Fighting between the Ethiopian army and Fano rebel forces in the northern Amhara region continues unabated, with a historic town the scene of a recent skirmish. A post shared on Facebook claims to show footage in which Ethiopia's deputy prime minister, Demeke Mekonnen, purportedly accuses Fano forces of wanting to restore the Amhara people's "supremacy" in Ethiopia. However, this is false: the footage comes from a speech given by Demeke four years ago after senior government officials were killed in Amhara. At the time, Fano were government allies.

The post was published on November 3, 2023 in Amharic and reads: “Demeke Mekonen said that the Fano struggle is an attempt by the chauvinist ruling Amhara group to regain their former supremacy.”

Viewed more than 180,000 times, the post adds that “Demeke Mekonen has expressed his Oromo identity in his own words … in this video”.

Demeke belongs to the Amhara people, the second largest ethnic group in Ethiopia after the Oromos.

Historically, elites from Amhara ethnic group had assumed a dominant position in the Ethiopian political system (archived here).

Amhara nationalists have criticised Demeke for being part of the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is Oromo, at a time when government soldiers are fighting Fano rebels.

In this context, the post claims that Demeke has shown “his Oromoness” — inferring that he has abandoned his Amhara identity.

The post contains a video featuring Demeke speaking at what appears to be a...

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