By – Habte H.
In ancient Greece, sophists were men celebrated for their mastery of rhetoric and debate. They claimed wisdom, but their craft was persuasion, not truth. While at first respected as teachers who spread literacy and civic skills, their reputation soon declined. Thinkers like Plato and Aristotle condemned them as clever deceivers who twisted language to win arguments rather than uncover justice. Sophistry became synonymous with manipulation – words deployed for power, not for principle.
This ancient concept is alive today. Across history, sophists have always flourished under authoritarian rulers, attaching themselves to power, disguising oppression with eloquent speech, and bending morality to suit the throne. Ethiopia is no exception. From emperors to generals to modern prime ministers, every ruler has nurtured his own circle of sophists. In our time, Abiy Ahmed is surrounded by them – old and emerging voices alike – whose words serve power but betray truth.
Ethiopia’s Tradition of Court Sophists
Ethiopia’s rulers have never lacked eloquent defenders.
- Under Haile Selassie, intellectuals and clergy glorified the Emperor as a God-chosen figure, shielding imperial failures and ignoring the suffering of millions of peasants who lived in poverty and hunger. Their words polished the emperor’s grandeur while silencing criticism.
- Under Mengistu Hailemariam, Marxist rhetoric became a weapon of control. Sophists of that era sharpened ideology to justify “Red Terror,” repression, and mass killings. They spoke of revolution and equality even as rivers of blood ran through the streets.
- Under Meles Zenawi, a new generation of sophists emerged. They draped dictatorship in the attractive garment of the “developmental state.” These intellectuals spoke of double-digit growth, modernization, and prosperity, but their silence on oppression, censorship, and ethnic manipulation revealed their true allegiance – not to people, but to power.
This legacy continues. Abiy Ahmed’s reign is rich with sophists. From Daniel Kibret’s sermons to Dagnachew Assefa’s essays, from Alemayehu Gebremariam’s writings to others who trade intellect for favors, the pattern is unmistakable. These figures claim scholarship, but in practice they are courtiers – feeding the regime’s propaganda machine while ignoring Ethiopia’s deep wounds.
The Traits of Abiy’s Sophists
What makes a sophist recognizable? The features are as old as history:
- Defenders of rulers, not the ruled – They craft arguments that elevate the Prime Minister while erasing the voices of the poor, the displaced, and the oppressed. They never cry for those massacred in Oromia, Amhara, or Tigray. They never mourn the mothers who bury their children in silence.
- Masters of deception – They bend history, religion, and philosophy to suit the political moment. Daniel Kibret turns pulpits into platforms for regime propaganda. Dagnachew Assefa converts philosophy into a justification for repression. Others repackage failures as triumphs, chaos as reform, and cruelty as leadership.
- Survivalists of power – For sophists, loyalty is transactional. They defend leaders not out of conviction, but out of calculation – knowing that proximity to power secures influence, wealth, and protection.
- Transient figures – History is cruel to sophists. When rulers fall, their defenders are abandoned, exposed, and remembered with scorn. The emperor’s scholars faded into obscurity. Mengistu’s ideologues fled or fell silent. Even Meles’s sophists are today scrambling for relevance. Abiy’s sophists will meet the same end, if not worse.
The Cost of Sophistry
Sophists do not strengthen nations; they corrode them. Their clever words may shield dictators for a season, but the cost is devastating. Truth becomes distorted. Public trust collapses. Moral clarity evaporates. Citizens are left confused, divided, and powerless, while the rulers they serve grow more arrogant and reckless.
In Ethiopia today, sophistry has deepened national wounds. Instead of confronting displacement, famine, inflation, and endless wars, Abiy’s sophists manufacture excuses. Instead of demanding justice for massacres, they praise “peace initiatives” that never materialize. Instead of amplifying the cries of widows and orphans, they polish the Prime Minister’s image with hollow words.
This is not a scholarship. It is betrayal. It is the deliberate choice to stand with the throne against the people, with the strong against the weak, with lies against truth.
A Call Beyond Sophistry
To Ethiopia’s modern sophists, a word of counsel: never sell your conscience for kings. Dictators consume their servants and discard them without mercy. Haile Selassie’s defenders found no safety in his fall. Mengistu’s ideologues were abandoned when he fled. Meles’s apologists now live in a shadow of irrelevance. Abiy’s sophists should not expect a different fate.
Do not waste your learning defending killers and looters. Do not mistake eloquence for wisdom, or survival for dignity. Instead, serve the truth. Stand with the poor, the displaced, the voiceless. Choose to be human before being clever.
Otherwise, when truth is unveiled – and it always is – your words will sound like empty noise. Your writings will be remembered not as scholarship, but as complicity. And history, merciless as it is, will leave you with no place to hide.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
Support Borkena : https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/
Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Like borkena on Facebook
To submit Press Release, send submission to info@borkena.com
Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory
Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter) @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly.
A fruitful lessons of Ethics, the challenge is how we consume and practice in our daily life .