An Exciting Week.
on J and M in Assosa (Ethiopia), 01/Dec/2007 16:20, 34 days ago
It has been an exciting week in all the wrong ways.Saturday we were informed by VSO that the 4 staff due to come to Assosa on Sundaywould not now be coming. The reason given was that the Bureau Heads were not available as there is a major evaluation meeting of the Bureau Heads in Assosa at present, attended by ministers from the Federal government, so there would be nobody available for them. The volunteers were rather upset by this particularly as they were coming to do our exit interview and the new volunteers’ initial interview. We don’t get a lot of support from VSO in Assosa but these are 2 definite meetings which they commit to.As the Bureau Heads meeting is on for another 2 weeks we will be doing our exit interview as we step on the plane.Sunday was good as we had a meeting of most of the people involved in the Tree Project, even the farmers’ representative. I could not help but look at him and think what a hard life he must have had toiling over a few hectares to keep his family alive.One of his sons was in Mulatu’s class last year but failed the exam and has to repeat it this year which must be a blow.Sunday we were also informed by Mulatu that a 25 year old driver had been killed in the town when he intervened in another persons arrest by a policeman. The policeman shot him dead then ran away but subsequently gave himself up and is in prison. It now transpires that he was not a full time policeman but a member of the police band but he had been issued with a gun. The dead man is described as popular and‘a good man’. The town seems to have been deeply upset by the injustice of it and as a result on Monday the family arranged a protest march to the Police Commission which is near our house.On Monday morning I walked to a Clinic in the town as I felt unwell and I was diagnosed with an amoeba which is common but needs treatment. As this was my second bout I decided I should have a proper test rather than self diagnose againAnyway on my way I saw lots of people gathering and I was surprised but then thought perhaps this happens every morning and I am not around to see it. On reflection it was the people, mostly women collecting for the protest.About10amgunshots were heard and 1 person who was in another road and not part of the protest was killed and another injured who has since died. This was an extremely tense time but things do seem to have calmed down although people say there are still tensions under the surface. The man who died on Saturday was an Orthodox Christian from Oromia which is the largest ethnic group inEthiopia. They are described as very sensitive. He was shot by a Gumuz, a local group. On Monday one of the men who died was Berta, another local group mainly Muslim and the other from one of the groups in the southern part of the country. There are 4 indigenous groups in BG and then 20 years ago the settlers like Mulatu’s family were planted from Amhara. On top of this there are people here for work from all over the country. The local groups do not like this and the ‘incomers’ are treated as second class citizens and do not have the vote.The President was fortunately in town and he dealt with the situation along with the Police Commissioner.It is hard to gather information but it would seem that people want to hold another demonstration but they have been asked to wait until the Evaluation of the Bureau Heads is finished and then legal permission will be granted.We went to the market as usual on Saturday and life was continuing as usual.VSO have become very supportive since they were informed of the situation on Monday and we feel safe and secure. The Federal police have a large presence in the town this week. The guards at the Police Commission were possibly extra jumpy on account of the ministers from the Federal government being in town. Their presence also means that the President and police have to be seen as active and taking control of the situation.The current opinion of the locals is that there will be no more protests or trouble. There is the Assosa Great Run in the town on Sunday am, a much healthier way of showing respect for the dead and concern for what has happened.