Ethiopia: Rising resentment against ruling Prosperity Party in Amhara

The Tigray war spilled into Amhara, Ethiopia’s second biggest regional state, in July 2021, with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) going on to occupy several key towns in the region and causing widespread damage to key infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of young Amhara men were recruited to fight the TPLF, as the region mobilised for total war. Many joined militia units known as Fano, galvanised by reports of TPLF abuses against the Amhara, including looting, killings and rape.

Feeling ‘betrayed’

Hone Mandefro from the Amhara Association of America, a US-based pressure group, says many Amhara feel “betrayed” by the inability of the federal military to prevent the TPLF’s advance through Amhara, which followed the withdrawal of federal forces from Tigray in June 2021.