The Current Amhara Fano Resistance: Viewed from the Historical Military Tradition of the Amhara People

Abstract

This paper explores the contemporary Amhara Fano resistance in line with the historical military tradition and warriorhood culture of the Amhara people. Its purpose is twofold: presenting historical facts about Fano's origin and challenging misguided and incomplete portrayals of Fano from media outlets and political commentators concerning Ethiopia’s contemporary politics. The study employs qualitative method, and secondary sources of data from the literature, such as books, journal articles, government and international organization reports, newsletters, and other credible internet sources, are obtained and contextualized for analysis through the qualitative data analysis technique. The paper postulates that the current Fano resistance group originated from the Amhara people’s historical military tradition and warriorhood culture, though it has significantly evolved from a volunteer fighters’ group to a politico-military force with the aim of overthrowing the existing government and changing the country’s political system. In its current resistance movement, initially, Fano's organizational structure consisted of several autonomous fighter groups; however, attempts have recently been made by different Fano groups to avoid fragmented structures and establish military commands for organizational cohesion. The paper contextualizes the Amhara Fano’s resistance within the post-1991 political space of Ethiopia, marked by anti-Amhara narratives and systemic identity-based attacks, as the root cause. Recent developments, such as denying Amhara farmers fertilizer or barring travellers from their region in Addis Ababa, contribute to immediate catalysts. The Ethiopian government's decision in April 2023 to disband regional forces and disarm the Amhara Fano groups escalated the conflict in the Amhara region