By Dagmawi Tewodros
This week, we heard that Abiy and his cadres have launched a deceptive proposal called “Let Us Make Gondar Beautiful.” If the historical old-time capital city of Gondar gets a chance to develop, no one will hate it. In fact, Gondar deserves it. However, there is a saying: “ደሮን ሲደልሏት በመጫኛ አስረው ጣሏት” – or “ዶሮን ሲያታልሏት ውሃ የሞቀው ለገላሽ ነው አሏት,” expressing the deception of actions. Only fools will fall for this deception. Why will Abiy Ahmed focus on beautifying Gondar at this time? The answer is simple, and this article highlights the main reasons. The main reason he focuses on Gondar right now is to try to divide the Fano movement—the strong people’s resistance movement since the time of the Italian invasion in the country—against the one-ethnic-dominated Abiy Ahmed Prosperity Party. Let us see the background and the very reasons why he focuses on dividing Gondor’s residents from other Amhara people struggling for existence.
1.Fano is a nightmare of Abiy Ahmed and his gangs.
Abiy is engaged in dividing the people due to the well-recognized Fano movement against him in the Amhara region. Most of the Amhara region is not governed by Abiy and his administration. In fact, he is only present in major cities using a military command. As the resistance movement in the region is based on the masses, the momentum is gaining over time, leaving Abiy Ahmed to just count the days of his reign in the country. Abiy and his gangs thought they could subdue the Amhara people with force. They were wrong. Their calculation was shortsighted. They have no way to get out of the situation either. The only strategy they are using is dividing the forces. Hence, he is trying to use any means to divide the forces in the region, and as they say, ጅብ በቀደደው ውሻ ይገባል—he is using every small and big thing to divide the people. By using propaganda to beautify Gondar and buying some corrupt people there, he is trying to catch the people’s attention.
2. Gondor’s unique geographical position.
Abiy knows that one of the reasons why he has to have Gondar on his side is its geographical location. Historically, Gondar borders Eritrea from the Humera side and Sudan from the Metema side. This means that if Abiy has no military presence there, he knows that through these borders, every logistic support comes to arm the Fano movement, and his government’s days are numbered. Hence, he has to create alliances from the Gondar side, and maybe this could be one of the main reasons why he married a Gonderian in the first place, as he thinks he is the seventh king. In the past, kings made relations with sub-regions in the country using matrimony. A few people loyal to his wife and the remnants of the dismantled Amhara PP are helping him to divide the people there so that Abiy buys time. In addition, he is using the divide between the Kemant people and the rest of the Gondarians, a divide well-orchestrated by Bereket Simon of TPLF-EPDRF (some people say that is the main reason why Bereket was released from prison—to help Abiy divide the people there).
3. Welkait is a bargaining chip for Abiy.
Welkait, historically one of the administrative areas in Gondar before the TPLF-EPDRF regime, and during TPLF rule as part of Western Tigray, is one of the most sensitive places in the country right now. TPLF took it and annexed it by force, and during the Tigray war, the allied forces took it back. Now it is administered informally under the Amhara region. Technically, the area is ruled by Colonel Demeke under Abiy’s administration. The Ethiopian military coexists with the forces of Welkait, also called ‘the Tekeze Guard.’ The priority of the people there is Welkait. Hence, they have to align themselves with Abiy so that he will not sell them to the TPLF. On the other hand, the TPLF is pressuring Abiy to respect the Pretoria agreement, in which they claim that the territorial integrity of Tigray, including the so-called Western Tigray, should be restored and that displaced people should go back to their places in Welkait. The situation has become a bargaining chip for Abiy Ahmed. He does not want to lose control of this area. That is why he brought Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie, originally from the Welkait area, on 7 October 2024, as the president of the country. In addition, it is reported that Abiy’s associates and his military generals are doing business in the area. Welkait is very rich in fertile alluvial soil, which grows cash crops such as sesame, cotton, and sorghum. Hence, Abiy is using the people there to divide the Fano movement in Gondar, even though the Fano movement in other parts of the Amhara region.
4. The Northerners might be united.
Recently, Abiy and his supporters have been in a state of turmoil since they are afraid that the Northerners, which might include TPLF, Fano forces, and even Eritreans, might unite against him. As they say, “you reap what you sow.” Abiy used the Fano forces and Eritreans together to crush TPLF forces during the Tigray war. Now he is afraid that the same forces might unite against him. He knows that if this unity happens, he might have to flee the country in only one week of war. It is rumored that the main force in Tigray is in talks with the Eritrean forces. Hence, he has to work hard to divide the Fano forces so they do not cooperate with the Eritrea and Tigray forces. That is why Abiy is one step ahead when he talks about Assab as Ethiopia’s only means of access to the sea. He believes that this agenda might help him create war in the northern part of the region. In that case, if he wins, he will be historically remembered as the leader who brought a seaport to the country. If he loses, he knows that the region will be engulfed in war for some time while he strengthens control in the rest of the country. He knows that without the Amhara people aligned with him against Eritreans, especially the immediate neighbors of Eritrea, he cannot win. So, he should divide the northern people. Gondar is very strategic for this. If Gondar is empowered as a separate region aligned with him, then that gives him strategic dominance in the region.
Gondar as joker and queen.
Based on the four reasons above, we can say that Gondar is like a joker card for Abiy Ahmed in the game of cards. Or it is like the queen, the most powerful piece in the game of chess. He dared to put his hands on the Fasilides Castle in the name of renewing it. The man is very bold; he wants to put his name as Emperor Abiy, together with the names of six other emperors, in the castle. No leader prior to him dared to do that. He built a castle (sorry, I mean resort) in Gorgora. For those who know history, before Gondar was founded by Fasilides, Gorgora was the capital of the country founded by Emperor Susenyos, the father of Fasilides. It is well thought out when he acted in these ways, and there is a very good reason why he is focused on beautifying Gondar.
Now the question is: could the people in Gondar (north, south, west, east, and central) fall for this bait from Abiy Ahmed? There might be a few who sold their souls for money and other things, but the people in Gondar are patriotic and wise. They love their country! They will not stand with a man whose only prior goal is his power at the expense of millions of lives. He does not care about the rest of the country in turmoil. He was given the benefit of the doubt to rule the country by most Ethiopians, but he ruined his chance. He is actively working for ethnic conflicts to flourish so that he can continue to stay in power. Most people know this! They will give him his own medicine at the right time. Fano forces should unite so that the Amhara people will be saved from Abiy and his gangs’ massacre, and the country will return to the rule of law and order. The rest of the people in the Amhara region, as well as the rest of the people in the country, should not fall for Abiy Ahmed’s traps.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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