Fabricated letter falsely claims that Ethiopia’s prime minister dismissed his chief adviser

 “Deacon Daniel Kibret was dismissed from his post,” reads the Amharic-language headline of a Facebook post published on October 11, 2024. 

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on October 22, 2024 

“Daniel Kibret who served as a social affairs adviser to the prime minister and who incited conflicts, spread hatred among citizens and made hate speeches aimed at aggravating civil wars, has been dismissed from his post,” the post continues.

The screenshot of the purported letter was also shared here and here on Facebook. 

Daniel Kibret, a well-known clergy member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, was appointed as Abiy's social affairs adviser when the latter came to power in 2018.

Controversial figure 

Daniel has drawn criticism including from the US for his virulent anti-rebel speeches.

In September 2021, the American government condemned Daniel for comparing Tigrayan rebels – who were fighting with the government at the time – to the devil and saying they should be “the last of their kind” (archived here).  

More recently, rebel supporters have accused him of continuing to fuel the ongoing conflict in Amhara via his postings on social media (archived here). 

However, reports of his dismissal amid these tensions are fake. 

Altered photo 

A reverse image search of the misleading screenshot revealed that it was a doctored version of a letter shared on the Facebook account of former Ethiopian state minister Taye Dandea on Facebook on December 11, 2023 (archived here). The statement confirmed Abiy’s dismissal of the official at the time. 

Taye was later arrested and allegedly accused of collaborating with rebel fighters (archived here). 

A comparison of the original and the altered letters revealed several manipulated clues. 

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Screenshots of the original letter (left) and the altered letter, taken on October 22, 2024

For one, differences can be observed in the date and reference number sections of the altered letter. 

While correspondence letters from the prime minister's office are usually date-stamped (as seen in the original letter above), the date in the doctored version is handwritten. In addition, the handwritten reference number is unusually large.

Taye's name was replaced with Daniel's while the details about the dismissal in the authentic document were also amended.

In addition, the stamp and prime minister's signature are noticeably darker in the altered letter.

No dismissal 

Government spokesman Legesse Tulu rejected the claim of Daniel’s dismissal as false. 

“This is fake news”, Legesse told AFP Fact Check. “As usual he is at work as the PM’s advisor on social affairs” 

Daniel's social media accounts (here and here) continued to be active after the claim of his dismissal.