Yonas Biru, PhD
Since Fano took the Amhara tribal land by storm, I have written several articles with four messages.
First, how the Fanno uprising is managed will determine whether the movement will set the nation on the path of peace and security or push it toward an irreversible tipping point. It is critical to realize that every successful military endeavor requires a political organ that guides and constraints it. In this regard, creating a dynamic political architecture with a robust agenda, dynamic strategy, adoptive roadmap, and a clear and viable endgame is critical. It is critical because it will serve as a platform to narrow differences, regulate its operations, and marry the military and political spheres.
Second, unless a well-structured political platform with a robust agenda, dynamic strategy, adoptive roadmap, and a clear and viable endgame is established, two potential problems will threaten Fano. The most threatening problem is that political differences will lead to armed conflicts that may, in turn, lead to the emergence of regional warlords carving out Gonder, Gojam, Wello and Shewa as their domains of influence. Another equally serious threat is a civil war between Amhara and Oromo.
Third, Amhara extremist groups pose the most serious threat to Fano. They carry the seeds for warlordism within Amhara and civil war across tribal lands. I addressed this issue in a published article, stating: “The Fano that Shaleka Dawit represents is active politically and internationally but does not have a firepower on the battle ground. To a small degree, this group is aided by Engineer Yilkal Getnet who is doing the bidding for a Fano faction that is politically active but lacks a frontline combat capability. The Shaleka and Yilkal camps have created unhealthy power struggle that is doing more harm to the Fano uprising than Abiy’s military.”
Fourth, the so-called “Concerned Amharas” diaspora group that is a stealth extremist Amhara group in the diaspora is undermining the Fano movement. The group has a website and has been imposturing as a neutral arbitrator to bring peace between Fano forces. The group does not reveal the people behind it. There is no name, no description of how the group was constituted, no information who is leading it, and no shred of accountability.
Anybody who knows anything about anything related to a robust political analysis could have seen the divorce between Fano’s military and political spheres was bound to lead to irreconcilable conflicts. That is exactly what happened.
In recent days, the Gojam Command Fano (የጎጃም እዝ ፋኖ) and Fano Unity Council (የፋኖ አንድነት ምክር ቤት) issued independent Press Releases accusing Eskinder’s Amhara Popular Front (አማራ ህዝባዊ ግንባር) and Zemene’s Amhara People’s Force (አማራ ህዝባዊ ሃይል) to behave or get out of Gojam. የጎጃም እዝ ፋኖ and የፋኖ አንድነ
የፋኖ አንድነት ምክር ቤት መግለጫ ክፍል ፫ እና
“ሻለቃ ዳዊት በፈጠሩት ረብሻ ምክንያት አሁን በ
የጎጃም ዕዝ ፋኖ Gave Eskider/Shaleka an Ultimatum to Behave or Get Out of Gojam https://fano-lisan.org/
ለተለያዩ አካባቢዎች ምሳሌ የሆነውን “የጎጃም እ
ነገር ግን ጥሪዎችን ተቀብሎ የተደረጉ ውይይቶች
The conflict will continue and pick up depth and breadth until Fano realizes a well-structured political platform with a robust agenda, dynamic strategy, adoptive roadmap, and a clear and viable endgame is established, and its military and political spheres are wedded. The most the diaspora can do is help in developing a robust manifesto in a transparent manner. If it cannot do this, the second-best thing it can do is to shut up.
All else is a cruel hermitization, idiotization, and satirization of an already hermitized, idiotized, and satirized Amhara politics.
በማወቅም ይሁን በስህተት ካጠፋሁ ይቅርታ
Dr Yonas Biru’s assertion, all along, that Fano does not have a political program does not make sense when people like Major Dawit, a law school graduate, and Eskindir Nega, along with several other graduates with second and 3rd degrees are out there in the field as Fanos. Dawit has been a politician since the 1970s, and Eskindir has been a journalist and politician over the last 25 years. They know Ethiopia and its political problems, much more than any member of the Diaspora, including Dr. Yonas. Hence, assuming that Fano has no political program is more like a claim by a member of Prosperity party. In addition, we have assurances from Yilikal Getnet of the existence of a political program. Further, if they do not have a political program to implement, how is it that all groups are now busy forming their respective Zone Commands, like Gojjam and Wollo, to create a Central Command ?
What disturbs me more is the other assertion that Dawit and Eskindir are causing problems, according to you, to those who are out there in the battlefield. This sounds like EPRP and MEISON who were both Marxists but differed on the strategy to use to fight the Derg, and thereby ended up killing each other, giving up Ethiopia to a brutal regime. This cannot be true since Eskindir, Dawit and those out there in the battlefield have better sense than supporting Prosperity Party by fighting each other, thereby wasting all the gains from great sacrifices by all Amharas in the region. I do not know Eskindir much though I have seen him once at his father’s home and I do not know Dawit other that a little exposure in the early 1970s. If there is a power struggle in the making, then Gojjam Fano, which has made the recent call to, presumably Zemene and Eskindir, and Dawit are no better than the criminals of old since such a power struggle will then condemn Amharas to extermination. I cannot believe that this is true since those in the battle field, Eskindir and Dawit all have one objective: ensure Amhara’s survival, and also ensure the restoration of a free and democratic Ethiopia for all Ethiopians.