By Hassan Keynan 9 September 2020 marks a critical milestone in modern Ethiopian politics. For months Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has used and manipulated both chambers of the Parliament, the judiciary, and the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to warn Tigray against going ahead with its planned elections. Addis Ababa insisted that any elections […]
Norwegian Nobel Committee. PHOTO: Nobel Media/Ken Opprann By Hassan Keynan The complex and immensely talented Swede, Alfred Nobel, was methodical in the manner he went about doing his business both when he was alive and after his death on 10 December 1896. He left little to chance or speculation. However, the meticulous inventor and investor […]
1991 Nobel Peace Laureate By Hassan Keynan Does the name Aung San Suu Kyi ring any bells? The cool and charismatic dissident in Myanmar was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize “for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.” The clean and saintly image is no more. Aung San Suu Kyi currently cuts the lonely […]
UN Secretary General António Guterres Dear Mr. Secretary-General, The events unfolding in Ethiopia are deeply troubling. Following the assassination of Haacaalu Hundeessaa, a popular artist and activist, by unknown assailants in the capital, Addis Ababa, late on Monday night, mass demonstrations erupted across the country. Tension is very high and tens of thousands of protesters are […]
By Hassan Keynan Prediction and byzantine Somali politics do not easily mix. Nevertheless, one could take a chance to predict that President Farmaajo and Company are likely to return to power. He will NOT come back through fair play. Fair and credible elections do not seem to be top among his priorities. His fortune leader […]
Colonel Abiy Ahmed Ali By Hassan Keynan Ethiopian leaders and political class do not see nor do they hear the evil and ugly demons residing in the inner sanctum of their empire. Ethiopia suffers from multiple perennial afflictions. The two most lethal ones are tyranny and kleptocracy. Tyranny Tyranny has deeper roots in Ethiopia and […]
Federal Minister of Health (middle) By Hassan Keynan Ethiopia’s latest Notification Note on COVID-19 Situational Update paints the picture of a country that is relatively in good shape and very much in control of the spread of the pandemic across the country: 123 cases and 3 deaths to date. The report also indicates a total […]
Ethiopia and ONLF delegation during the signing of the Asmara Joint Declaration Hassan Keynan The Somali Regional State (SRS) occupies the second largest territory and has the third largest population in Ethiopia. Its location is very strategic to the security of Ethiopia and the stability of the Horn of Africa Region. Most importantly, the discovery […]
Hassan Keynan Becoming an American citizen through naturalization requires taking the Oath of Allegiance, loudly. The first part of the Oath of Allegiance reads, “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have […]
Your Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, I write to you to deliver a message from the besieged people of Jubbaland, Somalia. Have you heard about the brutal blockade imposed on the people of Jubaland by the rogue Mogadishu-based government that misgoverns my country with your backing and blessing? Has the news of the human […]