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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
Struggling to shake off the trauma of last year, Ethiopians embarked on their new calendar year on Friday with hope and enthusiasm.
Markets in urban areas, despite fears of the pandemic, were full of people burning traditional torches and exchanging best wishes.
In their messages, the leaders of the Christian and Islamic religions hoped that the new calendar year 2013 that began on September 11, 2020 DC will bring peace to people’s lives.
Last year witnessed deadly violence that killed and displaced hundreds of people, along with invasion by desert locusts, floods, and COVID-19, among other natural and man-made calamities.
“Last year we saw brothers fighting brothers,” said Hajji Mufti Omar Idriss, the revered chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of Ethiopia.
“We must never allow that to be repeated,” he added.
The country was on the brink in July, following the assassination of Hatchalu Hundessa, an activist, singer and songwriter from Oromo. Her mostly young fans took to the streets in protest, leading to violent clashes, killings and destruction of property.
The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Mathias, called on the nation to come together, learn from the past, and move on.
“It was a very sad year for both the nation and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as many churches were burned,” he said.
Ethiopian Catholic Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel said the nation went through a twilight and a twilight during the outgoing year.
Families across the country celebrated the New Year with delicacies that include the preparation of homemade bread, soft drinks, traditional honey wine known as tej, as well as stews and grills of lamb, goat meat and beef.
Children in cities were seen going door to door displaying their paintings of flowers and angels and received blessings and cash prizes. The outdoor girl singing could not happen this time due to the COVID-19 scare.
-Need for civilized dialogue
Lead journalist Zekeriya Mohammed said that each and every member of the political spectrum should come together and find a solution to the misunderstandings that stand in the way of peace in the country to date.
“I don’t think there is an easy way out of the political quagmire our country is in. I think that the way out requires extraordinary wisdom,” he told Anadolu Agency.
He called for civilized dialogue and listening to one another to build common understanding and consensus.
Omer Redi, manager of Ifriqiyah Media and Communications, said that ethnic politics is the main culprit for the violence in Ethiopia.
“The biggest challenge facing the country is the continuation of the negative dividends of tribalism nurtured by the previous regime in a planned way with a malicious and poisonous ethnic federalism,” he told Anadolu Agency.
The resulting ethnic clashes are devastating lives and property in the country, he said.
Redi, however, said that there were many positive stories also in the last year that included the completion of the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and its successful first phase filling in within days.
“Just a few years ago, people were frustrated that the public was stealing their hard-earned money. People are now determined to do whatever it takes for the project to be completed willingly, ”he said.
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