Three Somali political and civic organisations based in Ethiopia announced on Sunday the formation of a unified alliance, declaring that the “era of futile negotiation” with the federal government in Addis Ababa has come to an end.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), the Congress for Somali Cause (CSC), and the Somali Regional Democratic Alliance (S.R.D.A) have established the Somali People’s Alliance for Self-Determination (SPAS). In a formal declaration titled “The End of Restraint,” the alliance stated it will no longer pursue non-violent reconciliation, alleging that the regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has met their peaceful overtures with “dismissal and abuse.”
“The regime itself has sealed the gates of peace through its malice, contempt, and intransigence,” the declaration stated. “We will strengthen unity among our own people and stand in principled solidarity with all who resist tyranny and domination. With steadfast determination, we will confront and dismantle the corrupt system that has entrenched itself in Addis Ababa.”
The formation of SPAS marks a significant shift in the political landscape of Ethiopia’s Somali state. The groups claimed that following the rise of the “OPDO-led regime” in 2018, they made a “courageous choice for peace” by laying down arms. However, they now describe the much-heralded 2018 peace as a “hollow façade” that concealed “accelerated land dispossession, resource plunder, and demographic engineering.”
According to the alliance, the federal government is driven by “kleptocratic ambition and annihilatory intent.” The document claims that the Somali people in Ethiopia face “existential dangers” and a “calculated campaign aimed at erasure” which they will no longer endure in silence.
The declaration situates the current grievances within a historical context of “state subjugation,” referencing the “violent annexation of the Ogaden in the 19th Century” and the “devastation of the 1977 Ogaden War.” It affirms that the incorporation of Somali territories into the Ethiopian state occurred through historical processes that “did not reflect the free and informed consent of the Somali people.”
The SPAS platform is described as a “unified political, diplomatic, and civic platform” intended to consolidate Somali political agency and secure the future of the Somali people. The alliance called upon “every Somali to rise with clarity of purpose and moral conviction” to reclaim their rights and restore their dignity.
The statement concluded with a note of defiance: “Victory is not a matter of chance—it is a matter of will. AND THE WILL OF THE SOMALI PEOPLE IS UNBREAKABLE.“
