Yonatan T. Fessha – The Conversation

Members of the Amhara militia ride in the back of a pick up truck, in Mai Kadra, Ethiopia, on November 21, 2020. Amharas and Tigrayans were uneasy neighbours before the current fighting. Photo by Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images

November 29, 2020

Drums of war were beating for almost two years. Why Ethiopia’s conflict was avoidable

Yonatan T. Fessha, University of the Western Cape

Had the national government and Tigray state government attempted to engage in intergovernmental dialogue, things might have turned out differently.

The government must encourage demands for the creation of new states to be an outcome of negotiations. Shutterstock

December 3, 2019

The Sidama have voted for their own state. What follows is far less certain

Yonatan T. Fessha, University of the Western Cape

In a country where there are more than 80 ethnic groups, the territorial solution isn’t a feasible solution.

Young men in the traditional attire of southern Ethiopia’s Sidama people. commons.wikimedia.org

July 30, 2019

Ethiopia: why the Sidama secession demand needs to be negotiated

Yonatan T. Fessha, University of the Western Cape

The already extremely fragile political condition cannot handle any further instability and chaos.

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