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Ginchi, Ethiopia – The inhabitants of the small town of Ginchi, in the center of Oromia, are mainly peasants who earn their living by working on land like most in Ethiopia.
Most Ethiopians had never heard of the city about two hours drive west of the capital, Addis Ababa.
But the city of some 20,000 people is now part of the history of this country of East Africa.
A group of young men from the city went down the street at the end of 2015, unhappy with the reallocation of land, which belonged to a school in the city, to a private developer.
After days of protests The government, in a rare move, overturned the decision.
The news of the government's retirement extended to other parts of Oromia, where people, unhappy with the government's decision to expand the borders of Addis Ababa, went down the street. 1 9659010] Sidelined
The Oromos are the largest ethnic group in the country, accounting for about one third of the population of 100 million Ethiopians.
They have long complained of being excluded from economic development and the country's political process. 19659008] Weeks of deadly clashes between security forces and Oromo demonstrators followed, forcing Addis Ababa to abandon the project to acquire agricultural land
The young men of Ginchi who were organizing the first demonstration could not believe what they saw. It's as if everyone were waiting for a trigger, "Al Jazeera Abdel Abdisa, a student of political science at the University of Addis Ababa
said" the planned expansion from the city of Addis, the perfect grievance to rally. And then we started asking for more freedoms, "adds the 22-year-old
. They then spread to the region of Amhara, where is the second largest ethnic group in the country, accounting for 27% of the population.
They traditionally form the country's elite and the language of the group remains the most spoken in the country.
High Price
The youth of Ginchi, who continued their street protests and now called for political reforms, proudly followed events in the Amhara region, but they paid a heavy price.
A dozen lives were lost and hundreds of people were arrested. But they remained unscathed.
Gutama Kuma was one of the lucky ones. Unlike some of his friends, who were killed, he was arrested.
"We would go to the funeral of deceased friends and at the end of the funeral [was] we would go to the streets to protest." A one – year – old vegetable vendor told Al Jazeera
For nearly a year, Gutama has organized and participated in street protests.
Then, his luck ran out
"Twenty federal policemen came to my house and arrested me. They took me to a detention center and tortured me, "he said, showing big scars on his arm and another on his belly.
Resignation of Desalegn
In order to suppress widespread protests, the government introduced two urgent states.
As the demonstrations showed no sign of ending, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned in February.
"The unrest and political crises have resulted in the loss of many lives and the displacement of many, and I view my resignation as vital in attempting reforms that would lead to lasting peace and democracy." Hailemariam said in a televised speech when he announced that he was resigning
"to Godsend".
Abiy Ahmed succeeded Hailemariam as the country's prime minister, the first of the Oromo ethnic group.
Many Ginchi could not believe that one of theirs was the most powerful man of the second most populous country in Africa.
A blessing for the people of Oromia. Salomon Workneh lost his job at the height of street protests [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera]
Solomon lost his job at the height of the civil war. He has since been reinstated in his former position at the electricity company because the new government has initiated a series of political reforms and adopted a reconciling approach to government criticism
. "For me, Abiy is like Moses, he will take us to the promised land, before everything was in the hands of a few people and we, Oromos, suffered a lot because of that, things are changing now," said the father. from one
Painkiller
Life is back to normal in Ginchi.The street protests no longer take place in the city or region.Absiy pictures now appear on the many tricycles that obstruct the single-track paved road in the city
The young people who started the street protests are anxious to see if Abiy will bring lasting change to their country. "19659008]" We see it as an badgesic and not as a cure for what hurts Ethiopia. The future of Ethiopia depends on the upcoming elections and their free and fair character, "said Mr. Obsa, the student of political science.
Ethiopia is expected to hold Elections in 2020.
Follow Hamza Mohamed on Twitter: @Hamza_Africa
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