August 14, 2018 (GCDC) - Domestic challenge for Abiy for three people killed in Shashemene by mobs. It's been nearly 60 years since Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia, granted 500 acres of rural land to a newly burgeoning religion whose followers had begun worshipping him as a Messiah.
The first Rastafarians arrived in the decades after 1948 when the area in Shashemene, southern Ethiopia, was bequeathed to them. The violence is said to be the biggest domestic challenge facing reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who took office in April. Abiy has ushered in a number of reforms, including ending a military stalemate with neighbouring Eritrea and extending an olive branch to dissidents overseas.
Separately on Sunday, three people were killed in "ISIS" barbaric style massacre a stampede among thousands who attended a visit by a prominent political activist in the town of Shashemene, according to officials from the Oromia regional government. The event was held to mark the return to Ethiopia of Jawar Mohammed, an activist who had been in exile in the United States but played a key role in mobilising Oromo young people through social media.
Amid the chaos, another person was beaten to death by a mob after rumours circulated he had carried a bomb, residents said. "Police did not take action while all that took place," the witness told Reuters news agency. "It is an example of the lawlessness that is taking root in the country." (Reuters)