By Haile-Gebriel Endeshaw
Once up on a time there were two men who lived in an ancient African country. This country is named Ethiopia situated in the horn of that big continent…The two were residing in different parts of the country. Some people of the country are calling one of these individuals by a nick name, zombie. Long years after, the two individuals met while they were working for the same master, which was not liked by the entire nation.
Abdi Illie and Bereket Simon are the names of the said individuals. Now a days, people across the nation are quibbling over issues related to these two individuals. Until this very day, the squabble has not yet settled down. The current news is that the former chief administrator of Somali State, Abdi Illie, has been arrested and sent to prison.The general prosecutor filed charges against the guy. Many Ethiopians are now surprised that Illie was lucky to be brought before court in a very short period of time. There was no such justice during the defunct dictatorial government of his era. Innocent Ethiopians who were arrested then had to wait for months and years before they were brought before court.
Before the guy was given the position of presidency, he had been serving the Ethiopian Electric Power Company of Somali Region as a cable worker. The man was not to the liking of the whole Somali people. But surprisingly he happened to hold the significant rein of power. Meaning, people or their representatives did not elect or vote for him to be president. It was the defunct government that deliberately picked and placed him Illegally in abid to push the Somali Ethiopians in to chaos. He was a puppet; the real one. But now having the puppet under control should not be the last solution. The puppet makers themselves who caused such a big mess in that part of the country should also be arrested and face justice immediately.
The moment Illie was appointed president, he started rounding up and throwing citizens in to prison;torturing and killing many innocent Ethiopians. People were forcefully displaced and lost their personal properties. Even worse,Illie came up with a strange decision of putting lions, tigers and hyenas in the same jail where human beings were locked up. By the way, this makes our Ethiopia very unique. It is the first country in the world to put human beings and wild animals together inthe same prison cell. I don’t know whether Illie was sent to dungeons, which were also serving as a zoo. I am wondering what the Somali Ethiopians feel this time up on hearing the current fate of the dictator. I am thinking of the top news I would have written had I not quitted working as a reporter. Hey fellow journalists, where are you while such weird incidents were happening in this country of ours?
Illie supposedly gives directions to the imprisonment of many innocent citizens. He is said to give order that innocent Ethiopians should be tortured, forced to flee the country, compelled to live the lives of suffering and destitute. He sent young delinquents, dubbed heggo, to burn houses and churches, to execute innocent civilians including kids, mothers, elderly people, religious leaders and patients. Thanks to God, this notorious guy has now been arrested and brought before court. People are now looking forward to hearing the last verdict of him.
Illie (the word sounds ill; does it not?) must be ill to commit all these strange and inhuman acts or to dip his hands in the blood of many innocent Ethiopians. “…The president of Somali State, Abdi Illie, himself directly gave order for the killing of my 36 years old brother. My brother, Feisal Mohammed, was thrown and murdered from a fast riding vehicle. The appalling thing is that, my father who is 70 years of age was made to see the incident while his son (his flash and blood) was flung down and killed shockingly from a flying vehicle in an atrocious manner. After this incident, the septuagenarian was made to suffer mental and physical trauma…” This was said by Mustafa Umar who fled Ethiopia lest he should not be killed by Abdi Illie.
Mustafa Umar further said that he would not hit back. He did not swear vengeance. “No need for that,” he said. Rather, he is now filled with anger at those “who deliberately appointed this man (Abdi Illie) over six million Somali Ethiopians as if they needed a care taker like mentally sick people”. Mustafa Umar has now been appointed deputy chief administer of Somali Region.
The other man is the former Minister of the Federal Communications Office, Bereket Simon.The veteran party guard is enraged regarding the measure taken by his regional party, the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) to suspend him from membership of central committee. The reason is the guy allegedly misappropriated responsibility while leading aparty endowment company named Tiret.The guy is also said to be accused of corruption and nepotism,among other things.
Ethiopian citizens in general and the Amhara people in particular are currently saying that the measure taken against the man by ANDM is the tip of the iceberg. This is only the beginning of the big measure to be taken by the government against the man. Some further say that the guy is playing foul to the extent of calling attention for his arrest. He seems to urge the new government to put him under control and send him to the place where Illie is. Many are heard saying that the guy is showing a deep sense of longing for the fate the zombie met.
The funny thing is that Bereket is now reportedly knocking on the gate of various media offices in a bid to give self-initiative interview. He has already retorted many things which have been out wittingly shielded by the concerned bodies from ANDM. “What the guy has been saying is backfiring on him. It would have been much better forhim not to say a single word,” a friend of mine commented.
The guy said that he was not able to travel to Bahirdar Town lest he should be attacked by people. I don’t know why he is afraid of such things unless he himself knows what he did previously(something wrong) against the public. There is a saying that a hyena is not seen roaming in daylight for he knows what he does at night.
Some people are heard admonishing ANDM that it should keep clean itself of these and other crooked individuals who were triggering wave of outrage and grievances among the people. Hey ANDM, listen attentively to the advice! Shake these dangerous and fraudulent individuals off your shoulder.
Let me tell you something… There is abook entitled the Prince of Africa. This book was thematically intertwined to raise waves of hatred against Amhara people. The story setting is Dawro. It is as usual on mudslinging of the people of Amhara. Rumors have it that this book was authored by one of the TPLF (the one that took the steering wheel of this country…) sympathizers who vehemently hate Amahara people. Bereket Simon who claimed to be the leader of Amhara surprisingly took initiative to have thatmalicious book translated in to Amharic by his brother-in-law, Mezmur Fentie (?), and be retold by Radio Fana.I personally feel that this is tantamount to the firing of canon against the people of Amhara. Many renowned artists turned down the contracts given to them by Radio Fana to stage broadcasting of the book. They knew the fact that the book instigates row among the people. Why this book which sows the seed of abhorrence against the people of Amhara was deliberately written, translated in to Amharic andretold over the radio? This is quite clear! It was done deliberately to create animosity between people of Amara and Dawro in particular and among Ethiopians in general. How can anyone expect such a devilish act from the chief and veteran party guard who claim to represent thepeople of Amhara?
Where was the old party guard when the people of Amhara were summarily displaced and murdered in various parts of the country? What did he do when the so-called authors like the disreputable Tesfaye Gebreab unethically insulted that particular ethnic group in his infamous books? Where the hell was he when things were systematically directed by these crooked and devilish individuals in such a way that they could create animosity, hatred, suspicion and conflicts among the peaceful Ethiopians?
Hey, did I hear a journalist working for Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) saying that Bereket was imploring to get a chance for a self-initiative interview? Very surprising! Do you know what I am thinking about? How this guy showed interest to be interviewed by ESAT which had been denounced by him? Did he not say that ESAT belonged to a terrorist organization, Ginbot Seven? Did he not labeled the journalists who were working for ESAT terrorists? Why does he need to change his mind all of a sudden? I am wondering to know about things he is thinking of to achieve after the interview via ESAT? Anyways, what I can tell you now is that I am very ashamed of this thing?
The veteran politician is now accusing regional party officials of inefficiency. This is surprising. Who trained and gave responsibilities to these young politicians? Was he not the major character who was involved in all these things?
By the way, I have heard Madam Anna Gomez saying that Bereket Simon should be brought before court as soon as possible. What an intelligent lady she is!
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N.B. Dear readers, the writer penned this piece based on his personal views.
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