The Kimant Democratic Party or KDP (also: ''Kemant'', ''Qemant'') is a political party of the
Qemant people
The Qemant (also known as western Agaws) are a small ethnic group in northwestern Ethiopia specifically in Gondar, Amhara Region. The Qemant people traditionally practiced an early Pagan-Hebraic religion, however most members of the Qemant are ...
in Ethiopia.
Affiliations
In December 2019, the Kimant Democratic Party associated with nine other Ethiopian political parties, including the
Oromo Liberation Front, the
Ogaden National Liberation Front
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (abbreviated ONLF, so, Jabhadda Wadaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeeniya; ar, الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير أوجادين) is a social and political movement, founded in 1984 to campaign for the right to ...
and the
Gambela People's Liberation Movement
The Gambela People's Liberation Movement (abbreviated GPLM) was a rebel group in the Gambela Region in Ethiopia. The GPLM was founded by Anuak dissidents during the Derg and Woyane regime. The organization remained dominated by Anuaks.Human Rig ...
, stating they would work together against the
Prosperity Party
The Prosperity Party ( am, ብልጽግና ፓርቲ, Bilits’igina Paritī; om, Paartii Badhaadhiinaa) is a political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic F ...
in preparation for the
2021 Ethiopian general election, which had been scheduled to take place in 2020.
Regional Amharan government officials claimed in April 2021 that the KDP was affiliated with the
Tigray People's Liberation Front
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ti, ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, lit=Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray), also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist paramilitar ...
(TPLF) and the
Oromo Liberation Army
The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA; , WBO) is an armed opposition group active in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. The OLA consist primarily of former armed members of the pre-peace deal OLF who refused to disarm out of skepticism of the peace deal, ...
(OLA).
On 5 November 2021 during the
Tigray War
The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...
, the KDP and six other small groups declared the creation of a coalition with the TPLF and OLA called the
United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces
The United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces (UFEFCF) is a coalition of six Ethiopian rebel groups, including the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), created in November 2021 during the ...
,
whose declared aim was to "dismantle
Abiy's government by force or by negotiations, and then form a transitional authority."
Leadership and structure
As of September 2019, the leader of KDP was Ato Abejew Workineh.
Actions
In April 2021, Kimant Democratic Party supporters held a support rally for their party in a town in
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
. The rally was criticised by regional government officials and the KDP was accused of being affiliated with the TPLF and OLA, after which verbal disagreements led to arrests and gunshots.
References
External links
*{{Official website
Political parties in Ethiopia
Rebel groups in Ethiopia