Ethnic Amhara Ethiopian multi-billionaire—Worku Aytenew forced to be a refugee

 By: Eyob Tilahun Abera

Since Abiy Ahmed declared a full-fledged war against the people of Amhara in 2023, mainly ethnic Amhara influential people have faced serious threats from Abiy’s regime. Among these, Worku Aytenew is a smart-minded ethnic Amhara multibillionaire who was chased by Abiy’s regime and forced to flee his homeland because of his ethnicity. The government used bogus claims to hunt people and abuse emergency estate to crack down on the hostility by violence.

Worku Aytenew owns numerous big companies, such as an edible oil refinery factory, Import-Export & Trading PLC, a real estate company, aviation, an ongoing cement factory plant with an initial capital of $1 billion, mechanised Farms PLC, and other assets in Ethiopia.

Thousands of individuals were employed at his company until the regime was forced to dismantle it, aiming to smash his wealth. It triggered hundreds of employees to be jobless. Beyond profit-making firms, he invested his money in charity and social activities.

Worku Aytenew—this gentleman changed the livelihood of many people with his charity and social activities. He donated huge amounts of money and assets to the public during national emergencies. But Abiy’s regime hurried to smash wealth owned by ethnic Amhara.

Access to imported commodities in Ethiopia is highly deficient, and the price of edible oil in Ethiopia skyrocketed. As a result, people struggled to access and afford it. But dictator Abiy dismantled the largest edible oil refinery factory and import companies owned by Worku Aytenew using the regime’s usual false allegations. 

As media outlets indicated Abiy’s forces illegally searched Worku Aytenew’s oil refinery factory planted in the Debre Markose-Amhara region and, then jailed many factory workers, including managers, partially damaged and looted the factory abusing emergency estate. Likewise, the troops extrajudicially killed company workers including the manager of the farm.

Worku Aytenew owns the biggest import-export company that could solve Ethiopia’s serious foreign currency deficit; contrary to this, Abiy Ahmed hunted him and others and forced them to flee from the country instead of encouraging them. There are claims that Abiy aims to sink northern Ethiopia into a serious crisis with his ill-advised plan of shifting power and economy to Oromia. Shimelis Abdisa, the mouthpiece of Abiy, officially proved this claim. 

Worku Aytenew was on the way to planting a big cement factory with billions of dollars to solve the cement shortage and make its price affordable to boost the construction sector’s economy. contrarily, Abiy’s regime is hunting ethnic Amhara such as Worku Aytenew, who was the backbone of the import-export and domestic-based economies of the country.

The story of Worku Aytenew is brought here as an example among dozens of ethnic Amhara people, such as Abebaw Desta—the highest shareholder of a bank and owner of big companies — who were also forced to flee from Ethiopia. On top of that, masses of scholars, journalists, activists, human rights campaigners, and politicians were either killed, jailed, or lucky-fed.

Abiy’s regime is changing Ethiopia into a rocky era by initiating war after war, terror after terror, crisis after crisis, and smothering time bombs. Let it be clear: there is no enemy for Ethiopia and its people other than the regime, which is committing crimes and must face trial. Abiy’s government must be removed at any cost to have relief and save the people and country.