Leo Okere
Before I proceed to my topic, let me respond to the queries I received about the meaning of “Amharafrei” From 1933 to 1945, the officials of the Third Reich used the term “Judenfrei, to refer to areas “cleansed” of the presence of Jews. “Judenfrei” is one of the greatest crimes against humanity. “Amharafrei” refers to the TPLF policy initiated in 1991 and pursued with vigor under the Abiy & Shimelis regime to cleanse Oromia and other kilils of “Amhara” presence.
In the political language of the Abiy & Shimelis regime, “Amhara” is not only an ethnic category; it is also a political category, hence my use of the quotation marks: “Amhara.” The “Amharafrei” campaign is focused primarily on eliminating the Amhara from Oromia, and, as we shall see, from Ethiopian history. However, it is crucial to remember that the “Amharafrei” campaign is also directed against all who see themselves primarily as Ethiopians.
Oromos, Tigreans, Gurages, and others who support Ethiopian unity, give primacy to individual rights, and are opposed to ethnic politics are politically labelled “Amhara” and subjected to “Amharafrei” campaign. An example: in the political language of the Abiy & Shimelis regime, Ras Gobena, one of the Oromo architects of Ethiopian unity, is labelled “Amhara” politically, hence the “Amharafrei” attempt to erase him from the history of the construction of Ethiopian unity.
Lawlessness masquerading as the “rule of law” is the linchpin of “Amharafrei” policy. The foundation of this lawlessness is the law itself: the 1995 Constitution. The writers (the TPLF and its handpicked ethnic partners) of the Constitution have made it clear in their preliminary discussions that their decision to ethnicize Ethiopia is directed against the “Amhara,” whom they dyed as “colonizers” and “oppressors.”
The 1995 Constitution, by making ethnic identities the coordinates and limits of the Constitution (arts 8 and 39), has given birth to a political and legal culture of lawlessness that treats as criminals those who support a political system based on individual rights and oppose the ethnicization of society, economics, politics, rights, and obligations. The political labelling as “Amharas” of those who oppose such wall-to-wall ethnicization has led to legalized “Amhara” baiting, official stereotyping of “Amharas,” and the criminalization and violent erasure of the “Amhara” from Oromia, particularly.
In other words, the lawlessness that drives “Amharafrei” is immanent to the Constitution. Thus, the practice of “Amharafrei” is not an aberration of the “rule of law.” It is the outcome of the metamorphosis of the “rule of law” into the “rule of lawlessness.” Thus, Ethiopia has been transformed into a zone of legalized lawlessness that has made “Amharas” the preys of kilil and federal security forces. In embracing the 1995 Constitution, the Abiy & Shimelis regime has become the author and actor of this legalized lawlessness and, consequently, of the policy to make certain areas, particularly Oromia, “Amharafrei.”
Among the strategies that facilitate the implementation of “Amharafrei” policy are historicide, ethnocide, linguicide, and the neftegna label. Let me succinctly examine each separately.
Historicide consists of actions that erase or distort Ethiopian history by maliciously reducing it to “Amhara” history. Thus centuries of Ethiopian history are degraded to ethnic history and Amhara “oppression.” Historicide erases or degrades the Amharas, the Oromos, the Tigreans, and others who built Ethiopia. It animates the history textbooks printed during the Abiy & Shimelis regime. Historicide text-books minimize the history of Ethiopian unity and belittle the contributions all Ethiopians have made to construct this unity.
Historicide erases or interdicts the presence of symbols and images of Ethiopian unity in the public space. Witness the “Amharafrei” motivated decisions to exclude the role of Menelik in the battle of Adwa and interdict his effigy, related images, symbols and names from the celebration of Adwa Victory. Only an infinitely irrational “Amhara” hatred could explain the Abiy & Shimelis regime’s willingness to repeat Fascist Italy’s hatred of Menelik by arresting the youth who were peacefully celebrating the 127th anniversary of Adwa Victory, simply because they were doing it at the historic site of Menelik Adebaby.
The absurdity of this historicide is mind-boggling. Imagine celebrating the independence of Kenya (Jamhuri Day) without mentioning the name of Jomo Kenyetta and the symbols, images, and names associated with the independence struggle!
Ethnocide is another tool of “Amharafrei” policy. It consists of actions that culturally asphyxiate and demographically shrink the “Amhara” in certain areas. Such is, for instance, the practice in urban areas: Addis Ababa, Bishoftu, Adama, Shashimene, and others. Shimelis Abdissa, Oromia’s President, intimated in a speech (26/02/2023) that the aim of the creation of Sheger, which he said has the assent of PM Abiy, is to create a cordon sanitaire that would prevent the “Amhara” to move to and settle in Addis. He hinted that Sheger will be a trampoline for an Oromo influx into Addis to “cleanse” it of the “Amhara.” Thus, Addis Ababa, the capital city of all Ethiopians, will be ethnicized and become an “Amharafrei” city.
Hence, the destruction of “Amhara” dwellings in Sebeta, Buraryu, Legetafo, Legedadi, Sululta, Ermojo, and Gelan with the tacit approval of PM. Abiy Ahmed. The notorious ethnicist mayor of Addis Ababa, Adanech Abeibei, is also demolishing Amhara dwellings in Yeka and Bole districts, extending the policy of “Amhara” ethnocide to Addis Ababa. The “Amhara” whose dwellings were illegally bulldozed were left with nowhere to go: cold, sick, hungry, and abandoned by all in power, including PM. Abiy Ahmed.
Linguicide is also an instrument of “Amharafrei.” In 2020, Shimelis Abdissa was reported to have claimed in a closed meeting of Oromo intellectuals and politicians: “we are killing Amharic.” But, Amharic is the lingua franca of Ethiopians since the 9th century. It owes its development to the linguistic contributions of all Ethiopians. The “killing” of this lingua franca that historically belongs to all Ethiopians will transform Ethiopia into a Tower of Babel: confusion and violence will then replace understanding and cooperation.
“Killing Amharic” thus harms not only “Amharas” but also all Ethiopians. The hatred of “Amhara” that has seized some Oromo and ethnic elites is so intense that they seem to be willing to harm their own people in trying to make their regions “Amharafrei.”
Historicide, ethnocide, and linguicide were mercilessly carried out by the TPLF in Welkait and Raya to make these areas “Amharafrei” after annexing them. The Abiy & Shimelis regime is now implementing a similar “Amharafrei” policy in Oromia. It is indeed the Abiy & Shimelis regime’s commitment to “Amharafrei” that is behind its hardly secret support for TPLF’s re-occupation of Welkait and Raya.
Finally, in daily life, the word neftegna is used to label “Amharas.” The label “neftegna” encapsulates the practice of “Amhara” baiting, the casting of “Amharas” as oppressors, and the desire to implement an “Amharafrei” policy. The labelling expresses the lawlessness that has penetrated daily life. Thus, one sees innocent “Amharas” being arrested daily on spurious charges. The police use these charges to keep them in detention for days. In court, the police ask for the prolongation of the detention under the false pretence of “gathering more evidence,” extending the detention for weeks and months. Frequently, arrested people are not even brought to court, as one could see with the youth of Addis who were arrested for trying to celebrate the 127th anniversary of the victory of Adwa.
The cumulative effect of historicide, ethnocide, linguicide, and neftegna labelling is “Amharafrei”: the physical elimination of the “Amhara,” a process taking place in various parts of Oromia, with Shimelis Abdissa leading the charge and Abiy Ahmed providing the cover. The process is driven by the “rule of lawlessness” that pretends to be the “rule of law.”
One must also consider the mental and emotional poisoning of Ethiopian children who are raised imbibing the practices of historicide, ethnocide, linguicide, neftegna labelling, and “Amharafrei.” I invite the reader to consult the preambles of kilil Constitutions and the lyrics of kilil anthems, particularly those of Oromia and Tigrai. Kilil Constitutions and anthems use euphemisms that paint the “Amhara” as “oppressors” and make thinly veiled calls for vengeance against the “Amhara.”
One shudders to think the psychological damages inflicted on young Oromos and Tigreans, singing daily the “Amhara” hatred-filled anthems of their kilil in schools and on other occasions. Will they become, willing executioners of the “Amharafrei” policy? Probably. What a calamity, transforming the young into monsters! One could see on social media the intensity of the ethnic hatred that has corrupted the mind of the young: “Amhara” baiting and “Amhara” hatred are spewed out without any inhibition.
Remember the young Oromo woman who at an Oromo festival (2020) excitedly counselled Oromos not to marry “Amhara” (“neftegna,” she said, using the codeword for “Amharafrei”) and advised those who are already married to “Amhara,” to divorce. Lo and behold, standing besides her were all the leaders of the Oromo Federalist Congress leaders, appreciatively smiling and applauding. Don’t blame the young lady. The issue is the Abiy & Shimelis regime financed hate indoctrination of youth through invented histories, “Amhara” baiting, “Amhara” stereotyping, vengeance-infused kilil anthems, symbols, and constitutions.
Inevitably, the “rule of lawlessness” nourishes the development of a widespread political culture of indiscriminate violence. Thus the “Amharafrei” practiced by armed groups such as OLF-Shene, Gumuz Liberation Front, and others. PM. Abiy Ahmed calls these groups terrorists. But in reality, they are trying to do exactly what he and Shimelis Abdissa are trying to do: creating “Amharafrei” regions.
The only difference, then, between the Abiy & Shimelis regime and these groups of organized assassins is rhetorical. The Abiy & Shimelis regime uses the cover of the “rule of law” for doing what the terrorists are doing: creating “Amharafrei” regions. Note that, in a sense, the terrorists are more honest. Unlike the Abiy & Shimelis regime that disguises its “Amharafrei” actions as “law enforcement,” the terrorists openly admit that they are engaged in “Amharafrei” actions.
In 2018, with the demise of the TPLF, Ethiopians believed that ethnic hatred has been defeated. But, alas; it was not. As the Swahili saying goes, Ambapo nyoka ameuawa, sumu bado iko (Where a snake has been killed, poison is still present). Killing the snake is not enough.
The poison has to be purged. Ethiopians are making sacrifices and efforts to expunge the poison of “Amhara” hatred that the TPLF has injected into the arteries of Ethiopian society, ideas, values, institutions, and politics. The tragedy is that the Abiy & Shimelis regime is intentionally blocking these efforts and enabling the “Amharafrei” poison to spread and to become even more potent.
Editor’s note : views in the article reflect the views of the writer, not the views of borkena.com
__
To Publish Article On borkena, please send submission to info@borkena.com for consideration.
Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Join the conversation. Follow us on twitter @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian news updates regularly. Like borkena on facebook as well. To share information or send a submission, use info@borkena.com
Very well put and written article. Thank you Leo. This one as well as the last one. Looking forward to more.
The solution to this dilemma lies in the hands of the Amhara people themselves. The Amhara people can actually exercise their rights and use article 39 and detach the Amhara once and for good from any incursions by the remnants of the TPLF1 and the TPLF2 (abiy, shimeles,adanech gang). In a fractured Ethiopia, the first group that will disintegrate and scatter is none other than the tribalist oromumma gang.
A contiguous land with similar language, culture, endowed with the largest water resources in Ethiopia, free from the injustices of abiy and his mercenaries and the tplf hoodlums, free from the political intrigues and plots of the abiy cartel is not only a theoretical possibility but a physical reality. If incompetents at the lowest scale of the ladder can day dream of a hitherto unknown and never henceforth political fiction land called oromumma, there is absolutely no reason why the Amhara cannot make what is already their as a reality.
Is it worth to waste public resources on such deplorable gang as abiy, adanech, shimeles or debre tsion??? What can be obtained by fighting day in day out on matters small and big??? abiy can be the prime minister in life for the oromo, and shimeles can be president for life in their little oromumma enclave. These people will never ever learn to have respect for themselves let alone others. They are entrapped in the vicious bubble of inferiority complex; they are literally fighting with One of The Greatest Emperors in Ethiopian History: Emperor Menilik II, who wrote his history in Gold and left the world over 110 years ago.
Abiy wanted to be the new Menilik.He desperately tried but did not know how. Now abiy is a discredited and washed out wanna be. He has been found to be frivolous, jealous, callous, barbarous, mendacious, ungracious, loquacious, vacuous, treacherous, and dangerous. On top of all these negative vibes, he is also, comical, unethical, immoral, criminal and lethal. And shimeles and adanech, oh just forget those two fools, not a cent worth of the time here.
Bottom line, since there can be no peace and safety in the abiy era for the Amhara people, the Amhara should exercise their rights enshrined in article 39 and say bye bye to what the ethnofanatic thugs call the “forced union”.
If my memory of studying German language background decades ago and other experiences serve me well, I won’t describe lightly the current Ethiopian political problems and the inter-ethnic political differences as an Oromo-frei or as an Amhara-frei or Judenfrei, Untermenschen, Ubermenschen. Judenachtung, Kristallnacht, Pogroms, Voelkisch freiheight, etcettera,etcettera when it come to Ethiopia’s political context and its history. This is a hyperbolic political gymnastics and outrageous insinuations at best that lacks porpornality, historical context, geophysical or racial connection and reality on the ground. For starters, Amharas ethnic Ethiopian are neither minority , if not second or third largest majority, nor a different race from the rest of the black race in Ethiopia unless the author is attempting to insult our intelligence.
I read as freiheit
Absolute. precise, to the point and beyond article. So appreciative and thankful for feeling the suffering of Amhara by TPLF and OLF legalized lawlessness and savagery.
Thank you for being the VOICE of the VOICELESS, silenced and slaughtered 1 Million Amharas in Oromia, Addis Ababa, Wolkait, Raya for 31 years by legalized lawlessness in Ethiopia.
Notorious Amhara haters, Genociders and executioners, Abiy Ahmed, Shimelis Abdissa, Adanech Abebaie, Aba Dula, and the rest of OLF will never scape Genocide charges and justice until they die.
Is that tweedle dee and tweedle dum – the two clowns in town??????????
Most feared and highly revered President Shimelis Abdissa is a king of Neftegna
It is waste of time to read articles like this written by blubbermouthy ,chatterboxy man like Leo Okere. He can’t even hide his bad habits of being a blabberre mouth liking to spend his time in gossip.
He is ጥራዝ ነጠቅ ሾካካ የወሬ ቋት (ትርጉሙን ያውቋው ይሆን ኬኔያዊ ይመስላል ) don’t translate it to him. You can’t make pile of lies appear like trustworthyyy national history. It is not clear who helped him to grab Judenfrei and later assaisted him to pull out and insert amhara to make it amharafrei. We are defeaned by his cries about amhara genocide while fanos is killing our people Oromos in Oromia. to insert few words in your article will not make you an oustanding writer or as if you posted an extraordinary text. Amhara elites likes to lie all the time and kill children and mothers mercilessly by giving false names like OLA , TPLF etc that is what your learnt from your masters racist people out there .
Remeber to prepare yourselves and leave Oromiyaa, beloved golden super fertile land.
EOTC must hand over all stolen riches from Oromiyaa to Oromia synod , our fathers!!
Most feared and highly revered President Shimelis Abdissa is a king of Neftegna
It is waste of time to read articles like this written by blubbermouthy ,chatterboxy man like Leo Okere. He can’t even hide his bad habits of being a blabberre mouth liking to spend his time in gossip.
He is ጥራዝ ነጠቅ ሾካካ የወሬ ቋት (ትርጉሙን ያውቋው ይሆን ኬኔያዊ ይመስላል ) don’t translate it to him. You can’t make pile of lies appear like trustworthyyy national history. It is not clear who helped him to grab Judenfrei and later assaisted him to pull out and insert amhara to make it amharafrei. We are defeaned by his cries about amhara genocide while fanos is killing our people Oromos in Oromia. to insert few words in your article will not make you an oustanding writer or as if you posted an extraordinary text. Amhara elites likes to lie all the time and kill children and mothers mercilessly by giving false names like OLA , TPLF etc that is what your learnt from your masters racist people out there .
Remeber to prepare yourselves and leave Oromiyaa, beloved golden super fertile land.
EOTC must hand over all stolen riches from Oromiyaa to Oromia synod , our fathers!!
Where is Oromiya????? Some 1/3 of current so called oromiyaa does not even belong to the oromo. Alas, as more and more of the forcefully homogenized, by tplf and oromumma goons, SNNPR region in Ethiopia start reclaiming their pre TPLF boundaries and achieve statehood, and they must because you tplf and off-oromumma goons bark about the constitution 24-7, like a dog, the over-bloated and expansionist oromiya will be cut to its true size. Hey we might even soon need a magnifying glass to locate your “oromiya” on the map.
By the way, the oromo population is no more than 31 million or so at most and the Amhara are at least 30 million, so oops, so much for your oromo majority bs!!!!!!! Is this pulled out of thin air????? Absolutely not, the unadulterated 275 pages long detailed 1984 population census done by the derg, had the oromo at 29.1 % and the Amhara at 28.3%. As a matter of fact, for 30+ years, the tplf and abiy goons have deliberately undercounted the Amhara population by 10,000,000 and stolen, embezzled and usurped funds out of the budget for the Amhara people. Also, the Afar people, the large Somali region (6x the size of tiny Tigray), the Gambella region, and the Harare people have been denied their fair and proportional share of the budget for 30 years.
In a fractured Ethiopia, the first group that will disintegrate to pieces and vanish like ash will be none other than the tribalist oromumma gang. So be careful, be very, very careful of what you wish. In nearly three thousands years of history, there has never been a contiguous land called oromia with homogeneous population. ያንተ እኮ ኦሮሚያ ፅንፈኛ የበታችነት ስሜት የሚያብከነክነው በዘረኝነት በጎጠኝነት ታሞ ናላው ዞሮ በቁሙ የተሸነፈ የከሰረ የፖለቲካ ደላላ የሳላት የቅዠት ስዕል : አንተ ደግሞ: ቤትህ በፍሬም ከተህ ግድግዳ ላይ የሰቀልካት ናት እንጂ ፈፅሞ እኮ በእውን የለችም::
“Most feared and highly revered President Shimelis Abdissa is a king of Neftegna”
Nah, he is just an idiot. He is neither feared nor highly revered; he is just despised as a buffoon, common criminal and thug. He is also a thief!!!!!!!!!!! On top of that he is an imbecile. His stupidity often is very comical, were it not for the tragedy of his inhumanity. On the international level, he will soon sing like a canary when convicted of crimes against humanity.
“Remember to prepare yourselves and leave Oromiyaa, beloved golden super fertile land.ኧረ ምንም ችግር የለውም: ባቄላ ቀረ ፈስ ቀለለ እኮነው ነገሩ:: የኢትዮጵያ ከ 80% የሚበልጠውን ውሃ ይዘን ምን ይቸግረናል ብለህ ነው:: የጎጃምን ጤፍና ማር እየበላን እኖራለን ከሌሎቹ ኢትዮጵያውያን ወንድምና እህቶቻችን ጋር እንኖራለን:: ቆንጨራ: ስርቆት: የእሳት አደጋው: ሌብነቱ: ህዋላ ቀርተኝነቱ: ሁሉን: ኬኛ ማለቱ እንዴት እንደሰለችን ብትረዳ; “ይሉሽን በሰማሽ ገበያም ባልወጣሽ ነው እኮ:: ይልቁንስ አብቹን ጠንክረህ ዝናብ ማዝነብ ችሎታህን አሳድግ በለው:: You will need that for your imaginary land.
EOTC must hand over all stolen riches from Oromiyaa to Oromia synod , our fathers!!
No you got that wrong. You will hand over everything you stole from the EOTC in your so called oromiya all built, from the contributions of EOTC parishioners and fellow Ethiopians.
Which fathers????? oh the ones who addressed the crowd in English in Shashemene??? Oh those fathers. Got it!!!!!
I admired the author kneemean, how he carefully selected the ‘wordings’…. if one carefully reads it(what I meant is, I have studied his syntax) in between the lines, he/she will grasp the writer’s usage of ‘wording’ pretending to be someone. In fact the goal of the writing itself is how desperate kneemean and his elks are. Well, you have become a victim of proxy war.
In the Bible Pontius Pilate understood the pharisees wants to use him (the Pontius Pilate) for their own agenda, however, nevertheless, despite the fact that,in spite of the fact that, hahahaaaa Pilate refused and washed his hands. I’m a different fashion Mr Leo okere become a victim of the proxy wars and his bloody hands are everywhere in the country.
Well respected intellectual , Leo Okere Thank you so much for your insightful and well articulated article.
Please keep it up until the OLF Thugtator Abiy Ahmed and his Murder gangs are taken to the court of law and locked up for life.
The backward, Oromo OLF ethnicist thugs, murderers and thieves Abiy, Shimeles, Adanech and the rest of so called Prosperity party are all collection criminal thugs that are bent over in the destruction and Genocide of Amhara people, language, culture and history.
Amharas took too long to unveil, understand and realize OLF and TPLF systematic and well planned plot that targeted Amhara for extinction. The plan is to kill or impoverish all Amhara first and next other ethnic groups that hold belief of one Ethiopia.
The lawlessness and OLF organized crimes, Amhara Genocide and Theft has reached the highest level.
In the ancient civilized Ethiopia religion, education, peace, tolerance, coexistence and harmony are the principal and operation of the society but today OLF Thugs who are frozen in the 1600 century are taking Ethiopia back to the 1600 Gaddaa culture.
The 1600 Gaddaa cultures is notorious for kidnapping children and running around to kill any innocent bystander believing to bring him “Prosperity” by stealing someone else’s property.
Just look at the picture of the Oromo Thugs Abiy and Shimeles wearing Gaddaa outfits and imagine what is sticking out of their foreheads.
That is what the Gaddaa culture does. Cutting/mutilating innocent bystanders private part and proudly caring it on their forehead to get a wife or “Prosperity”