BACK US TODAY AND SUPPORT PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA Despite federal efforts to eliminate it and ongoing internal tensions, TPLF remains the most relevant actor for Tigray’s recovery and future success. No time has been tougher than the last half-decade for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). In line with the sentiment of the wise old donkey named Benjamin in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the party could claim it ‘has witnessed it all’, though it has never been alien to existential threats. Since at least 2014, the TPLF has had to face and work to resist all sorts of legal, illegal, covert ..read more

BACK US TODAY AND SUPPORT PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA In an article published on Ethiopia Insight on 7 December 2023 titled Hararis in Harar are Being Erased and Dispossessed, Abdullah Sherif recounts a disturbing story of displacement and despair of Harari residents of Harar and its environs. We are deeply troubled by the atrocious acts perpetrated against the Harari with impunity and the federal government’s failure to protect the Harari citizens’ constitutional rights. In the article, our names were mentioned in connection with our interest in Harar’s history. In our careers, we have practiced our ..read more

BACK US TODAY AND SUPPORT PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA War between Ethiopia and Somalia is unlikely but their row over Somaliland perpetuates the region’s woes. The latest saga in the neverending carousel of bilateral frictions in the Horn has seen Somalia accuse Ethiopia of engaging in acts of aggression and violating its sovereignty. These accusations came after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 1 January with Muse Bihi Abdi, leader of the de facto state of Somaliland, reportedly leasing twenty square kilometers of Somaliland’s coastline to Ethiopia fo ..read more

BACK US TODAY AND SUPPORT PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA Ethiopia’s recent collapse is the result of EPRDF failures to democratize on its own terms which set the stage for Prosperity Party’s disastrous U.S.-styled democratic transition. The elevation to power of Abiy Ahmed in 2018, the popular liberal reforms he introduced, and his convincing electoral victory in July 2021—albeit without the participation of Tigray and popular opposition parties in Oromia—suggested that Ethiopia was on the road to a momentous democratic transformation. But Abiy’s efforts to introduce a Western-styled democracy and liber ..read more

BACK US TODAY AND SUPPORT PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA A keen observer of Ethiopian society reports from the ground on the devastating state of affairs in Tigray as people attempt to rebuild their lives after the war.  It’s a terrible experience when you’re constantly informed about the consequences of war. Yet being unable to visit friends and family, in my case, waiting four years before returning to Tigray in October 2023, the effects were compounded. Upon arrival in Mekelle, the relatives who welcomed me at the airport quickly moved on from the novelty of my presence after a small convoy of c ..read more

BACK US TODAY AND SUPPORT PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA Potential harms of disintegration must be weighed against consequences of holding Ethiopia together by force. Ethiopia is a failing state rapidly rushing toward disintegration. Whether violently or through a carefully managed breakaway, the disintegration of Ethiopia appears to be inevitable. The real question is not if Ethiopia will disintegrate, but when and how. This reality traps Ethiopia between a rock and a hard place. There is a real possibility of either the status quo or disintegration leading to all-out civil war with unimaginably devast ..read more

This article is part of the Analytical Reporting to Improve the Federation (ARIF) project. The government’s denial of constitutionally protected autonomy rights is creating chaos in Ethiopia’s largest region. On the morning of 2 November 2022, the sound of weeping and grieving could be heard as local residents gathered around a small house in Burayu, an Oromia town located on the western outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital. News of his brother’s killing had just reached Temesgen, the owner of the house who is employed in one of the federal institutions in Addis Ababa. When asked why they were weep ..read more

WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE CAN DO MORE The Harari people, an indigenous minority in Harar, are being systematically dispossessed of their lands, culture, and history by the growing Oromo majority.  The first time I visited Harar in 2013, my father took me, my sister, and some of my aunts to our family farm, regaling us with childhood stories along the way. But when I returned to the historic city in eastern Ethiopia in 2023, I didn’t dare set foot on my family farm.  As my great-aunt informed me, since the Qeerroo (‘bachelor’ in Afaan Oromoo) in Harar began stirring up trouble in 2018, he ..read more

WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE CAN DO MORE Ethiopia should address its landlocked status firmly rather than forcefully. The Horn of Africa and the adjacent Red Sea is a strategically important area that has been ravaged by instability. Sudan is torn apart by a civil war, while Somalia continues to grapple with al-Shabaab, an extremist Salafist group which controls large swathes of territory. Meanwhile, Ethiopia has only recently overcome a devastating war in Tigray that resulted in the loss of countless lives, and remains embroiled in low-level conflicts in Amhara and Oromia. And now, concerns are moun ..read more

HELP US BRING ETHIOPIA NEWS TO MORE READERS Creation of East Borana Zone reignited tensions between the Guji and Borana Oromo clans. Oromia region’s East and West Guji zones have been rocked by protests due to the government’s decision earlier this year to carve out a new administrative unit centered around Negelle town.  The decision by the regional government cabinet to create East Borana Zone has raised concerns within the Guji community. Their discontent is rooted in historical disparities, identity dynamics, fear of marginalization, demographics, and the lack of a democratic process ..read more