A recent video on TikTok has been circulating that falsely claims the deputy administrator and Security chief of Welkait Tegede Setit Humera Zone, Colonel Demeke Zewdu, stated that “the Fano military group is working with the TPLF”, a party described by the administration as working to take the land of Welkait from the Amhara. However, a review of the original announcement made by the Welkait Tegede administration paints a very different picture.
In its announcement, the administration states that the TPLF is actively trying to seize control of Welkait Tegede through various means, including operations along the Sudanese border and the Tekeze river. The announcement notes that when these attempts failed, the TPLF then collaborated with “some infiltrators” to attack the Amhara people in the zone.
Crucially, the announcement only mentioned the Fano military group once, stating that it is known the Fano is not entering Welkait in order to avoid further chaos. The administration alleges that instead, the TPLF trained these “infiltrators” and sent them to attack the Amharas, in an apparent attempt to sow discord within the Amhara community.
Welkait has long been a strategically important geopolitical region within Ethiopia. In more recent times, it has become a defining issue for the Amhara people, as their historical ties to the area have been erased.
The term “Welkait” is commonly used to refer to a broader region in northwest Ethiopia, encompassing the territories of Welkait, Tegede, Telemt, and Humera. This area borders Sudan to the west.
Historically, Welkait has been part of the Gondar province, distinct from the neighbouring Tigray province. The two regions are separated by a geographic boundary, the Tekeze river.
Ras Mengesha Seyoum, great grandson of Emperor Yohannes IV and governor of Tigray from 1960-1973, In an interview on July, 2015 stated that during the administration of his father Prince Seyoum, the Tigray region included areas up to Alhwa Mlash on Wollo side and Wolkait-Tegede on Gondar side. And both these areas were unilaterally taken from Tigray in 1955 and 1956 by the then Ethiopian government making Tigray borders until Kobo on Wollo side and until Tekeze river on Gondar side.
In another article it is stated that Starting from the late seventeenth century, internal boundaries are clearly shown, with 37 maps between 1683 and 1941 displaying a boundary that is located close to the current southwestern border of Tigray, or even south of the Simien mountains.
Colonel Demeke Zewdu was deputy administrator of the Welkait Identity Question Committee who were fiercely but legally rejecting imposition of Tigre identity on Welkait. At the core of the resistance was the question of Welkait. He has been in prison from 2016 to 2018, after he resisted Tigray security forces’s illegal attempt to arrest him from his residence at night time and take him to Tigray.
In the ensuing exchange of fire, he reportedly shot dead one of the security forces and wounded another one from the premises of his home. There were several attempts by the federal government to transfer him from Gonder prison to Maekelawi torture chamber in Addis Ababa but the residents of Gonder were fiercely resisting the move and managed to defend him.
Ambassador Tibor Nagy, former US Assistant Secretary of African Affairs, wrote, “When the TPLF came to power, they transferred a fertile section of Amhara State (Welkait district) to Tigray, renaming it Western Tigray, and brought in ethnic Tigrayans to displace ethnic Amharas. Thus, Amharan militias eagerly joined the fight between the TPLF and the Federal government of Ethiopia in 2020 and forcibly reclaimed Western Tigray.”
Amhara political observers who are critical to the regime, felt betrayed by a peace deal signed on November 02,2022 between the Federal government and dissident leaders of the Tigray region – longtime foes of Amhara nationalists. This was due to the fact that the issue of Welkait-Tegede Setit Humera Zone, which has left them in dispute for a long time, has not been resolved as they expected it to.
Fano fighters and the Amhara region special forces battled alongside the army during the war in Tigray, but relations between the two have soured, particularly after the federal government in April moved to integrate security forces operated by each region into the police and army.
The unrest has presented a fresh security challenge to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, which only ended a devastating two-year war in the neighbouring Tigray region.
According to a report, on Friday May 2, 2024, Fano fighters entered Maksegno Gebeya, a small town in the Tegede zone. They stayed there for several hours. After they withdrew from the town, fighting erupted between the Fano and military in the outskirts of Maksegno Gebeya town. And it seemed like Fano groups were pushing towards Welkait Tegede Humera.
But, Welkait-Tegede Setit Humera Zone stated that “the problem is complex, requires the national cooperation of all parties, and does not give time.” And also it explained that “It is known that the Fano forces have refrained from entering the zone of Welkait-Tegede Setit Humera so that it does not become a chaos zone. And by taking the current instability in the region as an advantage, there is an infiltrating force which is supported by TPLF with arms, money, propaganda and communication leadership in order to achieve its military and political needs.”
The announcement by the Welkait Tegede administration provided a detailed account of the TPLF’s efforts to seize control of the region. When these attempts failed, the TPLF then collaborated with “some infiltrators” to attack the Amhara people in Welkait.
The video, therefore, seems to entirely misrepresent the content and claims made in the original Welkayit Tegede administration announcement. Rather than accusing the Fano of collaborating with the TPLF, the administration’s statement points the finger squarely at the TPLF itself for instigating attacks and attempting to exploit tensions.
As tensions remain high in the region, it is crucial that information about the conflict be accurate and based on verified facts.