Abiy Ahmed unworthy recipient of 2019 Noble Peace Prize

By Berhane Kahsay
Tigrai Online Oct. 12, 2019

The value and prestige of the Noble Peace Prize (NPP) has plummeted after the Norwegian Noble Committee awarded the 2019 NPP to Abiy Ahmed, who has caused so much havoc in Ethiopia since his arrival in April 2018. Alfred Noble who created the institution in 1901 must be turning in his grave with utter disbelief.   

Abiy Ahmed’s 18 months track record is abysmal, and by any parameters, the PM is unworthy of receiving the Noble Peace Prize for 2019. Prior to his appearance, the country’s economy was consistently registering double-digit growth which has now come to a screeching halt because of his inability to carefully manage the sensitive and complex political settings resulting in the disruption of peace and stability which are the prerequisites for a successful economy.

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At this juncture, with the exception of Tigrai, venturing to other parts of the country has become perilous; university students are reluctant to go to their assigned destinations for fear of losing their lives; audacious bank robberies are on the up; unabated massacre of Qemant in Amhara region is unfolding; over 3 million citizens have been dislocated from their homesteads with no hope of resuming a normal live; Western Wollega and its vicinities have come under the rule of the army. In summation, Ethiopia is in a precarious situation and may end up like Yugoslavia and USSR. 

The so-called peace with Eritrea is simply in name only and no dividends to shout about. Eritreans are still leaving their country in droves and the borders of the two countries are still closed. With the exception of Abiy Ahmed and his close confidants, no one else is privy to the discussions held between the PM and the Eritrean dictator.

The decision to award the Noble Peace Prize to Abiy Ahmed was purely and simply politically motivated and nothing else. It is pretty obvious that this was his reward for handing over the sovereignty of the country to the US, the Gulf States and Egypt. Mikhail Gorbachev received a similar accolade for fracturing the USSR paving the way for the United States of America to become the only super power in the entire globe.

Ignoble Nobel Prize: trinket

By Yared Huluf
Tigrai Online

Perish the thought
Get the Pupates ducks in a row
So with gonzo publicity they aglow
And you know, yes you know!
The spangle you decorate shoulder below
Would help ascend to power grow, 
Thus adversaries dealt a blow.

Just because one is white
One felt the pride
The rest of us must submit
To what one thinks is wrong or right.
Just because you have the material means
You keep turning philistine.
Cross the line Crushing other races opine.

Just because one is rich
The rest must be obligated 
To what he/she preaches 
Because he/she has mazuma filled pockets
One can bend and twist facts on the ground
As vivid as they are:
Written on the wall 
Glanceable, not very far
for everyone to see
Except for his/her greed-dilated eyes.
But are we surprised
By the nature of such an enterprise 
Or the stature of some who won the prize
The likes of Aunt San  Suu Kyi and others 
Who are Implicated in ethnic cleaning,
Or ethnic strife-ravaged nations they govern?
How could people live in peace
When those well-greased
could not cease, 
Grabbing yet more with no intention to release, in the name of Nobel Prize!

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