By Adugna Dinka
Infiltrating one’s opponents existed as far back as
conflict existed in human history. It is used for espionage and dividing the
opponents for the purposes of weakening and having victory upon the opponents
in any form. Those organized groups or parties with superior infiltration
ability get the upper hand in most cases.
It is mostly a process of getting one’s member to
enter in the enemy territory or enter opponent group as their member and work
as a spy or facilitate the division of the opponent organization making them to
break apart and weaken. In some cases the infiltrator may go up the ladder of
power and share power.
My point of discussion over here is not the art of
infiltration but about the ability of TPLF/EPDRF to infiltrate opposition
parties at home and abroad. It is obvious that the first organization the TPLF
with Shabia had well infiltrated was the derg government of the Ethiopian empire
of Mengistu H/Mariam. At the end of the fall of the derg government, TPLF used
to get victory again and again. Sometimes the military of the derg government
get attacked before they reach the battle front or they surrender easily. This
shows that the TPLF and Shabia have enough information about the deployment of
the derg army before it happens. That means there was a high level of
TPLF/Shabia infiltration in the derg government and military. So, they won that
war easily and controlled the empire.
In 1991/92, Oromo liberation front was the member of
the transitional government of Ethiopia. It was also a strong opponent of the
TPLF/EPDRF led government. OLF used to control the country side of most parts
of Oromia, while TPLF/EPDRF controls all other regions plus important parts of
Oromia (cities, towns and areas along the main roads). This time was the time
when most Oromos supported and joined OLF. It was nationalistic and hot time for
Oromos because it was the time when Oromos start knowing one another from North
to South, East to West. It was an
emotional time in the history of Oromos. During this time it was just an easy
job for TPLF/EPDRF to infiltrate OLF. So,
weyane easily camouflaged itself into OLF and this was one of the reasons that
enabled weyane to overcame OLF in 1992 when conflict arisen between them.
Since then OLF was breaking apart day by day. AWO (adda
walabummaa Oromo) break away from OLF. Then OLF ‘change’ break away, and
recently the ODF (Oromo democratic front) was formed by an old OLF members. The
division of the organization grew its root to the Oromo public especially in
diaspora. It appears that the TPLF has managed to infiltrate OLF to the top
level. What is worrying is at what level
they infiltrated OLF and when this division is going to stop.
It is very easy for TPLF/EPDRF to infiltrate home
based oppositions. They are well experienced at it. I don’t be surprised if
half of the members of opposition parties at home are the members of TPLF too.
TPLF/EPDRF with party members of more than 5million can easily manage to
register their members into other home based parties. To imagine how far they
can go up in the ladder of power of the opposition parties is difficult.
The main opposition parties are not based at home. 10s
of them reside abroad. Some like OLF (Oromo liberation front), ONLF (Ogaden
national liberation front) and SLM (Sidama liberation movement) are organizations
that have bases in diaspora and military wings in the deserts and forests of
their respective nations. That means they wage armed war against weyane at home
while they are active diplomatically abroad.
There are other diaspora based organizations like
Ginbot 7 which controls the vast diaspora economic support with the media power
of ESAT satellite television. This
opposition organization for sure is a big interest for TPLF just for its media
power alone which of course is supported by diaspora economic power house of
those who support the Ethiopian empire unity based on the old system. This
organization not only controls the diaspora wealth of the old Ethiopianists,
but also the power of acquiring information (due to the economic support it has
from the diaspora). Information by itself is a source of power and having the mouthpiece
like ESAT to disseminate it is an immense power.
The TPLF/EPDRF government of Ethiopia can actually
easily infiltrate all these, though it is difficult to do that to the military
wing of OLF, ONLF, and SLM. As far as the military wing is under the command of
the central leadership of the organizations, if the TPLF infiltration has
managed to reach the main leadership, they still can affect the decision making
process and enable the direct information flow to TPLF. They can also initiate
conflict and division among the leadership of any organization.
It is very interesting to witness the political
interest of people in diaspora at this time in history. Many people are
travelling abroad for study from Ethiopia. In most cases these people embark on
becoming the member of an opposition political organization from their
ethnicity. They try to appear that they are really critical of the TPLF led
government of Ethiopia. Practically they are just gathering information about
any opposition member at any level. Their
targets are mostly OLF, ODF, ONLf, G7 and the like. Over here it is also
important to mention that TPLF/EPDRF has trained many people linguistically so
that they can fit into any ethnic group opposition organization they want to
infiltrate.
Overall, organization like TPLF/EPDRF with more than 5
million active members and with a good incentives (good job, better pay,
educational chance at home and abroad ETC.) can infiltrate any opposition
parties (abroad or at home). They can also go up the ladder of leadership to
influence the decision making process and insure the flow of information to
TPLF once they are a member. TPLF/EPDRF members at this time are well educated
just like any body and they can blend with any group or any opposition
organization. That means there are no criteria to exclude them from being a
member of any party. They all travel abroad with a clear mandate. They are not in
100s, but in thousands. They can reach any corner where any diaspora opposition
lives. So it is up to the opposition organizations to watch out.
Adugna Dinka (re_appear1@yahoo.co.uk)
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