Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed: The leader promising to heal a nation

Disir

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Sep 30, 2011
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Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been widely praised for introducing sweeping reforms aimed at ending political repression, writes BBC Africa editor Fergal Keane after visiting the country.

The crowd at the airport in Jimma in Ethiopia's Oromia region was handpicked and universally rapturous.

But these were not the praise-singing party hacks who so often grace the arrivals and departures of powerful men in Africa.

Men and women, old, young and very young - beaming babies were held above the crowd - had gathered to witness the arrival of a political sensation.

"We are so very happy," an elderly man shouted to me above the sound of the military band, "it is like a renaissance. We have waited so long for this."

Shift from autocracy
Then Abiy Ahmed was among us, descending the steps of his plane to delighted cheers, testing the nerves of his security detail as he reached into the crowd to kiss a baby here, embrace an old man there.

I was conscious of an extraordinary fusion between the driven energy of an individual and the hope of a nation. Africa has rarely seen anyone like him.
The leader promising to heal a nation

Hopefully, he can move Ethiopia forward.
 

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