The United States Targets Daniel Kibret Member of Ethiopian Parliament

Barely a week after announcement of Biden Administration sanction region over Ethiopia, US is targeting Daniel Kibret, an elected member of the Ethiopian parliament, over his remarks on devilish nature of TPLF

Borkena

The United States seems to have taken its meddling in the Ethiopian affair a step further. Earlier this week, the U.S. state department criticized remarks by Daniel Kibret, an independent candidate who won a seat for the national parliament in the July 2021 election. 

The U.S. criticized him over remarks about the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – whom he likened to the devil. Absolute majority of Ethiopians tend to think that the TPLF, which the last Ethiopian parliament designated as a terrorist organization, excels the devil in their capabilities for wickedness and to wreak havoc  on Ethiopians and Ethiopia. It is seen as the most evil political group in the history of Ethiopia, with unrivalled hate to Ethiopia and Ethiopian society. 

Daniel Kibret’s election symbol

The U.S. State department also expressed concern that Daniel used the language that the TPLF rebels should be “the last of their kind,” as reported by AFP. 

The source also provided a translation of his remark during an event organized in Addis Ababa last weekend.  “As you know, after the fall of Satan, there was nothing like Satan that was created… Satan was the last of his kind. And they (the TPLF) must also remain the last of their kind, ” he said. (watch a video of his speech below after 51st minute)

The State Department spokesperson thinks, as reported by AFP, that his message is “Hateful rhetoric like this is dangerous and unacceptable.”  

The Ethiopian government has remarked about the situation. Press Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister, Billene Seyoum, said  “There continues to be a gross misreading of statements issued by various entities without understanding the nuances of Ethiopian languages. TPLF sympathiser translations cannot be the basis of declaring statements as ‘hateful rhetoric’.” 

Borkena reached out to Daniel Kibret to get his response over the US reaction to his remark, but he was not immediately available. 

The views of the absolute majority of Ethiopians towards the Tigray rebels is not different from that of Daniel Kibret’s. It could even be harsher.  

The Tigray rebels brought much suffering to most Ethiopians during their thirty years of US-backed ruthless rule in Ethiopia. Apart from brutal oppression, they introduced (and entrenched) ethnic based structure and administration in Ethiopia to the point where ethnic and religious based violence became prevalent in Ethiopia, claiming tens of thousands of civilian lives. 

U.S. criticism of Daniel Kibret, who served in the Ethiopian church as a deacon and preacher for decades,  has triggered anger among Ethiopians on social media. Those who value his writing on social, historical and political issues saw U.S. criticism as inappropriate. Daniel had been blogging for well over a decade and has published numerous books. 

The TPLF has always been unpopular in Ethiopia, so much so that it became impossible for the group to rule Ethiopia without extensive repression and rights violations in different parts of the country. 

After the Ethiopian government forces took control of most part of Tigray region, reversing what was meant to be a blitzkrieg attack by TPLF forces to march to Addis Ababa to restore power, Ethiopian Prime Minister is Abiy Ahmed mentioned during one of his address that the youth is not showing interest to join the army. 

When the TPLF forces took control of several areas in Afar and Amhara regions of Ethiopia, where they slaughtered hundreds of civilians, including children, following the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from the Tigray region of Ethiopia on condition of unilateral ceasefire, it reminded Ethiopians once again about the capabilities of TPLF (Tigray rebels) as political forces that should be of “the last of their kind.” 

It resulted in unprecedented voluntary conscription to join the army and voluntary mobilization of resources to ensure adequate logistics for the operation to end the TPLF for good. 

Now Ethiopia has hundreds of thousands of additions to the armed forces. And the expressed aspiration of Ethiopians is to see that Tigray rebels no longer have the capabilities to unleash destruction on Ethiopia.