Last June 23, Ethiopia’s then recently appointed new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, was attacked by bomb throwers during a huge rally attended by thousands in Meskel Square in the heart of Addis Ababa.  I could easily imagine it, as I have stood in Meskel Square surrounded by thousands to celebrate Ethiopian holidays.

Abiy’s rise to power came after three years of increasing ethnic tensions between the Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest tribal group, and the national government accused of marginalizing them. 

Even though he was an ethnic Oromo, Abiy was (according to prosecutors) seen by the accused bomb throwers as not doing enough to secure Oromo tribal interests.  Apparently they wanted the Oromo Liberation Front, outlawed by the government as a terrorist group, to assume total control of the country. They missed killing Abiy but killed two crowd members and injured over 100.

If these reports are true, they are classic evidence of the dark downward spiral of tribalized conflict —even when “our guy” (in this case Abiy) wins, nothing will assuage the thirst for total power, control and domination.  Any moves offering reconciliation, compromise or simply recognizing the needs and rights of others are seen as betrayal.

Now, only a few days ago on June 23—a year later to the day after the first attack—Abiy went on national Ethiopian TV to announce a coup attempt had been thwarted, this time by military leaders of the Amhara tribe, the second largest ethnic group in the nation. 

Amharic (tribal language of the Amhara) is the common national language of Ethiopia; the Amhara have been influential throughout Ethiopian history as the tribe of the ruling monarchy, including the last Emperor, Haile Selassie.

The coup began in Bahir Dar, a beautiful city in northern Ethiopia on the shore of Lake Tana, which is also the source of the Blue Nile.  Marilyn and I have visited the city and marveled while visiting several ancient monasteries on islands in the lake.

An organized group allegedly led by the autonomous northern Amhara region’s defense chief, Brig. Gen. Asaminew Tsige barged into a meeting in Bahir Dar on Saturday, June 22, killing regional chief Ambachew Mekonnen and his adviser Ezez Wase and wounding the regional attorney general Migbaru Kebede, who later died of his wounds.

Reports by the BBC describe Gen. Asaminew as a rabble-rousing, hardline ethnic nationalist who played on existing ethnic tensions; earlier in June in a video on social media he called on his fellow Amhara to arm themselves. 

Later the same day in Addis Ababa,  Ethiopian army chief Gen. Sea’re Mekonnen and his friend Maj. Gen. Geza’e Aberra were shot and killed by the general’s own body guard at his home.

In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Abiy said the killings were linked by the desire to topple the Amhara regional government and perhaps set up a separate Amhara state.

Here’s the point: In the year between these two violent attempts to bring down the government, Abiy became a phenomenon in Africa. 

He ended repression by releasing political prisoners, ironically including the coup leader, Gen. Asaminew, who had been imprisoned for several years by the former government. Instead of payback, he offered forgiveness and reconciliation.

Abiy removed bans on opposition political parties (like the Oromo Liberation Front, whose leaders were living in exile) and prosecuted officials accused of human rights abuses.  He also loosened controls on the media, long repressed by the previous regime.

Most amazing of all, he ended Ethiopia’s seemingly endless turmoil with Eritrea and brought peace to their 20-year war in a matter of months.  

When I was in Addis Ababa this past February, I was curious how my Ethiopian friends and colleagues viewed Abiy and his reforms.  They were uniformly positive, rejoicing in his reforms as a much-needed breath of fresh air, but also worried that he might not survive the powerful forces arrayed against him. 

Since all my Ethiopian friends are Christians, they also were proud that Abiy, an committed evangelical Christian, was bearing witness to the nation about how a disciple of Jesus should act–using his power to bring peace and reconciliation, binding up wounds to build unity, caring for the imprisoned and poor. 

Game of Thrones

Abiy’s reforms did not come without a cost. The Prime Minister took on powerful interest groups in the military and the ruling coalition led by a third, much smaller tribal group, the Tigray.

For years, Ethiopia struggled under the increasingly repressive and dominating regime of one political party dominated by Tigrayans, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).  The EPRDF began its life as the guerrilla army that eventually overthrew the communist regime that ended Haile Selassie’s reign in 1974.

News reports suggest that severe ethnic tension between the Tigray province in the far north and their immediate southern neighbors, the Amhara, may have exacerbated the coup attempt.  For example, reports suggest crowds blocked key highways in the Amhara region through which all transport flowed into Tigray.

Tigray, Amhara and Oromo—three tribal groups historically vying with one another for ultimate power in a Game of Thrones scenario, each harboring deep resentments when another group dominated the nation, each plotting how to take control and dominate the others. At that’s just the tip of the iceberg; I’m sure the situation is far more complex.  Ethiopia has 80 tribal groups.

In my frequent contacts with Ethiopian leaders since February, I often hear about growing ethnic and tribal tensions in the country. This coup seemed disorganized and easily put down; but the underlying ethnic tensions are not going away.

I love Ethiopia and its people—it breaks my heart to see it torn apart by tribal factions who care for nothing except their own agendas. 

And, let it be clearly said, it breaks my heart to see the same tribalism, created on stoking ethnic and class resentment as a political tool, at work in America today. 

Hosea 8:7 says, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”  That is my fear.

Interestingly, the Army chief of staff killed by his body guard during the coup attempt was Tigrayan; he was thus part of the former ruling coalition who lost power when Prime Minister Abiy took over. At his memorial, during which Prime Minister Abiy was frequently seen in tears, Gen. Abebaw Tadessse remembered the late general who hailed from Tigray:

“When he [Gen. Sea’re] joined the reform, he was considered a traitor. He is a man who does not negotiate his Ethiopian identity. He has a strong love for his people [Ethiopians] and his country.”

According to Abebaw, he was very determined to support the reform and serve all of Ethiopia, and not the interest of a certain group.

“He said he could die for the cause.”

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