A musician’s murder sparks mayhem in Ethiopia
FOR TWO nights the sharp retort of gunfire crackled through the pitter-patter of summer rain. Across the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, cars and petrol stations were burnt; shops and businesses were looted and vandalised; homes and banks were robbed. At least ten people were killed in clashes between rioters and the police in the city. Many more were injured. Similar confrontations took place in towns throughout Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia’s nine ethnically based regions and one that has been the site of repeated bouts of violence in recent years. In the country as a whole at least 166 people were killed, making this one of the deadliest episodes in Ethiopia’s already bloody transition from authoritarian rule.The spark was the murder on June 29th of Hachalu Hundessa, a popular Oromo musician and activist. Oromos, who make up roughly a third of the population, are the largest and recently the most rebellious of Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups. The prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who is also Oromo, quickly offered his condolences. He said in a statement that the assassins’ aim was not just to kill Hachalu, “but through him to kill Ethiopia.”But his words were not enough to prevent thousands of young Oromos from marching on the capital in the early hours of June 30th carrying sticks. Many came simply to express sorrow and anger. But others blocked roads and damaged buildings and cars. The violence escalated after a dispute with officials over where the singer’s body should be buried, as demonstrators tried to prevent its being removed from the capital and taken to Ambo, his home town.“We are dead twice,” says Gelana Abeba, a protester. “First we lost our hero, then his funeral was disrespected.”The unrest that raged over the next few days highlighted the three main fault lines in Ethiopian life. The first is distrust of the state by many young Oromos, who argue it has long been dominated by smaller groups such as Tigrayans and Amharas. This anger bubbled over in mass Oromo protests between 2014 and 2018 that led to the appointment of Abiy as prime minister. But his ascent has not quelled Oromo demands for more autonomy for their region, nor violence against the state. Of the ten people killed in Addis Ababa, two were policemen. In Adama, another restive city in Oromia, demonstrators set fire to the mayor’s office and tried to take over the headquarters of the regional state broadcaster.The second problem is a state that readily turns to violence and repression in response to protest. Although Abiy has promised to open up politics—on taking office he initially freed political prisoners and welcomed opposition movements back to the country from exile—old habits die hard. When violence started, the security forces turned to familiar tools, by swiftly cutting off the internet and arresting some 1,200 people. Many of these people were looting or rioting. But those arrested also included journalists accused of inciting violence as well as leading opposition leaders. Jawar Mohammed, the most prominent Oromo leader, was arrested in the protests against moving Hachalu’s body. In a scuffle between Jawar’s security detail and police, one officer was reportedly killed. Also arrested was Eskinder Nega, a political activist who espouses a pan-Ethiopian politics and argues against ethnic separatism. In Addis Ababa the security forces seem to have exercised a degree of restraint. But in Ambo, west of the capital, the security forces shot dead nine protesters, including two mourners trying to enter the stadium where Hachalu’s funeral was held on July 2nd.The third fissure is along ethnic lines. Groups of young Oromo men attacked members of other ethnicities, notably Amharas, the second-largest ethnic group. In Addis Ababa, where Amharic speakers make up a majority, residents of many districts organised themselves into self-defence groups, sometimes with the encouragement of the police. “We all came out with sticks to protect ourselves,” says a resident whose housing estate was surrounded by a mob. The tensions also reflect a simmering dispute over the status of the capital, which is surrounded by Oromia. Oromo nationalists claim it forms part of their “homeland” and demand a greater say in its governance. Ethiopia’s controversial constitution, which dates back to 1995, carved up territory along ethnic lines, making disputes over regional borders and control of land common causes of conflict.For now a calm of sorts prevails. Shops and businesses are tentatively reopening. Soldiers stand guard on roads into the city. The internet remains switched off.The police said they have arrested four suspects over Hachalu’s murder but it is not yet clear why he was killed. Abiy implied that Egypt had a hand, suggesting that it was related to tensions between the two countries over an Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile river. Ethiopia wants to begin filling the dam within the next few weeks, but this is opposed by Egypt, which worries about the security of its main water supply. “Those external and internal forces who were not successful with the Great Ethiopia Renaissance Dam issue have tried their utmost efforts to create chaos at this time,” Abiy reportedly said in a meeting with officials. Much of the Oromo opposition, meanwhile, blamed pan-Ethiopian nationalists, who they say were offended by critical comments that Hachalu had made about former Ethiopian emperors in an interview just days before his death. Others suspected militant Oromo nationalists, among whom Hachalu was sometimes denounced as a sell-out because of his calls for moderation.Intra-Oromo politics has become fractious and violent since some Oromo separatists resumed their armed struggle against the government in late 2018. But the singer’s murder will serve as a rallying-cry for the opposition, which immediately depicted it as an attack on all Oromos. Jawar, in a Facebook post shared with his 2m followers shortly before his arrest, described the killing as a “shot in the heart of the Oromo nation”. Henok Gebissa, an Oromo scholar in America, called it “the ultimate manifestation” of the Ethiopian state’s alleged hostility towards outspoken Oromos. Jawar’s trial, due to start later this month, may further galvanise his supporters. He is reported to be on a hunger strike and demanding that he be released.Many Ethiopians started this year optimistic that, with elections scheduled for August, the country would take a big step from authoritarianism towards democracy. But with voting postponed indefinitely because of covid-19, many now worry that the transition is at risk of being derailed altogether. It will take an almighty heave to put it back on track.■Reuse this contentThe Trust Project