Tag: Asmara
-
Ustaz AbdulHamid: Among the Few Left from the Umma Generation
It was Mendefera, on a January morning in 1929. The wife was expecting; soon, the child refused to remain in the womb and came into the world. An elderly midwife was there to help. The baby looked healthy. She was glad because her prediction had come true—it was a boy. Smiling, she cupped her hands
-
Saleh, a Donkey, and Whiskey in Coffee Cups
Today’s episode concludes the mini-series spanning episodes 349 to 354. I will place them all in one playlist for easy reference. And as the adage goes, sebaay klte neow nejew kbl mote—a person must finish what he starts. There are many topics awaiting us, especially the constant poking from Abiy Ahmed and his flamboyant but empty
-
Negarit 353 : Are Eritrean Youth Content?
In today’s Negarit 254, I will tell you about the late Goitom, in addition to other stories of humor and human endurance that I observed during my journey through the Eritrean Kebessa, the highlands. This segment continues the travelogue I began in Negarit 249 and carried through to Negarit 352, and it leads us to
-
The Battle of Afdeyu
The previous night we met Petros Solomon and Ali Sayed Abdella, and I discovered the much hoped for dialogue for uniting the ELF and PLF was rejected. The ominous disclosure devastated me. And we returned to Weki. The next morning, we were having tea for breakfast when our breakfast was interrupted. We rushed toward the
-
Isaias Calls for Intifada in Eritrea
Recently a usual “interview” of Isaias Afwerki was aired on Eritrean television; none of the people I talked to expected something new, but somehow all had the urge to listen to it. The interview was widely spread, thanks to the many Youtubers who rushed to publish it. People speak to the public because they have
-
The Massawa-Mekele-Addis-Ababa Railway
Back in the day, aboy Tewelde had a masonry stone hauling truck. To this day, no car company has built a truck like it. It was slow, therefore it doesn’t need brakes, it’ didn’t have lights because it moved only during the day; it didn’t have hoot because aboy Tewelde would take his head out
-
Broken News
There’re two types of narcotics: Downers cause depression, insomnia, and melancholy; Uppers cause euphoria, excitement, and relaxation. When intoxicated, some laugh hysterically for no reason; others become miserable. They may remember incidents from the past—my great-great-grandmother died—and cry. When I was a kid, I lost a pair of shoes and cried. The sun is too
-
Music That Resides In Our Memories
The basic translation of the lyrics in the video… The land of goodness, Africa is my country The land of plenty, the land of pride, is my country See the faces of my fathers, And their raised foreheads Principles do not change. I’ll lead the procession and tell the world, “I am African; I am
-
PFDJ Members Also Betrayed By the Eritrean Regime
This is an Account presented through the Story of Gebremeskel Tekle. “A profound chaos descended on our lives in the mid-1960s, whose rights and wrongs were obscured by the brutalities that accompanied the changes brought about by the revolution in 1964: detentions, executions, expulsions, and endless small and large indignities and oppressions.” The above citation
-
War-Caused Friction Among Eritreans
A government employee said, “In addition to the house-to-house search, uncles and aunts are forced to spy on their own children; spying and snitching on relatives, friends, and neighbors is tearing the Eritrean society apart.”
-
Ethiopians Still Talking About Talking
Since Abiy Ahmed took office as Ethiopia’s prime minister in 2018, the region is entangled in a civil war. So far, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, the economy sustained heavy damages, and ethnic conflicts are spreading to every corner of the already unstable region. Preaching hate and violence has become the daily
-
Eritrean Opposition Movement: In Dire Search of Potency and Relevance
Whenever foreign journalists query Eritrea’s strongman, Isaias Afewerki about political opposition to his totalitarian rule, he is known to get a fake perplexed look on his face before retorting, in feigned puzzlement, “What opposition?” On further prodding from a persistent inquisitor, he tries to lay the question to rest with a dismissive, yet emphatic denial:
-
Season of Migration to the PFDJ
During the last three-Covid-years, the PFDJ was restlessly awaiting the end of the pandemic to relaunch its propaganda onslaught. Now it’s back to normal and the PFDJ is active trying to regain its momentum. Parties, wild dancing craze, surrendering, wring regret statements, are abundant. Round ten, twenty or thirty of the onslaughts is on. Spies,
-
Drones Created Out of Dirty Residues
In the last episode of Negarit (#181), I asked my audience ‘what do they miss the most in Eritrea?’ I was not surprised by their answers because I can identify with most of them. But regardless, they were heart-wrenching. Let me begin with a memorable story about a strong, assertive, no-nonsense woman I knew as
-
China Stretches Out Its Hands To The Horn
On Monday, June 20, 2022, a two-day Governance and Development Conference winded up in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Xue Bing, China’s special envoy to the Horn of Africa represented his country that sponsored the conference. Except Eritrea, all the Horn of Africa countries, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti, attended the conference.
-
Book Review: Eritrea-Inception and Consolidation of Dictatorship
Published 2020, Uppsala Sweden. Text in Tigrinya. ISBN: 978-91-519-5571-1 Pp. 365 plus list of references. Reviewed by Tekeste Negash Emeritus Professor July 24, 2020 This book, Rezene Tesfazion,( RT) explains in the introduction, is about life in exile. It explores the political reason (underground political activities in Asmara before 1974) as the main reason for
-
An Open Letter to My Friend
This story revolves around the early memories of my upbringing that shaped my identity. In all conscience, it is neither a riveting story nor based on exaggerated psychological self-assessment of my past; it is just a modest soul-searching endeavour accompanied by some indulgence in retrospection. Why do I find it important to write about this
-
General Sebhat Efrem in Critical but Stable Condition
Last Wednesday before noon, General Sebhat Efrem survived an assassination attempt with serious wounds. The incident happened inside the general’s residence located across Garage Royal on Marsa Teklai Avenue in Asmara. The assailant was apprehended by soldiers standing guard outside the European Union offices located across the street from the general’s residence. Cries coming out
-
Ethiopian Airlines Will Resume Flights to Asmara
This morning, the Ethiopian prime minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed concluded a two-day visit to Asmara after signing several agreements. The major item of his talks in Eritrea was a peace agreement, though its content was on the table since 2004. However, the Eritrean government had refused to dialogue with the Ethiopian government insisting the latter pull out its troops
-
Akria: Memories of Childhood in the Garden Among the Flames!
INTRODUCTION: What you are going to read here is not history! But it is not fiction either! You may consider it a trail of memories that an Akrian boy may have run in his mind during the last crisis in the neighborhood. For sure this essay is not history but history can be made from