From the Introduction:

For me, the ultimate goal of the struggle goes beyond just changing the government. What gives meaning to this struggle is the development of a confident, capable generation that is fully cognizant of its rights and makes Ethiopia infertile ground for dictators.

Therefore, the current challenges facing me do not discourage me, but rather reinforce my belief in the necessity for this struggle. In any case, reinforcing the struggle in a sustainable way is more important than my personal feelings. That's why I have decided to take on this task.

Perhaps the EPRDF will use this for propaganda to temporarily boost the morale of its supporters. Nevertheless, if the opposition develops a new culture of addressing its internal problems in a frank and open manner, it will be able to strengthen itself: it will be the beneficiary, not the EPRDF.

Limiting ourselves to discussing only the strengths and the righteousness of our struggle and similarly only the weaknesses and wrongs of the EPRDF was assumed to be a productive strategy. And it has resulted in exposing the failures of the regime.

But it has prevented us from assessing our underlying weaknesses and taking basic, corrective actions to address them. It has led the public to form a mistaken impression of our internal strength. The negative consequences of this have been profound.

Why is it that, after 40 years of struggle [beginning with the Mengistu Neway coup attempt] the Ethiopian people have yet to become owners of their own government? I will leave that for the historians for now, but how is it that the EPRDF, an organization that lacks popular support, has been able to rule Ethiopia for nearly fifteen years? This is a question that all citizens who want change should ask and attempt to answer.

The EPRDF does not have miraculous power that enables it to rule. Limiting ourselves to discussing only the sins and cruelty of the EPRDF won't help us understand why it has been able to rule for so long. We need to start frankly assessing our own weaknesses and mistakes; not tomorrow but today.