Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald)
The hard-hitting investigative report and open letter addressed directly to Dedebit Media journalist Dr. Haile Arefayne, prepared under Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review and Tigray Media Watch (TMW) Digital Intelligence Group. It includes detailed analysis, historical context,named individuals, and powerful narrative messages demanding accountability for Shire Endaselassie’s betrayal and devastation by the TPLF political dynasty and gold exploitation syndicates.
Shire Endaselassie Betrayed: The Political Nepotism, Gold Exploitation, and the Silence of Dedebit Media
A Public Investigation & Open Challenge to Journalist Dr. Haile Arefayne
Prepared by:
Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review (HAGR)Tigray Media Watch (TMW) Digital Intelligence Group
Executive Summary
For 34 years, the people of Shire Endaselassie, the heart of Northwestern Tigray, have beensystematically excluded from their own governance. Under the grip of the TPLF’s dynasticnepotism, the city has been administered by unelected oficials, handpicked by the party elite,imported from other zones of Tigray. Not once has Shire been led by its own sons anddaughters. The result? Systemic stagnation, economic collapse, infrastructure neglect, landtheft, and environmental devastation.
Instead of building schools, hospitals, or public institutions, the only lasting structure the TPLFerected in Shire is a massive prison a metaphor for the political and economic captivityimposed on its residents. Today, we direct this urgent investigative report and open challenge to Dr. Haile Arefayne, asenior journalist with Dedebit Media, who recently aired exposés on corruption in Shire Endaselassie’s administration but failed to name the key masterminds. His silence on the real architects of devastation is not investigative neutrality it is complicity.
The System of Nepotism and Dynastic Governance in Shire Endaselassie
- Imported Leadership, Excluded Locals
Every mayor, district (woreda) leader, and zonal administrator assigned to Shire in the past 34years has been imposed from outside, chosen by TPLF’s Mekelle-based political command.This political monopoly denied any democratic participation, removing the local population’sright to self-governance.The city’s needs were never prioritized. Budgets, programs, and investments were redirectedelsewhere, while the region’s resources were plundered.
- TPLF’s Betrayal of Northwestern Tigray
Despite being Tigray’s most resource-rich zone, Northwestern Tigray received no significantinfrastructural investment.There are no modern hospitals, universities, or public utilities built by the TPLF.Instead of development, the city became a hub for illegal gold mining, managed and protectedby a TPLF-military-political gold mafia.
Environmental and Social Devastation Through Illegal Gold Mining
Shire and surrounding areas endowed with immense gold reserves and fertile agriculturalland have become ground zero for environmental poisoning and human exploitation.Toxic chemicals used: Mercury, cyanide, sulfuric acid, and dangerous explosives are routinely applied, killing agriculture, polluting water sources, and causing long-term health disasters.
Communities displaced: Entire villages have been displaced or their lands confiscated formining projects controlled by TPLF-linked military and political elites. No benefit to locals: Gold wealth flows to TPLF’s internal network Shire’s youth remainunemployed, untrained, and exiled.
Naming the Architects of Corruption and Betrayal
Without naming and shaming the real actors, there is no real journalism, only selectivetheater.
Where Is Their Accountability?
- General Megebe Haile
Alleged ringleader of the illegal gold syndicate, backed by military assets and protected byformer TPLF elites.Oversaw forced evictions of farmers, and armed protection for illegal mining operations.
- Alem Gebrewahid
The shadow broker of TPLF’s economic mafia; facilitator of criminal financial flows, land deals,and corruption networks.
- Fetlework Gebregziabher (“Monjorino”)The TPLF’s queen of nepotism, appointed and protected an entire network of loyalists acrossnon-native zones.Historically anti-Shire and openly discriminatory in policy orientation.
- Teklay GebremedhinLongtime administrator of the Northwestern Tigray Zone; his legacy is marked by land grabs,misallocated budgets, and fraudulent development projects.
- Tesfay “Nigeria”Operated as enforcer and illicit logistics handler for resource smuggling; a feared name in thecorruption underground.
- Aberha “Birzhwa”Directly responsible for oppressing youth movements in Shire, engaging in illegal detentions,and eliminating whistleblowers.
Open Letter: A Direct Challenge to Dr. Haile Arefayne, Dedebit Media
Dear Dr. Haile Arefayne,
Your recent investigative piece on the Shire Endaselassie administration was timely but profoundly incomplete.
You claimed to expose corruption.
You named middlemen.
You showed problems.
But you did not dare name the masterminds.
So we ask:
Critical Challenge Questions You Must Answer Publicly
- Why have you not exposed General Megebe Haile’s central role in the illegal gold miningexploitation?His network’s destruction of the environment and displacement of communities iswell-documented.
- Why has Fetlework Gebregziabher’s name never appeared in your reporting?Her record of nepotism and open hostility to Shire’s people is undeniable.
- Why is Alem Gebrewahid the TPLF’s economic manipulator absent from your exposé?
- Why haven’t you questioned how every mayor and administrator in Shire was hand picked from outside never a Shire native, never elected?
- Why didn’t you report that the only major TPLF-funded building in Shire is a prison, not aschool or hospital?
- Are you intentionally avoiding naming high-ranking criminals due to political pressure? Orhave you chosen selective journalism to protect TPLF dynasties?
- Can you claim to fight corruption while protecting those who built the corrupt system itself?
Conclusion: Exposing the Full Truth or Betraying It
Dr. Haile, we urge you to correct the record. Journalism that refuses to speak truth topower especially when power destroyed a city like Shire is not journalism. It is betrayal.Shire Endaselassie deserves more than silence.Its people deserve to know the names of their real enemies.This is not just about land. It’s about dignity, justice, and historical truth.
The people of Shire Endaselassie will remember not only those who oppressed them butthose who remained silent.
Prepared and Endorsed By:Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review (HAGR)Tigray Media Watch (TMW) Digital Intelligence GroupContributors: Regional and International Political Analysts, Environmental Experts, FormerDiplomats, and Local Investigative Researchers
