Ethiopia’s Drudgery: The endeavor for change and unending political impasse

Aug 4th, 2020 – In its history of statehood, Ethiopia has never been a democratic state. Every successive regime has had the ambition to consolidate its political power at the expense of democratic governance for the governed. The country has been ruled by dictatorial, centralized governments which have kept the landlocked East African nation one of the poorest on earth. One important flashpoint was seen in 1991, when the federal system was introduced with devolution of power to regional and local levels. The experience from the past three decades shows that the ambition to institutionalize genuine federalism was handicapped by the greedy behavior of rulers. The regime, which introduced the federal system collapsed in 2018 following the intensified protests and political crisis in the country. This paved the way for Abiy Ahmed to assume Prime ministerial position as a ‘reformist’ leader. 

Immediately after assuming power, Abiy Ahmed vowed to undertake institutional legal reforms that will take the country to democratic path. He introduced a series of spectacular liberalizing political and economic reforms. Few months later, things returned back to their abysmal conditions and people started to vow their discontents. 

Highlight to the Oromo Protest 

The Oromo are the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and East Africa, comprising more than 40 percent of Ethiopia’s 110 million people. Yet, Oromos have been subjected to discriminatory and disproportionate surveillance, policing, prosecution and imprisonment under the guise of security and economic development for decades. 

The Oromo Protest was started on November 12, 2015 in Ginchi town, about 80 kilometers West of Addis Ababa. It was a non-institutional and anti-authoritarian peaceful resistance calling for an end to century old systemic exclusion and subordination of the Oromo nation. It was further internationalized through social media with the hashtag #OromoProtests by activists, advocacy groups and human rights defenders. 

Although the protests were sparked against the government’s plan to expand the territorial and administrative limits of the capital Addis Ababa into neighboring Oromia towns and villages, they were manifestations of long-simmering ethnic discontents buried beneath the surface.

Hachalu Hundesa, a prominent Oromo artist and human rights activist, was able to well-articulate the Oromo grievances and political situation of the time by his successive music lyrics. His song titled “Maalan Jiraa” roughly translated “What existence is mine” was released in 2015, and added fuel to the ongoing Oromo protests.

His people and fans praised Hachalu as an icon of liberation whose protest music galvanized members of the country’s largest ethnic group, while government security forces of the time targeted him as a protest intensifier. 

The failure of the government to respond to long-standing grievances and the deployment of disproportionate violence, which killed thousands, exacerbated the tension and the protest took the form of a formidable mass anti-authoritarian movement. Oromo’s relentless peaceful resistance and struggles against this tyrannical rule, especially the sustained Oromo youth’s (also called “Qeerroo”) peaceful resistance until 2018, forced reform within the EPRDF government.

The protests reached a turning point in 2018, when the then Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn decided to resign from his post and a new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, was elected by the incumbent parliament. Abiy Ahmed appeared as a ‘reformist’ in the first few months of his premiership, but eventually turned into his predecessor’s ruling style. Opponents are being arrested, security forces commit extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, rape and other human rights infringements, and freedom of expression is limited under Abiy’s leadership. Over the last two years, there have been alarming reports of abuses by state security forces in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. This has fueled resentment towards Abiy’s administration among the Oromo, the country’s largest ethnic group. 

The Killing of Hachalu Hundessa and Attendant Political Turmoil 

On June 29, the mounting tension came to a head when Hachalu Hundessa, a famous Oromo artist, was shot dead in Addis Ababa, the capital. Hachalu was gunned down around 9:30 PM in Akaki Kaliti sub-city, Gelan condominium area. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.  

He was 34 years old, and emerged as a powerful political voice of the Oromo, and had made many enemies during his musical career. His death and funeral has brought tensions to a boiling point in a country already facing myriad political, economic and social challenges. The context to the artist’s death was not immediately clear, although Hachalu’s supporters had blamed anti-Oromo forces and deduced a political motive for the crime. 

What is even more shocking is what happened immediately after the murder of Hachalu. His assassination has ignited nationwide protests in Oromia including its capital Addis Ababa (also called Finfinnee). At least 239 people have been killed as admitted by the government authorities, and other hundreds injured in the unrest that followed the killing of the Oromo pop star, underscoring long simmering tensions in Ethiopia.

In response, the authorities have blocked the internet for consecutive three weeks and unjustly arrested thousands of Oromo people, including prominent government critics, members and supporters of opposition political parties. Disappointingly, private media houses such as Oromia Media Network (OMN) and Oromia Network News (ONN), which serve as the only voices of the Oromo people are closed, most of their journalists imprisoned, and their properties confiscated by the security forces. 

Arbitrary detention targeted predominantly the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) leaders, including Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba, Hamza Borena, Dr. Shigut Geleta, Michael Boran, Gemechu Ayana, Kenassa Ayana, Dawit Abdeta, Lemi Benya, Degene Tafa, Chaltu Takele (single mother of a 1 year old baby) and thousands of other activists and journalists who are believed to be the most influential of dissident voices in the country. They are political prisoners rather than suspected criminals. Oromo owned businesses were destroyed in the capital city by hooligans.

Even though, the exact number of deaths and detention is yet to be investigated since the action was committed during the internet blackout, which relatively confined information to single sources of government owned and state affiliated media, a report by Amnesty International indicates at least 7,000 people have been arrested, many high profile critics of Abiy Ahmed.  In most cases, the Ethiopian authorities are causing great anguish to the families of those arrested by failing to divulge their whereabouts. 

The detention of prominent Oromo personalities has put Abiy increasingly at odds with the Oromo, who initially formed the bulk of Abiy’s support base. The arrests have also prompted fears that the Nobel Peace Prize Winner may not be committed to the democratic reforms he has promised two years ago.

Concluding remarks

Security remains tight across Oromia since the day after the funeral of revered singer and musician Hachalu Hundessa. Market boycott and other forms of civil disobedience have been undertaken in the Oromia region. The government has to resolve the crisis through peaceful mechanisms before it is too late. In a country with a very recent history of crackdown against dissidents, Abiy’s leadership needs to show that they are committed to ensuring credible justice and are tolerant of criticism by political opponents. The case of political prisoners has to be resolved through genuine political discussion. This may bring transition to democracy back to the normal track. In the case of unknown whereabouts of prisoners, the government must immediately disclose where each detainee is being held, and either charge them with a recognizable crime or release them immediately without any preconditions. 

If the government fails to address the grievances of protesters, responsibly address political prisoners, and does not provide justice to the inconsolable grief of families whose loved ones were shot by security forces, people will restart full scale protests to resist the government’s draconian and ever-escalating repression.