TIME did not create covers describing Ethiopia’s leader as a narcissist and psychopath

“To Examine Abiy’s Grandiose Narcissism,” reads the headline on one of the purported covers published in this X post (formerly Twitter) on October 16, 2023.

The caption on the post says: “@AbiyAhmedAli is on the cover of time megazin because of his perceived inequality & discrimination among ethnic groups, widespread ethnic and political polarization & widespread human rights abuses in #Ethiopia (sic).”

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Screenshot showing the false front page, taken on October 23, 2023

The second purported front page, which describes Abiy as lacking remorse and empathy, was published on X on September 4, 2023. The post has since been shared nearly 200 times and viewed more than 20,000 times.

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Screenshot showing the false cover, taken on October 23, 2023

Amhara conflict

Ethnic violence has marred Abiy’s rule (archived here) and some Ethiopians accuse him of polarising the country by cracking down on dissenters and political opponents.

Ethiopia is divided into regional states based on ethnicity. Each has its own military, referred to as special forces.

While the ink on the peace deal with Tigray to end one of Ethiopia’s brutal civil conflicts had hardly had time to dry, another conflict, this time with Amhara, erupted into open warfare (archived here).

Amhara is home to Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group – the Amharas.

In July this year, fighting erupted between Ethiopia’s federal troops and local militias known as Fano in the Amhara region after months of tensions triggered by a government decision to disarm regional forces (archived here).

The unrest prompted Ethiopia’s government to declare a six-month state of emergency on August 4, 2023, giving authorities sweeping powers to arrest people, impose curfews and ban public gatherings (archived here).

Oromia shares a border with Amhara from the East Wollega route where ethnic conflicts between the two regions have been reported (archived here).

However, TIME magazine did not feature Abiy in its September and October 2023 editions front pages.

Doctored covers

The news outlet told AFP Fact Check that the images "are not authentic TIME covers”.

The magazine featured the Ethiopian prime minister on its list of 100 most influential persons in 2019 and 2022 (archived here and here).

AFP Fact Check found no trace of covers matching the doctored front pages in the magazine’s 2023 online vault – a database showing all editions published this year (archived here).

In October 2023, TIME only produced two editions respectively featuring Elon Musk and Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. There was no edition for October 14, the date shown on the fake covers.

The September 4 edition had an image of US Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump who hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Joe Biden and return to the White House next year when Americans head to the polls in November 2024.

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Screenshot showing the September 4, 2023 edition of TIME magazine

AFP has previously debunked false TIME magazine covers here, here and here.