Protesters Take to Streets to Declare New Ethiopia Region

The plan to declare a new region would be a direct challenge to the federal government and could encourage eight other ethnic groups to make similar demands.

“Now the most important thing is peace for our people,” Million Tumato, president of the Sidama Liberation Movement Party, told Reuters. “Still the five months timeline is not specific as it doesn’t indicate when the referendum will take place.”

The move could ease tensions in Hawassa city where earlier on Thursday protesters blocked roads and burned tires after security forces thwarted a meeting of activists to declare a new region for their Sidama ethnic group, witnesses said.

Youth activist Tariku Lemma said security forces dispersed protesters by firing guns and teargas and two people had been wounded. Authorities had no immediate comment on the situation in Hawassa, 275 km (170 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.

The declaration of a new region would have been a test of whether Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal government can stick to its commitment to peaceful political reforms amid increasing demands from competing ethno-nationalist groups.