Tigrayan People's Liberation Front
Encyclopedia
The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), known more commonly and sometimes pejoratively in Ethiopia as Woyane or Weyane (Ge'ez
: ሕዝባዊ ወያኔ ሓርነት ትግራይ, Tigrinya
: ḥizbāwī weyānē ḥārinet tigrāy, "Popular revolution (for) the freedom of Tigray") is a political party
in Ethiopia
. At the last legislative elections, the party was the main part of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
, that claimed 499 out of 547 seats.
In the August 2005 Regional assembly elections, the party claimed victory, winning all 152 seats in the Tigray Region
.
TPLF is organized with a Central Committee
and a politburo
. Prior to its victory in the Ethiopian Civil War
, TPLF was divided in four regional organization, three in Tigray and the fourth those who reside outside of Tigray. Each of the regions in Tigray had politburo members coordinating their activities. The foreign committee supervised subdivisions in Sudan
, Middle East
, Europe
and North America
.
formed the Tigrayan National Organization (Ge'ez
: ማህበር ገስገስቲ ብሄረ ትግራይ, "Association of Progressives from Tigray Nation"). TNO formed clandestine cells and carried out propaganda work amongst the people. During the 1974 popular uprising, TNO played an important role in mobilizing the people of Tigray. After the takeover by the Derg
junta, TNO claimed that armed struggle was necessarily to remove the new regime. In February 1975, the TNO was transformed into the TPLF (Tigrai People's Liberation Front). The then newly formed front created the TPLF Manifesto in which it asserted its primary mission was to secede from the wider Ethiopian state, and create an independent Tigrai state. The Tigrai state map was extended from the Sudan border in the Northwest to the Northeast of the Afar region.
By establishing their first military base at Dedebit
in Tigray, after having conducted political and military preparations.
At first, the TPLF was only one of several rebel groups in Tigray, and only one of their members had any military training. In his history of the TPLF, Aregawi Berhe readily admits that had it not been for the mentorship of Gessesew Ayele (better known by his nickname "Sehul"), a member of the Ethiopian parliament and respected local Tigrayan elder, the nascent TPLF would have come to quick disaster: Sehul had extensive personal contacts in western Tigray who provided support to the tiny group, as well as the power of personality to intimidate the local shifta
s. The TPLF was able to establish their presence with a raid on the jail in Shire
on the morning of 5 August 1975, in which they freed their captured comrade Mehari Tekle ("Mussie") and 60 other prisoners (including convicted criminals), then a month later on the afternoon of 4 September when they robbed the bank in Axum
, in which four policemen were killed and 175,000 Birr
(equivalent to US$ 84,000), and substantial arms and ammunition were stolen at the cost of one fighter wounded.
Rival anti-government groups in Tigray were the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU, led by Ras Mengesha Seyoum
, commonly seen as a pro-monarchist group), the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF, led by Yohannes Tekle Haymanot, who advocated Tigray independence just like the TPLF), and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
(EPRP, moved to Mount Asimba in eastern Tigray after the Red Terror
). According to Aregawi, the TPLF reached out to each of the other groups to form tactical alliances, only to be disappointed. The first rival group to be eliminated was the TLF, who split into three factions in November 1975; and after an investigation executed its two top leaders for "crimes against their own colleagues". Next was the EDU, whom Aregawi blames fired the first shot by killing Sehul. After fighting several pitched battles with the EDU (Chiameskebet on 26 September 1976, and Addi Nebreid in July 1976 and 12 March 1977) which were costly in men and materiel, the TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare
against the EDU, finally driving them out of western Tigray in the Battle of Quinat-Arbaete in November 1979. The EPRP was the last group engaged; although Aregawi claims that the EPRP fired the first shots, Gebru Tareke writes that it is impossible to determine which group actually did, noting "the parties have continued to argue the point." In any case, EPRP units allegedly attacked TPLF units in Agame
on 23 February 1978, forcing them to evacuate the province. The TPLF brought two of its veteran companies from the west, and in a fierce counter-attack forced the EPRP fighters back to Mount Asimba. After a five-day battle, the TPLF captured their mountain stronghold, and the bulk of the defeated EPRP fled to sanctuary in Eritrean Liberation Front
territory.
Around 1983, the core cadres of TPLF founded the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray
in the line of the Albanian Party of Labour
. They also incorporated the name Woyane in the title of their organization as an intentional reference to the Woyane rebellion, a revolt in Tigray that arose and was crushed in 1943.
Following the success of the TPLF in 1991 in gaining control of Ethiopia, and the collapse of communist regime in Albania
, the TPLF dropped all references to Marxism-Leninism
. The leadership of the TPLF claims that the MLLT dissolved when the TPLF-backed Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
took power after the collapse of the Derg in 1991.
Aregawi Berhe, who is a high-ranking TPLF commander living in exile in The Netherlands, told Deutsche Welle
that "the rebel movement, TPFL, had received the money under false pretences – through its development arm, the so-called 'Aid Association of Tigray' (MARET). But MARET belonged to the party. So after the aid from donors and aid charities was collected, it was made available through the budget of the party's central committee – for logistics and financing of the resistance."
(party chairman), Seyoum Mesfin
, Sebhat Nega, Arkebe Oqubay
, Abay Tsehaye
, Abadi Zemo, Tsegay Berhe, Azeb Mesfin, Haftom Abraha, and Weyen (deceased).
Prominent former members include: Siye Abraha, Gebru Asrat
, Ghidey Zeratsion, Aregawi Berhe, Tewolde Wolde Mariam, Alemseged Gebreamlak, Hailu Mengesha, Aregash Adane, Awalom Woldu, and Abebe Tessema.
Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
: ሕዝባዊ ወያኔ ሓርነት ትግራይ, Tigrinya
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
: ḥizbāwī weyānē ḥārinet tigrāy, "Popular revolution (for) the freedom of Tigray") is a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. At the last legislative elections, the party was the main part of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front is the ruling political coalition in Ethiopia. It is an alliance of four other groups: the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization , the Amhara National Democratic Movement , the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's...
, that claimed 499 out of 547 seats.
In the August 2005 Regional assembly elections, the party claimed victory, winning all 152 seats in the Tigray Region
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
.
TPLF is organized with a Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
and a politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
. Prior to its victory in the Ethiopian Civil War
Ethiopian Civil War
The Ethiopian Civil War began on September 12, 1974 when the Marxist Derg staged a coup d'état against Emperor Haile Selassie, and lasted until the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front , a coalition of rebel groups, overthrew the government in 1991. The war overlapped other Cold War...
, TPLF was divided in four regional organization, three in Tigray and the fourth those who reside outside of Tigray. Each of the regions in Tigray had politburo members coordinating their activities. The foreign committee supervised subdivisions in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
History
On 14 September 1974 a group of seven Tigrayan university students in Addis AbabaAddis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
formed the Tigrayan National Organization (Ge'ez
Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
: ማህበር ገስገስቲ ብሄረ ትግራይ, "Association of Progressives from Tigray Nation"). TNO formed clandestine cells and carried out propaganda work amongst the people. During the 1974 popular uprising, TNO played an important role in mobilizing the people of Tigray. After the takeover by the Derg
Derg
The Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
junta, TNO claimed that armed struggle was necessarily to remove the new regime. In February 1975, the TNO was transformed into the TPLF (Tigrai People's Liberation Front). The then newly formed front created the TPLF Manifesto in which it asserted its primary mission was to secede from the wider Ethiopian state, and create an independent Tigrai state. The Tigrai state map was extended from the Sudan border in the Northwest to the Northeast of the Afar region.
By establishing their first military base at Dedebit
Dedebit
Dedebit is an association football club from Ethiopia. They play games at the Addis Ababa Stadium, which has a capacity of 35,000.-Achievements:*Ethiopian Premier League: 0*Ethiopian Cup: 1*Ethiopian Super Cup: 0...
in Tigray, after having conducted political and military preparations.
At first, the TPLF was only one of several rebel groups in Tigray, and only one of their members had any military training. In his history of the TPLF, Aregawi Berhe readily admits that had it not been for the mentorship of Gessesew Ayele (better known by his nickname "Sehul"), a member of the Ethiopian parliament and respected local Tigrayan elder, the nascent TPLF would have come to quick disaster: Sehul had extensive personal contacts in western Tigray who provided support to the tiny group, as well as the power of personality to intimidate the local shifta
Shifta
Shifta is term used in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia for rebel, outlaw, or bandit. The word is derived from shúfto. Historically, shifta served as local militia in the lawless rural mountainous regions on the Horn of Africa...
s. The TPLF was able to establish their presence with a raid on the jail in Shire
Shire, Ethiopia
Shire , also known as Inda Selassie , is a town in northern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Mirabawi Zone of the Tigray region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an altitude of 1953 meters above sea level...
on the morning of 5 August 1975, in which they freed their captured comrade Mehari Tekle ("Mussie") and 60 other prisoners (including convicted criminals), then a month later on the afternoon of 4 September when they robbed the bank in Axum
Axum
Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia which was the original capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. Population 56,500 . Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from ca. 400 BC into the 10th century...
, in which four policemen were killed and 175,000 Birr
Ethiopian birr
The birr is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. Before 1976, dollar was the official English translation of birr. Today, it is officially birr in English as well....
(equivalent to US$ 84,000), and substantial arms and ammunition were stolen at the cost of one fighter wounded.
Rival anti-government groups in Tigray were the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU, led by Ras Mengesha Seyoum
Mangasha Seyum
Ras Mengesha Seyoum GCVO is a member of the imperial family of the Ethiopian Empire. In 1974, the monarchy was abolished by the Derg, a communist military junta.- Biography :...
, commonly seen as a pro-monarchist group), the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF, led by Yohannes Tekle Haymanot, who advocated Tigray independence just like the TPLF), and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
Founded in April 1972, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party was a prominent Marxist-Leninist organization in Ethiopia during the 1970s. It is also known as "Ihapa" from the acronym in Amharic...
(EPRP, moved to Mount Asimba in eastern Tigray after the Red Terror
Red Terror (Ethiopia)
The Ethiopian Red Terror, or Qey Shibir , was a violent political campaign in Ethiopia that most visibly took place once Communist Mengistu Haile Mariam achieved control of the Derg, the military junta, 3 February 1977...
). According to Aregawi, the TPLF reached out to each of the other groups to form tactical alliances, only to be disappointed. The first rival group to be eliminated was the TLF, who split into three factions in November 1975; and after an investigation executed its two top leaders for "crimes against their own colleagues". Next was the EDU, whom Aregawi blames fired the first shot by killing Sehul. After fighting several pitched battles with the EDU (Chiameskebet on 26 September 1976, and Addi Nebreid in July 1976 and 12 March 1977) which were costly in men and materiel, the TPLF resorted to guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
against the EDU, finally driving them out of western Tigray in the Battle of Quinat-Arbaete in November 1979. The EPRP was the last group engaged; although Aregawi claims that the EPRP fired the first shots, Gebru Tareke writes that it is impossible to determine which group actually did, noting "the parties have continued to argue the point." In any case, EPRP units allegedly attacked TPLF units in Agame
Agame
The Agame is a former province in northern Ethiopia, now part of the Tigray Region. Its inhabitants include the Irob people, a region where tradition states the legendary Makeda was born and raised...
on 23 February 1978, forcing them to evacuate the province. The TPLF brought two of its veteran companies from the west, and in a fierce counter-attack forced the EPRP fighters back to Mount Asimba. After a five-day battle, the TPLF captured their mountain stronghold, and the bulk of the defeated EPRP fled to sanctuary in Eritrean Liberation Front
Eritrean Liberation Front
The Eritrean Liberation Front was the main independence movement in Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and 1970s. In the very late 1950s unorganized political movement seeking independence was secretly active as small cells...
territory.
Around 1983, the core cadres of TPLF founded the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray
Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray
The Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray was a semi-clandestine Hoxhaist Communist party that held a leading role in the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front in the 1980s...
in the line of the Albanian Party of Labour
Albanian Party of Labour
The Party of Labour of Albania was the sole legal political party in Albania during communist rule...
. They also incorporated the name Woyane in the title of their organization as an intentional reference to the Woyane rebellion, a revolt in Tigray that arose and was crushed in 1943.
Following the success of the TPLF in 1991 in gaining control of Ethiopia, and the collapse of communist regime in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, the TPLF dropped all references to Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
. The leadership of the TPLF claims that the MLLT dissolved when the TPLF-backed Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front is the ruling political coalition in Ethiopia. It is an alliance of four other groups: the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization , the Amhara National Democratic Movement , the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's...
took power after the collapse of the Derg in 1991.
Funding
In March 2010 Martin Plaut of the BBC reported that the TPLF gained large amounts of money by defrauding international aid organizations during the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. Plaut interviewed two people formerly associated with TPLF, Gebremedhin Araya and Aregawi Berhe, and also quoted a CIA report from the mid 1980s that makes similar claims.Aregawi Berhe, who is a high-ranking TPLF commander living in exile in The Netherlands, told Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
that "the rebel movement, TPFL, had received the money under false pretences – through its development arm, the so-called 'Aid Association of Tigray' (MARET). But MARET belonged to the party. So after the aid from donors and aid charities was collected, it was made available through the budget of the party's central committee – for logistics and financing of the resistance."
Members
Members of the TPLF include: Meles ZenawiMeles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...
(party chairman), Seyoum Mesfin
Seyoum Mesfin
Seyoum Mesfin Gebredingel is an Ethiopian politician and diplomat. He was Ethiopia's Foreign Minister from 1991 until September 2010 and has subsequently served as Ethiopia's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China....
, Sebhat Nega, Arkebe Oqubay
Arkebe Oqubay
Arkebe Oqubay is an Ethiopian politician. He is a former mayor of Addis Ababa and is currently a State Minister of Works and Urban Development....
, Abay Tsehaye
Abay Tsehaye
Abay Tsehaye is the Minister of Federal Affairs of Ethiopia. The field of work of his ministry includes police functions and Addis Ababa city administration.Born at Axum, he attended high school in Mek'ele, afterwards attended Addis Abeba University...
, Abadi Zemo, Tsegay Berhe, Azeb Mesfin, Haftom Abraha, and Weyen (deceased).
Prominent former members include: Siye Abraha, Gebru Asrat
Gebru Asrat
Gebru Asrat is a former president of Tigray Region and one of the top leaders and executive central committee member as well as politburo member of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front , and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.Gebru was born in Mekelle with in Enderta county, a...
, Ghidey Zeratsion, Aregawi Berhe, Tewolde Wolde Mariam, Alemseged Gebreamlak, Hailu Mengesha, Aregash Adane, Awalom Woldu, and Abebe Tessema.
Further reading
- Kahsay Berhe: Ethiopia: Democratization and Unity: The Role of the Tigray's People Liberation Front, Münster 2005 ISBN 3-86582-137-5
- Jenny Hammond: Fire From the Ashes: A Chronicle of the Revolution in Tigray, Ethiopia, 1975-1991. Lawrenceville 1999 ISBN 1-56902-087-6
- John Young, "The Tigray and Eritrean Peoples Liberation Fronts: A History of Tensions and Pragmatism", Journal of Modern African Studies, 34 (1996), pp. 105-120
- John Young: Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: the Tigray People's Liberation Front, Cambridge 1997. ISBN 0-521-59198-8