Open letter to Confederation of African Football (CAF)

Showing off the deceased’s picture in the stadium will surely destroy the spirit of the popular sport that is supposed to promote and strengthen African brother and sisterhood.

An image of the deceased Meles Zenawi on t-shirts?

(UGANDA) - I don’t know whether CAF has a regulation that prohibits making a political statement during African Cup of Nations (AFCON) football matches. I know it’s not allowed making a political statement in Olympics.

A case in point; in 2012 a South Korean football player who made such a statement against Japan over a border dispute by revealing a symbol he hid under his official shirt after scoring a goal was banned from the medal ceremony.

Why did I bring this up?

Because of a disturbing unconfirmed report that the Ethiopian regime via the Embassy in South Africa are putting pressure on Ethiopian footballers to wear a shirt that carries Meles Zenawi’s picture under the national shirt so that they show it off after scoring a goal in the upcoming match with Burkina Faso.

If that’s the case, CAF and all concerned should know that the deceased was a criminal against humanity, a traitor who traded off Ethiopia’s vital interests and a warmonger who brought division, suffering and destruction in the Horn of Africa.

Showing off the deceased’s picture in the stadium will surely destroy the spirit of the popular sport that is supposed to promote and strengthen African brother and sisterhood.

Therefore, CAF should nip this shameless bid of the cadres of the Ethiopian regime in the bud. Cadres have no place in sports fields.

An Ethiopian social & political commentator exiled in Uganda

Kiflu Hussain is an attorney based in Uganda. He says his passion for writing came from reading, and that it’s inevitable that the more one reads, the more one develops the urge to write. Kiflu has published articles in Ethiopia on the English Reporter, then a weekly newspaper along with a few Amharic articles on the defunct Addis Zena. It was after he and his family found refuge in Uganda, that he began contributing writings to the local papers and various websites such as Daily Monitor, Uganda Record, The New Vision, Ethioquestnews, Garowe Online, WardheerNews etc.

The reason for this is clear. Ethiopia, despite being a seat of the African Union had never produced a regime that allows even the minimum space for dialogue that other people in Africa enjoy so naturally. So Kiflu's ending up as a refugee in Uganda is a blessing in disguise for it accorded him with the opportunity to write. He says at the same time he learned, unfortunately, that his refugee status would be what showed how deep the hypocrisy of the “international community” goes. We at Salem-News.com are honored to carry this gentleman's work and we hope that in the process, western people may come to appreciate the struggle of refugees throughout the world.

You can write to Kiflu at this address: E-mail;kiflukam@yahoo.com