Ethiopia's Fano movement is getting momentum as a formidable force to save Ethiopia and the entire horn of Africa from Armageddon.
The Fano army is a group of volunteer fighters whose history dates back to the 1930s when young Ethiopian men and women picked up their own arms and engaged Benito Mussolini's fascist army after the regular Ethiopian army was overrun by the much superior European power. The Fanos managed to defeat fascist Italy in five years of guerrilla warfare.
In 2023, the Fanos are back at a similar mission of saving their communities and the nation from a local fascist group, the current ruling party of Ethiopia. Under the medieval and barbaric reign of Abiy Ahmed, over a million Ethiopians mostly Amhara have been killed in ethnic conflicts and civil war.
The Amhara became a major target due to decades of propaganda that portrayed them as the Jews of 1930s Germany in their own homeland. Since the 1980s, state-sponsored campaign by TPLF-OLF government & non-governmental groups painted Amhara as owners of the economy and all the resources of Ethiopia despite them being the most impoverished community in the country.
Due to their liberal and open lifestyle, the Amhara are mixed with all ethnicities of Ethiopia and live throughout the country, but the 1995 TPLF-OLF constitution made over 40 million ethnic Amharas who live outside the newly created Amhara region stateless, with no political and security protection and their livelihoods taken away.
A wave of violent massacres increased in intensity after Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2017. The darkest chapter in the history of Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed has taken the horror to a new stage. From the Burayyu massacre of 2018 in the outskirts of Addis Ababa until this period, Ethiopians have seen absolute savagery, lawlessness and barbarism.
The country's international image has been tarnished. The economy is wiped out by Abiy Ahmed's looters who already stole billions and bankrupted the country. After the "end" of the TPLF war in the Pretoria accord, people expected Abiy Ahmed to focus on ending the carnage. But the guy who shows signs of aggravated mental disorder started a new Civil War in Amhara provinces in April 2023.
Why non-Amhara Ethiopians are embracing the Fanos
A government official from Abiy Ahmed's home region of Oromoya told VOA news service that there were Oromo collaborators of Fano arrested by his region in the northern Shoa town of Mendida. Fano fighters were provoked by Pro-Abiy militias while they were on their way to Debre Birhan to fight government troops in early August.
With the support of locals including ethnic Oromos, the Fanos quickly routed the government militia and controlled the town for a few days until the engagement of their fighters in Debre Birhan ended.
These incidents and so many other unreported incidents show non-Amhara Ethiopians have every reason to stand with this rising group determined to end Abiy Ahmed's savage and barbaric reign. There are three major reasons.
One is people across Ethiopia are tired of five years of Abiy Ahmed's bloody tenure that saw the death of over a million Ethiopians in horrific conflicts and civil war.
Second and even more important is Fanos wave the Ethiopian flag, their political and military goal is inclusive. They're fighting for a truly democratic federal Ethiopia as their leaders repeatedly said.
Third is the economy. Abiy Ahmed and his savage cronies looted the country's economy that has suffered badly due to wars and lack of economic breakthrough. It's still a crime to steal from a thriving economy but stealing from a suffering economy is a grave sin.
Everyday Ethiopians can not continue to live this way. They want an end to the carnage as soon as possible by any means necessary. So, they back Fano's purpose and vision.
Who is the leader of the Fano movement?
This is a hugely popular movement. The people and the fighters are organized in every local level and lead their operations in small units in a targeted manner. But at the end of 2022, the Amhara Popular Front was formed in the woods of Gojjam province by Eskinder Nega who spent decades in prison under the TPLF dictatorship.
The government army commanded by Abiy Ahmed waged an operation to capture Eskinder in April 2023. Government troops attacked monasteries and religious sites in the forest hoping to capture him. The operation only killed hundreds of monks and ended with no luck. They could not capture any of the leaders of Fano active in Gojjam.
The government continued the campaign in rural Amhara for four months only to be degraded and finally lose. By August 2023, the Fanos military overrun the army and controlled all major cities and towns in the Amhara region forcing the Abiy appointed governor to abandon his seat. No one knows his whereabouts.
Abiy Ahmed declared a state of emergency and moved the entire war machinery to fight the Fanos in agreement with TPLF and OLA, its former foes. It managed to force Fanos to leave the towns to avoid mass civilian casualty. But the war is intensifying in rural areas and will soon come back to Abiy Ahmed's power centers.
What is Fano's political agenda?
According to Eskinder Nega's group, the Fano army aims to protect itself from attack by Abiy Ahmed's war machinery and its allies. Once they confirm the stability of their Amhara population, the goal is to reform Ethiopia as democratic federal country in coalition with other ethnicities.
The front has assured the public that it does not seek to form an independent Amhara state separated from Ethiopia. By no means, it seeks the dismemberment of the Ethiopian state. It accepts a truly democratic and genuine federal arrangement which other ethnicities are also hoping to see in Ethiopia.
Principled and disciplined
When the Fighters took control of major urban centers, there was no chaos at all. Government services resumed under the command of Fano. No looting and damage to public and private property was caused. This makes Fanos unique compared to TPLF and OLA fighters who destroyed public property and committed extra judicial killings when they controlled urban centers.
The Fano fighters and their fellow actors in the movement are disciplined and principled. This is fundamentally a political movement that is rising to be a formidable force in the entire horn of Africa region. We need to keep an eye on it.