By Ojulu

What weaken GPLM up to now?

Agwa Alemo addressing participants of organization conference of EPRDF

However, opposition movement in this region was generally weak politically and militarily, and slower to take form than elsewhere, while -given strong cross-border connections -Sudan played a crucial role in their emergence. In this region, dissident attempted to develop relation with more powerful movements, initially in Sudan, and then in Ethiopia -first with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and then ultimately and more successfully with the TPLF. Establishing relation with the TPLF not only served to increase their military and political capacity, but was also later to give them legitimacy in the post-Derg TPLF dominated government that was formed by the EPRDF in 1991. It also meant that this GPLM political party was the principal beneficiary of the subsequent decision to establish regional states with the political agenda of self-administrative and self-determination. For this reason, educated Anwak first took the political initiative in1979 by crossing the border and forming the Gambella People's Democratic Movement (GPDM). The longer residence of the Anwak in Ethiopia, and their more settled existence when compared to the Nuer, probably explains their earlier opposition to the Derg.

Anwak reliance on peasant agriculture also made them more subject to the highly disruptive `revolutionary' campaigns of the Derg than the Nuer, who developed closer links with the regime. The GPDM launched a guerrilla campaign, but was unable to mobilize more than a negligible portion of the population and never held any liberated lands. As a result, it appealed to the OLF which operated in the region for support, but the Front made assistance dependent upon the GPDM acknowledging their followers to be `black Oromos', something the movement was not prepared to do. Instead, the GPDM's weakness, and its growing recognition by the late 1980s that the TPLF was the leading opposition force against the Derg, led it to approach this northern-based movement for support.

By 1989 the TPLF controlled Tigray, and was in the process of creating a coalition capable of defeating the Derg and forming a government. As a result, the TPLF was sympathetic to the appeal of the GPDM, once the movement dropped its demand for independence and brought its political orientation in line with the Front, which called for national self-determination. About 500-600 GPDM members received military and political training in Tigray, and attended the 1989 organisational conference of the EPRDF with their hero Agwa Alemo, but the organisation was not accepted for full membership, being relegated to the status of ` ally ' (Abera Tesfaye 1998). When the EPRDF moved south in 1990/91, the Derg quickly evacuated Gambella, and EPRDF forces, accompanied by a small contingent from the GPDM, occupied the region. On attaining power, the GPDM removed the predominately Nuer leadership that had dominated the province under the Derg, and settled old scores with its now weakened ethnic rival.

Agwa Alemo was a hero man, head of GPLM, who struggle for freedom of the oppressed people of Gambella as well as political agendas such as self-administrative, full membership in the central government, democratic ruling and justice, etc. Although he tried a kind of diplomatic political system with TPLF/EPRDF for addressing these agendas, GPLM not fully accepted as member of EPRDF rather it admitted as supporter of EPRDF. Even the political agenda for self-administrative (i.e to be a member of the nine regional states of EFDR) was through a pain process of his struggle, first Gambella ignored not to be state for its less population. While he was on the way to strength relationship with central government through political diplomatic negotiation, his GPLM military members or arms for the reason of not providing food to them –which is simple issue -that may not lead to passed away his life, have killed him during the transitional government. The GPLM military members did not realize that they are still in hot political conditions during the transitional government i.e the political agendas that may strength their movement forever are still not settling and lack response by the central government.

The reality is “You may feel and opposed what your leader doing wrong, but do not harm or injured him, if you do that you may faced the consequence in the long run as political game is like the body of human being build up with skeleton and backbone”.

So, what weaken GPLM up to now? What will happen if you don’t have a father?

The dead of our hero Agwa Alemo, who initiate GPLM and get victory for freedom, is what weaken the political party until now causing a serious consequence of problems up to today. This is what leads also for GPLM with no where to proceed regarding its victory of success.

‘’Agwa Alemo is a father of all oppressed people of Gambella’’