A musician’s murder sparks mayhem in Ethiopia

FOR TWO nights the sharp report of gunfire crackled through the pitter-patter of summer rain. Across the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, cars and petrol stations were burnt, shops and businesses looted. At least ten people were killed in clashes between rioters and the police in the city. Similar confrontations took place in towns throughout Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia’s nine ethnically based regions and one that has been the site of repeated bouts of violence in recent years. In the country as a whole at least 166 people were killed, making this one of the deadliest episodes in Ethiopia’s already bloody transition from authoritarian rule.The spark was the murder in Addis Ababa on June 29th of Hachalu Hundessa, a popular Oromo musician and activist. Oromos make up about a third of the country’s population of 115m. They are the largest and recently the most rebellious of Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups.