Monday, 4th December 2023
To guardian.ng
Search

Ethiopia faces test on unity, ahead of referendum on breakaway region

Residents of Ethiopia's southern Kaffa zone have faced what many see as over a century of underinvestment by authorities in Addis Ababa. But Kaffa's leaders plan to fix it with a referendum that, if successful, would carve out a new South West region, Ethiopia's 11th, and funnel more federal cash their way, as well as control over how it is spent.

Related

23 Jul
The Central African Republic is confident that its July 30 referendum will go ahead. Russia's Wagner mercenaries have been contracted to provide security. Analysts consider this an overt act of political interference.
30 Jul
Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum vows democracy will prevail after mutinous soldiers detain him. Amid Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal, President Vladimir Putin pledges free shipments to six African countries.
2 Aug
Central African Republic voted on a constitutional referendum on Sunday which, if it passes, could remove a presidential term limit and allow President Faustin-Archange Touadera to run for a third term in 2025. Touadera was first elected in 2016 for a five-year term and won reelection in 2020 for what was supposed to be his final term in office.
4 Aug
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office issued a state of emergency after days of clashes between security forces and a militia group in the Amhara region.
13 Aug
Armed militias are fighting against Ethiopia's National Defense Forces in the Amhara region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has declared a state of emergency, and experts warn that the national peace process is in jeopardy.
15 Aug
Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) is making migration from the Middle East and Africa a key part of its electoral campaign ahead of a parliamentary vote in October.
21 Aug
Authorities in Ethiopia have initiated a crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community. Rights activists have branded it a diversionary tactic in the wake of renewed violence across the country.
23 Aug
After Human Rights Watch reported the killing of hundreds of Ethiopians at the Saudi-Yemeni border, the Ethiopian government decided to launch a joint investigation with Saudi Arabia.
25 Aug
Wildfires have been raging in northeastern Greece for days. Media reports suggest the bodies were those of migrants.
28 Aug
Women and children in Tigray are still subject to sexual violence despite a peace agreement signed in November 2022, according to a new report. Survivors accuse both Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers of rape.
11 Sep
Since the start of the fighting mid-April in Sudan, some areas have been completely cut off. As a result, people have been sending hand written messages to loved ones delivered by taxi drivers. Also, a series of attacks in Mali: a military camp has been attacked a day after more than 60 people are killed in two seperate assaults. And the economic fallout of the coup in Niger: sanctions also impact neighbouring country, Nigeria. We hear from some traders in Kano.
13 Sep
The Camargue is a breed of domestic cattle native to the Camargue marshlands of the river delta of the Rhône in southern France. It is used for the traditional sport of course camarguaise, a kind of bloodless bull-fight, but not for the corrida, Iberian-style bull-fighting.