Abiy Ahmad has vowed to lead his troops in the battlefield to stop the advance of rebels threatening to invade and capture the capital Addis Ababa, but how serious is the Ethiopian prime minister about leading the line from the war front?
In a statement clearly aimed at whipping up popular sentiment about defending Ethiopia from “acts of aggression that threaten its sovereignty” PM Ahmed said he will lead by example.
He has made a public vow to personally show up in battle against a joint force of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).
The Ethiopian federal forces who in the past enjoyed a fearsome reputation around Africa appeared to have lost the military initiative against the rebels who according to sources are bearing down on Addis Ababa.
They have captured the strategic town of Shewa Robit, 220km north of the Ethiopian capital, opening a corridor for direct access to the city.
The Ethiopian federal army have dismissed reports of the rebels spectacular success as “empty propaganda”, claiming in turn that their troops had beat a tactical retreat from positions deemed militarily not strategic to hold.
Abiy Ahmed, a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner has taken direct command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces and many observers say he therefore bears responsibility for his troops lack of drive to defend territories which were under their control but which have been lost to the rebels.
Taking to social media PM Ahmed wrote on Monday that “Starting tomorrow, I will mobilise to the front to lead the defence forces”.
Clearly exhorting able-bodied Ethiopians to defend the homeland, Abiy said those sharing his patriotic sentiments can join him at the warfront.
There seems to be a mixed reaction among Ethiopians about the premier’s decision to personally take part in what his government calls an “existential war to save the soul of Ethiopia”.
Many Ethiopians believe Ahmed has the military experience to fight on the warfront having seen active service as a soldier during the war with neighbouring Eritrea between 1998 and 2000.
The Ethiopian prime minister still goes with the rank of Lieutenant-colonel and performed “respectably as a brave soldier” during that conflict which left tens of thousands of active combatants dead on both sides.
The prime minister was widely praised in the first few months of the conflict in Tigray where the federal forces scored some early successes after rebels attacked a base manned by federal troops in November 2020.
Some military sources believe that now that the fortunes of the federal forces at the warfront has dwindled, the embattled premier could be tempted to save face by appearing at the battlefield even if for a few times.
This will help boost the morale of his battlefield commanders whose orders to troops under the command had been to “cut and run” as rebels closed in on their positions.
Ethiopians know what happened when another African leader decided to go to battle at the war front against rebels threatening his capital and got killed in the process.
In April, Idris Deby of Chad died in circumstances yet to be fully explained after his reported involvement in a skirmish between government troops and rebel fighters.
Many Ethiopians say on the one hand Abiy sounded defiant which points to the pressure already telling as rebels gain ground and on the other hand desperate hence his exhortations about fellow citizens joining him at the war front.
Meanwhile TPLF spokesperson, Getachew Reda has dismissed Abiy’s vow to lead from the war front as nothing more than cosmetic, pointing out that the rebels will not halt their advance and in their drive to eventually free the rest of Ethiopia from his “stranglehold”.
Calls by the African Union for the belligerents to cease fire and head for peace talks have so far fallen on deaf ear.
With the TPLF/OLF coalition sensing an advantage militarily and Abiy regrouping his troops to halt their advance and reverse rebel gains, there are fears that this conflict in the Horn of Africa could become a long drawn out war with untold consequences for civilians caught up in the quagmire.
WN/as/APA