Things are heating up with the church
I wrote an update about the church last week Monday when things were just starting out. But over the past week, the developments may have been too dizzying to follow. For that reason, I’ve mapped a quick timeline of major events to keep track of what happened when, because this doesn't seem like it’ll be slowing down soon.
Sunday, January 22 - Three archbishops appoint 26 bishops for Oromia region and other areas in the south without the involvement of the Holy Synod (highest authority in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church). Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church calls an emergency meeting on the same day.
Later on the same day, Archbishop Abune Sawiros, lead archbishop of the breakaway clergy, issues a presser where he explains the justification of the appointments; to serve in their native languages and to respond to the needs of the community which they say have been ignored by the church for many years.
Thursday January 26 – The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church holds emergency plenary meeting with members of the Holy Synod from around the world and revokes authority and excommunicates the three archbishops involved in the appointments.
Saturday, January 28 - Breakaway archbishops, now referring to themselves as ‘Holy Synod of Oromia and nations and nationalities’, counter-excommunicate 12 Ethiopian Orthodox Tewadeho Church archbishops.
Tuesday, January 31st – The Prime Minister makes a statement on the events that have transpired. A few things he said: ‘we have supported the church through giving land, through inviting previously exiled church members back in the country, like no previous other government had, save the monarchy’. The PM stated the he cannot say no to those asking to be served in their language but an answer to the situation , which he deemed ‘very simple’ could be found through dialogue. Finally, I thought this was an interesting bit: “This is god’s work. This is not for personal gain or power, it doesn’t need fighting, or ethnicity or politics, that’s not its aim. We are fighting for position, for power, but politics is different.” PM directs ministers and the government not to interfere.
Wednesday, February 1 - Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church responds to the Prime Minster’s statement: “The government is not fulfilling its duty to protect citizens and uphold the law during a religious and canonical breach.” Other things said in the statement: “The government is supporting illegality, and illegal groups to create havoc, and this should be corrected.” The ‘no interference direction by the government is impeding in its responsibility to provide protection’. “The PM is underestimating the issue.”
Friday, February 3 - Church declares the three-day Nineveh fast to be observed wearing all black to protest against the ‘Synod Coup’. The fast and observance start today.
An analysis piece on the issue by Addis Standards in English here.
Saturday, February 4 - The church denounces the violence that erupted in Shashamane between what it says are people who were out to protect the church when others tried to illegally take over: '“Many were cruelly killed and injured by government security.”
Church declares holding a peaceful protest next week, Sunday February 12. Details to come soon.
Both the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Holy Synod of Oromia and nations and nationalities have asked followers to show support by, among other things, changing their profile picture.
Command post in Oromia Zone
In a continuation from last week, the security in North Shewa Zone and Oromia Zone in Amahara region remains questionable.
Kemise, in Oromia Zone, Amhara region, is still insecure. This report form Addis Maleda, states that the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and its supporters are impeding the Amhara special forces from operating in the area. Amhara special forces have now left the region and have been replaced with Ethiopian Defense Force. Command post has been set up in in the zone, which is expected to restore security as well as return the looted artillery by the OLA.
Last week, the attack in North Shoa led to the death of over 30 security forces and an unknown number of civilian deaths.
On the other hand, the government says that it is making progress in fighting off the OLA in Guji and Borena; reclaiming property and areas, and removing spies form the community. The story in Amharic.
More in Oromia region
Dangote cement factory employees, which were kidnapped have been returned after paying ransom. This is not the first time this has happened. Full story here.
A Chinese man was reported dead after gunmen opened fire on nine Chinese citizens in an area known as Gebre Guracha, in Oromia region. The Chinese embassy has since cautioned Chinese citizens to avoid and not travel to high risk areas. The story in English.
Fighting Al Shabab
Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed was in Mogadishu last week with leaders from Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti brainstorming solutions to the regional problems mostly focused on countering terrorism in the region.
I’m sharing another interesting read that is not news on Ethiopia but a story on President of Somalia: Inside Villa Somalia: 72 hours with the president of ‘the most dangerous country in the world’.
A referendum is taking place today
A referendum is taking place today for the creation of what may be the 12th regional state in Ethiopia. Six zones and 5 special weredas will be voting on the creation of an independent region out of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region. This will be the third referendum since 2019; since then Sidama and the Southwest Ethiopia People’s regions have been created.
Has the creation and structure of these regional states in the past years been a top down approach or one that came from the people? A really good analysis story here.
On the peace deal
Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed has met with TPLF representatives last week to disucss the implementation of the peace deal. You can find more on this story practically everywhere, but I’ve linked state broadcaster EBC’s breaking story last Friday, in Amharic.
In this other interview, TPLF Spokesperson, Getachew Reda, when asked to gauge the level of trust between the TPLF and the government, answers that it is strengthening after every meeting and that there is no interest in going back to war.
What else?
The government could possibly be rethinking the forex retention rate, which could be very good news for businesses and banks.
Retail banks may soon find legal ground to open subsidiary investment banks. A legal amendment is being discussed to make this happen. Read more on The Reporter Ethiopia (server down as of the time this was sent).
15 media outlets were shut down in Somali region including BBC Somali, Universal TV, Star TV and Horn Cable. The outlets have been working there based on an agreement with the Somali regional government, but without a license from the Ethiopian Media Authority, which is the only one with the mandate to license international media outlets. Still, Somali region journalist’s association says they needed to have a prior discussion and that this was motivated by the content they are producing.
Last week, The Continent featured an interesting piece on the Qemant, a minority in Ethiopia’s Amhara region and their struggle for equality and justice. The story in a nutshell explains that though the war between the TPLF and the federal government may have come to an end, ethnic minorities, like the Qemant, still face a number of unresolved issues. For those of you not familiar with The Continent, I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a balanced reporting on stories across Africa. You can have it delivered every week via Telegram, WhatsApp, or Signal by messaging them at +27738056068.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
Note: I go through all the major news outlets, newspapers, online publications, and will at times, include reports, notes on parliamentary sessions, and go through fact checking websites as well. I try to provide links to both English and Amharic sources, and I usually time stamp the video I link to unless I think the whole video is relevant.