Part One: Leave and Never Come Back! Three years ago—on July 3, 2015, around 10:50 AM—a few (and I stress, a few ) connected, mafia-like members of the TPLF operating within the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines still considered themselves above the law. That day, they used a fabricated “security concern” and a vague accusation of “political tendencies” as a cover for their real motive: ethnic profiling. They sent security officers to my office at the Aviation Academy and literally forced me out, saying only, “Leave” —with the unspoken but clear message: “And never come back.” And I never did. To an outsider, especially someone unfamiliar with the inner workings of the airline, this may sound unfathomable. How could a civilian airline allow a political group to carry out mafia-style operations against its own employees? But I was not alone. Many before and after me have faced similar intimidation and injustice. While these individuals acted under the banner of the TPLF, I want to m...
Coveting Apartheid!? By Tariku Abas Etenesh An African proverb says, “The greatest crime in a desert is to find water and keep silent about it.” I borrow its structure to say: the greatest crime a government can commit is to be given the opportunity to do great—and intentionally settle for the worst. For the past 25 years, the government of Ethiopia has been granted, by historical coincidence, rare opportunities to propel the country toward greatness. Yet it has chosen to squander them for the petty purpose of painting a portrait of grandeur for the ruling elite. These elites, who preach hatred as a foundation for nation-building, came to power without any intention of abandoning the politics of animosity. The inevitable result of their investment in hate has been a narcissistic appetite for adulation—of self, by self, and about self—while silencing all opposing voices. Over the years, they had the opportunity to undo the deliberate domination of key federal structures by a single...
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