Lie, Lie, Lie—Until It Is Sold as Truth

by Ewnetu Smaw, January 31, 2026.

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

— often attributed to Mark Twain. This is a piece regarding a government built on lies, of a leadership that weaponizes deception, and of a society caught between truth and a manufactured reality. In an age where information is currency and perception shapes reality, lies have become more than mere falsehoods—they have become instruments of power. Nowhere is this more evident than in the governance of Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia. For nearly a decade, the machinery of lies has operated relentlessly, not as a temporary tactic, but as the guiding principle of statecraft. Lies are repeated, amplified, and normalized until they are accepted as truth, bending public perception and silencing accountability.

Lies as a Governing Doctrine

Lie, lie, lie—and repeat it long enough, loudly enough, and shamelessly enough until it is accepted as truth. This is no longer a tactic; it is the governing doctrine of Abiy Ahmed’s federal government. For nearly eight years, Ethiopia has been ruled not by law, not by institutions, and not by accountability, but by a relentless industry of lies.

Recruiting Liars and Creating Captives

The truly shocking reality is that there are still people who doubt this fact—Abiy Ahmed’s pathological lying. They should not—but they do. His most dangerous skill lies not only in his ability to lie shamelessly, but also in his uncanny talent for recruiting effective and efficient liars. Yet he does not stop there. He deliberately ensnares them in corruption, illicit business, and criminal acts, drawing them into networks of his own design. Once trapped, he exploits their vulnerability and bends them completely to his will. From that point on, these captives have no real choice. They serve him not as allies, but as pawns and slaves. He commands them to fight—not to defend him, but to protect themselves. Obedience becomes survival; dissent becomes punishment. This is classic carrot-and-stick rule, perfected and weaponized. Bound by corruption and fear, these compromised and captive individuals are left with only one option: to offer their full, unreserved support—to lie, lie, lie, and live within the lie, stripped of any moral compass and at the expense of both their political and personal legacy.

Ethiopia in Crisis

Ethiopia is collapsing and bleeding while Abiy Ahmed and his pawns persist in nonstop lying, deceiving both the general public and the international community. Through his delusional claims, Abiy Ahmed insists that Ethiopia is prospering like never before, even as Ethiopians live in constant fear and crushing desperation, their lives economically devastated and precarious. Poverty, unemployment, and rising costs have become daily burdens, while uncertainty and insecurity dominate every move. Families struggle to survive, unable to plan for the future, trapped in a cycle of hardship and anxiety, as hope itself grows scarce.

The international community, repeatedly deceived, has chosen indifference and silence, accepting the false claim that only Abiy Ahmed can “save” Ethiopia if he remains in power. Instead, Ethiopia is collapsing and fragmenting under their watch.

War Engulfs the Nation

From the devastating genocidal war unleashed on Tigray, violence spilled into Amhara and continues to rage in Oromia, where war had already begun long before Tigray. Today, conflict engulfs every corner of the country. Mass death has been normalized, stripped of outrage, and reduced to background noise—no longer even news.

The Birth of the Prosperity Lie

Abiy Ahmed began his tenure with a lie, using it to dismantle the EPRDF—a coalition that, despite its flaws, held the state together. In its place, he imposed the so-called Prosperity Party, a name as deceptive as the project itself. If truth mattered, it would be called what it is: a Poverty Party or a party of war, presiding over state collapse, mass displacement, hunger, and endless war.

From that founding lie flowed a torrent of manufactured falsehoods, deliberately crafted to demonize the people of Tigray. The regime did not merely spread disinformation; it cultivated an entire class of hardcore loyal liars, weaponizing division among ethnic groups and sowing hatred to prepare the ground for genocide. Lies were fabricated, amplified, and internationalized to justify a war aimed at wiping out the people of Tigray and erasing their presence from the map under false and shifting pretexts.

Pretoria Peace Betrayed

Even after the signing of the Pretoria peace agreement, the lies did not stop. On the contrary, they have deepened, widened, and grown ever more sophisticated. The Pretoria Agreement itself has been transformed into a tool of systematic deception. The federal government has brazenly violated every core obligation it committed to, claiming to implement the agreement while actively obstructing its provisions. It invokes Pretoria in words yet strips it of all meaning in practice.

In a recent public statement, Abiy Ahmed openly ridiculed the agreement. He declared that he does not recognize Pretoria, claiming he signed a “peace deal” only with three individuals—General Tsadkan Gebretensae, Getachew Reda, and Asefa Abraha—with the explicit intent of undermining the TPLF.

Make no mistake: these three individuals have openly allied with Abiy Ahmed, working directly against the interests of their people—the people of Tigray. They have fully committed themselves to a project aimed at dismantling the TPLF—an effort that serves not Tigray, but Abiy Ahmed’s ambitions.

International Complicity

Abiy Ahmed has been exploiting the silence and inaction of the international community, twisting the truth to advance his own political agenda. The mediators and observers of the Pretoria peace deal treated the federal government’s blatant violations as a side issue. They ignored repeated calls from the TPLF, a co-signer of the agreement, demonstrating no real intent to pressure Abiy Ahmed’s regime or hold it accountable. Their inaction has exposed their lack of seriousness, enabling the government’s calculated deception to continue unchecked.

Manufacturing Lies, Sabotaging the People

Now, once again, the regime manufactures a familiar lie: that the TPLF has started another war. This fiction is not accidental—it is strategic. And to strengthen it, Abiy Ahmed has expanded his chorus of deception by bribing and recruiting a handful of self-serving Tigrayans, deploying them as political pawns to confuse the international community. Together, they engage in coordinated finger-pointing at the TPLF, hoping repetition will substitute for evidence.

This is not politics; it is sabotage. It is gambling with the lives of millions of Tigrayans who continue to endure displacement, hunger, insecurity, and trauma. It is an obscene exercise in self-preservation at the expense of a people still bleeding. The Simple Solution.

Yet the solution is neither complex nor controversial. Comply with the Pretoria Agreement: Restore Tigray’s territorial integrity; ensure the safe, secure, and voluntary return of internally displaced persons and refugees, and demonstrate genuine political will for justice and accountability through independent investigations.

These are not maximalist demands. They are not negotiable favors. They are signed obligations. Tigray is demanding nothing more and nothing less. So why complicate what is simple? Because lies are profitable. Because accountability is dangerous. Because truth threatens a regime built on lies.