Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist January 2019 | Page 10

AFRICA DIARY
ABIY AHMED
ETHIOPIA’S MAN
ON A MISSION
BY DR. FIKREJESUS AMAHAZION*
O
ver the past several months, the powerful winds
of change have swept across the Horn of Africa,
ushering in the possibility for lasting regional peace,
stability, and security. Undeniably, the rapidly occurring
momentous events are both highly encouraging and greatly
welcome development in one of the world’s most restive
regions. They have largely been met with great optimism by
the people of the region and they promise to have far-reaching
eff ects in improving security and stability in the Horn of
Africa and the Red Sea region.
In particular, Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous
country, is undergoing great changes. One of the most
important elements behind the stunning developments in the
country and across the region has been the new Ethiopian
Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Background Context
Earlier this year, in April, Dr. Abiy Ahmed took offi ce on
the back of years of massive and widespread anti-government
protests. Ethiopia is divided into ethnically-based states
within a federal system ruled by a coalition of four parties –
known as the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic
Front (EPRDF) – which was dominated by the Tigrayan
minority, who make up approximately only 6 percent of the
country’s total population of 105 million. In 2015, protests,
spearheaded by the Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group
(constituting of about 35 percent of the population), and
later the Amhara, the country’s second largest ethnic group
(27%), brought land seizures and evictions, unemployment,
human rights abuses, widespread corruption, and economic
and political marginalization which quickly spread across
the country and threatened to bring down the government.
Thousands were killed or arrested, an internet blackout
was implemented, there was large-scale displacement, and
the country was put under an extended nationwide state of
emergency.
10 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 1 • January 2019, Noida