A Rare Moment

In the middle is Tekeda Alemu (PhD), a committed technocrat who recently retired after serving the foreign office during the successive regimes; to the left is Fesseha Desta (Col.), a founding member of the Dergue; Hassan Moalin from the ONLF; and, Abebe Teklehaimanot (Maj. Gen.), a.k.a Jabie, former TPLF fighter. To the far left is Hallelujah Lulie, an acting director of the Institute for Strategic Affairs, the organizer of the seminar.


A Rare Moment

A rare and one of a kind moment took place at the Sheraton Addis, where individuals with diverse and contested backgrounds gathered today, November 28, 2019. They claimed the front row at a seminar organized to revisit the legacy of Walelegn Mekonnen, one of the student movement leaders who authored a political essay that arguably defined the course of history in Ethiopia whereby Emperor Hailesellasie was deposed. His grandson, Be'edemariam Mekonnen (Prince) was seated between Lencho Letta, the founder of the OLF, and Gebru Tarekegn, a professor emeritus and former activist of the underground movement, the EPRP. In the middle is Tekeda Alemu (PhD), a committed technocrat who recently retired after serving the foreign office during the successive regimes; to the left is Fesseha Desta (Col.), a founding member of the Dergue; Hassan Moalin from the ONLF; and, Abebe Teklehaimanot (Maj. Gen.), aka Jabie, a former TPLF fighter. To the far left is Hallelujah Lulie, an acting director of the Institute for Strategic Affairs, the organizer of the seminar.

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In-Picture

WAITING HOOVES

A donkey “parking lot” along Dejazmach Mekonin Demisaw Street in Sebategna, Mercato, hosts a patient line of beasts ready for their next load. Each animal seems to carry more than goods, they bear memories of an era when hooves, not wheels, ruled the streets. Passersby rush past in the busy market, half-smiling, half-reflecting, as the scene whispers stories of grit, patience, and the slow rhythm of life that machines have since hurried past. Somewhere between nostalgia and necessity, these...


In-Picture

CROOKED PASSAGE

A once newly structured railway fence leans over to the side to let passersby have a way to cross the street rather than walking to a Zebra crossing, hinting at urban ingenuity, or stubborn shortcuts, where everyday life finds its own paths, no matter how crooked. In its sagging frame, the fence tells a story of compromise between order and habit, of city planning meeting human impatience. It is a small rebellion against rigid design, a reminder that the pulse of the city often beats in the spac...


In-Picture

CONTROLLED RUIN

A construction worker, headset firmly in place, pushes a concrete cutter along Ras Desta Damtew Street near Addis Abeba Stadium, carving a trench for new underground cables. The machine tears into otherwise smooth asphalt, leaving a temporary scar on a well-served road. Pedestrians flinch at the grinding noise, drivers sigh, yet beneath the disruption, silent wires quietly stitch the city's connectivity together also hinting the unpredictable plan changes of the city design...