Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
Mohamud A. Ahme – Cagaweyne
Author’s Intention
This article is not a dismissal of Ethiopia’s pain nor a denial of its turbulent present. It is a deliberate counterpoint – an act of intellectual integrity aimed at challenging the sweeping claims of moral and political condemnation cloaked in spiritual metaphor. While the anguish is real and the grief deep, the narrative that casts Ethiopia’s democratic transition as a national crucifixion risks collapsing complexity into parable and absolving too many from accountability. This is a call not to spiritualize governance, but to govern the spirit of political discourse with responsibility, nuance, and truth. Ethiopia deserves more than despair. It deserves discernment.
Abstract
In response to a growing narrative that portrays Ethiopia’s contemporary politics – particularly under Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed – as a spiritual betrayal akin to the crucifixion of Christ, this article offers a firm rebuttal grounded in political realism, institutional complexity, and historical memory. While acknowledging the tragic costs of war, displacement, and unmet expectations, it argues that conflating religious allegory with state-building misrepresents the present and dishonors the effort to reform a fragile federation. By deploying advanced political analysis, structural logic, and poetic political prose, the article defends the necessity of reform, critiques the reductionism of moral binaries, and asserts that Ethiopia’s resurrection will come not through lamentation, but through governance rooted in reason, courage, and civic endurance.
Introduction: From Allegory to Accuracy
As a contributor to Borkena and an avid reader of intellectually crafted articles about Ethiopia and its leadership, I make it a point to engage deeply with writings that seek to elevate our national discourse. Among the many I have read, one recent article stood out in its depth, its spiritual tone, and its well-structured critique of the country’s current direction. It was a powerful piece – written with conviction and poetic resonance – but I found myself in respectful disagreement, particularly with its central analogy comparing Ethiopia’s crisis to the crucifixion of Christ.
Such a comparison, while emotionally stirring, risks confusing sacred metaphor with political reality. And because the issues raised are neither trivial nor temporary – ranging from war and federalism to justice and national identity – I felt compelled to respond not with rejection, but with reflection. As I have written before, the intellectual community must engage not in echo chambers, but in honorable, honest debate about the nation’s problems. Ethiopia’s path forward demands precisely this: critical inquiry rooted in courage, free of romanticism and resentment alike.
It is tempting, in moments of national trauma, to reach for the sacred – to wrap political disappointment in spiritual metaphor. Yet Ethiopia is not Golgotha, and its leaders are neither messiahs nor demons. No one was sent to die for the sins of federalism, and no nation should be burdened with a savior complex. The narrative presented by the article we challenge, while poetic, is spiritually seductive and intellectually dangerous. It overlays centuries of structural dysfunction with one dramatic arc of betrayal, casting the Prime Minister as Judas, the people as Christ, and history as a cross.
This is not just unhelpful – it is inaccurate. Ethiopia’s wounds were not inflicted in the last five years alone, and its potential cannot be resurrected by replacing one figure with another. We must weigh, not weep. Analyze, not allegorize. For only through sober inquiry can Ethiopia walk forward with clarity, rather than crawl backwards into myth.
Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s Leadership: Neither Narcissist Nor Messiah
Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s rise in 2018 was no divine intervention – it was a response to widespread fatigue, generational demand, and structural rot. His promises of reform were not miracles; they were mandates. To suggest that his leadership became an egotistical crusade is to ignore the political suffocation he inherited. The EPRDF era, for all its economic gains, left behind a federation haunted by suspicion, hollowed institutions, and weaponized identities.
Yes, Dr. Abiy centralized power. But what was the alternative? The status quo of ethnic vetoes, parallel security apparatuses, and fragmented sovereignty? Reforming such a system was always going to be abrasive. Critics often demand democratic openness without recognizing that the terrain was mined with decades of entrenched autocracy dressed in the language of “ethnic liberation.” To call this consolidation narcissistic is not just unfair – it is analytically lazy.
Leadership, especially in transitional states, is an arena of contradiction. Abiy has made errors – serious ones. But he is not a narcissist drunk on legacy. He is a man navigating tectonic shifts, many of which he did not set in motion. He should be challenged, but not demonized. Ethiopia’s history is already rich in devils; we gain nothing by inventing more.
On the Wars in Tigray and Amhara: Context Matters
The Tigray war was not conjured out of narcissism. It was the result of political defiance by a regional party (TPLF) that refused the new federal order, attacked a national military base, and dared the state to respond. The response, though severe, was within the constitutional bounds of national sovereignty. War is cruel, always – but war is also complex. The moral absolutism that paints one side as Goliath and the other as David simplifies a brutal chessboard into a bedtime story.
In Tigray, the suffering was immense. But it was not the exclusive result of federal aggression. The TPLF’s provocation, propaganda, and militarization played no small role. In Amhara, similar forces are now at play. The tragedy of Gedeb, where civilians were killed in an airstrike, demands mourning. But we must also ask: what options does a state have when armed groups morph into decentralized rebellions? Drones are not symbols of tyranny – they are tools in an asymmetric battlefield, often forced upon the state by a foe that does not wear a uniform nor respect negotiation.
That said, there is a credible argument that the escalation in the Amhara region – coming so soon after the bloody and deeply traumatic war in Tigray – could and perhaps should have been avoided. The losses in Amhara, both civilian and institutional, are not just regional tragedies; they are national wounds. At a time when the country most needed consolidation, healing, and dialogue, it instead entered another painful chapter. This sequence of back-to-back internal wars underscores the urgent need for new frameworks of conflict resolution, early warning systems, and political restraint – before the fire consumes what remains of our social fabric.
To mourn without context is to weaponize grief. We must be honest about the chaos: it is not the design of one man’s ego, but the detonation of decades of mistrust, failed reconciliation, and institutional erosion.
The Missed Opportunity: A Federal Experiment Stifled Too Soon
Let us also admit a painful truth: Ethiopia never truly had a shared and fair government in its entirety. Power was historically monopolized by emperors and later by revolutionary ideologues who claimed to liberate but often subjugated. The ethnic federal experiment, launched in the 1990s, was never given the oxygen to evolve. It functioned more as a defensive pact than a system of co-governance. While the North – especially Tigray – enjoyed disproportionate influence, the peripheries remained peripheral in all but name.
However, 2018 cracked open a rare window. For the first time, those who were silenced began to speak. If Ethiopia had nurtured that moment – allowing the new leadership space to breathe, dialogue to flourish, and old elites to adapt rather than resist – the country may have tested the true strengths and flaws of ethnic federalism without collapsing into fire. The Prosperity Party, in its ambition, sought to correct the hyper-fragmentation of identity politics. But it faced sabotage from within and hostility from without.
Instead of cultivating that experiment, many actors – internal and diaspora-based – chose resistance over reform. The result was a missed national reckoning. What could have been a noble evolution became a bloody regression. But the fault is not singular. It is shared.
The Economy: Global Winds, Domestic Storms
Yes, Ethiopia’s economy is strained. But to lay its downfall solely at Abiy’s feet is to ignore the winds of history and geography. The COVID-19 pandemic devastated supply chains. The war in Ukraine shattered global grain prices. The Red Sea corridor has become increasingly volatile. These are not excuses – they are realities.
Domestically, Ethiopia’s ambitious reforms – such as telecom liberalization, digital banking, and privatization – were bold moves meant to shift from aid dependency to productivity. Their impact was delayed by war, yes – but their logic remains sound. Inflation is painful. But economic transition is never smooth. Ethiopia is not failing. It is recalibrating under fire.
Ethnic Tensions: The Inheritance of Yesterday’s Sins
The crucifixion metaphor implies a betrayal of unity. But what unity? Ethiopia’s ethnic tensions are not new – they are structural. The 1995 Constitution, for all its intentions, framed ethnicity as destiny. What followed was the politicization of bloodlines, the sacralization of borders, and the emergence of armed identities. Abiy did not invent this. He inherited it.
His attempt to move toward civic nationalism – though clumsy and perhaps premature – was a rebellion against fatalism. He wanted an Ethiopia where being Ethiopian wasn’t a threat to being Oromo, Amhara, or Somali. That vision failed not because it was evil, but because the soil wasn’t ready. The seeds were good. The climate was not.
On Redemption: Resurrection Through Reality, Not Romanticism
The original article’s conclusion reaches for Good Friday and Easter, inviting readers into a holy lament. But Ethiopia is not a Christ figure, and redemption does not come through regime change alone. It comes through reconciliation, slow reform, and political patience.
True resurrection is mundane. It is Tuesday morning – parliamentary debates, judicial reforms, reconciliation commissions, youth employment, civil service training. Redemption is not poetic – it is procedural.
Conclusion: Ethiopia Deserves Nuance, Not Narratives
We reject despair disguised as prophecy. Ethiopia’s pain is real, but it is not divine tragedy – it is human failure. And that, at least, can be corrected.
To cast Abiy Ahmed as the crucifier of Ethiopia is to ignore the system that groomed him, the enemies that encircle him, and the people that both demand and deny progress. We must resist the temptation to personalize the structural crisis. Ethiopia’s salvation will not come through saviors or sacrifices. It will come through a citizenry that demands substance over spectacle, and institutions that outlive individuals.
Not every cross is a crucifixion. Some are scaffolds – meant to elevate a nation still under construction. May Ethiopia rise – not from the tomb of despair, but from the bricks of realism, the mortar of unity, and the blueprint of shared destiny.
Mohamud A. Ahme – Cagaweyne runs Greenlight Advisors Group in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. He can be reached at : +251900644648
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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Sir, your article have half truth and deserve appreciation.What you are missed intentionally blinded I might call it “intellectual opportunism “ prosperity party under leadership of Abey Ahmed by all accounts have similar political maneuver with “Tigrayan dominated Front of EPDRF”. One can not discern the political maneuver orchestrating in real time between them. . It no more or less except high visibility of ORMO political cadres
The article is a bold and necessary intervention in Ethiopia’s often emotionally charged political discourse. At a time when public debate is frequently dominated by sweeping condemnations, romanticized narratives, and reductionist blame games, this piece stands out as a call for intellectual rigor and historical accountability. The author’s refusal to spiritualize Ethiopia’s crisis—instead grounding the discussion in political realism, institutional analysis, and structural legacies—is both refreshing and vital for meaningful progress.
One of the article’s greatest strengths is its rejection of the “great man” theory of history—the idea that Ethiopia’s fate hinges solely on the virtues or vices of a single leader. By contextualizing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s tenure within decades of systemic dysfunction, the author rightly shifts focus from personality-driven politics to the deeper, unresolved contradictions of Ethiopian statehood. This is crucial because Ethiopia’s challenges—ethnic federalism’s failures, economic fragility, and recurring conflicts—predate Abiy and will outlast him unless addressed institutionally. The article wisely cautions against the dangerous allure of political messianism, whether in the form of blind loyalty or apocalyptic condemnation.
Equally compelling is the author’s nuanced take on the wars in Tigray and Amhara. While acknowledging the immense suffering, the piece refuses to reduce these conflicts to simplistic morality tales. Instead, it highlights the complex interplay of regional defiance, federal overreach, and historical grievances—a perspective sorely missing in much of today’s polarized discourse. This balanced approach does not absolve anyone of accountability but insists that truth and sustainable peace require moving beyond binary narratives.
The article’s emphasis on Ethiopia’s need for governance over grievance is particularly resonant. The author rightly argues that redemption will not come through symbolic regime changes or emotional lamentations but through the unglamorous, day-to-day work of institution-building, economic reform, and inclusive dialogue. This is a sobering yet empowering message: Ethiopia’s future depends not on waiting for a savior but on the collective responsibility of its citizens, intellectuals, and leaders to engage critically rather than destructively.
If there is one critique, it might be that the article could delve deeper into concrete policy alternatives—what, exactly, a “realist” path forward looks like beyond rejecting romanticism. Yet, as a counter-narrative to fatalistic or hyper-spiritualized rhetoric, this piece is a vital contribution. It challenges Ethiopians to demand more from their politics: not just cathartic anger or blind hope, but reasoned, courageous engagement with the hard truths of their nation’s journey.
In a media landscape often dominated by sensationalism and partisan fervor, Mohamud A. Ahme’s work is a reminder that Ethiopia’s story is neither tragedy nor prophecy—it is a difficult but navigable political process. For that, the author deserves commendation. This is the kind of thinking Ethiopia needs more of: clear-eyed, principled, and ultimately hopeful in its belief that a better future is possible, but only if pursued with honesty and intellectual integrity.
I will limit myself to this article only. Your challenge to Dr. Caleb Tadesse is baseless. Dr. Caleb Tadesse is a renowned scholar. Accusing Dr. Caleb Tadesse without any evidence is suspicious. Dr. Caleb Tadesse’s Spiritual (Metaphysical) metaphor is rejuvenating and necessary to heal the dying nation of Ethiopia.
On your December 9,2025 article titled, Shaking off the lice or Awakening the Giant, I found the following :
” The speech unfolded with a layered rhythm that blended spiritual invocation…”
” Dr. Abiy framed Ethiopia as a nation of immense hope blessed by divine purpose…”
” It was a deliberate strategy to reinforce that Ethiopia’s national project is under both earthly and metaphysical assault…”
” He described Ethiopia as a land of great promise supported by the creator, even as the persistence of the devil seeks to derail it”
” By invoking divine protection, Dr. Abiy attempted to stabilize emotional confidence…”
While you yourself entered the metaphysical territory, you accused Dr. Caleb Tadesse with conflating religious allegory with state building. Your accusation is unfounded and rejected by many readers including me.
You seems to be a man with energy that can be used to restore the lost Ethiopian beauty. Arrogance and greed destroys a nation. You must end your blind support to Abiy Ahmed’s material politics and ideological indoctrination.
Finally, I invite you to read the article by Dr. Messay Kebede, titled ” Explicating the Unconscionable servility of Abiy’s supporters.”