- Ethiopian Federal Police Was reportedly in Teddy Afro’s residence
- Mahlet Solomon, Teddy Afro’s spokesperson, was about to return from Ethiopia to her country of residence, Austria
Borkena
Toronto – The Ethiopian Federal police on Tuesday has reportedly arrested Mahlet Solomon, Spokesperson and assistant manager of Ethiopian Music Star Teddy Afro, whose new Album Etorika went viral with more than 70 million views in about five days.
Sources in Addis Ababa say she was arrested in late afternoon from a hotel in Atal Bole area where she has been staying for nearly a month.
She lives in Austria and was reportedly about to return next Monday. She does not have any history of political activism or involvement in politics according to sources. Her involvement was limited to managing Teddy Afro’s communication and press statements.
Police are reportedly alleging that “she is involved in corruption.”
The Federal police have not released any statement about her arrest. At the time of this writing, there is no information as to where she is arrested.
Hours after news of her arrest, Ethiopian Media Service (EMS) reported that government security forces were banging Teddy Afro’s residence in the capital Addis Ababa where he is living with his wife and four children. They were asking for his manager in an after hours situation. The security forces were banging on Tewodros Kassahun’s home after 11 P.M. local time. The singer declined to open the door.
He lives in a condominium.
The arrest of his assistant manager and the incident in his residence came several hours after police arrested Youssuf Yasin, a close friend of Teddy Afro. Youssuf does not have any involvement in the production of the popular album.
On Sunday, the country’s intelligence department announced the arrest of over 138 individuals over alleged links to Al-Shabab, ISIS and armed groups in Ethiopia. However, credible information emerging on social media indicated that a considerable number of those arrested were youth in Addis Ababa simply for listening to Teddy Afro’s song. Later, Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) released the pictures of the “suspects.”
Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity government is reportedly angered with Teddy Afro’s son and the passionate warm reception it garnered among Ethiopians. The album has been a talking point for several days now.
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The next proper measure the regime should is arrest those who are thinking about listening to the new songs by their music icon. Not for listening but for thinking about listening. How can the security forces they know you are thinking? Piece of cake. Use the ‘synchronicity’ theory. That will do it. In that theory some are synchronized and some are not. If you are not synchronized there will be no doubt that you are thinking about listening to the new songs by Teddy Afro. It is that easy. I have a simple solution for the regime. Just ban singing. Boy! Am I good or what!!!
If she lives in Austria as a legal resident or is a citizen of that country then Austria should step in and demand her immediate release from prison. If she still holds the Ethiopian passport there will be very little Austria can do about it except protest her arrest. I assume Austria is a member of the EU, a force to reckon with. If the corruption charges are true, then that is a different story. Otherwise, leave her alone!
Now I’m concerned about this young man, the singer himself. They went to his residence and banged on the door minutes before midnight? Those thugs could belong to any group. I just a story about a journalist who was taken away from his newsroom by unidentified men at night. He is identified as one of the managing editor with Addis Standard. His where about is unknown and both the federal and the city police have stated that he is not in their custody. If this young man is harmed and made disappear I will be holding every official of the regime responsible for the heinous act. Leave this young man alone. Here is the link to this story.
thereporterethiopia.com/50226/
Desperate times require desperate measures. The government had it been wise would not have taken such measures. The previous government was not saved by such measures.
1). Why does Tewodros Kassahun Germamo [TKG] need an Austria-based Spokes Person and Vice Business Manager if he is an Ethiopian Citizen with ‘Music Business’ based in Ethiopia? Is his business serving as façade for Anti-Ethiopia Agents’ activities?
2). To my knowledge, Hamleset [TKG’s Spouse] is TKG’s ‘Music Business’ Manager with her own multi-media business managed-and-operated by White foreigner(s). So, I wonder what qualification(s) Hamleset has to run TKG’s ‘Music Business’, but not hers.
3). If the Ethiopian Federal Police [EFP] has really gone to TKG’s home to look for anything, it should have done so with Search Warrant in hand and a Swat Team ready to knock down the door and walk in with weapons ready to fire! Nobody is above the law!
4). It looks-like Hamleset [of Eritrean origin] & TKG [Amara(!?)] are Eritrea’s Unofficial Ambassadors to Ethiopia [but more trusted than the Official Eritrean Ambassador]. Else, why did Isayas Afewerqi [Eritrea’s self-appointed ruler since 1991] prefer Hamleset/TKG to Eritrea’s Embassy or the Ethiopian Palace [when he came to visit Ethiopia after 20 years with Abiy’s invitation]?
5). Anyway, the Ethiopian Intelligence Services [EIS] needs to clean-up its ranks. No Eritrean is in Ethiopia to do Ethiopia any favor. What was the EIS doing when over 350,000 Eritreans entered Addis Ababa and took-up residences? Mind you, it is only the Eritrean Government’s supporters who can leave Eritrea and afford life in Addis Ababa.
I can understand the hoopla for his new songs but I don’t make any sense he is being billed as if he is the most capable politician as if he is the only person with a magic wand to solve all the hurdles Ethiopia is facing. He is just a የጠጅ ቤት አዝማሪ without the ማሲንቇ. He took advantage of the prevailing mood and sang away with it that brought million to his pocket. If the city descends into violent chaos he will be one of the first ones to flee. አዝማሪ is always an አዝማሪ and not a qualified statesman. Just listen to his songs accompanied by vibrant rhythms and melodies and move on.
It’s funny how you reduce him to a “የጠጅ ቤት አዝማሪ” while completely ignoring why people are actually listening.
Nobody handed him influence out of thin air he connected with people when most so-called “qualified statesmen” were either silent or part of the problem. That says more about the system than it does about him.
You say he rode the mood, but isn’t that exactly what someone who understands the public is supposed to do? He’s speaking what people are living every day the frustration, the struggle, the things others are too comfortable to acknowledge. Just because it doesn’t affect you directly doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
As long as you’re comfortable, it’s easy to dismiss him. But not everyone has that luxury. Some people are actually struggling to live, and at least he’s giving voice to that reality instead of pretending everything is fine.
And this idea that he’d “be the first to flee” is just speculation dressed up as fact. Meanwhile, many of those you’d probably call “qualified” have a long history of failing people while staying comfortably in power.
You don’t have to see him as a savior, but dismissing him entirely just because he’s an artist sounds more like bias than analysis. Sometimes the voices people trust don’t come from polished podiums they come from people who actually reflect what the public is going through.
Are you saying he is not an አዝማሪ? What qualifies him to be a leader as a politician? Did he even finish high school? I’m acutely aware that he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree for his accomplishment as an አዝማሪ. That does not make him a qualified politician. Even then he did not even invent the music genre he is known for that we all enjoy. He has skillfully incorporated reggae that was invented in Jamaica decades before he started singing. He should be praised for that.
Yes there are grinding issues where many are having a hard time to make a living in that country. That proves to be beyond the capabilities/skills of the government to solve them. Teddy Afro does not offer equitable solution for them either. He seems urging some junior military officer to come aboard and eradicate them. That will be extremely dangerous. We all also should not miss the fact that there are people who have a hard time to make a living in every country but many of them are honestly trying to help like in Western countries.
But he is still one of my most favorite singers from Ethiopia and I urge the government to stop harassing him.
Typical dictator behavior lol
The European government just agreed to finance these evildoer!