His power weakened in 1991
In 1984, Mengistu saw to it that the Workers’ Party of Ethiopia was established. Two years after, he drafted a constitution for Ethiopia and then ensured the organization of an election by a new national legislature of himself as president in 1987. But during this same period, a drought adversely impacted the Ethiopian economy. It is recorded that an estimated one million people starved to death in a 1984-85 famine. At the same time, Mengistu faced insurrections in the northern regions of Tigre and Eritrea as well as coup attempts by “enemies within the regime”.
In 1989, the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front joined with other opposition movements to form the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). In May 1991, following the withdrawal of Soviet support which seriously weakened Mengistu’s power, the EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa, successfully ending his regime. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe, where his friend, former President Robert Mugabe, granted him asylum as an “official guest”.
