A Facebook post circulating a letter allegedly from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) announcing its withdrawal from the "Ethiopian Peoples' Struggle for Survival Alliance" is false. The ONLF has denied the authenticity of the letter, stating it was not issued by the party's official leadership. The letter, written in Amharic, claims the ONLF is withdrawing from the alliance, which was formed in September 2019 by seven Ethiopian armed groups.
The Ethiopian Peoples' Struggle for Survival Alliance, led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), aims to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The alliance comprises various armed groups, including the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the Amhara region's Fano militia, and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). However, the ONLF has consistently denied involvement in the alliance.
PesaCheck, an East African fact-checking organization, investigated the letter and found it to be fake. The organization's researchers checked the ONLF's official social media accounts, including its X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook pages, but found no evidence to support the authenticity of the letter. ONLF Chairman Abdurahman Sheikh Mahdi also denied the letter's authenticity in an email response to PesaCheck.
A comparison of the suspicious letter with genuine ONLF documents revealed significant differences in format and style. The ONLF has officially stated that it did not issue the letter and does not recognize it as its own. PesaCheck's investigation was conducted by a team of fact-checkers and researchers based in Ethiopia.
The ONLF's denial of the letter's authenticity is crucial in dispelling misinformation and maintaining the integrity of information. PesaCheck's fact-checking efforts aim to combat the spread of false information on social media platforms. The organization works with social media platforms, including Facebook, to identify and debunk false information.
PesaCheck is an independent fact-checking organization that focuses on financial and civic information in East Africa. The organization was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arnstein and is developed by Code for Africa, the largest civic technology and media data platform on the continent.
The fact-checking effort was supported by various organizations, including Code for Africa and the Deutsche Welle Akademie. PesaCheck's work aims to promote transparency and accountability in information dissemination, particularly in the context of civic and financial information.
Key points
- The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has denied a letter allegedly announcing its withdrawal from the Ethiopian Peoples' Struggle for Survival Alliance.
- The letter, circulating on social media, is false and not recognized by the ONLF as its official document.
- PesaCheck's investigation confirmed the letter's inauthenticity through a thorough examination of the ONLF's official social media accounts and documents.
