For Part 1, items 1-65 of this 2018 retrospective, please refer here:
66. Gender Equality, Ethiopian Edition, BAA (Before Abiy Ahmed): Before PM Abiy rammed-through his gender-equality reform in Ethiopia over the heads of the stodgy EPRDF, Ethiopian economists (all 5 men) met with Chinese economists (4 women, 1 man.)
67: Eritrea’s Endorsement of Russian Annexation of Crimea: Remember when, back in 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution to condemn Russia with most (59%) voting for the resolution? 34% (including Eritrea, Ethiopia) abstained and 7% (including Sudan) opposed. Well, there was one government from those who abstained in a vote but showed support for Russia’s annexation by actually visiting Russia. In Crimea. Osman Saleh and Yemane Gebreab were there on a “fact-finding mission” to see what all this annexation talk that the world media is reporting is all about (Source: Eri-TV)
Anyway, you will be happy to note that that assault against Eritrea’s sacred armed revolution (ignited by Ethiopia’s annexation of Eritrea), is progressing just fine: Sergey Lavrov reminded the Eritrean dignitaries what their showing up really meant to his country and it wasn’t about “fact-finding.” Said he on their 2018 visit: “We set great store to the fact that in June 2014 you, Minister, were the first among high-ranking foreign representatives to visit Crimea…”
68. Money Makes Africans Forget China Is An Authoritarian State: the one country that is fast making Russia irrelevant (except for its nukes) with its annual China-Africa Summit made a huge announcement in its campaign to own Africa. The fine print is often at odds with the headlines, but the headlines grabbed Africa’s attention: 60 billion dollars were coming.
69. Somalia Reconciliation, Part 1: In Somalia’s journey towards being a normal country, its Prime Minister, Abdulahi Formajio, appointed former Presidential candidate, Dr. Abdirahman Abdullahi Badiyow, as his new Peace & Reconciliation Affairs Advisor. So reported Garowe Online. This, no doubt, is the result of the Prince of Peace Isaias Afwerki (who doesn’t even reconcile with his life-long comrades, even after they die and need a burial site in their own country.)
70. Oh, Ship! If you ever doubted God has a sense of humor, in our post-peace, post-friendship, post my-heart-is-busting out-of-my-chest Eritrea-Ethiopia nirvana, the first ship to dock at Eritrean port of Assab was named Mekele. You know, the capital city of Tigray, where the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has 10 hour meetings to discuss how to spell Mekele.
71. The Year of Impunity: If you are thinking “2018 is the year where everybody gets away with it” here’s more for you to laminate, I mean, lament: Canada’s Nevsun LLC, which has been using forced labor of Eritrean youth to enrich itself and Eritrea’s uber-tyrant; a company whose sole project is Eritrea’s Bisha Mines, got a very friendly offer and was sold at premium to a Chinese company which will care even less about human rights than a Canadian company. The price tag? 1.8 billion Canadian dollars. The deal has passed all regulatory hurdles and December 28 is when all Nevsun shareholders tender them for Zijin shares at 6 Canadian dollar per share.
72: Women Power, Eritrean Edition
73.ኤርትራ! ኤርትራ! መስዋእታ ብምልካዊ ስርዓት ተደቢሱ (Eritrea, Your Sacrifice Has Been Compensated With Dictatorship): And now a message from former Finance Minister Berhane Abrehe, and author of “Hagerey Ertra” (Eritrea, My Country) to the Eritrean people and to dictator Isaias Afwerki. The only form of book review the Eritrean regime knows is prison, so he is imprisoned. (In contrast with Weyane spokesperson Bereket Simon whose book is published in Ethiopia and he is giving critical opinions of Abiy Ahmed government.) Berhane Abrehe calls for reconciliation, accountability about closed meetings with Ethiopia like the one above, restoration for Eritrean dignity, a call for televised debate with Isaias Afwerki on all aspects affecting Eritrea, a call for convening of National Assembly and a reminder that when that happens they will call for the resignation of Isaias Afwerki:
74. Eritrea and Ethiopia Open Embassies: I am sure this guy is reading too much into it but he thinks when Eritrea and Ethiopia re-opened embassies, the quality of the embassies was symbolic of the lop-sided nature of the treaty. He says Ethiopia got a swanky villa in upscale Croce Rossa neighborhood of Asmara, and Eritrea got some Kebele-reject with dragons borrowed from a Chinese restaurant.
75. ቦሎኽ! Have Faith In The Unexpected: Artists can inspire and give you something to latch on to when it feels like the ground is shifting that the sky is falling and powers you don’t understand are controlling your future. An artist can give you confidence, can give voice to your thoughts, to your fears, anxieties, hopes that somebody from somewhere is going to emerge (“ቦሎኽ” in Tigrinya) and set things straight. And the great Abrar Osman delivers with his “ዘገርም ዩ”(you amaze), an ode to everything we love about Eritrea:
76. Mark 6:4 Professor Asmerom Legesse is noted (rightfully) for many great achievements, chief among them for being the chronicler of Oromo’s Gaada’s system, considered the most authoritative. He also documented the story of the 70,000 plus Eritreans cruelly deported by Ethiopia’s TPLF regime. But: “the baffling part of his character,” writes Bitsu Haddish, “if displacement of 70,000 people from their homes in Ethiopia moves him the way it did in 1998, then what happened later, especially when the same citizens are leaving their country altogether? 75,000 in Germany alone.”
77. Hard To Talk When You Are Racing & Other Childhood Stories: Berhane G. Solomon is Eritrea’s Charge d’Affaires to the United States. He met with restless Eritreans in Sweden who watched the same things we all watched including Isaias telling Abiy Ahmed “from now on, you will lead us” and “from now on, anybody who says Eritreans and Ethiopians are two peoples is mistaken.” The same people who had been told that demobilization of Eritrea’s conscript army, constitutionalism, rule of law has to wait pending end of state of war with Ethiopia. He had answers:
It is absurd to accuse Freedom Fighter Isaias Afwerki as a betrayer. Because, you know, the Eritrean prisons are not full of former freedom fighters accused of betrayal.
When Isaias told Abiy Ahmed in Addis (“you will lead us”), it is consistent with Eritrea’s traditions of village assemblies where each able person presents the other as more able. Have no worries, the real agreements will be in writing and will be reviewed by lawyers, he said;
Consider the Source: the same people who are criticizing us for being too energetic in the peace effort are the ones who (with Weyane) were accusing us of being isolationists and anti-peace;
We Won: We long ago decided that change in Eritrea and the region cannot come about unless there is change in Ethiopia, so this is the fulfillment of our hard labor;
No Time To Talk But Work: Our leaders are racing to bring about the fruits of their hard labor. This is not the time to demand they speak to us: “hard to talk when you are racing.”
78. Harder Still To Ignore The Facts: It is hard to call Isaias Afwerki a traitor, or a man who betrayed Eritrea when he, all along has been telling those who would listen what his intentions are. Submitted for your consideration are four video testimonies of (1) EPLF co-founder Mesfin Hagos; (2) OLF co-founder Dima Negewo; (3) Ethiopia’s former administrator of Eritrea province for the Derg, Dawit Woldegiorgis; (4) Ginbot-7 Arbegnoch (Eritrea-based Ethiopian armed group) leader Andargachew Tsige. They all testify that he was a One-Ethiopianist who wanted, at best, a confederated state of Eritrea and Ethiopia and at worst (from our perspective), One Ethiopia inclusive of Eritrea. Andargachew Tsige, the leader of G-7/Arbegnoch essentially said that based on his understanding (read: “my conversation with Isaias”) Eritrea was rushed into having a referendum in 1993 because of TPLF. Otherwise, Isaias was probably going to find a way to make Eritrea stay with Emama Ethiopia. The interview, conducted by LTV has been removed. Wink.
79. Order The Borders Open! September 11: Two of Eritrea’s four access points with Ethiopia,The Bure and the Serha Zalambesa Road, are opened. The Adiquala-Adwa would await for a later day. The Omhajjer-Humera is tricker because that’s a tri-point and right now we are not talking with Sudan. (Will change by the time you read this):
80. Chanting Yesterday’s Slogan: Meanwhile, way, way back in September, just before Isaias Afwerki passed the fatwa that those who focus on borders and demarcation are enemies of peace and possibly traitors, PFDJ pamphleteer Elias Amare had still not gotten the memo: he was calling on TPLF (not Ethiopia) to evacuate from Eritrea immediately.
81. Man Shoots Off Mouth, Man Ordered To Close Them. There was a time, like forever, when US foreign policy was, as Robert Kaplan once wrote, a “synthesis of what the State and Defense Departments are comfortable with.” But now, it is an ad-hoc policy dependent on the whims of whoever occupies an office. Between the time Asst Sec State for African Affairs Tibor Nagi was talking tough about how “there has to be concrete actions taken” and “Eritrea cannot assume by opening good relationship with the neighbors that it will automatically lead to sanctions relief” and the lifting of the sanctions, the only change that had happened was: the US had a new National Security Director: John Bolton.
Man Shoots Foot, Man Brags His Foot Healed: So the sanctions were lifted. And the Government of Eritrea ordered the people to go out and demonstrate and thank their Gobye Government for shooting itself on the foot and getting the medicine, 9 years later.
82. Pop Quiz: Life is complex and nuanced. But not always. There are two reaction to these pictures. Sadness or pride. You don’t have to do a lot of “where do I stand” nail-biting or read position papers and politicians speeches. It is simple: if these pictures make you sad, you are a normal human being. If they make you proud, you are PFDJ.
83. Never Say Never Twice: We will never, ever, ever, ever make peace with Ethiopia until they withdraw from every inch of our territory and we will certainly not visit them. Correction, we will but as long as it is not with Weyane. Correction, we will but….
84: Addis Dhebi: An Abu Dhabi developer has decided that what’s wrong with Addis Abeba is that it doesn’t look like Abu Dhebi. So, buildings will be demolished and the city will look like this: Abu Dhebi with misty skies:
85. Next Gift: Rice to China– The Speaker of the Amhara Region visited the Eritrean president and she picked up something from Bole Airport (Geez alphabets poster), usually picked up by Ferenji on their way home to brag about their visit to exotic places. Lady, the alphabets are called “Geez” not “Ethiopian.”
86. The Last Civil Libertarian? Dr Berhanu Negga, one of the leaders of Ginbot-7 Arbegnoch, said this shortly after some crazed Ethiopian youth crucified a man, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the town. The man they were welcoming, Jawar Mohammed, hasn’t decided whether he will be an activist, a politician, a media mogul so it’s never clear where he stands. But here’s Berhanu (until he disappoints us): “every society has to have some kind of moral compass to exist. Our moral compass has been lost.”
87. At The Count of Three: The Eritrea-Ethiopia Peace & Friendship & Warm Glow & Harmony, now renamed Jeddah Peace Agreement, is signed, for the third time, this time in Saudi Arabia. The two countries’ intellectuals and scholars were going to have long discussions on the merits of each article of the agreement but they forgot to ask to see them:
88. Northward, Gameover! We will never, ever, ever deal with TPLF unless they move from every inch of our territory. Sorry, we mean into our territory:
It turns out #Gameover stands for SUV like Land Rover and Range Rover: (graphics courtesy of @haddishbits )
89. If This Guy Had Been Tigrayan, They Would Have Issued His Corpse A Warrant for Its Arrest: Of course, this will not stop any of the conspiracy theories. But for now:
90. Domo Arigato Equbay San!
91. Minority Report, Uganda Edition: Set in the year 2054, the sci-fi thriller “Minority Report” (Tom Cruise) is a world where the law captures criminals before they commit a crime. As you know, we Africans are always ahead of the game and what will take 36 years to materialize in the West is happening right now in Uganda. The government of Museveni arrested a competitor because he was thinking of committing a crime called “running for office”:
92 Now That We Have Peace, We Must Maintain War-Like Posture In Our Domestic Politics To Make Sure We Don’t Have War: You can’t demand that a runner stop an talk to you (that would be inconsiderate) so three months after the Eritrea-Ethiopia Peace, I mean peace and friendship, I mean Jeddah Peace Agreement was signed, the Eritrean Cabinet of Ministers assembled at the lecture hall which is also called the State House: “regarding the internal situation and challenges encountered, President Isaias underlined on the need for integrated effort to confront internal and external attempt to reverse the new developments emerging in the region.”
93. What Is Wrong With Eritrea, Part 2: This man, born and raised in the battle field, cannot see his father and mother, both of whom fought for decades to liberate Eritrea and are now sitting in the very unliberated corner known as Ella Eiro prison (since September 2001.)
94. And the Award for the Most Ironic Statement (let’s call them The “EFF EEEs”) Goes To: …. No, not the pope, but the king-of-kings wanna be Isaias Afwerki:
95. Balance of Trade: Those of you who are cynical about the Eritrea-Ethiopia Peace Agreement really need to open your minds and be less hateful, really. We have perfect trade: Eritrea imports goods and services from Ethiopia; and Eritrea exports humans including underaged. What could possibly go wrong?
96. “Gradual Democracy”, Ethiopian Edition:The entire premise of the EPRDF, the ruling coalition of Ethiopia, was for each of the four parties that make it up to have a monopoly of the region they control. Thus, the TPLF would have uncontested power in Tigray; the ANDM in Amhara; the OPDO in Oromia and the SEPDM in the South. But Ethiopia is more than these four regions: absent from this configuration are (a) Somali State; (b) Harar; (c) Benishangul; (d) Gambela and (e) Afar. Why?
Because the EPRDF was built for one reason: to dislodge the Ethiopian Derg regime from Addis Ababa and you don’t need the peripheries on your march from Tigray to Addis Ababa to do that. You can create satellites later (Hareri Bherawi Kilil, anyone?) And because TPLF, it argued, had the most arms, the longest journey and the heaviest sacrifice, it told its partners we are equals but I am first among equals. In theory, you have total monopoly of power of your regions, but in practice, I run the show. And over time, gradually, I will give more power to you and collectively we will give more power to the people. We will call this “gradual democracy.” Every year the components of the EPRDF had their ግምገማ (assessment) as did the EPRDF collectively where they practiced the art of grin-and-bear the overbalance of TPLF by calling it “democratic centralism.”
97. Then the Dam Burst, in 2018. And, so the franchise had their OPDO-ANDM Ascending Post-Abiy Ahmed congress. The good news is in this congress, the sorely-missed uber-communicator Fitzum Arega quoted the Prime Minister as saying this:
The bad news is that the very “progressive” EPRDF, which is basically a collection of political cadres with little connection to its constituency, did not resemble it at all. As this website wrote quoting an Ethiopian analyst:
“It is alarming that EPRDF, a party which considers itself progressive, has way below average representation of women and Muslim’s in its governing body,” writes an Ethiopian analyst reached via social media messaging, “That is for all coalition members. For instance, ODP, formerly known as OPDO, represents the largest region in the country with the largest number of Muslims. 50% of the region’s population. Yet, in its central committee, it has less than 15 Muslims. The same thing when it comes to women: there are only 7 women in its central committee of 55.”
But Abiy had a plan for that one too! Check out the top 5 positions in his ministry although, Ministry of Peace? Really? REALLY?!
98. What is wrong with Eritrea is….(Part 4). Plenty of statements begin like that. Few can be more apt description than this: there is an EPLF combatant who spent more time in jail in a “free Eritrea” than he did fighting to free it. Check out his voice (in the link below) and why he was arrested: “we will never give up our port to Ethiopia,” is what he said in 1991.. but his favorite words are “reconciliation and peace.”
99. What is wrong with Eritrea is…. (Part 5): There is something very wrong not just with a government but with a culture that is ok with disappearing a child.
https://twitter.com/CNNAfrica/status/1050344444539625472
100. Why Eritrea Joined the Human Rights Council is far less significant than it appears:
The Africa Group (just like the rest of the HRC groups) decided this year to nominate only one candidate for each vacancy. That is to say, for the five seats allocated to Africa, the UN General Assembly were given only five candidates to vote on. It was a closed slate. Of the two that were eligible to return, Togo returned and Burundi either didn’t want to run again or was asked not to.
This leaves us with four seats.
Of the four vacant seats, two are vacated by Francophone (West) Africa and two by East Africa. And, per the continental politics of the African Union (recall the last time the AU had to elect its chairman), they had to be replaced by two East African countries and two West African countries. (Next year when the terms of Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa come up, it will be North-South replacement.)
101. They Wore Rasperry Berets And They….Wanted To Conduct A Coup?A bunch of selfie-loving, raspberry-hats wearing soldiers came to demand what all soldiers demand–better pay. The Prime Minister disarmed them with push ups, posed with them, then lectured them, then, months later, he sentenced some of them to 15-year terms. Because, as he explained in Amhalish: “ኢንተንሽኑ ሪፎርምሙ ኣቦርት ለማድረግ ነበር” (their intention was to abort the reform.)
102. It Appears The TPLF Did Not Loot ALL The Money: The President of Eritrea joined the former and current Prime Ministers of Ethiopia to take a tour of a sugar processing plant in Southern Ethiopia.
https://twitter.com/saayEritrea/status/1051878364657512448
Can Gomu Gafa and Tigray swap locations?
103. Surprisingly Cozy For A Submarine: The Foreign Ministers of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia met in the new submarine of the Horn of Africa, the S.S. Are You Fucking Kidding Me.
104. More Entries for the “Eff Ees” from the Department of Irony: The Italian company Calzedonia is opening an apparel plant in Mekele, Tigray (where nobody speaks Italian) because of its proximity to Eritrean port Massawa. Of course Masawa is closer to Massawa than Mekele is. And, you can find plenty of people who speak Italian. Mannaggia la miseria! Mortacci tua!
105 Like A Kidnapper Releasing Pics Of His Hostage: His Holiness Abune Antonios, the legitimate Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox (Tewahdo) Church, the only one recognized by Alexandria, has been under house arrest for over ten years. To diffuse the wrath of the Eritrean Tewahdo, the Eritrean regime has gotten into the habit, like a kidnapper, of releasing his picture to show that he is unharmed and in good health. Meanwhile, the Church has no Patriarch and the Umma (Muslims) have no Mufti. The people have “acting” religious leaders.
106. We Need A Recount or At Least A Random Test: This guy, Kenya’s Abraham Kiptum, beat the world half-marathon record of Eritrea’s Zeresenay Tadesse, by ten seconds. To best your personal MARATHON record by ten seconds requires training. To best the WORLD record for HALF marathon by ten seconds requires a miracle.
https://twitter.com/saayEritrea/status/1058258865421148162
I, neither weizerit not weizero, solemnly swear…
107. Neither Weizerit Not Weizero: Deal With It. Ethiopia’s Press Secretary, Billene Seyoum, told Ethiopian journalists not to address her as Ms or Mrs but to just use her name. The Ethiopians had a collective nervous breakdown led by our friend Natnael Berhane Yifru. Yeah he is “Naty” but we call him Natnael when we are very disappointed with his Cro-Magnon views:
108. Bolokh! A Catholic priest, Abba Tekhlemichael Tewelde, calls upon Eritrean prez Isaias Afwerki to learn from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed what a head of government must do to gain the support and respect of his people. Because this is Eritrea, as many people who were moved by and inspired by his speech are those who asked, “why isn’t he arrested yet?” For English summary, refer here. For the real thing, an address delivered in Tigrinya, here:
109. We Are The 90%: The President of Eritrea gave his long-unawaited interview (go away, please) on November 3 and (1) it was watched by fewer people than his usual audience and (2) Almost 90% of those who voted after watching it (or seeing his picture) gave it a thumbs-down. Don’t be mad at me: I am going to show his picture once again because this is the first draft of history:
110. I Warned You I Would Do This. Shame for future generations of Eritreans Just when I was going to claim I didn’t know. Dammit
111. Yellow Hawk Up: This is the LinkedIn page of Kinfe Dagnew and that was before he was cuffed and taken from Mekele to Addis:
https://twitter.com/saayEritrea/status/1061674151969087488
112. Despite All The Reforms, Ethiopia Is 2 Demagogues Away From Disaster: All ultranationalists have an attraction towards (a) charismatic authoritarian leaders; (b) cult-like movements; (c) disdain for other nations and nationalities (or belief theirs is superior); (d) achieving goal via force or threat of use of force. You can bet these guys were chanting, “Issu! Issu!” Ah, the perils of unemployment and underemployment:
112. Why The Mixed Feelings About Abiy Ahmed: OK, you say: what’s up with you? What’s your problem with the government of Abiy Ahmed? Only two, really. 1. His bromance with Isaias Afwerki and 2. His arbitrary you-are-forgiven, you-are-imprisoned because of his Reconciliation without-Truth that is the biggest affront to the victims of EPRDF in the last 27 years. For example, consider the record of the current “heroic” Ethiopian Attorney General has or that of his Foreign Minister or that of the former “reformer” Prime Minister:
113. Sese Nguesso Surveys His Asphalt: I wonder which African custom or tradition they invoke to rationalize this excess:
114. A Cheesy Statement from President Formajio: Very much doubt that this view represents that of the average Somali. But just because you have stationery with two leopards you can say you speak on behalf of your people.
115. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Has A List: They are only two, and they are only US Congressmen, but Randy and James P. McGovern, who co-chair the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission wrote US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with one request: any US normalization of relationship with Eritrea has to be conditioned on “VERIFIABLE” improvement on human rights. They added the recently arrested Minister Berhane Abrehe to the list of Eritreans whose condition must be improved. You can read their four-point demand letter here.
116. Ethiopian Reform Part We Lost Count: Anybody who calls the Abiy Ahmed phenomenon a hype has to explain this:
Birtukan Mideska goes from this:
To this:
Still not impressed? I see your point: the man who gave the order to shoot at the 2005 protestors is now the Ethiopian Foreign Minister and, let’s not forget, Abiy Ahmed was part of the government then and his hands are not totally clean. But. Reconciliation is finally coming. Is this a form of amends: invite the exile Ethiopian opposition and then suggest to them areas of divergence with the ruling party to focus on? Ummm, he did that too.
117. Derg Had Marathon Runners & PFDJ Has Cyclists: (Neither regime should, but did, take credit.) The single silver lining in Eritrea, sports, cycling to be specific, continued to dazzle: In the Africa Cycling Cup 2018, at one of the first legs, Eritrea sweeps the men category and takes the gold in the women category. And then:
https://twitter.com/EriAsmarino/status/1066693955939704837
118. What Is Wrong With Eritrea Is… (Part Something): You see, there is a lot of good going on in Eritrea, why do you always have to focus on the negative? We have cyclists, runners and, and, and…
https://twitter.com/OneNationEri/status/1067884346688897026
119. Is the Problem With Africa The Elders or the Male Elders?
My favorite tweet of the year was posted by @Fatumaabdulahi who wrote that “in the case of #Somalia, and to a certain extent in sub-Saharan Africa, the lost generation are the elders!” But then it was one-upped by someone who replied: “It’s the Somali male elders who continue to fail us as a community. So, we need to be more precise and put the blame squarely where it rightfully lies: with our Somali male elders.”
Definitely applies to #Eritrea!
120. It Is Actually The Elite Male Elders Because They Victimize Male Elders Too: @kjellsm reports on an Eritrean asylum seeker in Norway. He sought asylum at the age of ….71. AFTER he was released from jail. Wait, it gets worse; there are eight asylum seekers over 75 years in “reception camps” (prisons) ” goes on the report. And…ok, you read it because I can’t do it. There is something irredeemably wrong about a regime that arrests very old and underage people.
https://twitter.com/kjellsm/status/1069658531505295365
121: Lumpenproletariat Patriotism: In the violent culture of Eritrea’s ruling regime, this is considered a patriotic act:
https://twitter.com/shewgiMAhmed/status/1069598939463278592
122. Saudi Arabia Forgot To Invite Abiy Ahmed: Fresh from facilitating the Jeddah Peace Agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the king of Saudi Arabia proposes a body (boneless obviously, in case his son wants to hack it) that is all about Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and Aden. Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia (the African side of the Red Sea) were there. But not Ethiopia, to whom Isaias Afwerki delegated Eritrea’s affairs.
123. Eritrean refugees, Trapped in Libya. Showing defiance short-hand they saw from their Oromo neighbors, the Qerro, young (too damn young) Eritreans raise their arms to raise awareness of the world, not their absentee government.
Eritrean asylum-seekers clarify, to anyone who will listen (not that Israel is listening) that they didn’t leave the country because of war with Ethiopia but the predatory nature of the uber-tyrant Isaias Afwerki:
124. Querro Rampage: But the triumphant Qerro are now too busy beating up on elderly Ethiopians to notice. So much so that the man who introduced the protest hand-in-X to the world and then sought asylum, runner Feyisa Lelisa, insisted on low-key reception upon his return to Ethiopia (because every reception party for an exiled opposition member has a potential for mob behavior.)
125. Something Happened To The Only Living Eritrean (Besides Isaias) Who Is Allowed To Be Quoted & Celebrated. On Wednesday December 19, something (he was shot? he was assaulted?) happened to General Sibhat Ephrem at his home in Asmara that required him to be hospitalized, visited by Isaias Afwerki, Crown Prince Abraham and his mom and then flown to Abu-Dhabi for more hospitalization. Days before this event, a number of colonels were arrested. Days after whatever happened to him, the border with Ethiopia was closed. And Eritrea’s “Serving The Truth” is, as usual, still in a coma. So with “final & binding”, “demarcation”, “sanctions” having their lost their “look over there” utility, Weyane killed our heroic soldier could be the latest distraction that keeps the mindless cult busy. Some say, a documentary is coming, no doubt with the assailant confessing to his crimes and who sent him. Just like the last “change the subject” documentary on a Sudanese assassin allegely sent to kill Isaias Afwerki, in 1997, remember? His prison mate who later escaped would tell us that the “assassin” had no idea what he was confessing to and Isaias-Beshir became bffs. Except this time, thanks to Ethiopian media, the “confession” will be broadcast by all the State TVs and the sensational media.
126. Speaking of Omer Al-Beshir, another crazy guy who thinks he was placed on earth to be president of his country, Omar Al Bashir, burns down his country. Omar Beshir has spent the last 30 years creating a totalitarian State and the good guys may lose but for now take heart: he shut down social media, in retaliation the good guys shut down 260 state domains.
127. Ethiopian Reform Part XXVII: Reconciliation
https://twitter.com/fanatelevision/status/1077473551148613633
128. In Eritrea, Happiness Is When Your Reasons For Your Unhappiness Are Accurately Reported: So, how bad are things in Eritrea? They are so bad that we are happy when someone accurately describes how badly we are doing. After an entire year of reading propagandists, compromised think-tankers, Ethiopianists, liars, cheats, Wedogebas, faux-patriots, hustlers, villa-hostages, traitors, betrayers, sell-outs, maggots, low-rent a-holes, it was good to have a truth-teller, the great journalist Geoffrey York: laying it bare after interviewing Eritreans in Eritrea. There is not a single interview with the professional liars who are in charge of the Eritrean regime. Like the Commission of Inquiry, he allowed Eritreans to tell their stories without PFDJ “minders” that the naive Ethiopian journalists and some gullible Western journalists accepted.
And he confirms: yes, it is a police state. Yes, the people live in mortal fear of the government. Yes, they hate being separated from their children in indefinite forced labor. Yes, they crave freedom. Yes, they don’t understand why they can’t have their own Abiy Ahmed. Here are their testimonies:
There is no freedom here. You can’t hide anything from the government. If they know you have dollars in your pocket, you go to prison. If they want to get you, they can get you in a second. And in prison, they torture you. – Yacob
“There have to be changes,” says Abraham, a middle-aged man nursing a glass of tea in an Asmara café. “If there are no changes, we can’t survive – it’s over, we are finished.” – Abraham
“The conflict with Ethiopia is over. Ethiopia is not a threat now. So people are asking, ‘Why does the government need to keep people for longer than 18 months?’”
“Don’t write my name,” one panicky Eritrean man says when he saw me jotting down notes.
“They could be following us and we wouldn’t even know,” another warns
“If national service isn’t changed, there will be huge problems. Most people will leave the country.”
“The peace deal was a bridge to the future, but it didn’t lead anywhere,” one young man says. “On the ground, we are still living the same life. The control is still there, the military is still there, the prisoners are not released, there’s no freedom of speech. So people are unhappy. People have tasted peace, but they haven’t gotten any freedom yet.”
“Politics here is all about monopolization,” he says. “I can’t do anything here. Everything is closed. If I’m smart, I’m dead.”
129. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Was Opened on September 11: It’s more than 3 months: any Updates? Of course: it is closed! Isaias Afwerki is still in charge of the country and he is still an unpredictable, temperamental man so: the border is closed. Why? Because, who knows, the subject has to change from the mystery of what happened to Sebhat Ephrem or support whatever narrative Isaias settles on? Too many people with no link to PFDJ are making money? Just so to be unpredictable? In any event, a spokesperson for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “I have no information as to why the border was closed.” (audio)
130. Abraham Isaias Afwerki Learns The New Art of Disappearance: In the abnormal State the Isaias Afwerki regime has created in Eritrea, the debate is not, “What are the qualifications of Abraham Isaias Afwerki, son of Isaias Afwerki, to enable him to stand with Eritrean dignitaries such as Foreign Minister and Presidential Advisor?” No. The debate is: Why did Eri-TV drop the ball and show his image in the Zalambesa border opening and in the “Jeddah Peace Agreement.” Heads must roll!
There you have it, that pretty much sums up 2018. The absence of reporting on any activity from the Eritrean opposition parties was not accidental. While the Eritrean civil society, which succeeded in having Isaias Afwerki and his gang of sadists forever identified with crimes against humanity, were active, and exercised a free people’s right to free assembly and advanced the cause at least in keeping our issues front and center:
But sadly the exiled Eritrean political parties have not. And to that, Eritrea’s tyrant has one reply: ደስ ደስ: ፍስሓ እየ ዝብሎ ኣነ…
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tgam/70beb7f8-bb43-4a6c-a938-db6259162925.JPG){kind=link}