Ethnic unrest tarnishes new Ethiopian leader’s reformsOromo youths seen taking revenge for marginalizationCHELELEKTU, Ethiopia: Shiburu Kutuyu, a 45-year-old Ethiopian maize and coffee farmer, was jolted awake by gunshots one night in June. The violence threatens to undermine Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s calls for unity in one of Africa’s most ethnically diverse countries. He mentioned the so-called “qeerroo”, a term used to describe young Oromo men involved in the protest movement over the past three years that culminated in former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s resignation. In June in the southern city of Hawassa, several men from the Wolayta ethnic group were burned alive by members of the rival Sidama ethnic group. The violence raises questions about the structure of the state: a federal republic where regional boundaries were redrawn on ethnic lines in 1994.

Source: Ethiopian News August 25, 2018 19:52 UTC