the imprisonment of the leaders of Kinijit have nothing to do with “the late great leader”, Ato Meles Zenawi . He assertively told us that the opposition leaders and those citizens who tried to protest against the political crime committed by a ruling circle led by his” late good friend “ are responsible for what went wrong ,not the late “ peace –loving, humble, and  great-minded “prime minister. I am sorry to say but I have to say that it is a very serious insult to the great culture of” Shemegelena “of our country. It is a great mockery at the very aspiration of the people to live in freedom and fundamental human dignity. I do not know how the people of Ethiopia can afford to tolerate this kind of not only ugly but also dangerous hide and seek game. I do not know how the innocent people of Ethiopia should remain silent when their great traditional conflict resolution mechanism (Shemegelena) is extremely abused by some good for nothing, if not who behave stupidly. Anyway, it is possible to deceive and betray the country and her people for a while, but not for a long time!! Time and circumstance will tell!!

3)      The last point I want to point out is the comments by the so-called intellectuals and educated individuals about the death of the late prime minister. Those individuals ,most of them being Drs. have told us that the late prime minister was “ an international figure (tegadalay), an exemplary leader of the generation, a leader which the country did not have for the last one century, a living (heyaw) figure , exceptionally convincing person, difficult to replace him(Ato Hialemariam Desalegn)” and so on and so forth. I remember watching a video caste which was recorded when the late Ato Meles Zenawi was lecturing all the university lecturers right after the end of Ethio-Ertirea war. It was at that event one Addis Ababa University lecturer which I forgot to remember his name  shamefully declared that “the intelligence /knowledge of all of us in this hall cannot be equated with that of Ato Meles.” Folks, we are in a very serious situation of generational self-confidence crisis which desperately need to be taken very seriously. Imagine what kind of young generation those self-degraded and self-humiliated intellectuals can produce. Imagine how those dysfunctional intellectuals are sending their shameful messages not only to other kids but sadly enough to their own kids. Is this not extremely worrisome and disturbing?? Absolutely it is!! Unless we take it seriously and act accordingly, it is very difficult to move forward with some sort of meaningful way of life leave alone brining about a genuine democratic society.

May God help us in our search for a responsible and accountable leadership!