Borkena
Toronto – Gedu Andargachew has served first as president of the Amhara region and later as Foreign Minister of Ethiopia. He has also served as a National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister.
He was also one of the figure in what is described as “change” – a misnomer that tends to denote the transition from Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated government to one that is dominated by what used to be Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) which later rebranded itself as Oromo Democratic Party to be the anchor organization to what became Prosperity Party.
Although Gedu was said to have had differences with the Abiy Ahmed led Prosperity Party for several years, the difference came to the surface when he openly criticized the government in his speech at the Ethiopian Parliament in August 2023 ( the link is here). Thereafter he was briefly put under house arrest before he left Ethiopia.
Currently, he is living in the United States. In his first long interview since his departure, he spoke out in a very critical tone against Abiy Ahmed’s government and his campaign in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.
He described Abiy Ahmed as “ruthless” with a grudge from his childhood. He describes him as a man with deep hatred for others. Before Gedu Andargachew, Taye Dendea, an ethnic Oromo politician and deputy minister for peace, described Abiy Ahmed as a “ruthless man who likes to play with the blood of innocents.” Taye was thrown to jail the next day.
“Burning issue to all Ethiopians at this time is Peace. There is no peace in the four corners of the country,” he said.
“The Amhara region is ungovernable,” Gedu said, describing how weak the current government is. He also made a reference to the ungovernable parts of other parts of the country including Oromia region, Tigray and Benishangul Gumuz.
Another key point that Gedu confirmed is that government was behind the massacre and displacement in the Oromo region of Ethiopia. With that, he also confirmed that government was attempting to cover it up and stifling stories of massacres.
Gedu Andargachew also lamented that the Prosperity Party (Abiy Ahmed’s party) has damaged the reputation of the Ethiopian Defense Force. It no longer has the respect and reputation it has.
At the same time, he made reference to the unparalleled brutality of the government in areas where it has control including in the capital Addis Ababa. “Whom are the people in Addis Ababa afraid of this time?” “Whom do they think that it will take away their property and impoverish them?” The main bandit right now is the government itself, Gedu said.
Watch part I of his interview with Ethio News below and share your remarks in the comment section.
Video : embedded from Ethio News YouTube channel
Cover photo : screenshot from the video
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His asylum application must be in the process so this is just something he is doing to enforce his application. Yesterday he was in the front line defending the current regime. He possibly left the country with a diplomatic passport. Now his application will be processed in front of others who have been waiting for their request for political asylum to be granted even though they are the real victims of the abusive regime.