Image copyright
Dagi Pictures
More than 80 people have died in two days of riots in Ethiopia following the murder of prominent singer Hachalu Hundessa.
The 34-year-old man had become a powerful political voice for the Oromo ethnic group, and had made many enemies during his musical career.
Two suspects were arrested after he was shot dead while driving in the capital Addis Ababa on Monday night. However, the police have yet to reveal a motive for the murder and no charges have been filed against the suspects.
Hachalu’s funeral will be held in his hometown of Ambo.
The BBC Afaan Oromoo Bekele Atoma writes about the musician who was a thorn in the flesh of successive governments.
Hachalu is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Hachalu, a former political prisoner who grew up tending livestock, became one of Ethiopia’s biggest music stars, captivating fans with his songs about romance and political freedom, themes that he easily mixed with his lyrics.
Hachalu’s father, who used to work in the Ambo city electricity department, wanted his son to be a doctor, but showed little interest in medicine.
However, from a young age, Hachalu showed a passion for music and singing, with his mother’s encouragement, while caring for cows on the family’s farmland on the outskirts of Ambo in the Oromia region, the heart of the ethnic group. largest in Ethiopia, the Oromo
“I used to sing what I could think of,” Afaan Oromoo recalled in a BBC interview in 2017.
Imprisoned for five years
One of the eight children, Hachalu was born in 1986 in Ambo, a city about 100 km (60 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa.
He was at the forefront of Oromos’ campaign for self-government in a nation where they felt repressed by a government that had banned opposition groups and jailed critics.
Hachalu went to school in Ambo and joined groups of students campaigning for freedom.
At the age of 17 in 2003, Hachalu was jailed for five years for his political activities.
His father kept his morale high in prison, telling him during visits that “prison strengthens a man.”
Hachalu became increasingly politicized in prison as his knowledge of Ethiopia’s history increased, including its dominance by emperors and autocrats.
Hachalu Hundessa
I didn’t know how to write lyrics and melodies until they put me behind bars. “
While incarcerated in Ambo Prison, he also developed his musical skills.
“I didn’t know how to write lyrics and melodies until they put me behind bars. I learned it there,” he said in the 2017 interview.
During his time in prison, he wrote nine songs and released his first album Sanyii Mootii (Race of the King) in 2009, a year after walking free.
He refused to go into exile.
The album made him a music star and a political symbol of the aspirations of the Oromo people.
However, he played down his political role and said: “I am not a politician, I am an artist. Singing about what my people are going through does not make me a politician.”
Image copyright
AFP
Many Oromos were killed by security forces during protests in 2016
Many other musicians and activists fled into exile for fear of persecution under the government of then Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his successor Hailemariam Desalegn, but Hachalu remained in Ethiopia and encouraged young people to defend their rights.
One of his songs was about how he fell in love with a girl who was proud of her identity and was willing to die for her.
‘Brave warriors and horsemen’
Her second album Waa’ee Keenya (Our Plight) was released in 2013 while on tour in the United States. It became the best-selling African album on Amazon at the time.
Two years later, he released a powerful single, Maalan Jira? (What Existence Is Mine?), Referring to the eviction of Oromos from Addis Ababa and its environs, after the government decided to expand the city limits.
For Hachalu, the displacements of 2015 showed that history was repeating itself.
He shared the opinion of Oromo historians that what is now known as Addis Ababa was once the home of the Orula’s Tulama clans, and they were expelled by Emperor Menelik II.
In June, Hachalu infuriated the emperor’s supporters after accusing Menelik II of stealing Oromos’ horses, which see themselves as brave warriors and horsemen, when he established Addis Ababa as his seat of power and the capital of Ethiopia in 1886.
Image copyright
fake pictures
Emperor Menelik II seen in battle dress in 1896, the year Ethiopian forces defeated the invading Italians at the Battle of Adwa
Hachalu’s songs became the anthem of the protest movement that emerged in 2015 to demand an end to Oromos’ displacement.
At a time of intense protests in late 2017, Hachalu released another song.
“Don’t expect help to come from outside, a dream that doesn’t come true. Get up, get your horse ready and fight, you’re the one near the palace,” he sang, often to applaud his fans.
‘The singer was not afraid’
The protests turned into a campaign for greater political freedom, culminating in Ahmed Abiy becoming the first Oromo to take over as prime minister in 2018 with the promise of freeing all political prisoners, ousting opposition groups and hold democratic elections.
Read more about Ethiopia:
Two months after Abiy took office, the government invited Hachalu to perform at a concert held in honor of Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki, who was visiting Ethiopia for the first time since the end of a border war between the two neighboring states. .
Hachalu proved to be as independent and courageous as ever, singing about the need to achieve justice for people who had died in a conflict in eastern Ethiopia between the Oromo and Somali ethnic groups, and questioning how a concert could be held when families they were distressed.
Government officials later criticized him for singing “inappropriate” songs for the occasion, but his popularity increased.
BBC
Music is my life. She got me friends and enemies “
Although he only sang in Afaan Oromoo, his songs, especially those calling for greater political freedom in Ethiopia, saw him build a fan base across all ethnic groups.
Hachalu lived in Addis Ababa, where he was shot dead on Monday night.
While the motive for the murder is unclear, he often spoke of receiving death threats from people who disagreed with him politically.
“Music is my life. I was drawn to friends and enemies. But it is still a tool that I use to speak for my people, a tool that I use to express my deepest feelings,” he said three years ago.
Image copyright
Reuters
Smoke was visible after the protests in Addis Ababa on Tuesday.
After his death, his supporters took to the streets of various cities and towns to pay tribute to him, resulting in clashes with security forces that left at least 50 dead and the arrest of more than 30, including the prominent Oromo politician, Jawar. Muhammad.
Carrying Oromian flags, some of his followers chanted: “Someday we will be free. Hachalu, the blood you will shed will not be in vain.”
He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Fantu Demissie, and their two daughters.
