Ethiopian PM says “Ethiopia is flying at high speed, turbulence is normal” 

Borkena

Toronto – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made another controversial remark on what Ethiopia is experiencing. Many activists and politicians, as has been the case in the past, are treating his remarks rather as a “comedy.” Yet, there are also those who tend to take the matter to the province of psychoanalysis questioning if the PM is alright. 

The PM visited the Somali region of Ethiopia where he inaugurated an Irrigation project in Gode , Shebelle zone.  According to the government, the Irrigation is built from a dam and is expected to cater for 10,000 hectares for plantation agriculture projects. 

After talking about the projects he is leading under “Gebeta lehager” (Dine for the Nation) , agriculture and “corridor development”, Abiy Ahmed went on to make his latest controversial assertion. The Prime Minister also painted a rosy image of the Somali region of Ethiopia highlighting the projects which he said will be completed in the months to come. 

“People who are on board the plane called Ethiopia do not feel the speed with which it is flying. The person who can see the speed is one that is outside of the plane. But the people in the plane understand the speed of the plane or their situation when there is turbulence due to unfavorable weather,”  he told a Fana Broadcasting Corporate (state media)  journalist. 

On the other hand, for someone familiar with ongoing social media conversations and  to the economic, security and political realities in the country, the picture that emerges is starkly different. 

The security crisis – particularly in the Oromia and Benishangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia – since he came to power  in 2018 has claimed tens of thousands of Ethiopians, particularly ethnic Amhara’s. 

Worse, the war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led Tigray region and the Federal government under Abiy Ahmed’s leadership has reportedly claimed an estimated one million lives from Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions. 

The Amhara region continues to experience devastating war as his administration attempts to disarm Fano force on whom he relied to protect his power from TPLF comeback.  Human rights organizations have reported dozens of drone strikes on civilian targets. Organizations like the Amhara Association of America (AAA) reported over 150 drone strikes in the Amhara region since the military operation started in August 2023. Over 5 million children and youth are out of schools in the region (for two years) due to the war. 

There is an ongoing war in the Oromo region of Ethiopia too. The rebel forces Abiy Ahmed’s government allowed to enter Ethiopia in 2018, organized themselves within months and have been fighting his government since then. He was unable to gain decisive military victory over them due to reported support the rebels are enjoying from within his government structure at the region level. 

The economic situation in the country is dire. Not only that the Ethiopian birr was devalued by more than 100 percent in a matter of six months and life has become unbearable even for those who used to have decent life by the standard of the country but also over 22 million Ethiopians are reportedly facing starvation. 

The “Ethiopia is flying” narrative may like derision in light of the above mentioned and many other grim realities in the country. 

__

Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena

Like borkena on Facebook

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.  Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com