Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
First a Bit about the Acronym ESAT in English is a modified acronym for Ethiopian Satellite TV and Radio. I suspect the acronym was deliberately tweaked to give it the powerful pyronic connotation in the vernacular Amharic.
እሳት (ESAT) in Amharic literally means fire in English, and figuratively it also means a firebrand with a fiery personality. So, ESAT is supposed to spew and spout the fire of truth, fact and evidence as opposed to, for example, ETV (Ethiopian Television) which had been forced by the powers that be to spread and broadcast fake news, lies and damned lies! ETV had been a spin and hype propaganda machine, but ESAT, according to its promoters and aficionados is the purveyor of verity and veracity.
Origin and Raison D’Être ESAT could be said to have emerged from the blood bath of 2005 following the election in which hundreds of Ethiopians including youngsters as young as fourteen years of age, were brutally gunned down in broad daylight by the despotic and rapacious regime of Meles Zenawi. Meles Zenawi’s special commandos and para-commandos with red berets opened fire on unarmed civilian protesters whose only apparent “crime” was to vote against the dictatorial TPLF/EPRDF government.
Hence, the fledgling democracy that was beginning to take root on Ethiopian soil in a fairly significant manner perhaps for the first time was nipped in the bud. Democracy was therefore exiled together with the winners of the aborted election. ESAT thrived under the Statue of Liberty: where else but in America, and began to spread the good news and views about the possibility of building a democratic society in Ethiopia.
ESAT was born out of protest against cold-blooded extra judicial murder and merciless oppression and exploitation. ESAT broadcast and aired graphic video footage of TPLF/EPRDF’s slaughter and murder of unarmed civilians in Addis Ababa, in Gambela, Ogaden and elsewhere. Mass murder and mass grave stories were exposed with reliable supporting evidence. News stories and analysis of verified official corruption and grand larceny were similarly revealed to stunning effect as regards raising public consciousness about the brutality and perfidy of the TPLF/EPRDF regime.
Murderous kleptocrats and impostors were mercilessly exposed by incontrovertible evidence. Torture episodes of the most revolting and repugnant kinds and corruption mechanisms of the most intricate and intertwined versions were brought to light on ESAT and the TPLF/EPRDF regime stood naked before the eyes of Ethiopian audiences all across the country with nowhere to hide. Thanks to ESAT, it became increasingly clear that the regime committed the whole gamut of crimes ranging from blatant human rights violations, extra-judicial killings, illegal evictions, forced sterilization, fraud and corruption, nepotism to torture, murder and high treason.
High military and civilian posts were accorded to henchmen and lackeys with fake academic degrees and undeserved ranks. Ethiopian audiences all around the country fact-checked ESAT’s news stories, analyses and documentaries with what they saw and heard here in Ethiopia and believed most of these, lending credence to the raison d’être of ESAT and its lofty mission of helping Ethiopian people get rid of the hated regime and sowing in its place the seeds of democracy and the freedom of thought and expression.
The culmination of ESAT’s effort and campaign against the hated regime came when the now famous Abebe Gelaw, ESAT’s Executive Director, interrupted a sideline G-8 Summit in Washington, D.C. in May 2012 at which no less a leader than the U.S. President Obama was present, with his reverberating shouts “Freedom before Food!” and “Meles Zenawi is a dictator!” Meles Zenawi hung his head down in utter embarrassment and shame.
As it turned out, that historic episode stood out as a defining moment in contemporary Ethiopian politics, representing the TPLF/ EPRDF’s weakening pedestal of power. The Cause that Lionized ESAT It is a composite cause of Ethiopianism and democracy at a time when Ethiopia appeared to disintegrate and descend into political chaos that lionized ESAT and diminished the TPLF/EPRDF which seemed to be the perpetrator of the apparently impending national demise and catastrophe.
ESAT brought together prominent Ethiopian intellectuals to debate on various strands of Ethiopian history and dissect its ancient and modern aspects with a view of reaching a common middle ground where all Ethiopians may tread freely and harmoniously. ESAT gave and has given everybody a chance to air and ventilate their views, but it is pretty unabashed about its obvious bias towards ideas and concepts that attempt to bring all Ethiopians together under one and only one nationality, namely Ethiopianism.
Its thinly veiled sympathies for Ethiopia’s tricolored flag without any kind of emblem on it (i.e., tricolor of green, yellow and red) can hardly be mistaken. In this respect, ESAT’s footage of nationalist activists’ exploits on the premises of the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington to raise the emblemless Ethiopian flag despite gun shots by the security chief on the scene (2014) has added to the media station’s stature and grandeur. The life and times of Emperor Haile Selassie I who re-united Eritrea with its motherland Ethiopia and regained the allimportant access to the sea without so much as firing a shot were extolled and exalted by the ESAT story line, conjuring up an idyllic narrative and halcyon days of a bygone era.
As if this had always been an indisputable fact, the recent erection and ceremonious unveiling of the statue of the Emperor on the grounds of the HQ of the AU reaffirmed the monarch’s enduring achievements and halo of charisma surrounding his person. Hence, ESAT was lionized by, among other things, telling the stories, sagas and epics of the lions of Ethiopian history and folklore, of the benefits of Ethiopian unity and of the precedence of Ethiopianism over ethnicism.
The Staff that Made ESAT Famous To begin with Abebe Gelaw, the Executive Director of ESAT, is considered by many Ethiopians as a paragon of patriotism, courage and self-belief. His dramatic and spectacular interruption of the G-8 sideline assembly of heads of states and government in Washington, D.C. in 2014 which was presided over by the former Leader of the Free World President Barack Obama in protest against the dictatorial and brutal regime of Meles Zenawi, who was himself participating in the conference, has catapulted him to the status of national hero of the highest order.
Abebe Gelaw’s shouts of protest (including, “Meles Zenawi is a dictator!”) punctured Meles Zenawi’s oversize ego and made him hang his head down in utter humiliation. ESAT owes its fame particularly to a bevy of brilliant journalists, reporters and analysts whose analytical, oratorical and literacy talent and ability never fail to impress and astound. Chief among these talented individuals are Sisay Agena, Habtamu Ayalew, Messay Mekonnen, Ermias Legesse, Gelila Mekonnen, Metasebia Zeleke, Riote Alemu, Derej Habtewold, Afework Agdew, Wondemagegn Gashu, Abe Tokichaw, Engidu Wolde, Getachew Abdi, Fasil Yenealem, Tewolde Beyene, etc.
(Order of appearance does not necessarily indicate degree of fame). Habtamu Ayalew’s analytical prowess, Ermias Legesse’s extraordinary attention to detail and Sissay Agena’s philosophical calmness and penetrating insight when he conducts interviews and Messay Mekonnen’s capacity for meshing mental with emotional intelligence are the salient hallmarks of ESAT’s amazing staff. These young professionals amass information from all corners of Ethiopia, sift through it for inconsistency and fake news, marshal it into credible news and data and deliver it in the most forceful and convincing fashion possible.
That is the stuff of which ESAT is made and that is why it has become so popular and dependable all across the country. ESAT’s Role as Beacon of Democracy and Justice As indicated above, ESAT was born as a reaction and a counterpoint to injustice and dictatorship. Meles Zenawi gagged the media and crushed peaceful demonstrations. The winners of the 2005 political election did not escape the regime’s brutal crackdown.
They were actually imprisoned for nearly two years, but when, after western diplomatic intervention, they were finally released from jail, they fled to the USA and Europe and created a mouthpiece, ESAT, to tell their story. They told of their experience of injustice, manhandling, kangaroo court procedures, physical torture and loss of freedom and democracy through incarceration. All this was told and narrated on ESAT, which gradually got used to comfortably breathing the fresh air of democracy in America and Western Europe, in Washington D.C. and Amsterdam.
ESAT had no choice but to become the voice of democracy and the antithesis of dictatorship; the beacon of justice, reason and tolerance. ESAT in due course came to know and understand that force is a creature of knowledge made only to defend knowledge and truth. Force is a servant of knowledge, truth and justice and not vice versa! ESAT believes in free discussion and debate and in the power of reason over prejudice and wild emotion and passion.
My own opinion on this matter is that ESAT will become a genuine platform for honest and well structured discussions on Ethiopianism vs. ethnicism, a federal sate against a unitary state (both being fully democratic), the present parliamentary government structure vs. a presidential one, the question of official languages, criteria for creating administrative units, land tenure reform, education sector reform, banking sector reform, etc. A Deserved Welcome Beyond Tumultuous ESAT is now a prominent feature of the new democratic edifice being erected by the reformist Abiy government.
It has already set up a media station in Addis Ababa, complete with a brand new office and some communication equipment and physical facilities. ESAT has requested for financial support from Ethiopians both locally and in the Diaspora to enhance its facilities. As is well-known, the pre-reform TPLF/EPRDF government labeled ESAT as the voice of “terrorist groups”, including Arbegnoch Ginbot 7, managed and financed by these same groups. Now, though, the unfounded label of “terrorist” has been erased from the names of these groups, and ESAT itself has now become the new poster media of the Ethiopian population, although the avowedly reformist government led by Abiy Ahmed.
Be that as it may, the welcome accorded to ESAT staff who arrived at the Millennium Hall here in Addis Ababa on February 16, 2019 was beyond tumultuous. I proved to myself on that day what I had always known and believed all my life: that, however powerful shouts, roars and chants of welcome may be, they cannot possibly bring roofs down to the ground!
When Abebe Gelaw, Sisay Agena and Anna Gomez appeared on the stage to acknowledge the more than tumultuous welcome from the crowd jammed into the 25,000-capacity giant hall, I reeled from the deafening noise and almost tumbled to the floor! The carnival atmosphere that followed the rapturous welcome ceremony was beyond description! It was in short a mega extravaganza of the celebration of Ethiopianism and democracy, and without a shadow of doubt, it was a massive success! I left the mayhem in the hall in a half-drunk (although I never drank) and dreamy state, but being in no doubt that ESAT is here to stay! The fire of ESAT shall become the firebrand of Ethiopian democracy and unity! God Bless Ethiopia!
The Ethiopian Herald, March 10/2019
BY TEKLEBIRHAN GEBREMICHAEL
