Tag: eritrea
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Ethiopians Still Talking About Talking
Since Abiy Ahmed took office as Ethiopia’s prime minister in 2018, the region is entangled in a civil war. So far, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, the economy sustained heavy damages, and ethnic conflicts are spreading to every corner of the already unstable region. Preaching hate and violence has become the daily…
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Eritrean Opposition Movement: In Dire Search of Potency and Relevance
Whenever foreign journalists query Eritrea’s strongman, Isaias Afewerki about political opposition to his totalitarian rule, he is known to get a fake perplexed look on his face before retorting, in feigned puzzlement, “What opposition?” On further prodding from a persistent inquisitor, he tries to lay the question to rest with a dismissive, yet emphatic denial:…
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New Faces To Embolden The PFDJ Festivals
Three new faces were delegated to embolden the PFDJ supporters in the current media offensive. Yemane Gebreab who serves as the presidential advisor was the familiar delegate to such activities outside Eritrea. His appointment to the position was never announced. His accompanying official to such missions was Abdella Jabir who is jailed since 2013 after…
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Sudan: Detention of Fifth-Generation Eritrean Refugees
Until the 19th century, the Horn of Africa was one vast region where communities knew their farming, grazing, and dwelling lands. But towards the end of the century nation states with boundaries appeared. Before that, Kings, warlords, and colonizers knew where to collect taxes from, but the people cared less on who the lord was,…
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Season of Migration to the PFDJ
During the last three-Covid-years, the PFDJ was restlessly awaiting the end of the pandemic to relaunch its propaganda onslaught. Now it’s back to normal and the PFDJ is active trying to regain its momentum. Parties, wild dancing craze, surrendering, wring regret statements, are abundant. Round ten, twenty or thirty of the onslaughts is on. Spies,…
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Drones Created Out of Dirty Residues
In the last episode of Negarit (#181), I asked my audience ‘what do they miss the most in Eritrea?’ I was not surprised by their answers because I can identify with most of them. But regardless, they were heart-wrenching. Let me begin with a memorable story about a strong, assertive, no-nonsense woman I knew as…
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Three Envelopes for The Horn of Africa Leaders
A newly appointed corporate manager asked his predecessor to give him the best advice he could. The outgoing manager gave him three envelopes and told him to open them in sequence whenever he faced serious difficulties. Soon, he opened the first one. It read: blame everything on the previous management and buy time. He did.…
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Support The PFDJ, Your Regime
Some people hate others with passion. They don’t like them criticizing or opposing the regime they support, the PFDJ, the single, unelected party ruling Eritrea. But when the regime aggresses on the rights of the citizens, they turn a blind eye. There are two sides and for fairness, one side is either wrong or right.…
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China Stretches Out Its Hands To The Horn
On Monday, June 20, 2022, a two-day Governance and Development Conference winded up in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Xue Bing, China’s special envoy to the Horn of Africa represented his country that sponsored the conference. Except Eritrea, all the Horn of Africa countries, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti, attended the conference.…
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Abiy Threatens Eritrean Sovereignty
Last month the Ethiopian Federal Forces transported low-bed trucks loaded with tens of tanks heading towards the direction of Djibouti. The tanks were finally offloaded in Bure, a town on the Eritrean-Ethiopian border. Some sources claimed the tanks were transported from Djibouti to Assab by sea and from there, overland through Eritrean territories to Bure,…
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One Kicked Out, Two To Go
In 2018, when Abiy Ahmed made his overly promoted visit to Eritrea and “signed a peace agreement” with Isaias Afwerki, half the world media and the political tribes behaved like a child taken to a circus for the first time and watched sheepishly as wool was passed over their eyes. But the second half (and…
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Let Sherifo Testify
I am sure you must remember Mahmmed Sherifo. Certainly, you remember the reformers. Were they reformers… or something else! And how is the constitution tied to their arrest! Lastly, what’s the foundation of a constitution! This topic includes two parts. It’s an important topic and I believe it will help many who might be confused…
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Somalia Elects President Hassen Sheik Mahmoud
Somalia led the ex-president Formaggio to the Exit door and welcomed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who won the election by 184 votes. Amid a worsening inflation, lack of security, food shortage and a widespread draught, Somalia’s 328 representatives elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud out of 35 contenders. Mohammed Formaggio, the last president came next. President Hassen…
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Between Constitutionalism and “The Constitution”
[Reading time 9 minutes] Carlo was a driving school owner and trainer who was traveling to Keren in a bus together with his friend. The bus driver was reckless and seemed incompetent. The bus swayed and the passenger panicked, including Carlo. The friend asked Carlo to sit beside the driver and instruct him how to…
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The Horn of Africa: Unchanging Political Seasons
(Reading Time: 7 minutes) Historically, the African region that contains Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somaliland, and Somalia are considered Horn of Africa countries though Sudan doesn’t belong to that geography. But the above countries are so much related and influenced by each other. These countries have no properly defined geographical limits, therefore, they are haphazardly…
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Eritrean PFDJ and Crowd Mentality
The following is inspired by Gustav Le Bon’s book, The Crowd—the study of the popular mind. If you are walking on a street and dog bites you badly, do you sue the dog or the owner? That is how I see the vulgarity and abuse that Eritreans are facing. The PFDJ cannot claim innocence, I…
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Tension in the Eritrean Ethiopian Border
(Reading time: 5 minutes) Gedab News learned that, over the last two weeks, large contingents of [Eritrean and Tigrayan] forces and equipment were amassed around the Ethiopian-Eritrean border areas. For the last few weeks, both forces have been undergoing serious training and “a confrontation is very likely”, and if a confrontation ignites between the two…
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Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan in Turmoil
After three-years of chaos, Sudan is still going through a precarious political situation where the central government has little control over the peripheries outside the Khartoum metropolis. Armed insurgencies and unrest engulf Kordofan and Darfur regions, only the latter is relatively calm due to the presence of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia group…
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Awate.com is released from Intensive Care
After operating at a minimum capacity for a while, awate.com is now back–after improving website security and renewed drive.
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Three-Legged Stool: Team Lemma, Loses Its Luster
[This Pencil Editorial was first published on March 18, 2019. Today, three years later, we are republishing it hoping it might help refresh our memories on what transpired since then might//Editor] At the beginning, avid admirers considered it pure gold, now they are startled, Team Lemma has lost its luster. Also, unbeknownst to many, it’s…