Conflict-hit nation confronts new year

TESFAYE Hagos usually rings in the Ethiopian New Year by buying embroidered cotton dresses for his wife and young daughters, slaughtering a goat and inviting friends around for a feast.

But not this time. With war raging in the country’s north and ethnic Tigrayans like himself fearing arbitrary arrest, Tesfaye kept his head down during Saturday’s holiday.

“The new year is coming, but it’s far from my mind,” he said.

“I’m just going to stay at home and pray for peace.”

Africa’s second most populous country adheres to a unique 13-month calendar that begins this month and runs seven to eight years behind the Gregorian version.

Saturday marked the first day of 2014 for Ethiopians.

The celebrations are usually merry, with families singing and dancing as children gather bouquets of the bright yellow daisies that bloom every year.

But this year’s festivities have been dampened by the conflict – particularly for ethnic Tigrayans – and related economic woes, notably inflation that exceeded 30% last month for food.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is trying to rally the country, with a five-day social media campaign in the run-up to the holiday, highlighting such themes as heroism and victory.

But for Tigrayans, the life they knew was upended in November, when the acrimonious relationship between Abiy and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the regional rulers of Tigray, erupted in violence.

Many thousands have lost their lives in a conflict marked by massacres and mass rapes, and some 400 000 people face famine-like conditions, with a “de-facto aid blockade” choking humanitarian access, says the UN.

The authorities have suspended more than 80 000 “TPLF-supporting” businesses and revoked the licences of more than 500, an adviser for the trade ministry told state media last week.

The government denied engaging in an ethnically-motivated crackdown, saying it was targeting suspected backers of the TPLF, which lawmakers have designated a terrorist group.

In his New Year message, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael warned supporters of “a difficult journey” ahead, but said victory was “inevitable”.