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Ethiopia

Uncomfortable Truths

Camels and children blocking roads.
Camels, all down the Eastern side of Ethiopia. Working camels. And when you travel along

roads across much of Northern Ethiopia are the lines of children, who in a tourist driven

travesty of a local tradition try to extort payment from every driver.
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Disaffected young men who felt ‘left behind’.

I was in Gondar, a historic city in the north of Ethiopia. Many of us had gathered there some
time earlier to watch and enjoy the annual celebration that is the Ethiopian New Year. The

city was swollen with people. All having fun. Today was different. In the road immediately
behind the small, historic castle, a single-decker bus was burning. There were no

passengers. Perhaps 20-30 angry young men were throwing stones at the bus.

There was no obvious reason for what was happening. Apparently just an overflow of
frustration, an expression of anger. Anger at a life which offered young men few prospects

of a better future.
Economic growth in the north of Ethiopia was restricted by a capital-centric economy

due to closed or almost closed international borders. Disaffection and a sense of

grievance is never far away.
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Disaffected Oromo people.

It was now 2 weeks after I had left Ethiopia. I had spent my last few days in that country in
a place called Bishoftu. It’s a small town used by people from Addis Ababa as a kind of

'weekend' resort town. My days there were lazy. I had four days to use up before my flight.

There was nothing for me to do but sit for hours in the large quiet gardens surrounded by
many staff and few guests. Nothing to do. Nothing happening.

Now, only 2 weeks later, there were news stories of perhaps as many as 50 people
killed in what I thought was a really peaceful Bishoftu. It seems that they died during a

stampede after police used tear gas and shot in the air.

Bishoftu is in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Many of the oromo have felt a deep
sense of grievance as their land has been increasingly taken away to accomodate the ever-

expanding Addis Ababa. Land is a major issue across all of Africa.

Disaffection and a sense of grievance is never far away.
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