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Ethiopian
Television in Addis Ababa has today, Tuesday August 21 announced the passing on
of the country`s strongman Meles Zenawi aged 57 years old.
The
Prime Minister Zenawi had in July failed to attend an African Union summit in
the country and instead headed to Brussels, Belgium for treatment
It was reported that
all his scheduled public appearances had been cancelled over the week that the
AU summit was taking place.
At the time his Deputy, Haile Mariam Desalegn, confirmed that Meles was out of the country for health reasons.
At the time his Deputy, Haile Mariam Desalegn, confirmed that Meles was out of the country for health reasons.
Desalegen dispelled
rumors that Meles was in critical condition saying that as a human being the
Ethiopian leader has to get medication and that he will be returning back home
soon
Opposition figures in the country that refused to be quoted said Meles may be suffering from a serious condition.
Opposition figures in the country that refused to be quoted said Meles may be suffering from a serious condition.
He ousted dictator
Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991 and has ruled the country since then
Zenawi was no better than other dictators before him. Ethiopia, like many African States, is a cauldron of conflict and oppression. Zenawi’s Ethiopia has gone to war with Eritrea, Somalia, and now South Sudan. On the domestic front the Omotic People are bearing the brunt of his brutality while the Surmic People (who have the misfortune of being Nilo-Saharan and therefore ‘Black’ unlike the light skinned Afro-Asians) have their livelihoods destroyed by the Mega Dams (eg the Gilgel Gibe) being built in the Omo River Valley. As I write this Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, is busy heaping praise on Zenawi. Goes to show how power hungry African leaders have been blinded by their sheer selfishness to the reality of hunger, conflict, disease, and gut-wrenching poverty in the Horn of Africa.
ReplyDeletearap Ronno
Mti Moja: Eldoret, Kenya