In an email, a journalist residing in Kenya asked about the whereabouts of H.E. Isaias Afwerki, the President of Eritrea, and referred to the “chatter” in cyberspace in his inquiry about the President’s well being. Eritreans have long seized responding to such outrageous diversionary commentary, and the various tabloid like “breaking news” coming from groups and individuals sponsored by the minority regime in Ethiopia and its handlers. It seems the mainstream media have also lost their knack for good investigative journalism and source checking…so the deliberate misinformation continues.

Time and again, the hapless groups parading as “human rights” and “democracy” NGOs, have proved their inability to present, or pursue, events in their true context-making themselves irrelevant on matters of concern to Eritrea and about Eritrea, its people and its leadership. These wayward elements, who have virtually no constituents in the vast Eritrean Diaspora, and even less inside Eritrea, have exposed their true colors and intentions in the last 15 years, and it is only gullible non-Eritreans, like the journalist from Kenya that sent the inquiry, that fall prey to the predictable annual froths from these insomniacs.

These froths of desperation about Eritrea and its leadership usually appear in cyberspace when the minority regime in Ethiopia is in some kind of trouble. Today, the regime finds itself in yet another self-created quagmire. It is desperate to remain in Somalia, so it is pleading with its handlers to provide it a cover-and is now going to join the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)-to presumably bring peace to the same country that it invaded and occupied since 2006. It should be recalled that the US-backed Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia resulted in:

• The greatest humanitarian disaster in the history of Somalia, with thousands being killed, maimed and tortured, and millions being displaced from their homes and villages, Women and children have borne the brunt of destruction and mayhem that Ethiopia has brought to that nation and its people.
• The creation of, and growth of Al Shabbab is directly linked to Ethiopia’s invasion and the chaos and mayhem created has served as fertile grounds for the group to expand and wreak havoc in the lives of Somalis and states in the region.

The regime also finds itself at odds with the Ethiopian people who are being massacred by its forces in the Gambela, Ogaden and Oromia regions of Ethiopia. It has also presented itself as being inept to defend the rights of the thousands of Ethiopian migrants that are today being massacred in the Middle East and Africa. The African Union Mission in Somalia, serves to provide the regime with much needed financial support, and work, for its forces.

With ethnic and religious tensions at an all-time high in Ethiopia, the regime is amassing weapons to subdue the Ethiopian people and joining AMISOM will help boost both its financial and military capacities. The minority regime’s cadres, UNHCR and the various “humanitarian NGOs” operating in the region, also benefit from the many “refugee camps for Somalis” established in Ethiopia. Ethiopia kills two birds with one stone-establishes presence in Somali territories and receives international funding for its many “refugee” servicing agencies. That is another sordid tale for another day…

Now that stories of H.E. President Isaias Afwerki demise have been debunked, let us take a look at the regime in Ethiopia and how it is desperately seeking to bring to life Meles Zenawi, the late Prime Minister. It should be recalled that it was weeks after his death, after denials by the regime’s cadres about his grave illness and even a futile propaganda stint-similar to the story being circulated about the President of Eritrea today-that the regime was forced to annouce his death. Today, a year after his death, Meles Zenawi remains omnipresent throughout Ethiopia. Even in death -his grip on Ethiopia remains…

Dead man walking?

Pictures of the late Prime Minister are distributed through government offices and he is prominently on display on bill boards across the country. As if to defy/deny the fact that he is in fact dead-his pictures show him walking, sitting, waving etc. This cruel psychological torment of the Ethiopian people is designed to remind them that nothing will change in Ethiopia, dead or alive, his brutal reign will continue…

Dead man teaching?

Almost every day, government run media, both print and television, present quotes and excerpts from Meles Zenawi’s speeches, as a reminder, that implementing his vision for Ethiopia, remains the national agenda. Allow me to share some of his quotes:

• “…The most stupid mistake a counter-insurgency operation can make is alienating the population. If you alienate the population, you’re finished…”
• “…I know more now than I did in the past about the process of democratization. I know more about the pitfalls…”
• “… Let’s define the country in such a way that you can contribute but also, if you are not comfortable, you can leave…”

Ethiopians are leaving and dying in droves… For Eritreans, the bigoted and racist regime will be remembered for the remarks made as he deported over 80000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin at the height of the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict in 1998-2000

Dead man ruling?

Dashing the hopes of Ethiopia and other peoples in the region, Hailemariam Desalegn, the figure head Prime Minister said that Meles Zenawi’s domestic and foreign policies would not be changed and that he intends to implement the late Prime Minister’s vision for Ethiopia and the region. Voice of America on 27 September 2012[1] reported the following:

“…Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has pledged to maintain the controversial policies of his predecessor, Meles Zenawi…”

Not sure what the point is in maintaining Meles Zenawi’s ugly and murderous reign… On Eritrea, he has pledged to maintain the same belligerent policy of occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories. In that interview with VoA, when asked about his regime’s policies for Eritrea, he said:

“…There is no change in policy. Our policy designed after the war since nine years, a standing policy that we need to have dialogue without conditions, so we offered this to the Eritrean government and leadership and are waiting for this to happen for the last nine years and will continue to do so…”

Hailemariam Desalegn, like his predecessors, wrongly beleive that the people and government of Eritrea will allow the occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories to continue indefinately.  Like previous ethiopian regimes, such as emperor Haile Selassie, Menghistu Hailemariam, and Meles Zenawi, he wrongly believes his western sponsors will save Ethiopia and his regime. Hailemariam Desalegn must know that violating international law, denying the people of Eritrea to liv ein peace within their own recognized international borders, now legally delimited and demarcated, is not a smart or sustainable foreign policy…but if he is following the orders of a dead man, then…      

Dead Man Look-alike

Theodore M. Vestal describes Meles Zanawi as being the Marxist-Leninist Master of “Capitalist Speak”. But judging from the pictures, Meles Zenawi also bears an  eerie resemblance to Lenin-bald heads and bushy eye brows. The deification of Meles Zenawi continues in impoverished Ethiopia. Supposedly there is even a song praising the beauty of Meles Zenawi’s eyebrows…

Speaking of look alike, according to BBC[2], there are life size statues of Meles Zenawi being erected around the country. The statue in Jijiga resembles that of Joseph Stalin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Il- Zenawi’s hands are held out-in that familiar wave… If one were to take a look at the statues from afar, one could easily pass for the other. Meles Zenawi seems to have strengthened his stranglehold on the Ethiopian people through the structures of his entrenched regime…the pictures, posters, statues and other memorabilia serve to remind the repressed population of his seemingly perpetual rule…