Gedu Andargachew: A fifth column on the loose

By Berhane Kahsay
Tigrai Online, Ethiopian News, Nov. 26, 2016

Gedu Andargachew should have been dismissed from office a long time ago for complicity in the unrest that was ignited in some parts of Amhara region. To expect him to vacate his seat on his own volition as Muktar Kedir and Asther Mamo did in Oromia region, would have been too much to expect from a disreputable human being devoid of basic integrity.  

Under his watch large parts of Ahmara region were on fire resulting in the destruction of multi-million dollar businesses owned by local and foreign investors. Stakeholders are expected to receive compensations from public coffers, and most these are likely to leave the region, if not the country, to where they can do business with minimal security risks. Enticing fresh investors to this area would definitely become a mammoth task, and it would not be too difficult to imagine the effect of this on the local economy and beyond.

It was also under Gedu’s watch that thousands of Qemants were killed for simply raising self-rule in line with FDRE’s constitution. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission conduct a thorough enquiry and recommended that those responsible for the massacre should be brought to justice but this was completely ignored by the regional administration.

Similarly, establishments owned by Tigrians in Shinfa Metema were also torched by ANDM members during the nations and nationalities day celebrations early this year in full view of the police force. Nemours efforts for an audience with pertinent authorities in Amhara region including Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, to lodge their plight were declined. Moreover, in July/August this year, thousands of Tigrians were expelled from Gonder and its environs leaving businesses behind estimated to be worth millions of birr. Once again this was perpetrated in the presence of law enforcement agencies which refused to come to their aid.

As head of Amhara region and deputy leader of ANDM, Gedu had failed to protect his party and his administration from being infiltrated by G-7 operatives on the payroll of external adversaries’ intent on destroying the Horn nation. Large swath of Gonder was beyond his control and substantial numbers of assorted armaments were freely distributed to G-7 gangs to instigate lawlessness and to terrorise   hard- working and law abiding Tigrians who have lived in the area for generations. 

As a result of their ethnicity, the Tigrians have been humiliated and subjected to the most unspeakable crimes by ANDM members including Gude and leader of the party. Tigrians fought and defeated the most powerful army in black Africa and placed Ethiopia among the fastest growing economies in the world. If it was not for the Tigrians, the likes of Gedu and the stout Demeke would not have been where they are today. But what is most gratifying is that no report of retaliatory measures against any Amhara residing in Tigrai have been conveyed and this genuinely exemplifies that we Tigrians are civilised, tolerant, magnanimous and a cut above the rest.               

It is estimated that there are around 300,000 legal and illegal weaponries in circulation in Gonder and its surroundings, and ANDM members who were recruited by G-7 used these to foster upheaval and force the Welkait issue and border dispute with Tigrai to become the agendas of the federal government. Encouraged by the anarchy in some parts of Amhara County, a copycat unrest swept across some parts of Oromia resulting in the destruction of large factories, and as in Amhara region, foreign investors are waiting for hefty reparations  from central the government before they pack up and abandon the country all together.

Gedu is responsible for:

• Creating  an opening for Egypt and its client state Eritrea to cause numerous fatalities;
• Damages to businesses owned by foreign investors;
• Orchestrating hate campaign against Tigrians and looting of their hard earned wealth;
• Tarnishing Ethiopia’s image abroad;
• Causing the spread of unrest to other parts of the nation;   
• Flouting the constitution by denying the Qemant’s right for self-rule;
• Organising Welkait Committee in Gonder to challenge the regional administration of Tigrai;
• Questioning the identity of Tigrians living in Welkait and for orchestrating venomous hate campaign against Tigrians in general;
• Being party to the large scale penetration of ANDM, Police Force, Security Services, the bureaucracy and Kebele & Wereda administrations by the terror group G-7;
• Bringing into question the stability of Ethiopia that required 25 years of hard work;
• Precipitating massive unemployment that impacted on the local economy as a result of his failure to protect foreign owned investments from being destroyed;
• Disrupting the flow of foreign investment which increased from $265 million in 2005 to $2.16 million in 2015 according to World Bank report.

With all these blemishes, why is Gedu still in office? Why was he not dismissed by ANDM leader for incompetence and collusion with an outlawed group controlled by Egypt’s subordinate, Eritrea? How come the federal government did not apply pressure to have him expelled from ANDM and place him behind bars? The inescapable conclusion is that, Gedu was well protected by Demeke, who appears to be equally guilty of initiating the unrest to consolidate his party’s position within the EPRDF if things went according to plan. And the second motive was to reduce further the influence the TPLF exerts in the federal government.  

It is to be recalled that ANDM enhanced its junior position within the EPRDF by playing a pivotal and decisive role in the schism of the TPLF  that occurred in 2000. Thanks to the sacrifices of thousands of Tigrian youth, the Oromo have been empowered and as a result this, they would definitely halt ANDM’s devious scheme to take full control of the EPRDF.