Statement issued regarding the establishment of the Amhara Fano National Movement (AFNM)
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Disclaimer: This is an English translation of an Amharic statement by Amhara Fano National Movement and is intended solely for information purposes. AAA is a U.S. based NGO that documents human rights violations in the context of conflict, violence and political repression. One of AAA's core activities is also to educate policymakers, journalists, researchers and other stakeholders with up-to-date information on developments in Ethiopia. AAA does not endorse any political parties or organizations based in the U.S. or Ethiopia.
January 17, 2026 (Tir 09, 2018 E.C.)
Statement issued regarding the establishment of the Amhara Fano National Movement (AFNM)
Here, today on January 17, 2026 (Tir 09, 2018 E.C.), we have taken a historic decision that will close the valley through which the Prosperity Party group, one that is shaking Ethiopia and the region. draws its breath. As leaders of the Amhara Fano organizations, we, bound by our duty to carry out a mission worthy of the sacrifices paid by our comrades, have completely buried, in true fraternity and unity, the agitation through which Abiy Ahmed’s hold on power is prolonged. So that the Amhara struggle may become one, the leaders of the Amhara Fano National Force and the Amhara Fano People’s Organization, through a historic decision that demanded courage, open-heartedness, decisiveness, and trust in the people, have been able to make Fano unity a reality.
To the entire Amhara people, and to all Ethiopians as well, congratulations to you; congratulations to us!! We have designated one leader, one organization.
Now a new chapter has opened wide, one that will take us to our strategic objective. The field and the horse are now in our hands. Like many longstanding world civilizations, the Amhara people, owners of a majestic historical legacy with an uninterrupted continuity that has not been derailed by historic obstacles for long ages, as well as our country Ethiopia, have for hundreds of years, especially since the medieval era, been tested by generational wars born of civilizational contestation. In our modern history, a continuous campaign that directly targeted the Amhara, enabled by our internal weaknesses, and through a system imposed by those who are not representative of the people but saw themselves as victories has rendered our country unstable and at risk of collapse as a state, while exposing our people to a severe threat of destruction (an existential threat). Understanding this complex threat to our people, driven by a mix of ownership and mercenarism among our own Ethiopian compatriots, and building shared understanding, as well as crafting solutions, has required and consumed tremendous effort.
The Amhara people, forgetting ourselves and placing the country first, did not understand in time the profound contradiction created against us and our country; and we now find ourselves stripped of our country, made stateless, and placed under the dire threat of destruction amid a state-led genocide. Indeed, the Amhara are a people facing annihilation. To reverse this existential threat, to safeguard the comprehensive interests of the people, and to build a new civilization, we are now engaged in carrying out a new Amhara revolution. Although the immediate cause of this popular uprising is the existential threat itself, it has gone beyond merely reversing that danger and has articulated a broad vision encompassing popular and national aspirations, as well as regional and international ambitions.
The new Amhara elite’s self-hating ideology and culture; our people’s political apathy and self-isolation; the tendency, of those born of dependency, to turn against one’s own people; the emergence of an unorganized and unreliable political society; and the obstruction/prevention of Amhara organization by corrupt elites, shaped according to the enemy’s interests while occupying positions of power, have together exposed us to an existential threat, placing us as a people at risk of destruction.
By rising to reverse this existential threat of destruction facing us as a people, and by restoring the capacity to organize around our own ideas, which we had lost for many decades, we have been able to wage the struggle necessary to survive. The struggle has also managed to endure by grounding our displaced politics in a popular ideology and organization.
As a society, the internal decay we faced severely tested us, preventing the struggle from growing at the desired pace and from advancing toward strategic victory. Our enemies repeatedly tested our national unity by injecting divisive narratives into our midst. However, the new generation, rising with a pure national grievance, confronted this challenge with courage, and prevailed. In doing so, it used a national awakening that enables rising from defeat and crossing from the fog of division to national unity, and it succeeded in achieving organizational unity through struggle.
In recent times, the victories achieved through the determined sacrifice of life of our forces under a decentralized organizational structure dismantled the regime’s defense forces, the main source of its power, and reduced the regime to a mere insurgent confined to Arat Kilo. By employing decentralized organizational tactics, the struggle became flexible and difficult for the regime to counter, enabling it to weaken the regime in a short period to a level at which it could no longer operate effectively. We have turned the regime’s generals, forgetting their military command, into mere cadres left only with their tongues. With the first phase of the struggle concluding in victory and the regime’s army disintegrating, it became necessary for Fano to grow into a successor force and to lead by organizing politics. Accordingly, repeated efforts were made to establish a single Fano organization. In this process, while the stage of the struggle’s growth played its part, entrenched divisive tendencies, interference by opportunistic interest groups, and the poisonous hands of the enemy constituted the principal challenges. By overcoming these internal and external obstacles, on this blessed day the ribbon of unity has been cut: Fano has become one.
Once again, congratulations to us!!
Through this organizational unity, the Amhara struggle has defeated the old and corrupt self-hating and submissive ideologies and alignments. Breaking free from divisive alignments, it has crossed the swamp of defeat through its national awakening. It has answered the question that had been simmering within the army and within the people who stand behind it. It has corrected mistaken and negative perceptions that existed regarding Amhara unity.
Today, the establishment of the Amhara Fano National Movement (AFNM) comes by correcting the weaknesses and gaps that appeared during earlier unity efforts, and by creating participation and mutual trust among all stakeholders. This merged organization is founded on unity of purpose and unity of thought. Accordingly, the worldview guiding our organization is “Amhara nationalism.” This is the ideological framework through which we will struggle, beginning with winning the current existential struggle and, in the long term, by securing the survival and identity of our people and safeguarding their rights and interests. Amhara nationalism, grounded in self-reliance and the building of comprehensive internal capacity, seeks, within a framework of national democratic unity, to ensure the survival of our people and protect their rights and interests, while also establishing a system in which the collective and individual rights of other Ethiopians are respected. Through this, it strives to secure the continuity of the country based on justice and peaceful coexistence.
After deep political discussions that took many days, prioritizing honesty and fraternity, the organizational establishment process passed through many phases. The process that began with signing a memorandum/covenant document concluded successfully by ratifying the organization’s founding document (bylaws/constitution) and appointing the top leadership. Accordingly:
Arbegna Zemene Kasse — Chairman of the Amhara Fano National Movement
Arbegna Meketaw Mamo — First Deputy Chairman
Arbegna Habte Wolde — Deputy Chairman for Military Affairs
Arbegna Henok Adise — Deputy Chairman for Political Affairs
In addition, the Amhara Fano National Movement assigned leaders to the following directorates:
Military Commander: Brigadier General Tefera Mamo
Deputy Military Commander: Arbegna Mire Wedajo
Deputy Commander for Military Administration: Arbegna Zinabu Lingeraw
Military Training Directorate: Arbegna Samuel Bale’idl
Special Military Campaign: Arbegna Dirsan Birhane
Military Campaign Directorate: Arbegna Bayu Alebachew
Political Directorate: Arbegna Geta Asrada
Organization Directorate: Arbegna Mintesnot Wondafe-rahu
Organization Office: Arbegna Aschalew Belete
Public Relations: Arbegna Asres Mare Damte
Public Administration Directorate: Arbegna Zemene Mihret
Finance & Procurement Administration: Arbegna Ashagre Baye
Policy & Strategy Directorate: Arbegna Eskinder Nega
Partnership & Cooperation Directorate: Arbegna Abebe Fentaw
Foreign Affairs Directorate: Arbegna Biruk Sileshi
On this historic day, the Amhara Fano National Movement presents the following messages:
1) Message to our organization’s armed forces:
The repeatedly raised idea, that organizational unity is necessary for the struggle, for which you are paying great sacrifice, to bear fruit and secure full victory, has received the appropriate answer, and Fano unity has been achieved. Using the additional capacity this great good news brings; we call on you to continue the struggle with steadfastness and determination. We also emphasize the importance of sincere cooperation to create favorable conditions for upcoming structural and procedural improvements following the merger, and we strongly urge all structures at every level to ensure readiness for the tasks ahead.
2) Message to our people:
We once again affirm that the call for unity consistently raised by our people, the backbone of the struggle, across various forums has received a response. We urge our people, who have taken ownership of the struggle and, with patience, fulfilled their share of responsibility in carrying out a great national endeavor, to harness the strength of unity by establishing organizations suited to local realities and to continue strengthening and advancing the struggle.
3) Message to the Amhara diaspora:
We have observed that the active and energetic participation shown by the Amhara diaspora across different parts of the world during the early stages of the struggle did not continue with the same intensity over time. This was due to emerging differences in perspectives and various forms of interference, particularly the absence of organizational unity, which limited the diaspora’s ability to fully utilize its capacity to support the struggle effectively. However, the long-awaited unity of Fano, eagerly anticipated by the fighters, the people, and the majority of the diaspora, has now been completed. On this basis, we extend our congratulations and urge you, in preparation for the next phase of the struggle, not only to build organizational unity through your own initiative but also to sincerely implement the directions and guidance issued by our organization regarding the struggle.
4) Message to national struggle forces and social sectors on the anti-regime struggle line:
Given the current reality facing our country, we do not believe there is any Ethiopian community that has not been subjected, openly or implicitly, to genocidal violence or an existential threat. Every people’s survival is at risk. Ethiopia stands on the edge of a cliff. Accordingly, the Fano struggle represents a decisive political solution not only for the survival of the Amhara people but also for the political salvation of other Ethiopian peoples. An Amhara victory is a victory for the Gurage, the Tigrayan, the Oromo, the Gumuz, the Afar, the Somali, the Wolayta, the Sidama, the Gamo, and other peoples as well. Therefore, all political groups and elites must stand together and struggle for a shared destiny, as remaining a bystander leads to sequential attacks and destruction.
Abiy is the sharp horn of the Horn of Africa, piercing everyone, drawing blood from all, and trampling the homes of the region’s peoples with both hands and feet. For this reason, removing the genocidal Abiy Ahmed regime requires cooperation not only among Ethiopians but also among regional forces. All collaborations aimed at removing this regime and stabilizing the region are fully legitimate. The peoples of the region desire peace and development, and they deserve it.
Although the brutal regime’s divide-and-rule strategy of attacking and pitting groups against one another has provided it with temporary relief and breathing space, it is essential to recognize this reality, strengthen existing understandings around removing the regime through cooperation, and shorten the regime’s lifespan. For this, we call on all to use the additional capacity and opportunity created by Fano unity and to consolidate the understandings already seen regarding the necessity of anti-regime struggle, shifting from resisting a genocidal war to strategic offensive action, in order to remove the regime.
5) Message to the international community:
It is an established fact that for nearly eight years since taking power, the Abiy Ahmed-led Prosperity regime has committed extensive killings against the people of the country. By plunging the nation into unending wars, the regime has caused extensive humanitarian devastation, economic collapse, and social crisis across all regions. As an anti-people regime, its problem is incurable: it neither learns from its mistakes nor demonstrates any credibility or reliability. The regime’s militaristic behavior has gone beyond Ethiopia’s internal crisis and has come to pose a tangible threat to regional peace and stability. Because the genocidal war declared on the Amhara people and the resulting existential threat leave no alternative except reversing that war, Fano has been fighting the regime on a popular struggle line for the past 30 months. Other anti-regime national forces are also fighting on this popular line to secure their peoples’ survival.
We believe eliminating this peoples, national, and regional danger; ensuring people’s security; and preventing protracted regional wars are issues the international community prioritizes. Therefore, we call on you to cooperate with us by ending support to the anti-people and anti-peace Prosperity regime and by applying necessary pressure to deprive the regime of its destructive capacity. We also call on you, to the extent possible, to support cooperation among Fano and other anti-regime struggle forces. We urge humanitarian organizations to do all they can to ensure essential humanitarian aid reaches our people harmed by the war, and we wish to inform you that we, on our part, will provide the necessary cooperation.
6) Message to uniformed forces and militias:
It is no secret to you that the regime’s source of power is not the people, but the blood of uniformed forces. Nor is it hidden from you that, for as long as the regime prolongs its grip on power, it has no regard for your lives. The Fano struggle seeks to build a country in which all Ethiopians live with dignity, where the safety and honor of uniformed personnel are protected, and where the life sacrifices you make in service to your country carry true meaning. Understanding that your death is not for your country but for a regime that cannot be satisfied without human blood; we call on you to join the Fano struggle. We affirm that our entire structure is more ready than ever to receive you.
The Amhara Fano National Movement affirms that all those who worked toward the successful establishment of our organization deserve the highest honor, and in particular:
To the entire Amhara people and patriotic Ethiopians, for your unwavering heartfelt support and for your advice, criticism, and guidance, we thank you. Your toil has given birth to this unity.
To all Fano members, for your pure internal pressure and your yearning for unity, we thank you. Without your day-and-night effort and persistence, we would not have avoided drifting into weakness. Your blood and your pressure have produced this unity.
To all leaders of the two organizations: especially for the leadership and determination you demonstrated during this unity process, you deserve the highest gratitude. In particular, the members of the technical committees of the two organizations who drove the unity process forward deserve exceptional honor. The leadership capacity, wisdom, and solution-oriented skill you displayed were extraordinary.
To the elders and observers who monitored the process: we extend profound thanks to the observers’ team, comprising seven members, including Ambassador Birhane Meskel Nega and Major Dawit Wolde-Giyorgis, led by His Highness Asfawossen Asrate Kassa, for following the process impartially and for providing solutions whenever requested by the technical committee.
Finally, we issue a historic call to the above-mentioned stakeholders, and to others as well, to play a constructive role in overcoming the challenges that will arise in strengthening the organization sustainably, challenges no less demanding than the sacrifices paid to give birth to it.
Amhara Fano National Movement (AFNM)
January 17, 2026 (Tir 09, 2018 E.C.)
Amhara - Ethiopia
