Six years ago today, Abiy Ahmed became PM of Ethiopia.
Since then he's become one of the world's most controversial leaders: a Nobel laureate, and an alleged war criminal.
In June
@HurstPublishers
will release my account of this tumultuous—and devastating—era.
Please order!
There is one country that continues to emerge as a leader during times of crisis. Its leadership ensures regional stability, and its ambassadors are voices for peace. That country is the UAE 🇦🇪, and it’s unmatched in regional security, strategy, and in establishing peace.
Ministry of Education , its Sectors and Ethiopian Public Universities have donated above 211 million Birr, for the victorious Ethiopian Defence Forces.
Internet back (for those of us with broadband/landline connection). Here is footage from yesterday in Shashamene. Most of the city centre looks like this.
#Ethiopia
As we launch the 4th year
#GreenLegacy
season, I raise the 100 seedlings challenge to plant in this planting period. This morning i have planted 10 of the 100 challenge for the future generation. Join me!
This is a troublingly faulty analogy. No amount of intellectualising can hide the fact that this is an incendiary term with real-life consequences. There must be other terms to describe political opponents which are not so readily deployed as ethnic dog-whistles.
As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing controversial or polarising about the term neftegna or neo-neftegna. It captures something so specific and salient within the Ethiopian political discourse. Now, do you find narratives around whiteness or white supremacy polarising?
When Ethiopia starts filling the
#GERD
reservoir - whenever that is - I really hope will someone make a time-lapse video from start to finish. Preferably with a drone or satellite, if that is technically possible
@PMEthiopia
Important covid contribution from
@PMEthiopia
, but it could start by getting its own house in order by 1) halting the mass trainings of party officials, and 2) ending the internet and phone shutdown in western Oromia so vital information gets there
Photos from a pro-Abiy rally staged two days ago in Nekemte, Wollega. The horsemen were waiting outside a government office afterwards to collect their 200 birr fee for attending ("We'll decide whether to support him based on whether we get our money," one of them told me.) 1/4
Some good news: yesterday the administration in Gedeo zone (southern Ethiopia) formally requested FULL humanitarian assistance for what looks like (according to the letter) all IDPs in the area. Aid to several camps, some housing 10s of 1000s, had been blocked since August 2018.
The problem is that trust is a diminishing asset. Folks have ears, and memories, and can remember that Abiy also publicly promised he had no intention of harming Tigray.
“I believe a democratic state can be built in Somalia. And that is the only way out.”
My profile of Somalia's president
@HassanSMohamud
in
@ObserverUK
and
@guardian
We extend our gratitude to
@ousmanedione
, World Bank Country Director, as he concludes his tenure in
#Ethiopia
. Thank you for your unwavering support throughout the past few years.
The internet "is not blocked" - it is a problem of "low coverage", says
@PMEthiopia
's Lencho Bati. The PM himself admitted it was blocked in Wollega last week - (although he omitted to mention it's also blocked in West Shoa as close to Addis as Burayu)🧐
Often it is reported that “800,000 civilians” are at risk in el-Fasher in Darfur.
In fact, it is closer to 3 million people - trapped in a terrifying, tightening siege.
"Revelations of the Eth gov’s real intentions may have come by way of its own officials. During a recent Q&A session on social media, the army’s Gen. Bacha Debele presented peace and accountability as mutually exclusive."
important op-ed from
@AaronMG
Claiming
@FlyEthiopian
is an airline with a “poor safety record” because of hijacking attempts over last 20 years is irresponsible.
By that logic, American Airlines, United & Air France are also airlines with, quote “poor safety records”
#ET302
#737MAX
“It may seem patriotic to window-dress the general situation,” a retired Ethiopian official warns. “But the longer we keep on engaging in self-deception, the more serious it becomes.”
#Ethiopia
: In the tweet below, Social Affairs advisor to
@PMEthiopia
praises the
#MerawiMassacre
in which civilians were massacred by the regime in extra-judicial killings.
This is quintessential hate speech to incite genocide & war crimes. Regime officials must be held fully
At last, a chance to write about wax & gold. My latest for
@TheEconomist
, taking a look how democratisation in Ethiopia is impacting popular culture too
A humanitarian worker says the safety of the Tigrayan refugees has been raised with the UN, but that no measures had been taken to help. “They didn’t really want to hear about it, to be honest."
from
@FredHarter
"Abiy's latest plan – the 'Chaka (forest) Project' – is the most grandiose so far. At 503 hectares, it would cover a greater area than Windsor, Versailles, the White House, the Kremlin, and China's Forbidden City combined."
Ethiopia’s PM wants a Red Sea port.
First choice: Assab (Eritrea); second choice: Zeila (Somaliland).
“If it is not achieved by other means, war is the way,” says an Ethiopian official.
👇
Tigray’s Disaster Risk Management Commission has recorded 728 hunger-related deaths in three of the region’s seven zones since the food aid was suspended in March.
“One person says they were given five days’ notice that their family home of more than 50 years would be knocked down. The water and power were cut off after three days.”
There is vandalism currently underway in Addis Ababa - the entire urban fabric of the historic city centre is being ripped up, with residents barely given notice
The demolition of the last days, and, to be sure, of the last decade, have not only destroyed old buildings, that, no doubt, needed upgrading. They have demolished a repertoire of stories, relations and journeys that generations of Arada have built over decades of inhabitation.
The Ethiopian government clarifies its position on the issue of recognising Somaliland. The MoU “Includes provisions for the Ethiopian government to make in-depth assessment towards taking a position regarding the efforts of Somaliland to gain recognition,” the government said.
Elders in the worst-hit areas draw comparisons with the catastrophe of 1983-85.
The true picture is hard to establish because the gov't has not allowed a gold-standard IPC Classification, having disagreed with the conclusions of the previous one in 2021.
@awolallo
I don't need the lecture either - I've seen how this language is being used and that is quite enough to know it is dangerous. That is not a value judgement.
PM Abiy Ahmed travelled to Gedeb Woreda this morning to assess the state of Gedeo community members currently in temporary shelters. Members of the displaced expressed their grievances to PM Abiy Ahmed, who is at the moment holding discussions with representatives.
#PMOEthiopia
"For those paying attention, the stakes are only getting higher."
@johnpmcdermott
and myself on the catastrophic, and rapidly worsening, war in Sudan.
With vital help from
@darfur_ups
👇
Ethiopia’s tragic path since 2018 has been strewn with assassinations and political killings. Not one has been properly or fully explained, and nobody ever credibly held to account. Here is the latest in a long, sorry line of them. RIP
Batte Urgessa, a prominent opposition figure with the Oromo Liberation Front party, was assassinated yesterday in his hometown, Meki.
Sources said Batte was moved out of his hotel room and killed, and later his body was discovered on the side of a road.
The late Batte was
Water and electricity shortages in
#Gaza
are longstanding, but
#famine
is new. The siege imposed by Israel after 7 Oct blocked all aid and commercial traffic. Aid is in no short supply, but isn't reaching those in need because access to and movement within Gaza is very limited.
Concern for “diplomatic decorum” is a bit rich from a government which, among other Vienna convention violations, has sent police to beat up the employees of the African Development Bank, and raided the Serbian Embassy before that
Roughly 10,000 Ethiopians have been deported from Saudi Arabia every month since 2017, a process which has gone largely unnoticed, and with many reporting serious abuse in detention. My latest for
@guardian
"Meanwhile, undisclosed benefits and incentives are provided to a vast network of security personnel, ensuring their loyalty through material gain."
How Abiy maintains power - according to an anonymous senior Oromo government insider:
According to multiple sources, Abiy and TPLF leader Debretsion spoke directly for the first time last week. It has taken more than 18 months to get here but better late than never. Hopefully first contact of many
"At a private meeting last week in Ethiopia, U.S. aid officials told international partners that this could be the largest-ever diversion of food aid in any country"
My latest for
@TheEconomist
, on Ethiopia’s Garima Gospels, possibly the world’s oldest and most complete Christian gospels, and the politics of heritage conservation
Abiy's signal contribution to development economics has been to recast poverty as a state-of-mind:
"To see prosperity instead of poverty, happiness instead of problems, and peace instead of conflict requires a change in perspective and the power of our imagination."
This is Gottiti in Gedeo, on the border with West Guji. There are between 20,000 - 30,000 Gedeos living here. The gov't refuses to grant NGOs access & they're being denied food aid as part of effort to force them to return to Guji. Most of the children have severe malnutrition
There is vandalism currently underway in Addis Ababa - the entire urban fabric of the historic city centre is being ripped up, with residents barely given notice
Unhelpful. Rape is not everywhere used as a weapon of a war. Suggesting that it is is misleading, and perpetuates the notion that is an “inevitable” feature of conflict (& which can diminish efforts to hold specific perpetrators and groups accountable.)
Its "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women." Sigh!! Every religion opposes using rape as a weapon of war, yet it's in every war, everywhere, everywhen. Only changing the hearts of men will end it, not "religion", not "days of."
If you are in Addis Ababa on 6th May make sure you register for this exciting BBC event I've been helping to organise. Hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby and 4 star guests from Ethiopian politics and media. Not to be missed!
Military started demolishing camps in Gedeo today. Some IDPs were beaten with sticks and forced onto buses.
*Really* unclear how these returns are "safe, voluntary, sustainable, and dignified" as per UN guidelines. Context here:
#Ethiopia
:
#Oromia
regional state graduated several hundred regional Special Forces who took training in
#Bulbula
Police Training Academy. Yesterday's graduation was attended by regional President
@ShimelisAbdisa
as well as Oromia Police College Chief, Commander Getachew Itana.
Friends of Ethiopia or those that claim to respect the "Sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitution" of Ethiopia should refrain from using illegal terms in the upcoming peace talks to resolve conflict in Ethiopia's restive north.
My latest from southern
#Ethiopia
, where around half a million displaced people are being told they must return to their villages, where they still fear for the lives, within two weeks.
Sudan's war has metastasised into a nationwide conflagration so vast and anarchic its tremors may be felt through the Horn, the Red Sea and the Sahel.
My piece with
@ZeinabMSalih
, bravely reporting still from inside Sudan, to mark one-year anniversary:
How did Africa’s most powerful political party disappear overnight? My review essay for
@ForeignPolicy
looks at two new books about the EPRDF, and asks what its sudden demise might mean for Ethiopia
No easy way home for doubly displaced Gedeos—my piece for
@irinnews
on Ethiopia's woefully neglected displacement crisis, and the botched response at various level of government
Calling attention to this unacceptable (and creepy) xenophobia - will be reported to Twitter. This account is a repeat offender on Facebook as well and it needs to stop.
@TwitterSafety
@Twitter
This is emblematic of the Abiy mindset: the notion you can wipe away a complex, painful history and start anew, without doing the hard work of peace and justice first.
Ethiopia needs not only transitional justice but also transitional narrative - a narrative that encourages deliberate consensus to close past abusive legacies and moving into charting a new common future.
Debre Birhan ia becoming a preferred destination for many investors. The city was able to attract ETB17 billion worth of investments last fiscal year, ETB14 billion higher than of its target, Addis Zemen reports.
Blocked everywhere, including UN offices, embassies, hotels in Addis... all the favourite hideouts of mischievous school children and their rebellious teachers
“Silent protest is growing,” says another army officer. “When we meet in the military camps, we talk about the wrongdoings of this government.” Our new report on Eritrea, where the peace dividend has yet to materialise. With reporting in Asmara
PM
@AbiyAhmedAli
and
@HassanSMohamud
are two leaders from the Horn of Africa. They fought/are fighting rebel groups.
PM Abiy went to the frontline, days later was victorious.
Hassan Sheikh has been at the frontline for more than a month & is losing the war.
Leadership is key
Eyewitnesses have told
@darfur_ups
than an airport established by the RSF in the Umm al-Qura area near Nyala in south Darfur is being used to receive Emirati planes, carrying troops and materiel, coming from Libya and Chad:
Mutual delegitimization was a big part of what caused the war; mutual recognition was key to the Pretoria Agreement which ended it.
This is a violation of Pretoria - and must have Abiy's approval, as neither institution has the independence to freelance on an issue this crucial
#Ethiopia
's National Election Commission & Ministry of Justice reject a request by
#Tigray
's TPLF to be recognized as a party, despite PM Abiy promising to return the license. Reason for the rejection was involvement in violent acts during the civil war.