On May 28th, 2021, I received an audio clip through email purporting to be a recording of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during the most recent Prosperity Party executive committee meeting. In that recording, the Prime Minister made very incendiary statements regarding the elections and his plans to rule for 10 more years. I received the audio from a source that has provided credible information before. Moreover, another credible source had earlier stated, without hearing the audio, that the Prime Minister had said those same things during the most recent executive committee meeting. I had the audio recording closely examined and authenticated by sound engineers before deciding to release it. Since I had confirmed its authenticity and due to the sensitivity of the contents, I made the decision to release the audio clip without consulting the Kello Media executive committee.
Since the audio was released, there have been several accusations that it is an inauthentic forgery. Videos of Abiy that were stitched together to sound like the audio clip have been widely shared as evidence of this. However, these videos barely capture half of what is said in the audio clip. On top of that, the similarities between what he said in those videos and what he said in the audio recording suggest nothing except that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed repeats himself. While I welcome cross-examination and attempts to verify the authenticity of the audio clip, these are simply disingenuous attempts to absolve Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of accountability.
Ultimately, I am ready to send the raw audio file to any third-party that wants to conduct audio forensics. Given the measures taken to verify the recording’s authenticity, I stand by the initial conclusion that this is a legitimate audio recording of PM Abiy Ahmed. There has been no valid reason provided to doubt its authenticity. Most important to note is that there has been a concerted effort to use these accusations to distract from the government’s brutal actions in Oromia and beyond. The Prime Minister’s statements in these audio clips should surprise no one, these words only reflect a fraction of his overall plan- the focus should remain on the practice
and not the rhetoric.
Having said that, since the audio recording was announced, there has been a relentless defamation campaign launched against Kello Media team members by the government’s social media cadres. On top of that, there have been repeated attempts to hack into Kello Media’s company accounts as well as repeated attempts to hack into the personal accounts of Kello Media team members. Most worryingly, a death threat was issued against two of our directors immediately following the release of the audio clip. This response itself hints at the authenticity of the audio clip.
Kiya Segni,
Executive Director,
KELLO MEDIA