Eskinder is expected to coordinate political efforts of the rebels as he does not possess any military skill or experience.
Military commanders of Amhara Fano rebels in Ethiopia's four provinces say they have named Eskinder Nega, an internationally renowned journalist, to coordinate their political, diplomatic and financial resources both inside and outside the country.
Fano rebels have hundreds of thousands of fighters in Gojjam, Gondar, Wollo and Shoa provinces. Some of their fighters are active just 100kms north of the capital Addis Ababa. Before 1991, Addis Ababa served as capital of the Shoa province and the nation at the same time.
Eskinder was born in Ethiopia but was raised and educated in the US after his parents fled the country following the 1970s bloody civil war led by the communist regime of Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam.
Eskinder returned to Ethiopia in the 1990s after Meles Zenawi's TPLF forces toppled the communist regime. He started private newspapers that were critical of Meles Zenawi's administration. The late TPLF dictator jailed Eskinder for over 20 years. Meles died in 2012 and Eskinder was released in 2018 after the TPLF regime elected Abiy Ahmed as the new leader of the country.
Eskinder quickly fell out with the new leader Abiy and was back again in jail in 2020. He was released two years later in 2022. He fled to the bushes of the Amhara province indoctrinating local volunteer fighters known as Fanos.
Abiy Ahmed's army started an operation to capture Eskinder Nega in Gojjam in March 2023 which led to an all-out war between Amhara Fano rebels and Ethiopia's government army. In July 2023, the whole Amhara province was overrun by the rebels forcing the government to declare a state of emergency across Ethiopia.
Since then, the war seems to be in a stalemate. Government managed to push the rebels out of major cities and towns but has failed to control over 70% of the regime.
US and other intentional actors called for a peaceful way out but are cautious about the rebels and their political agenda.
Eskinder has over 30 years of public life. His election is expected to unify efforts to end the war by any means. The decentralization of the movement was an advantage to the rebels in the beginning but as time goes, it's becoming a liability, creating doubts about the seriousness of the rebels to engage in any political events in Ethiopia.
Eskinder's election might improve the image of the rebels in other parts of Ethiopia and internationally.