Ethopia’s Sidama celebrate their annual new year, Fichee-chambalaalla, during a turbulent time in Ethiopia’s recent history. With no official geographic zone registered as belonging to the Sidama, a zone autonomous from the central federal government, a right for all people and nationalities wirtten in to the countries constitution, protests are rife in and around their claimed capital city, Awassa.
The Ethiopian coffee highlands where china never rests
Ethiopia’s coffee is considered by many as the pinnacle of organic beans grown anywhere in the world. The Bhuna coffee ceremony is stitched in to Ethiopia’s fabric, with the smell of freshly roasted beans permeating every corner of this jewel in Africa’s crown. China, however, see less coffee and more revenue as they carve their way through the once lush rainforest, cutting huge swathes of land to build much needed transport routes. Not everyone, however, is in support of this government-driven initiative.
A New Day Dawns On Ethiopia's Future
With Ethnic politics driving Ethiopia’s often divisive governence over the past fifty years, this East African jewel in an aging lion’s crown has seen it’s fair share of division, often ending in bloody violence and segregation. Could Abiy Ahmed’s newly formed Prosperity Party be the new dawn of politcal governence the country so desperatly needs? Or is it merely a facade for the maturing EPRDF to maintain power in the forth-coming digital age, partly financed by a ravenous Chinese elite. Answers on the back of a post card, please.
