Underlying tension

Last November when I was in Addis Ababa there were organized protests against what many consider to be fraudulent election results from the national elections last May. The government police reacted strongly, firing live ammunition at rock-throwing protestors (when they had access to water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas), and in the end 60 protestors were killed, some shot in the back. This is my first trip back here since then, and it is interesting to see that the tension I felt in November is still simmering just below the surface.

One expatriate woman I met with today who is very well connected with government (and so discusses topics most expats would never dream of broaching) told me that in November the government really believed that they were fighting an insurrection, and so reacted accordingly. I cannot accept that anyone would believe that a group of unarmed individuals attempting to express an opinion were trying to overthrow the government, except through democratic means. In order to stop this insurrection, the government also arrested opposition leaders and the editors of major opposition papers (which were put out of business) because of course they must be the masterminds behind the insurrection. These individuals are currently on trial for treason, and depending on the results of the trial, I would not be at all surprised if there was further turbulence here.

As the trial began last week, Addis Ababa was hit by a series of bombs that killed five people and injured forty. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but sadly I would not put it past the government to be behind it themselves in an attempt to destabilize the city so they can justify their behavior.

In Addis, the center of government descent, people talk openly about the “bad” government. Evidence of the repercussions abound. This morning I drove past a building that housed a business. This afternoon the roughly constructed building had been torn down by the government. My driver seemed to imply political retribution.

Tonight I saw police officers and other police employees being transported home in a special police bus. When I asked my driver about it he told me that since November police have not been able to walk in the streets because people will attack them.

The region of Tigray, where my evaluation is based, is where the Ethiopian president is from, and it is where the party in power is based. Since November, Tigray has become a very unpopular place in Addis so much so that the organization that I am working with here had a difficult time convincing their employees (who are not from Tigray) that they needed to continue to work on a Tigray development program. So our evaluation of the project is extremely politically sensitive. Many people would like to see the project cancelled, while in Tigray they will see such a more as purely politically motivated. No pressure on advising on the future of the program!

I’m sure I will have more on this topic once I arrive in Tigray on Thursday.