Ethiopia: A Nation of Gambling Elites

Editor’s note : Views expressed in “Ethiopia: A Nation of Gambling Elites” does not necessarily express the views of the editor or borkena site.

By Yimer Muhe

Once the paragons of selflessness, steadfastness, and resiliency, today most educated Ethiopians, especially the ones in Diaspora have become spineless, timid and sometimes directionless. They are so vulnerable they effortlessly succumb to manipulation by cadre activists, co-opted opposition party leaders, perennial and obsessed fundraisers and subservient demagogues. We are watching some of our role models with horror losing their luster, lacking stability and clarity. Most of them seem to be on an emotional roller coaster. They seem to subscribe to a wide variety of ideas and political views which they passionately hang on to momentarily and then discard them shifting to a totally different ones without regard to the principles that they individually claim to adhere to. As a result, most of them appear to be simultaneously clueless and opportunists.

It seems some of them have also convinced themselves that they have sacrificed enough for their country and people, and now is the time to be self-serving. As a result, some of them are using the guise of prioritizing some issues over others as a cover for their personal gain. Defending the Mother Land is one of the excuses they are using to side with current Ethiopian   government that has yet to admit the slaughter of its citizens in the killing fields of Oromia and Benishangul-Gumuz Killils. Obviously, the gambling elites have chosen to park this ongoing tragedy on the backburner for now. For God’s sake, who wouldn’t know defending the motherland takes precedence over everything else all the time? Trying to preach this subject to Ethiopians is not only comical, it is also absolutely redundant.

In the last two months, “Sovereignty” has been a darling subject among the gambling elites. We hear them argue over and over again that the visa restrictions on some Prosperity Party leaders and the limited economic sanctions US imposed on Ethiopia violate Ethiopia’s Sovereignty. This begs the questions which sovereignty are they talking about? Weren’t they the ones fighting all this time to get rid of the TPLF Constitution that compromised Ethiopia’s Sovereignty as a nation by creating nine Sovereign Ethnic “Killils”? Isn’t this the height of naivety and confusion on their part?  

In response to the US economic sanctions and visa restrictions, some of them wrote lengthy articles that mercilessly castigated USA using unnecessary languages that should have been reserved to a sworn enemy. It was even suggested to burn its flag. Is it really in the best interest of Ethiopia to antagonize US in such a fashion? As if this was not a big strategic blunder and embarrassing enough, they were also simultaneously begging Congress not to go along with the Biden Administration’s decisions to punish Ethiopia by withholding economic aid. Could one imagine of another undertaking in gambling with the motherland worse than this? The gambling elites seem to forget they were the ones leading the effort to convince the US Congress to pass HR128 and SR168 to impose economic sanctions against the TPLF dictatorship in addition to heading the so-called “Lets Starve the Beast” effort to deprive TPLF of foreign hard currency. This is indeed the time to cry “Cry, the Beloved Country!”

As luck has it, a significant number among the gambling elites who have chosen to ignore the horrible facts on the ground are Amharas. It is said about 500 of them recently flew to Ethiopia not on a fact finding mission but to attend the inauguration of the newly “elected” government of the country. Whatever happened to the inner voice of their conscience and their once unwavering stand on issues that are dear to their heart is anybody’s guess. Do they really see any rosy future for the country under the current leadership looking at its track record? Regardless, how could they ignore how an assured victory was deliberately let go resulting in the devastation of North Wollo, South Gondar, and the Afar Killil by the Terrorist TPLF and the ensuing starvation? Rallying around a leader who deliberately keeps avoiding to mention the massacre of Amharas let alone admitting genocide will definitely make them not only hypocrites and opportunists bordering on treason, but also partners in crime. 

Talking about opportunists, Prof. Al Mariam and Prof. Dagnachew Asefa are in a league of their own. Don’t get me wrong, I used to admire both professors for their great contributions to the downfall of TPLF. Unfortunately today, they both are at the top of the compromised educators – the gambling elites. Supporting the Ethiopian government is one thing, but time and again avoiding the subject of the Amhara genocide by these two professors in their public engagement in any form is not something history will take it lightly. In fact, due to their closeness to the Prime Minister, their role as enablers is more than enough to hold them accountable when the time is ripe. 

Prof. Al Mariam who used to shine as the voice of reason and the down-trodden has certainly morphed into something bizarre. Few months ago, in an interview with ESAT, the whole world heard him threatening America with some bombastic words. We all know that he has made a career out of lambasting Susan Rice, but who would imagine he would go to the extent of   ridiculing USA as a nation? I could not help laughing when I heard him say Ethiopia could teach America about Democracy. At that moment it downed on me that sometimes the “Law of Diminishing Returns” does really work in unexpected ways. When reason gives way to emotion, forget about defending your country, you could end up becoming a liability to its interests. For a person of his stature who tirelessly wrote lengthy articles for 15 years non-stop exposing the crimes of TPLF only to wind up as an opportunist and a hypocrite is really a great loss to the country. 

Would you believe that Dr. Dagnachew Asefa, the beloved and witty Professor of Philosophy recently equated the Prime Minster to Napoleon Bonaparte? Would you believe he said that the spirit of Bonaparte is manifesting in the Prime Minister? Yes, he did! Who would believe that the affable professor would sound like one of the false prophets such as Eyu Chufa or Ihite-Mariam (Sinidu)? Could his behavior be explained away as a sibling rivalry knowing that his younger brother Genenew Asefa and his sister Genet Zewde were once docilely serving TPLF while he was being harassed and jailed by the latter? For now, I might have to leave this issue to psychologists. Be that as it may, one thing we can be absolutely sure of is that Pro. Dagnachew Asefa has become to the current Ethiopian government what Dr. Endrias Eshete had been to the TPLF dictatorship for 27 years long, and we know what happened.

No one can argue against the fact that TPLF takes the lion’s share for the moral degeneration and the resultant chaos in Ethiopia. However, we cannot deny the truth that for the most part, in the case of Ethiopia, scholarship has been a curse in disguise that is bleeding it to death! Our country has become a nation of reckless, immoral, and conniving gambling elites. This is indeed the time to cry “Cry, the Beloved Country!”

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