Seye Abraha: To Provoke Honest & Principled Discussion for the Sake of Ethiopia
IF ABRAHAM, MOSES, MOHAMMED, ALULA, ATSE TEWODROS, MENELIK & ABABA JANHOY WERE TO MEET IN ETHIOPIA TODAY, HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD REACT TO SEYE ABRAHA’S BECOMING A NEWLY BORN-AGAIN DEMOCRAT? WOULD THEY ACCEPT HIS RELUCTANCE TO SAY SO SORRY FOR ALL TPLF’S HEINOUS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY & TREASONS TOO? IT’S NEVER TOO LATE AT ALL TO SAY SORRY TO RIGHT & WRONG. NOT HAVING DONE SO, BY SEYE AND OTHER TPLF DISSIDENTS, WOULD BE ANOTHER SEROUS OFFENCE AGAINST MOTHER ETHIOPIA & ALL OPPRESED ETHIOPIANS.
TO PROVOKE HONEST & PRIINCIIPLED DIISCUSSIION FOR THE SAKE OF ETHIIOPIIA’’S FUTURE
By Dr. G Bekelle
“Whenever I see someone in power, I ask myself five questions. Who gave you this power? What did you do to get this power? What are you going to do with this power? To whom are you giving power? And how can we get rid of you? Five crucial questions indeed: ones that, it would have been even more interesting to hear them pose nineteen years ago – say, to the now too oppressed and the deprived Ethiopian people”.
My fellow Ethiopian brothers and sisters, here is an honest and serous question in the name of Ethiopia?
In other words does this much talked about Ethiopia’s quintessential wartime hero Seye Abraha deserve another comeback or you do suspect that Medrek is in danger of being hijacked by the alleged new TPLF under his future leadership? Ever since, Seye Abraha was forced to leave the present government by Meles Zenawi and his Palace Group, there has only been one question or two among his supporters. When and in what guise, would he return to power? Though he went to prison, and his wartime reputation tarnished by the corruption issue but was widely predicted, he would soon bounce back with some of his dissident friends like that of Alemseged Gebre-Amlak, Bitew Belai, Gebru Asrat and few others. It also looked obvious that sooner or later he would be released and may be restored to power in TPLF. His supporters and some of his former colleagues have exculpated him of any wrongdoings over our country’s affairs and matters. Friends of the great man let it be known that, although Seye did not say he is willing to resume any power, he may wish or might be prepared to undertake an important job on behalf of his country and in particular represent Tigrai region. Mr Abraha we are told, is a convinced Tigraway Ethiopian, a fervent supporter of united Ethiopia and a renowned opponent of Shaebia. Furthermore, we are informed too that he would love to do whatever he could to hasten our total separation (independence) from Eritrea. What is so extraordinary about this debate is that it concerns us only the kind of job Seye might be prepared to take and whether the majority of the Ethiopian people will ever forgive and trust him in future. If my impression and observation is correct, very few people are asking whether he or his TPLF colleagues deserves to be rehabilitated for understandably lack of trust.
So far, and as we all know, his original offence over corruption and all the other recorded mistakes of his government has by no means been clean, even if the public are prepared to forgive and forget. So, suspicions and divisions among us are getting much wider & wider. But it would also be wrong to accept the charges or judgement put about him and his colleagues in the present inexperienced and biased Ethiopian Kangaroo Court that he has been wholly exonerated for his part in the misfortunes of Ethiopia. On the other hand, it is true that from our readings which seemed to whitewash everybody involved, concluded that Seye Abraha had not set out to deceive and had not deliberately told lies concerning all matters including the war between Ethiopia and poor Eritrea. Is this wartime hero then a faultless man? The answer is yes and no all because some quarters say we have not investigated these yet and whether there have been potential serious corruption charges or treason. These are questions which Mr Abraha and other dissidents has adroitly swept under the carpet while boasting that they have been loyal hence been given a clean bill of health by their colleagues & supporters. They all blatantly refused to apologize to the Ethiopian people as well. The real truth is that their political record remains, by any yardstick are chequered. They look guilty until proven innocent. If another government or individual leader had made one quarter of the mistakes and errors of judgment of TPLF/EPRDF, there would be no question of his or their ever being rehabilitated at all. There are many clever and up-and-coming politicians like in Medrek without many question marks against them. So, why do Ato Seye or other dissidents have to return to power, as is so was predicted? Is this because we need their expertise and experiences or just use them as symbols of fake unity to convince the majority of Tigrians who refused to join us for the past nineteen years? Good Military Strategy & good Leadership too, by Seye may be?
What about the other dissidents: Arena Tigrai who still wanted to use a tribal name? They seem to be resenting their untimely rejection because they now say were not Angels and had made few mistakes here and there as we all do, and may still harbour unspoken resentment, but the two groups don’t seem to get on well. The dissidents are shown to be strong fighters and believers but without the majority of the ill-advised and oppressed Tigrian people or the entire Ethiopian people’s support, they are nothing and cannot make any difference for the next general election. In fact, there is fear they may cause great disasters for UDJP and in general, Medrek. Some loyal followers think they are martyrs and gatekeepers hence should be forgiven to carry out the unfinished jobs. They don’t want permanently to loose them as the Dekialulas, Axumites, Haweltina, Tigrai Solidarity, Ethiopian Commentator and few other Tigrian websites of yesteryears showed during their relentless campaigns for them. Unfortunately, most have disappeared after their hero Seye is released. They did not give huts about the other political prisoners and atrocities committed by their ex-TPLF-bosses. Now, it is rumoured that Abraha Belai of Ethiomedia campaigns to help Seye to return to power. But such attentions may not have to be rewarded though they are extremely ambitious. It seems they did not like to accept failure, defeat and also be seen as guilty as their rivals in the government. They want to be out there, wielding a little power, dependent on themselves. And from their follower’s point of view, it suits them to have such loyal acolytes and heroes with whom they have so much empathy out in the field & serving the cause they believed in. Therefore, whom can the rest of us trust more now? We are faced with these mind-boggling dilemmas. That is why sooner or later, in one form or another, Seye and the likes are certainly back to once more play politics and hold positions. It seemed, we couldn’t do without them. The problem is they have to be voted in by a democratic system not by machine guns as in the past and I can’t see the Tigrians supporting them in sufficient numbers unless otherwise they are thoroughly examined and fully proved to be worthy of a comeback. Hence we need to have real debates. It doesn’t seem to be feasible also for the present government to last its present terms. Therefore, we should now stop exchanging silly accusations and counter accusations, frightening the general public with the formations of Salsai-Weyane or New TPLF. Instead both camps should present constructive points and reasons for the public’s attention why rehabilitating Seye etc is wrong or right. But we should not entirely give up hope of a counterblast from the public or the media that might yet frighten the new and the future Ethiopian government. Beyond doubt Seye Abraha was one of the dominating political figures of the last nineteen years or more which certainly puts (according to his supporters) Lenin, Roosevelt, Churchill, Mao and Mr Hitler in their place. More…