Tsedale Lemma engagement report

Best tweets

• May 9, 201920x their median

  I just witnessed the extraordinary ceremony when, after passing through 5 d/t stages of 8 yrs each & 40 yrs of patience, my father became Aba Gadaa Lemma Gemmechu! I can't describe how proud I am of him & my culture! #Oromo #GadaaDemocracy! 🔴⚫⚪ (Pic 3 with my bros & sisters) https://t.co/j2S1y1W63L

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• Nov 30, 20254.4x their median

  #NewProfilePic https://t.co/pjY3Y2Vx8n

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• Nov 30, 20254.3x their median

  That the most visceral moment of my indignation (when I was being lied to straight in the face) has now become a trending meme thanks to PP’s digital militia is, frankly, the most satisfying twist of the week. The fact that ya all fixated on the screenshot thinking it captured my “unflattering” face is exactly where the line between a horde of cadres and me is drawn, if you get my drift 😉. So thank you for amplifying it. I happily endorse it as my official portrait for every moment I am lied to in my face. And the comic relief in all this? An English phrase from Getachew somehow reborn as an Amharic wax-and-gold masterpiece. 🫢 Ethiopian literature experts could use the help. P.S. My gratitude to all of you who spoke out in my defence against this vicious online attack, one I know all too well. 🙏🏿

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• Aug 24, 20254.2x their median

  Happy #Ashenda to the indefatigable and stubborn joy of #Tigrayan women. You are the pulse that keeps Tigray alive; the heartbeat who endure, resist, and love louder than any attempt to silence you. Salute for pulling this year’s beautiful celebrations together! https://t.co/ZJWwpIeiqK

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• Mar 13, 20253.8x their median

  More than a million Tigrayan IDPs, hundreds of thousands of sexually violated women in desperate need of support, and the recovery of Tigray’s devastated infrastructure - including schools and hospitals - have all been pushed to the sidelines. The November 2022 Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was imperfect, but it silenced the guns. Now, infighting among Tigray’s political elite - largely driven by glaring failures in the agreement’s proper implementation - threatens to unravel what remains of it. Once again, Tigray stands on the brink of crisis. Yesterday, I spoke with the BBC Focus on Africa about this latest crisis, which has far-reaching implications for regional stability and Ethiopia’s broader challenges.

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• Jan 6, 20253.2x their median

  I had the distinct honour of living next door to Obbo Bulcha Demeksa for a decade. More than his decorated public life, Obbo Bulcha was a selfless source of wisdom, inspiration, and friendship. During the turbulence of the political landscape in the wake of the 2014-2018 #OromoProtest, he became one of the few people I often sought to hear from and understand what was happening. His guidance, resilience, and unwavering dedication to his principles as a social justice warrior left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing him and learning from him, including me. But beyond that, Obbo Bulcha taught me one of life’s greatest lessons: to never despair, even in the darkest of times. My deepest condolences to his widow Helen and the entire family. May you rest in eternal peace, Obbo Bulcha! You belong to the ages! 🕊️❤️

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• Apr 18, 20252.5x their median

  Public notice regarding federal police raid on Addis Standard and mass confiscation of electronic devises This is a public notice regarding a coordinated police raid on April 17, 2025, targeting both the private residence of a senior staff member and the offices of Addis Standard, by the federal police. We would like to reiterate that although the detained staff members were released, the continued seizure of a wide array of personal and professional electronic equipment - including laptops, mobile phones, hard disks, and CPUs - has not only disrupted our operations but are a cause for alarm. The confiscated electronics remain in police hands, leaving our communication channels vulnerable to misuse. Although our main digital credentials remain secure, we cannot guarantee the integrity of any messages or emails sent from the compromised devices. This opens the door to potential impersonation, misinformation, or attempts to incriminate our team members through unauthorized access or manipulation of data. In such a volatile environment, the use of these devices outside our control presents serious risks not only to our staff’s safety but also to the integrity of our journalistic work. We call for urgent attention to this matter and reiterate our commitment to pursuing all legal and peaceful avenues to protect our team and uphold our integrity to defend the freedom of the press in Ethiopia. JAKENN Publishing PLC The Publisher of Addis Standard tri-lingual publications

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• May 25, 20252.4x their median

  Sunday thoughts: On the inverse reality, revisionism and warped logic of #IsaiasAfwerki’s Independence Day speech Anyone who carefully listened to President Isaias Afwerki’s Independence Day speech on Saturday would have found more than enough material for a case study in inverse reality, revisionism, and warped logic. Here are some of the key points that stood out for me. Inverse reality His claims of foreign interference in the Horn of Africa is a brazen attempt to rewrite the very political history he helped shape through a violent interference into every single country in the Horn of Africa over the past 34 years. His argument becomes especially twisted when he describes recent wars in Ethiopia “declared against the Ethiopian people under the rubric of Prosperity (their new surrogate).” This is a stunning inversion of reality. It was his own military that crossed into Ethiopia and joined its forces in a genocidal campaign against the people of Tigray, a campaign documented in gruesome detail by every international human rights organisation, UN experts, and the media, to list the few. If there were any “surrogate” involved in waging war against the people of Ethiopia, Eritrean forces were at the centre of it and Isaias wasn’t a bystander, he was a lead actor. You can change the course of history through shifting allegiances, but you can’t rewrite it. Revisionism His claim that the “euphoria and optimism” generated by Ethiopia’s political change seven years ago remains “fresh in our memories” rings hollow when, from the outset, that so-called “reform” was aborted by the dismantling of a repressive yet functional political system, replaced by one that is both centralised and dysfunctional. It was a shift Isaias not only supported but actively helped engineer. “Ethnic federalism”, as he scorns it and incessantly attacks it, is not the source of Ethiopia’s current or past instability, but a fragile solution to the country’s deep historical inequalities. For all its flaws, it had delivered Ethiopia its longest period of relative stability. But the seven years since it began to unravel revealed that it was the backroom alliance involving Isaias himself and built on resentment of the protectorates the federal system that helped destroy Ethiopia. Again, you can change the course of history through shifting allegiances, but you can’t rewrite it. Warped logic But what I found most upsetting is how, as a President, Isaias resurrected the term “ideology of Oromummaa”, and used it to reinforce a claim invented by Ethiopia’s reactionary right painting Oromo identity as a violent political ideology. Isaias’s way of distancing himself from the backlash of having to say it was “it does not represent the Oromo people.” But this doesn’t conceal the warped logic of inserting it in his speech in the first place. Oromummaa is no more a political ideology than being Eritrean is. It is simply what it means to be Oromo. You can’t invoke being Eritrean as a neutral state of identity while, in the same breath, claim that being Oromo, or Oromummaa, is a violent political ideology that doesn’t represent the Oromo. But beyond the basic argument of logical fallacy one can raise about the abuse of this term, what’s interesting is the fact that Isaias used the rhetoric the same way as those scapegoating it to shield themselves from their roles in turning Ethiopia become an open field of endless violence. By sprinkling this term into his critique of Abiy, Isaias is not only peddling a toxic narrative targeting the Oromo identity as criminal, he is distancing himself from the wartime ally he has been in the crimes that dismantled the Ethiopian federation as we know it. In so doing, he just joined the warped logic of “Oromummaa did it”.

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• Feb 12, 20252.2x their median

  In loving memory of our father, Abba Gadaa Lemma Gemmechu Tikse. It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Abba Gadaa Lemma Gemmechu Tikse, who passed away on Monday February 10 at the age of 89. He was laid to rest today at St. George’s Church in Bekoji. A short tribute As a good civil servant, Abaye left this world after a life of deep purpose, shaping the minds of thousands of students for nearly 40 years as a dedicate teacher. As a man of the rich traditions of the Oromo Gadaa system, he left this world after he completed the 40-year journey of the Gadaa through its five stages - a path he inherited from his late father, kick started with our late mother by his side – who jokingly wore his Fole in the middle of the festivities (what was she thinking) - and completed just three years after her untimely tragic death. Abaye embodied both the modern educator and the custodian of an ancient system of governance and wisdom. His life was a testament to the power of knowledge, whether shared in the classroom or, after retirement, through the timeless wisdom of his heritage. To his students, Abaye was more than an educator - he was the minder of those cursive and neat handwritings, the father of the correct English spellings of their names, and the teacher everyone secretly hoped to see smile just to get a glimpse of the spark from those beautifully arranged row of white teeth of his. For the people of Bekoji, he was not only a child born and raised in their midst, a good neighbor and an educator of their children; he was the chairman of the local ‘Shengo’, the treasurer of the ‘Equib’, and the pillar of discipline they revered deeply. To us his family, Abaye was a guardian. At night, he was our watchman, sitting on the porch, reading his books, sipping our mother’s ‘Tela’ (the local beer she was an expert in brewing) and listening to the silence of Bekoji’s cold nights. It made our teenage lives uncomfortable- sneaking into the house after our often-unauthorized visits to the local video houses was our constant nightmare; but for him it wasn’t only his favorite pastime of the quiet nights, it was his way of letting his presence alone be enough to make us feel safe. To what became of our way of life, Abaye was the constant minder of our imperfections - a father who believed that even the way laundry was hung spoke of one’s character. Clothes should never be separated at random; bedsheets had no place mixing with sweaters, and socks had no business hanging mixed with underwear. It was irritating to be watched so closely over such details, but it was his way of teaching us discipline, precision, and care. He wasn’t just the teacher who made sure we never missed a class; he was the father who taught us the values of doing things the right way, no matter how small the task. In all these, his language was often unspoken, yet deeply understood. When we blunder, he was the father who could say everything without saying much at all, a man whose quiet presence spoke volumes. He found joy in life’s simple pleasures too; he was a constant at the game of billiard in the neighborhood, where he engaged with players of all ages, and smiled even when curses were thrown at him when he wins. So much so that our late mother and his companion of 45 years, Mulunesh Tefera, would tease him for getting so lost in the game that he would forget to come home for lunch. “I forgot to bring you your lunch at the billiard house,” she would joke. That was how his love for the game of billiard often made his pastime slip away. Our father leaves behind a family of eight children and more than a dozen grandchildren and adopted children who he loved and who loved him back and cared for him; his friends who cherished him, and countless former students who have gone on to make an impact in the world in part because they had him as their educator. Though Abaye no longer sits on the porch watching over us, his presence lingers in the details he so carefully minded, in the silence that now speaks his name, in that infectious smile of his, and in the values of precision that he tirelessly taught us. Abaye, now you belong to the ages. May you rest in eternal peace as your body lays next to Emaye’s, the woman you shared the better part of your earthly life with. We will miss you deeply! 💔

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• Nov 3, 20252.1x their median

  The #Tigray War Five Years On: The Pretoria Agreement and the Need for Peace https://t.co/rIaLtK1IwS In ways few are ready to fully confront, the war in the Tigray region has redefined both the Ethiopian state and its place in the world. November 4 marks five years since the outbreak of the war, one of the most devastating wars of the 21st century. While the 2022 Pretoria Agreement brought an end to the fighting, its implementation remains incomplete. What went wrong? Tomorrow, I’ll join a panel to reflect on these legacies and the path forward. Opening Remarks: Representative Sara Jacobs (CA-51) Jeremy Konyndyk, President, Refugees International Panel Discussion: Payton Knopf, Special Advisor, Dialogue Advisory Group & former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Mike Woldemariam, Associate Professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy and me. Moderator: Nick Schifrin, Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour 🗓 Tuesday, November 4, 2025 🕤 9:30 – 11:00 AM ET / D.C. 🕠 5:30 – 7:00 PM EAT / Addis Ababa – Nairobi 🕞 3:30 – 5:00 PM CET / Brussels – Berlin Panelists will assess progress and setbacks since the Pretoria Agreement, examine the risks of renewed conflict, and explore what Washington can do to help advance a sustainable peace in Ethiopia. An audience Q&A will follow. Register here https://t.co/rIaLtK1IwS

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