Secretary general of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit), Ato Muluneh Eyoel, gave a press conference to Ethiopian Review, Ethiopian Media Forum, Addis Dimts Radio and Netsenet LeEthiopia Radio yesterday. During the 1-hour press conference, Ato Muluneh discussed the scheduled working visits by Kinijit high-level delegations to the United States and other countries.
Ato Muluneh said that the delegates who are travelling to the U.S., Europe, Australia and South Africa have all obtained their visas. Ato Muluneh himself will lead a delegation to Europe, while vice president Bertukan Mideksa will arrive in Washington DC on Sunday [see poster] leading a delegation of five.
Originally, the delegation to the U.S. was to be headed by Kinijit president Ato Hailu Shawel, but this week he informed the executive committee that he will not make the trip due to poor health. Instead, Ato Hailu will travel to Germany on Friday to get medical treatment, according to Shaleqa Getachew Mengiste who will depart for South Africa on Monday.
A Kinijit splinter group led by Shaleqa Yoseph Yazew has issued a false statement saying that the reason Ato Hailu is not coming to the U.S. is because the embassy refused to give him a visa. The American Ambassador in Addis Ababa, Donald Yamamoto, denied that today saying that Ato Hailu’s visa is ready. The shaleqa group also warned that if Ato Hailu cannot travel to the U.S., the other leaders should also not come. The question is, who empowered these crooks to warn or order around the Kinijit executive committee?
There is a lot to criticize about the American embassy in Addis Ababa, such as its see-no-evil-hear-no-evil attititude toward the Woyanne regime. But making false accusations against the embassy is harmful to Kinijit’s own credibility. Here it must be made clear that no Kinijit official has accused the American embassy of denying visa to Ato Hailu, including Ato Hailu himself. The false accusation and misinformation have been coming from the shaleqa group, which is not a surprise. The shaleqa and his rogue group are leaving no stone unturned to block the Kinijit delegation’s visit to the United States. They have a reason for doing that — one of the delegation’s primary objectives in coming to the U.S. is to investigate the alleged corruption by the shaleqa and take appropriate measures.
It is not a secret that Ato Hailu has changed his mind about coming to the United States after being pressured by Shaleqa Yoseph and Dr Taye Woldesemayat. Although the Kinijit executive committee has requested both individuals to cease and desist from acting on behalf on Kinijit, they have refused to do so, and this week they have organized a fund rasing event in Washington DC in the party’s name. This is in clear defiance of the executive committee’s order.
Shaleqa Yoseph, who has cleverly befriended Ato Hailu Shawel and developed very close family ties, is counting on that friendship to save him from being investigated. To help him with his strategy of creating diversions in a desperate attempt to cover up his corruption, he has also brought to his side some of the most implacable opponents of Kinijit. This unholly alliance include Dr Taye (who had proudly declared that he didn’t vote for Kinijit), the EPRP crew (who consider Kinijit more of a threat to their discredited party than Woyanne), Woyanne web sites, and a former abiyot tebaqi who has been spewing anti-Kinijit diatribes on his radio program for the past two years. The shaleqa’s fund raising event this weekend and his other activities are being promoted by… guess who? EPRP and Woyanne media outlets, such as Aiga Forum, EthioLion, Debteraw, Assimba… Just check their web sites. These are the forces that are currently aligned with Shaleqa against Kinijit as a party and its executive committee.
The shaleqa had also sent a stern message to Ato Hailu Shawel recently saying that “betraying” him will have a grave consequence. This warning (blackmail?) was posted on Aiga Forum. So Ato Hailu could be in a quandary, and it is understandable he decided not to come to the U.S. As a matter of fact, it is a good thing that he is not coming, since the delegation will now be led by Wzt. Bertukan Mideksa, a highly respected former judge who can do a better job of conducting a thorough investigation into the shaleqa’s corruption.
A note to Ato Hailu Shawel:
We admire you to no end for your contribution to the anti-Woyanne struggle. It is also an admirable quality to be loyal to your friends. But Kinijit is a political party that promotes honesty, transparency and accountability. You are presented with a mountain of evidence about the corruption of your friends Shaleqa Yoseph Yazew, Ato Moges Brook and others. Ignoring all these evidences, if you try to cover up or put under the rug their crimes, you would be undermining the party you helped build and the pro-democracy struggle you helped lead this far. If your friendship with the shaleqa group would not allow you to conduct an investigation, then recuse yourself from the investigation. But please do not take part in a cover up. We are confident that you will not betray Kinijit, yourself and, most important of all, the people of Ethiopia, in order to cover up for and protect a gang of crooks who have brought shame and dishonor to the party while you and your colleagues were languishing in Woyanne jail. We trust you not to repeat Lidetu Ayalew’s mistake.