Former federal State Minister for Peace Taye Dendea—once a trusted insider within the ruling party’s Oromo faction—has made explosive claims that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed explicitly vowed to “eliminate Amhara.” With Taye now detained and silenced, his unvarnished account carries heightened weight: he recorded Abiy’s words just before his arrest, convinced they would otherwise vanish into the corridors of power.
According to Taye, an incredulous Abiy first referred ambiguously to “those people,” then—perhaps sensing the gravity of his own confession—clarified: “I am going to eliminate Amhara.” Coming from a leader who styles himself as a unifier, this chilling assertion lays bare a systemic strategy to marginalize Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group.
Patterns of violence lend grim credibility to Taye’s revelation. Since Abiy assumed office in April 2018, coordinated attacks against ethnic Amhara have surged across Oromia, Benishangul‑Gumuz, and even within parts of the Amhara region itself. Human rights monitors have documented massacres, forced displacements, and, more recently, government drone strikes that have decimated civilian populations under the pretext of combating “rebels.” This week’s massacre in Wollega is merely the latest bloody episode in a six‑year campaign.
Politically, sidelining Amhara voices serves a clear purpose: weakening one of Ethiopia’s most influential regional power bases. By demonizing Amharas as perpetual insurgents, Abiy cultivates public fear while undermining the region’s elected representatives. His recent parliamentary maneuver—granting secret services carte blanche to employ torture in “terrorism and money laundering” probes—further concentrates unchecked authority in the executive, muzzling dissent and emboldening ethnic targeting.
Despite mounting evidence and international alarm, Abiy’s Office of the Prime Minister has remained conspicuously silent on Taye’s allegations. Instead, he has deflected criticism by accusing 60 percent of the country’s businesses of financing rebel outfits—an overstatement so sweeping it appears designed to stoke suspicion toward any domestic critic.
For Ethiopians appalled by state‑sanctioned violence and political repression, Taye Dendea’s testimony crystallizes a broader reality: Abiy Ahmed is not merely fighting insurgents; he is systematically stripping Amhara communities of security, legal protection, and legitimate representation. Until Addis Ababa addresses these accusations head‑on, the prime minister risks deepening the very divisions he claims to heal—and may well be steering Ethiopia toward irrevocable fracture.
