What happened to Kinijit's spirit?

Tedla Asfaw

Am I confused? Not at all and most of the Diaspora are not members of any organization and we are not responsible for the battle for Kinijit since our elected leaders have been in jail for almost two years.

The battle is now looking like the battle for Nakfa in the 1989s when the Ethiopian army was close to breaking the backbone of Eritrean Liberation Front/Shabia and with all the tricks of Mengistu Hailemariam it faliled.

Here in the safe and sunny summer in North America the master of all these infighting is none other than Melese Zenawi’s TPLF and the battle ground is not the Nakfa Mountain rather the plain fields of Kaliti.

After Melese/TPLF wisely circulating the release of jailed leaders in th Diaspora to sabotage the US congress bill we heard the formation of the new Kinijit called Kinijit International Council(KIC) chaired by Dr, Taye declaring victory on Andargatche/Mewa’s KIL and preparing itself as the only Kinijit who can give flower to the eventual “work or exile” trip to Europe and North America by the soon to be freed leaders of Kinijit most probably after the celebration of Ethiopian millennium.

Do not worry the travel schedule will be kept secret to avoid KIL showing up with bunch of flowers and have photo opportunity with our heroes/heroines and convince some of them to join its camp..

This is not the Kinijit spirit and it is rather what we call blind “ kitiket ” and for the safety of the elected leaders we the majority of Ethiopians have to avoid the warring groups and organize a rally by known civil activists who have been tirelessly organizing protests for their release.

We can start a welcoming ceremony independent of Kinijit/”Kiteket” like the millions in Ethiopia who will celebrate their representatives release free from this foreign born Kinijit/ “Kitiket” viruses.

ONLF's reply to Seyoum Mesfin

Tedla Asfaw

The June 20, 2007 ONLF letter to Seyum Mesfin’s June19, 2007 letter is farsighted and covers all human right violations, abuses and killing in Ogaden and the rest of Ethiopia.

For some of us who know the Ogaden we did not hesitate to expose the economical, cultural and political neglect of this proud people for centuries and wait until foreign journalists like the NYT(June, 2007)article that angered Seyum Mesfin. Similar articles some in fact more critical were written by many Ethiopians and Somalis which the government ignored and boasting as the first to bring ethnic harmony by its famous article 39 of the Ethiopian constitution.

Our generation knowledge of Ogaden is limited to the wars fought between Siad Barre and previous Somalia dictators and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and dictator Mengistu of Ethiopia which sow the seed of suspicion between Somalis and others and made many of shy away to tell the story from Ethiopian Somali side.

After the fall of Mengistu the Ogaden Somalis aspiration of self rule got another chance and like OLF and other nationalist movements join the transitional government and what they got is TPLF’s wing of Somalis and Oromos and the so called article 39 is just ruling by proxies.

The ONLF aspiration to improve the lives of its region by exploiting its natural resources if not economic freedom and then what and giving away their land for foreign companies with objections from the inhabitants led to the death of locals and foreign nationals and the ongoing detention and killing of many Ogaden Somalis.

The ONLF has also reached to other Ethiopian opposition movements and formed an alliance called AFD and coordinating military actions with OLF against the security forces of TPLF who are terrorizing their regions and also active in the struggle for the elected leaders of Kinijit and other parties to be released without preconditions immediately and start the national reconciliation.

ONLF believes in a democratic process open to all groups including the regime in power and however it will not kneel down by any brute force and neither believes to dominate its region by military force.

Happy father's day to our jailed fathers

Tedla Asfaw

While we celebrated Father’s Day here in USA back home in Ethiopia many fathers who led the May 15, 2005 peaceful revolution have been confined to jail for the last two years with fabricated charges and last week a political decision was made by Melese Zenawi to separate them from their families and millions who voted for them indefinitely.

Fathers like Hailu Shawel, Birhanu Nega, Yacob Hailemarian, Hailu Araya and others are fathers not only for their families but also hope for our country thousands of fatherless children so called “ “Dangerous Bozenes” who are roaming the streets of Addis Ababa and other cities with no hope for their future.

I have no doubt in my mind that a City like Addis Ababa was denied not only a mayor but also a good father who would have made a big difference in the lives of thousands of hopeless youths in Addis Ababa by creating jobs working together with local business and international agencies who are located in Addis Ababa and who will also benefit from such projects.

On this Father’s Day we have to remember the families of these brave fathers in Ethiopian jail and commit ourselves to put pressure on USA and UK Administrations who are the staunch supporters of the regime for the immediate release of our fathers of the May 15 peaceful revolution without any precondition.

The next step after June 11

Tedla Asfaw
We know very well that TPLF is not to let our leaders go and have tried to divide them for the last two years in prison by sending so called negotiators foreign and home and to bow on Melese’s shoes and ask forgiveness to satisfy his Emperor’s ego.

Melese could not find a single person to bow and if they had wanted they could have joined his sleepy parliament and make fun of themselves and insult the millions of Ethiopians who voted for them in May 2005 and asked them for their vote to be counted.

Our heroes showed us courage and it is up to us to follow them and take our freedom from a regime that will never give us without fight and yesterday June 11 the regime officially declared the fight by convicting our thirty nine brave leaders..

The fight have been going on in the Oromia and Somali regions of Ethiopia and I urge Alliance for Political Freedom and Equality (AFD) to mobilize the Diaspora and raise money to support the liberation of our country from the hands of TPLF. Hibret supporters are urged to put pressure on their leaders and join the alliance even if they have reservation and if they do not join I ask them to stop attacking AFD verbally and continue their own struggle to remove TPLF from all parts of Ethiopia once and for all.

This week resolve of the crisis in Kinijit is a good sign and it will now play its role in AFD efficiently and I urge platform with OLF and ONLF supporters in the Diaspora to start understanding and develop trust which will isolate TPLF and its very few supporters in the Diaspora.

Like the May( Miazia 30) demonstration two years ago in Addis which sealed the fate of TPLF we here in the Diaspora have to organize similar multiethnic Ethiopian demonstration which will send a signal to USA and UK leadership that they have to abandon Melese before it is too late.

I will conclude by appealing to my fellow country people who are planning to travel to celebrate our millennium (HULETESHE AMETE) in Ethiopia to postponed this trip out of respect of the millions who voted for our jailed leaders.