Personal Manifesto for a Just Struggle Against the Abiy Ahmed Regime

In the name of justice, dignity, and the right to live free from tyranny.

I support the struggle against the Abiy Ahmed regime not for revenge, not for temporary alliances, and not replacing one form of domination with another—but to help bring about a just and democratic future where no people are ever targeted for extermination, humiliation, or subjugation. This is a personal and political commitment to a path that does not erase the past, but confronts it—open-eyed, principled, and unyielding.

I. On the Genocidal Crimes and the Betrayal of Ethiopia’s Promise

Over one million Tigrayan lives were erased or shattered under the regime of Abiy Ahmed—a campaign of genocide executed not alone, but with the active or complicit participation of elites, security forces, and mobilized segments from every major political center in Ethiopia. No amount of silence or self-preservation can bury that truth. And any path forward that ignores it is a betrayal of justice.

Abiy Ahmed’s regime co-opted Ethiopia’s multinational architecture not to protect difference but to weaponize it. He used Amhara expansionist ambitions, Oromo fragmentation, Southern marginalization, and even Tigrayan turncoats, to create a machinery of mass death. He didn’t just divide the country—he used a divided country to destroy its conscience.

II. On the Fear and Fracture Among the Opposition

It is true: many in Tigray fear cooperating with elites who once cheered, justified, or remained silent during the genocide. That fear is not paranoia—it is memory. It is not mistrust—it is history. And it must be respected, not dismissed.

Likewise, elites from other nations and nationalities hesitate to engage because they know what they did. Some fear accountability. Others fear being outed. Many still minimize their role, hoping time will bury their complicity.

But let this be said clearly: there is no future coalition worth building if it demands Tigrayans forget, forgive, or fight alongside those who have not even acknowledged their role in atrocity.

III. The Line Between Cooperation and Compromise

I am ready to cooperate with any force, individual, or institution committed to removing the Abiy Ahmed regime. But cooperation does not mean erasure. It does not mean placing the very architects or cheerleaders of violence in positions of leadership in a post-Abiy order.

I will not fight to replace one tyrant with a committee of his former advisors.

We must build a coalition of accountability—not of amnesia. Those with blood on their hands cannot lead the way to justice. They may support it, contribute to it, even atone for their role—but they must not shape it.

IV. Principles for Moving Forward

1. No closure without justice: No one has the moral or political right to “move on” or “turn the page” while victims’ blood is still crying out from mass graves.
2. Acknowledgment is the minimum entry point: Every individual or political group seeking to join a new democratic front must publicly acknowledge the genocide and their role in enabling or failing to stop it.
3. No return to old power cartels: The post-Abiy order must not be a recycling of former ruling elites who simply switch colors or flags.
4. Justice for all victims: We demand justice not just for Tigrayans, but for Oromo youth gunned down in the streets, Amharas massacred in border villages, Southern nations erased from federal relevance, and every citizen brutalized by state power—whoever wielded it.
5. Collaborate for a democratic transition, not just regime change: The goal is not merely to remove Abiy Ahmed, but to end the system that allowed him to emerge and dominate.
6. No whitewashing, no equivocation: We must resist the temptation to create a “big tent” by allowing the worst offenders to rebrand as opposition voices. Let them stand aside and support from the margins—but they cannot lead.
7. Build new leaders from the grassroots: Young, untainted voices—especially women, youth, and those from historically silenced communities—must be centered in the new political vision.

V. My Commitment

I will struggle for justice even when it isolates me.
I will extend my hand in solidarity, but not at the cost of truth.
I will speak the names of the dead and demand their stories be heard.
I will fight for the return of every displaced family to their land, their home, their dignity.
I will not confuse political convenience with moral clarity.

Let the struggle against Abiy Ahmed also be a struggle against the mindset and machinery that made his rise possible.
This is not just about Tigray. It is about ending a system of ethnic manipulation, impunity, and elite betrayal that has plagued Ethiopia for decades.

If we want peace, we must confront truth.
If we want justice, we must demand accountability.
If we want a future, we must not repeat the past.

This is my stand. And I will not move. What about you?