Ethiopia: Change Is Hard

ETHIOPIA

Change Is Hard

Ethiopia put down a coup attempt in the northern Amhara region, but the country’s army chief and the head of the regional government were killed in connection with the incident.

Amhara President Ambachew Mekonnen and Amhara Regional Government Office Advisor Ezez Wassie were killed by gunshots Saturday evening, CNN reported.

The Army Chief of Staff General Seare Mekonnen and retired Major General Gezai Abera were killed at Seare’s Addis Ababa home by his bodyguard, according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Seare was coordinating a response to the coup attempt when he was killed, the prime minister’s press secretary told CNN.

A Brigadier General named Asaminew Tsige was responsible for the failed coup, Abiy said.

The first ethnic Oromo to lead the country, Abiy took office in 2018 after years of Oromo protests over their economic and political marginalization – though they are the country’s largest ethnic group. Since then, he has forged a landmark peace deal with Eritrea, freed thousands of political prisoners and taken other dramatic steps to transform the country. But ethnic tensions remain high.