Ethiopian leader ‘humbled’ by peace prize
Confronted by heavily armed troops marching on his offices shortly after he became Ethiopia’s prime minister in April last year, Abiy Ahmed responded not with violence but by challenging them to a push-up competition.
Eighteen months on, Abiy, 43, Africa’s youngest leader, has been named the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Abiy has shattered the continent’s stereotype of ageing despots. Within 100 days of taking office, he had ushered in a blizzard of bold democratic reforms and ended a bloody and largely pointless border war with Eritrea that had defied peace mediators for decades.
He said yesterday he was ‘‘humbled and thrilled’’ to receive the award, and hoped that it would inspire other leaders on the continent.
Abiy, who inherited a country that had suffered 25 years of tyrannical rule, has hosted vast ‘‘listening rallies’’, released thousands of political prisoners, welcomed home dissidents, and removed bans on opposition parties. Several former dissidents and many women have been appointed to senior roles.
The former military officer has also emerged as a regional peacemaker, mediating between Eritrea and Djibouti. He helped to broker talks in Sudan after President Omar al-Bashir was ousted.
Abiy is the country’s first leader from its largest ethnic community, the Oromo, who have long complained of marginalisation. His mixed Christian and Muslim background and his fluency in three of the country’s main languages have helped him to bridge communal and sectarian divides.