The Animal Farm of Mekelle: Orwellian Reflections on the TPLF’s “Above the Core” Authoritarian Criminal Network
By Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review
Special Edition – Strategic Historical Insight & Political Analysis
The Animal Farm of Mekelle: Orwellian Reflections on the TPLF’s “Above the Core” Authoritarian Criminal Network
Executive Overview
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) “Above the Core” faction—an entrenched network of authoritarian warlords and opportunistic elites—has long positioned itself above the people of Tigray. Like Orwell’s Animal Farm pigs, these figures exploit revolutionary rhetoric while betraying the very people they claim to represent. Today, their hollow slogans and self-serving gatherings in Mekelle reflect not strength, but desperation. What George Orwell once warned against in Stalinist Russia has now become a tragic mirror in Tigray: the revolution’s liberators transformed into oppressors, clinging to slogans instead of vision, and relying on fear instead of legitimacy.
Animal Farm as a Political Mirror: From Orwell to Mekelle
Orwell’s Animal Farm was a sharp allegory of the Soviet Union’s descent into totalitarianism. Its timeless themes—manipulated language, corrupted ideals, propaganda, betrayal, and tyranny—resonate strikingly with the trajectory of the TPLF’s “Above the Core” faction.
- Language and Propaganda as Tools of Control
In Animal Farm, the pigs rewrote commandments to suit their privileges:
“No animal shall sleep in a bed” became “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.”
“No animal shall drink alcohol” became “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.”
Eventually, only one commandment remained: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
In Tigray, the TPLF “Above the Core” behaves similarly, weaponizing slogans such as “National Survival and Security to Ensure National Unity!” (24 September 2018, Mekelle). The phrase cloaks authoritarian consolidation under the guise of unity, masking a war declared not against external enemies but against their own people.
- The Elite’s Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals
In Orwell’s tale, Animalism collapsed because the pigs became new oppressors, exploiting the labor of others while exempting themselves.
In Tigray, the “Above the Core” leaders—generals, profiteers, and ideological hardliners—hoard power, land, and wealth while the broader population endures displacement, famine, and generational trauma.
- The Dogs of Fear: Militarized Control
Orwell’s nine dogs, trained by Napoleon, symbolized Stalin’s NKVD secret police, enforcing fear and silencing dissent.
The TPLF elite similarly relies on armed loyalists, secret police-like structures, and intimidation to maintain dominance. Fear, not legitimacy, has become their last weapon.
- The Final Betrayal: Becoming Indistinguishable from the Oppressors
Animal Farm ends with pigs indistinguishable from humans—revolutionaries turned into the very tyrants they overthrew.
The TPLF “Above the Core” has reached this stage. Once liberators, they now mirror the very dictatorial and exploitative systems they once fought, having become a caste of elites indistinguishable from Ethiopia’s past oppressors.
The Hollow Banners of Mekelle: A Last Dance of the Pigs
The September 2018 banners in Mekelle, with slogans of “unity” and “security,” marked not revival but decline. Today, these warlords gather with no political strategy, no vision, and no ideological coherence. They are left only with the empty ritual of slogans—political fossils in a new era of Tigrayan resistance, renewal, and civic nationalism.
Like Orwell’s pigs who excused themselves from hard labor, the TPLF elite exempt themselves from sacrifice while demanding loyalty. The people of Tigray, however, are no longer deceived. The “Above the Core” warlords are politically dead—buried beneath the weight of their betrayals.
Comparative Analysis: Orwell’s Animal Farm vs. TPLF “Above the Core”
Animal Farm Theme Orwell’s Allegory TPLF “Above the Core” Parallel
Manipulated Language Slogans altered commandments Banners of “National Unity” masking internal oppression
Elite Privilege Pigs exempted from labor, took milk/apples Warlords hoard wealth and land while civilians starve
Militarized Fear Nine dogs as NKVD secret police Loyalist militias, intimidation, and surveillance
Betrayal of Ideals Animalism corrupted into tyranny TPLF liberation ideals corrupted into authoritarianism
Final Transformation Pigs become like humans TPLF elite mirror Ethiopia’s old oppressors
Narrative Insights and Strategic Reflection
- The Failure of Revolutionary Ideals
The TPLF “Above the Core” proves Orwell’s warning: revolutions without accountability collapse into new tyrannies. - A Self-Declared War Against the People
By mobilizing under distorted slogans, these warlords reveal that their greatest enemy is not external—Eritrea or Addis Ababa—but internal: the will and awakening of the Tigrayan people. - The Question of Their Endgame
Do these warlords, like Orwell’s pigs, recognize that their time is over? Do they know they are already politically dead, surviving only through fear and hollow pageantry?
Conclusion: From Orwell to Tigray’s Future
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was never just about Russia—it was a universal warning against authoritarianism disguised as revolution. In Tigray today, that warning has come to life in the form of the TPLF “Above the Core” faction. Their gatherings in Mekelle, their slogans of “unity,” and their reliance on fear reveal a dying elite clinging to power.
But revolutions, as Orwell reminds us, often devour their ideals when vigilance is lost. For Tigray, the task ahead is clear: to ensure that liberation does not once again devolve into oppression. The future belongs not to the “Above the Core” pigs of Mekelle, but to a new generation committed to accountability, civic nationalism, and democratic transformation.
Prepared by:
Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review (HAGR)
Strategic Historical Insight & Political Analysis
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