Ethiopian National Movement an Invention of Shabyia

By Berhane Kahsay
Tigrai Online, Ethiopian News, Nov. 19, 2016

It is quite clear that the government has begun its reform since the day President Dr. Mulatu Teshome has promise to the people. Despite various attempts laying basis to realize the reform, there are groups propagating as if EPRDF has been mishandling it. They attempted to justify their arguments saying the measures that have taken so far couldn’t do in line with public expectation.

There is still doubt among some interested groups, activists, opposition political parties and some people whether the reform could bring an ease to the society through realizing good governance holistically.   They attempted to substantiate their arguments saying there are still networks and nepotism in some institutions, unfairly favoring individuals and victimizing others.

Many of us have lost count of the number of political alliances that have come and gone over the last two decades. Recently, ESAT’S breaking news announced the creation of Ethiopian National Movement (ENM) which is composed of Patriotic Ginbot-7(PG 7), Afar People’s Party (APP), Sidama People’s Democratic Movement (SPDM) and Oromo Democratic Front (ODF).

Many previous coalitions have not materialised and the current creation is certain to disintegrate before it takes off the ground. In 2015, the United Front for Salvation of Ethiopia was established by Arbegnoch Ginbot 7(AG7), Afar People’s Liberation Movement (APLM), Tigrai People’s Democratic Movement (TPDM) and Amhara Democratic Forces Movement (ADFM).

Essentially, G7 is an Amhara entity and it wasn’t entirely clear why ADFM, which represents the same ethnic group, had to be included when the front was formulated last year. The same thing has happened during the creation of the Ethiopian National Movement when Haile-Gebriel Aylaew participated as an observer representing the’ Amhara People’s voice.’ Once again it is not transparent as to why G-7 that speaks for this ethnic group had to be doubly represented?     

But this pact of hodgepodges came down crashing when Mola Asgedom of TPDM, who was working for the Ethiopian Secret Services, pulled the rag from under Berhanu Nega’s feet. Not long after this debacle, the leader of AG7, who claimed to have permanently left America to conduct the ‘’struggle’’ from his base in Eritrea retuned to the US in a state of utter humiliation. Secret negotiations with TPDM that outwitted Shabiya’s entire intelligence network brought the collapse of the United Front for salvation of Ethiopia scuppering Dr Berhanu’s ambition of being ‘carried’ all the way to Menelik’s palace on Mola’s back.

Only in July this year, Dr Berhanu was also ditched by the leader of Afar People’s Party (APP), Mr Allo Aydahis, who left his base of many years in Eritrea and returned to his motherland with 400 of his fighters. Very few disgruntled left overs of this party, who reside in Sweden, have now joined the Ethiopian National Movement (ENM), and the intention of the creators of the new movement was to give the impression that the organisation they had formed was multi-ethnic in composition.

To make matters worse, G-7 was also deserted by Arbegonch Ginbar’s military commander, Ayte Tot Palchoi, who left his base in Eritrea and moved to his country with his entire army after he successfully negotiated with the Ethiopian government. But why do these groupings and others that were founded over the last 25 years simply fragmented? And can Ethiopian National Movement elude the same destiny?

Any party/organisation that forms an alliance with G-7 is doomed to fail because the outlawed outfit is being used as an instrument by Ethiopia’s arch enemies Eritrea and Egypt. Total dependency of G-7 on foreign enemies has been ratified by various ex-allies including the leaders of Arbegonch Ginbar and Afar People’s Party who severed ties with the terror group only recently.

As a result of G-7’s inability to exist independently, it has become a tool for foreign foes, and before too long, these enemies will interfere with the workings of the Ethiopian National Movement leading to its demise like the others before it. The Ethiopian people have no time for unpatriotic entities like G-7 and its associates who have been paid by external adversaries to obliterate the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Endless efforts have also been expended by these organisations and their followers in calling for the boycott of the public asset, Ethiopian Airlines, which has become one of the most successful flag carriers in world. Why would the populace have anything to do with such a subservient outfits that encourage the destruction of factories owned by foreign investors who created job opportunities for hundreds and thousands of unemployed citizens?

The composition of the Ethiopian National Movement will also play a significant part in its longevity. How is it possible that Lencho Leta’s Oromo Democratic Front, which is in favour of federalism and retention of Article 39, can cooperate with Shabiya’s G-7 which has a diametrically opposite and regressive political programmes?       

Another equally important reason that could expedite the dissolution of the Ethiopian National Movement include the involvement of Major Dawit Woldegiorgis and Dr Getachew Begashaw, who were instrumental in ensuring the survival of the military junta for 17 painful years culminating in an estimated 200,000 deaths.

The same two elderly individuals who openly supported and defended a brutal regime have suddenly become advocates of democracy and human rights. But with such a horrific track record they will certainly not succeed in turning the cloak back to the bad and bloody years that the Ethiopian people would like to erase from their memory. Anyone linked with these blood-soaked folks would not last the distance and the Ethiopian National Movement is not going to be an exception.