12/06/2025
“They have done many odd things. But the last show was the cruelest: staging an attack on one of them, all to escape uncomfortable questions from those who contributed money for the grand opposition meeting they promised to organize in Addis Ababa to “overthrow” Somali Regional State leadership. Yes, it seems completely nuts, but that is how it played out”!
The Great Imposter Doctor Engineer Samuel ZeMichael and his Somali imitators
Sometime around 2012, Dr. Engineer Samuel ZeMichael was the toast of Ethiopian media. Here was a “very educated” man who acquired a “Doctorate of Civil Engineering” from Harvard School of Engineering, and other no less illustrious schools.
He was invited to make speeches in universities (such as Bahirdar) and collages (such as Kiyamed); he got tired signing autographs for admirers; and media interviews where he speaks highly of himself and his accomplishment became routine. The circus included meetings and photo-ups with top executives, and even the then President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Girma Woldegiorgis.
If it was clear something was off about him from the get go, nobody noticed it or cared to highlight it if it noticed. The signs were there: the very evident narcissistic streak, the lack of any substantive knowledge to back up his claims about many academic subjects, the absence of anyone who comes out as alumni or old school mate of him, the claims he makes about President Obama being his sole supervisor, and Putin being a good friend to him! Yet, so convincing was the show he put on, that he even served as a judge in Ethiopian Apprentice-style competition.
A skeptical media started to dig into his past and background, especially after a Bank cheque he gave to some people bounced back. They were to find the greatest con artist in the field of academia and media in Ethiopian history! Such was the national shock that embarrassed government officials and media institutions franticaly led the calls for a serious legal action against him.
He was subsequently arrested in Kenya trying to flee, deported back to Ethiopia, convicted of fraud and sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in 2014. He was released after he served 2 years. Ethiopians now have a whole page dedicated to him on Facebook: the Dr. Eng. Samuel ZeMichael lies page!
The names may be different. The means of deceit may vary. It may come by way of fraudulent business schemes, bogus bank account balances and land title deeds of civil society. Or by masquerading as highly connected geopolitical experts and intelligence operatives. Or by trying to bolster bad CV through appeal to clan “grandeur”. All of these camouflages, enhanced by the advent of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence (AI)!
The method may be more refined, helped by the obvious need for sophistry to pull off the required prize in this case: politics, power, big money.
But by their current manoeuvres to mislead media, civil society and politicians in unsuspecting highland Ethiopia, who they think have no way of knowing their history and current social standing among the people they come from, these individuals (see their photos below) are matching the buffoonish Samuel ZeMicheal in their pretensions and shenanigans.
They have done many odd things. But the last show was the cruelest: staging an attack on one of them, all to escape uncomfortable questions from those who contributed money for the grand opposition meeting they promised to organize in Addis Ababa to “overthrow” Somali Regional State leadership. Yes, it seems completely nuts, but that is how it played out!
Based on your knowledge of the men, who among them can be closest, if not better, than the great Ethiopian Imposter: Samuel ZeMichael? Rank his Somali imitators. (Write your answers in the comment section).
Mooge Ahmed
Nairobi, Kenya
