Who Andargachew Tsgie is and why he matters
May be it is because he is a man of adamantine principle; or he knows their nature and behavior ever so well. Out of the six kinijit international leaders designated by the prisoners to fill the leadership void, Andargachew Tsgie is the most distasted by the TPLF.
The Londoner is not your normal Diaspora. He staked his life and liberty when he returned to Ethiopia before the election to help Kinijit's campaign. Meles Zenawi knew he was a solid gut in organization and watched him very closely. Andragachew helped set up youth groups in different corners of the city. T, a kinijit campaigner who had a chance to meet Andargachew, told me that some of the networks that still exist are the ones formed by him. "The guy is all grassroots stuff. Coming from London, you don't expect him to see things as we do here. But he is just different," T said.
More than anybody else in Kinijit's leadership, it was Andargachew who foresaw how EPRDF might react to an election defeat and advised for a different set up and strategy to counteract. He was also warning that if kinijit didn't make the entrance of parliament (if the election was to be rigged) as a campaign issue, it would later put itself in a precarious situation. As the party was having a difficulty to chew everything it bite, the suggestions were not given the attention they deserved.
When the June 8 political demonstration turned into a massacre, EPRDF pounced on Andargachew. He was arrested and severely beaten. A former member of EHRCO who was put in the Zewai concentration camp with Andargachew was baffled with Andargachew's survival. When he was released, he was virtually unrecognizable. Yet he returned to work immediately (boringly hard worker who could churn pages and pages of political analysis in a day or two), organizing and chairing the lawyers of the party who were working on the investigation of the election, giving thoughtful press interviews and preparing advise papers. He was still adamant that the party should be ready for EPRDF's offense.
Andargachew was one of the first Kinijit members to be charged of attempting to destroy the constitutional order. When in mid August he left the country, the Pro-government Eftin claimed that he was the most dangerous and subversive member of Kinijit who organized the youth to overthrow an elected government. After the November massacre, my TPLF-connected informants told me that Meles and co. very mush regretted that Andargachew eluded them.
Andargachew is also a very popular politician at home. Kinijit's leaders so appreciated his contributions that he was elected to the supreme council (the leading body of the party) even though he wasn't at home at the time of the election. His best selling book "Netsanetin yemayawik Netsa Awtchi" has made him a house hold name. His honest and heartfelt apology for working with EPRDF just after they controlled Addis Ababa had been received with grace and appreciation by the public who wasn't used to such repentance from politicians. The fourth edition of the book was put on sale just a month ago and it still hit the best seller list.
I think that he is an element who is capable of connecting the democracy movement in Diaspora with the struggle at home. Great choice for a Kinijit substitute leadership.