Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London,April 8፡2025 (Tigray Herald)
A Tale of Corruption, Courage, and Defiance
By Muktar Ismail
Today, while I was having lunch, a longtime friend joined me, and our conversation turned to the turbulent state of national and regional politics. After hours of passionate debate, he shared a striking parable from Somali history—one that demanded to be retold.
Not long ago, in a town within the Somali region, a local Sultan (King) ruled with greed and tribalism. His corruption seeped into every corner of governance: favors were granted to loyal clans, resources hoarded for cronies, and dissenters silenced. Though the people whispered angrily about his tyranny, fear kept their voices low. Only a handful dared to openly criticize his reign.
One day, the Sultan’s paranoia reached its peak. He bribed a hitman to assault a prominent critic—a man known for boldly challenging his abuses. Under cover of darkness, the attacker ambushed the critic, beating him mercilessly. Bloodied and broken, the victim glimpsed his assailant’s face in the chaos and recognized the truth: this was no ordinary thug, but a puppet of the Sultan himself. Defying pain, the man refused to address his attacker. Instead, he cried out to the orchestrator of his suffering, shouting, “Sultan, stop beating me! Sultan, is this how you silence your people?” His words echoed through the night, a public indictment of the king’s cowardice.
The next morning, the critic, battered but unbroken, did the unthinkable. He stormed the Sultan’s court, exposing the ruler’s hypocrisy before his subjects. “You cloak yourself in authority,” he declared, “but you are naked in your cruelty. You hire hands to harm your own kin, yet call yourself a leader!” The act of defiance rippled through the community, emboldening others to question the Sultan’s crumbling legitimacy.
Reflection
This story, passed down through generations, resonates today. Corruption thrives in shadows, but truth has power—even a single voice can fracture a tyrant’s façade. The critic’s courage reminds us that confronting injustice, however perilous, plants seeds of change. Let this be a lesson: leaders who rule through fear and division will always fear the day their people stop fearing them.
