EVN, Oct. 16 — In a recent revelation, prominent Ethiopian journalist Abebe Gellaw has accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of harboring deep-seated bias and discriminatory views against the Amhara people. According to the journalist, Abiy Ahmed expressed his belief that Amharas should never lead Ethiopia “in a million years.”
During an exclusive interview with the Ethiopian Voice Network (EVN), Abebe disclosed that Prime Minister Abiy made this statement during a private conversation four years ago, where he asserted in Amharic, “From now on, Amharas should not lead Ethiopia,” and emphatically reiterated in English, “Not in a million years.”
Alarmed by the Prime Minister’s remarks, Abebe sent an email to Abiy Ahmed, expressing his concern and rejecting the statement. Abiy Ahmed promptly called Abebe the following day to explain that the statement did not reflect his true views. The Prime Minister pointed out that he was married to an Amhara spouse and that several cabinet ministers and the President were also of Amhara ethnicity.
However, Abebe contested the Prime Minister’s explanation, highlighting the ongoing conflict in which Abiy Ahmed’s government has been accused of waging a war against the Amhara people. This conflict has resulted in the detention of over one hundred thousand Amhara civilians in concentration camps in the harshest places throughout Ethiopia, with the targeting of numerous civilians after the declaration of a six-month state of emergency in the Amhara region.
In his email to Abiy Ahmed, Abebe expressed his discomfort with the Prime Minister’s statement and emphasized the need for a more inclusive approach to Ethiopia’s dangerously ethnicized and hatred-driven political process, which has been victimizing Amharas. He pointed out the historical oppression of the Amhara people and criticized the vilification, marginalization, and derogatory labeling they had endured for decades.
Abebe wrote, “I find this to be a profoundly disconcerting statement as you are the leader of a reform movement. If the reform doesn’t reverse one of TPLF’s worst mistakes of vilifying, marginalizing, and undermining the poor people of Amhara labeling them with derogatory words like Neftegna, chauvinist, and so on and so forth, I don’t think we can make any progress no matter what our good intent is.”
He further stated, “The people of Amhara have been victims of oppression like their fellow Ethiopians since oppression and injustice took root in Ethiopia. Despite making huge sacrifices for Ethiopia fighting in the forefront for its independence, unity, and sovereignty, their reward in the last 28 years has been being denigrated and vilified.”
Abebe also argued that the destruction and loss of life in the Amhara region, especially after the declaration of a state of emergency in the region, appeared to be a deliberate attempt to harm the Amhara people. He concluded, “I now believe that Abiy Ahmed is a Machiavellian figure intoxicated with his obsession with power. He not only harbors such a toxic and irresponsible view, but he is currently trying to undermine progress and cause genocide, misery and destruction in the Amhara region.”
In the email Abebe sent to the Prime Minister, he conveyed his concerns, emphasizing the need for justice, freedom, equality, and the rejection of ethnic politics as the path to unity and stability in Ethiopia.
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