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The EPRP: Eyasu Alemayehu’s Opinion of Ethiopians King of Kings VII (By LJDemissie)

The EPRP: Eyasu Alemayehu’s Opinion of

Ethiopians King of Kings VII

By LJDemissie

 

“Politicians of today are fragmented beings creating a fragmented world.” ― Abhijit Naskar, Fabric of Humanity

Ato Eyasu Alemayehu is one of the founding fathers of the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Party (EPRP), established in 1972 to form a socialist/communist government. Once, the EPRP was formidable and popular; however, nowadays it is a minor party that fell out of favor even though it said it abandoned its socialist/communist ideology and promotes non-ethnic federalism.

Since the party’s foundation more than forty-eight years ago, Alemayehu has been one of its core leaders. It appears he thinks he is irreplaceable and if not, then he is power-crazy and delusional. To explain, I recently overheard a discussion among friends who were former members of the EPRP that he uses the party’s real-estate as his main place of residence (I strongly challeange him to deny this statement), which might be a reason why he doesn’t want to let go of his party’s post after almost a half a century in office.

I admit the EPRP belongs to its members and leaders, including Alemayehu and company who think they have a prerogative to control their party and to use its assets as they wish. So I don’t intend to interfere in their party affairs because their party is none of my business. Besides, hoping the leadership will change is hoping against hope. To explain, the leadership has been notorious for being hostile and dysfunctional since its inception.  

If so, why I’m writing?

Well, I’m writing to comment on Alemayehu’s interview that he gave to an online internet radio called Finote Democracy, which is the EPRP’s voice.  And to express my stance against Alemayehu’s claim that the EPRP (a faction) that he and his company lead is conducting a covert struggle against the Ethiopian current government. Also to share my view that the EPRP’s violent political struggles of the last half century didn’t change the Ethiopians’ problems the EPRP’s leadership magnified.

First off, the EPRP’s leadership of the seventies was absolutely right for putting up a resistance against the fascist Derg regime which monster Col. Mengistu led because “He who allows oppression shares crime”. But the EPRP’s leaders owe their former minor members, including me an apology for using us for their unlawful missions, including armed struggle.

It is an irrefutable historical fact that the 1970s members of the EPRP had discipline and dedication. Their selflessness and their resistance against the TPLF’s tribal politics and the Derg’s oppression were legendary. History would remember them as Ethiopia’s national heroes although they failed to achieve their goals: democracy, liberty and the rest of it for Ethiopians. Their struggle ended in tragic sacrifices and failures for various reasons, including they were crushed by the Derg and the TPLF mainly due to the EPRP’s leadership failures.

For example, it is a fact that the EPRP’s leadership is always composed of inept politicians who are hostile. Instead of resolving their differences, they habitually get divided and then a faction emerges. Once a splinter group surfaces, their internal conflict becomes ruthless. They settle their differences like the way street gangs settle their arguments which is by murdering each other’s supporters. To illustrate, in the seventies, the EPRP and its factions used to assassinate each other’s members, which ended up causing unspeakable bad feelings and horrific suffering to their members and in turn to the Ethiopian population. After the EPRP suffered a blow during Mengistu’s Red Terror campaign, the leadership kept proving its incapability to regroup and to put a meaningful resistance against the Derg or the TPLF’s brutal slaughter.  

Should it matter who brings love?

On his interview, one of Alemayehu’s argument tactics was to attack the person (“God’s relative”, Ethiopians servant – His Excellency Prime Minster Dr. Abiy Ahmed) instead of his idea. To illustrate, though it should not matter who (Jewish, Christian, Muslim … or White, Asian, Black …) brings love, peace and reconciliation to whomever, Alemayehu deprecated Abiy’s contribution to bring the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church’s two rival synods reunification. Alemayehu’s argument for belittling Abiy’s involvement was that Abiy isn’t an Orthodox Christian so he shouldn’t be involved in Orthodox Christians affairs. In other words, Alemayehu meant the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church members shouldn’t receive Abiy’s love, only non-Orthodox Christians should receive love from a non-Orthodox Christians.

Overall, the way Alemayehu presented his idea was a turn off, which doesn’t fit with today’s Ethiopia young generation’s mindset, which is more than 65% under the age of thirty years old. Keep in mind that Alemayehu is about 70 years old that might explain why he lacks awareness of the current generations’ needs, wants and moods.  He might have won some hearts and minds of his listeners if he rationally and respectfully refuted Abiy’s efforts and accomplishments of the last seven months.

How do I know God loves Ethiopia?

Well, when we were under the grip of the Derg military regime and the TPLF’s tribal/ethnic apartheid system, I used to think that we Ethiopians were condemned for our sins, including denouncing God and accepting: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao and the rest of them as our super gods based on the EPRP and MEISON’s socialist/communist fliers and graffiti we read.

Recently, I remembered God never condemned us because He always loves us, but He wanted us to take lessons from our half a century long major traumas. So let’s hope that we have learned from our sufferings and make sure we treasure and to enjoy God’s boundless love.  

To illustrate, in the last seven months alone, Our Father revealed His love for Ethiopia (እምየ”) and its citizens a number of times. For example, on the brink of Ethiopia (አገሬ) disintegrate into tribal states, He gave us hope that His “relative” – Ethiopians’ servant, His Excellency Prime Minster Dr. Abiy Ahmed. To show us Lord loves us even more, He saved His “relative” from a deadly plot by the TPLF’s former intelligence chief – Getachew Assefa – attempt to assassinate Abiy by a hand grenade attack.

Our Lord gave us Abiy to help us correct the Derg, the EPRP, the TPLF’s, and so forth blunders. He gave us His “relative” to help us find a cure for our societal illness that some call “the TPLF’s virus”: tribalism, ethnic hatred, ethnic violence, division, corruption, and so on. He gave us Abiy to help us save our country from disintegration into tribal states, which the TPLF’s hyenas (የቀን ጅቦች) incited as their “divide and rule strategy” when they colonialized Ethiopia, which lasted for twenty-seven years. During this time, the TPLF’s elites controlled Ethiopians’ security, military and economy. And then they plundered public and private possessions. In the last twenty-seven years, they embezzled billions of dollars. Now their families, political cronies and they are super rich. In fact, they might have more dollars in their bank accounts than the Abiy government has in its bank accounts.

To cure our societal illness caused by the TPLF’s virus, the day Ethiopia inaugurated God’s “relative”, he (Abiy) prescribed for us love, peace, reconciliation and forgiveness. Since then, he “has pushed through numerous reforms at a blistering speed, releasing prisoners, inviting parties once deemed as terrorists back to Ethiopia, and easing restrictions on the press … [and arresting officials who committed, among other things, crimes against humanity and embezzled public funds].”  Moreover, he has been trying his best to collaborate with, including Somalia and Eritrea’s governments to make the Horn of Africa’s region more peaceful and to integrate Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea’s economy.

Lastly, one must remember that fascist Benito Mussolini came up with a system to divide and rule Ethiopians along their tribal/ethnic line.  He (assisted by his Askaris, the parents of the TPLF’s elites) failed to implement his scheme for various complicated situations, among other things, the “great powers” opposition to his colonialization schemes.

Using Mussolini’s failed divide, rule and loot strategy, the TPLF’s elites created animosities among Ethiopia’s eighty plus ethnic groups. And then they waged war against Ethiopia for seventeen years. After Col. Mengistu ran away, the TPLF’s invading militia controlled Ethiopia and reorganized Ethiopians along their tribal lines. And the TPLF elites brutally ruled Ethiopians and looted their resources for almost three decades.

I’m thankful for what Abiy has done so far for Ethiopians and Ethiopia! For that I have been praying for his family and his safety and security. If you believe in prayer, I ask you to join me in my prayer for Team Lemma, “our servant leaders who love the things God loves and who care more about others than themselves”, and their family and for their safety and security.

Dear Lord: “Our history has cried for king-like leaders [You gave us many of them] who will solve our problems and meet our needs. But there is only one King, and that is You, Lord. We have blindly sought answers from others [Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao …] to life’s unresolved questions through the years, but You are the only wise Counselor. We have longed for peace, but You are the only Peacemaker, and the only Prince of Peace. We’ve clung to our weapons of warfare, not as measures of defense, but as strongholds of selfish pride. We look at outward appearances; You see the heart. With You, nothing formed against us can prosper. Without You, we are nothing.” Amen!!!

May God protect and bless Team Lemma, including Abiy and his family!! And also may God bless Ethiopia and its citizens!!

Note: I obtained the images I used on this article from Google Images and a YouTube video. To make the images fit with the article’s contents, I altered them.

The writer LJDemissie can be reached at LJDemissie@yahoo.com

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