Makonnen G
Stifhab Book Club
Sweden
On 4 December 2025, the African Union (AU) issued a press statement from its headquarters in Addis Ababa, celebrating what it called a “sustainable peace agreement” between the Amhara National Regional State and the so-called Amhara FANO Popular Organization (FANO-AFPO). The AU’s Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi, hailed this as a “landmark” step toward peace, a contribution to the slogan “Silencing the Guns in Africa.”
But there is a problem: the organization she claims was represented at that table says, publicly and repeatedly, that it was not.
Just a week before this “peace agreement” was announced, the Chairman of the Amhara Popular Organization (AAPO/FANO-AFPO), Eskinder Nega, publicly stated that Captain Matrisha Seti had been dismissed from the organization. According to the Chairman, Matrisha held no position, no mandate, and no authority to speak for AAPO/FANO-AFPO.
This dismissal was not secret. It was announced openly and reported widely in Amhara and Ethiopian media circles. Anyone who cared to look could see it. Yet the African Union chose to witness and bless a ceremony in which this same dismissed individual, accompanied by a small personal entourage, crossed to the government side and was presented as if he were the legitimate representative of a vast resistance movement.
If this were only a clumsy diplomatic misstep, it would be bad enough. But it is worse than that. According to Eskinder Nega, the African Union was formally informed that Matrisha Seti does not represent AAPO/FANO-AFPO, and that no negotiations had taken place between the legitimate leadership of the organization and the Ethiopian government. Despite this, the AU went ahead, took photos, issued a triumphant statement, and sold this scene to Africa and the world as a “landmark peace agreement.”
This is not peace-making. It is political theatre. And the AU willingly played the supporting role.
For an institution more than six decades old, which claims to embody African dignity, this is a low point. At a minimum, one expects basic verification:
– Who is this man?
– Does he actually represent the group he claims to represent?
– What does the recognized leadership of that group say?
These are not sophisticated intelligence questions. These are basic due-diligence questions. Yet the AU, seated in Addis Ababa, apparently chose not to ask them – or chose to ignore the answers.
All of this is happening in a country where real guns are not being “silenced,” but turned against civilians. While the AU celebrates a hollow deal, the reality on the ground is the exact opposite of peace.
Consider just one case.
Recently, a 19-year-old Amhara female fighter, BeAlem Wassie, was captured after her ammunition ran out. What was done to her is not a rumor. It is documented and known. After her capture, she was raped, then subjected to brutal mutilation. Her skin was carved and parts of it cut away. Her breast was mutilated. Finally, her attackers sliced off the section of skin where she had tattooed the word “Amhara” – a mark of identity she carried with pride.
This did not happen in some distant, forgotten corner of the planet. It happened in the same country where the African Union sits, holds meetings, issues polished press statements, and declares “landmark” peace.
What does it mean when a continental body, based in Addis Ababa, cannot or will not reflect this reality in its actions and language? What does “Silencing the Guns” mean when the guns are still being used, not just to kill, but to terrorize and humiliate a people?
There is a cruel disconnect here:
– On the one hand, a choreographed signing ceremony involving a dismissed ex-member and a regional government under central pressure.
– On the other hand, a 19-year-old girl whose body has been turned into a battlefield because she is Amhara.
To stand between these two realities and call the first one a “landmark” while ignoring the second is not neutrality. It is complicity in a lie.
African-led solutions demand African-level integrity. You cannot build sustainable peace on misrepresentation. An agreement signed by a man who has been formally expelled from his organization, and whose lack of legitimacy has been clearly communicated, is not peace. It is a public relations exercise.
The African Union now faces some hard questions – not from foreign powers, but from Africans themselves.
At a minimum, the AU must answer:
1. How was this agreement verified?
What concrete steps were taken to establish that Captain Matrisha Seti genuinely represented AAPO/FANO-AFPO at the time of signing?
2. What did the AU do with the Chairman’s formal communication?
When Eskinder Nega informed the AU that Matrisha Seti did not represent the organization and that no talks had taken place, who received this message, and why was it ignored?
3. What responsibility does the AU accept for misleading the public?
By proclaiming this arrangement as a “landmark,” the AU has helped the Ethiopian government project a false image of progress, while the underlying conflict and atrocities against Amharas continue.
The African public is not naive. Ethiopians are not naive. Amharas are not naive. They can see the difference between real negotiations with real representatives and a staged event with a politically convenient figurehead.
If the African Union wishes to remain credible, it must step back from this mistake, speak honestly about what happened, and commit itself to genuine, inclusive peace efforts – ones that involve the true representatives of the parties to the conflict, not those who have already been disowned by their own organizations.
Ethiopia does need peace. The Amhara people need peace. The whole region needs peace. But peace cannot be manufactured on paper while young women like BeAlem Wassie are being raped, mutilated, and marked for who they are – and then erased from the narrative.
The AU cannot claim to stand for African dignity while turning a blind eye to this reality. Either it represents Africans, or it represents political convenience. It cannot do both.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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Ethiopia will never have peace while the African Union remains in our country. Ever since the headquarters was built in 2002, we have gone through the worst domestic politics in our history. I want to kick them out!