This week Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed visited neighbouring Eritrea, where he was received warmly his host, President Isaias Afwerki marking a historic event for two countries that have been at war for the past twenty years. This is among the many reforms that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is implementing in the country. At 42, Abiy is Africa’s youngest leader and he is pursuing a different path than many others in the region. His rise to power came after the unexpected resignation of his predecessor, Haile Mmariam Dessalegn, over the unrest spread in 2015 and 2016 as demonstrations against political restrictions and human rights abuses broke out. The protests started in Ginci town, about 50 miles out of Addis Ababa, by elementary and high school students demanding a halt to a controversial Master Plan, which sought to incorporate vast swathes of small Oromo towns and rural farming villages into Ethiopia’s sprawling capital. While Oromo youth fear being excluded from job opportunities, they are also frightened that their parents and compatriots will be displaced from their ancestral lands to make room for the expansion without proper compensation and due process of law. The Amharas and the Oromos are Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups; together the groups account for about 60% of Ethiopia’s population. The protests over evictions and mass youth unemployment among others, led to loss of lives and the government declared a state of emergency which has since been lifted. With Abiy’s elevation to Prime Minister, there has been a quell in the unrest and has also quieted Ethiopia’s most confrontational voices. So far, he has reshuffled his cabinet, fired a series of controversial civil servants, lifted bans on websites and other media, freed thousands of political prisoners and ordered the partial privatisation of massive state-owned companies. Despite this, not everyone backs Abiy’s efforts. This was evident after a grenade was thrown at his rally organised to showcase popular support for the reforms in Addis Ababa’s vast Meskel Square where tens of thousands of supporters were gathered. Officials reported that there had been other efforts to disrupt the rally, including a power outage and a partial shutdown of the phone networks. One possible culprit for this could be a hardline element within Ethiopia’s powerful security services. Tigrayans, an ethnic community centred in the north of Ethiopia, make up about 6% of the population but are generally considered to dominate the political and business elite. Dr. Abiy Ahmed was seen as a relative political outsider before being picked for the job by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF); the ruling political coalition of four parties. He is the first leader from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic community, the Oromo. Abiy’s mixed Christian and Muslim background, and fluency in three of the country’s main languages allow the new leader to bridge communal and sectarian divides. However, Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) who previously dominated the ruling four party coalition might resist the reforms that have sidelined their previous interests. It was TPLF’S quarrel with the Eritrean government that led to the 1998–2000 border war. There is much to celebrate for the peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea but there is still a long way ahead. With this progress, now is the time to invite scholars, elders, religious leaders and all stakeholders to come together and forge a new alliance to ease ethnic tensions for Ethiopia to keep rising.
