By RFIPosted on 05-10-2019Modified on 05-10-2019 at 18:12

In Ethiopia, October 4 and 5, the Oromos celebrated their annual holiday, Irreechaa, in Addis Ababa, also the capital of the Oromia region.

October 4 and 5, in Ethiopia, Orthodox, Muslims or Protestant oromos came to take back peacefully and symbolically "their" capital Addis Ababa, that the Oromos nationalists name Finfinee.

On the morning of 5 October, larger or smaller groups of Oromos headed for one of the five water basins set up for the occasion in the city center of the capital. Hundreds of thousands of people flushed themselves with water in order to receive the blessing of the god Waqaa at the annual Irreechaa party.

Gelesa Kedir, 23, arrived the day before from a region southeast of the capital and did not sleep at night. " Irreechaa is celebrated for the first time in 150 years in the capital of the Oromia region. That's why my joy is so special, "he says.

Mekonnen Abebe, 55, all dressed in white, explains: " This celebration was really established in the region but it was politically denied and forbidden ", repressed according to him by the emperors of the late nineteenth and twentieth century, mainly amhara ethnicity.

The Oromos celebrate Irreechaa in Addis Ababa on October 5, 2019. © YONAS TADESSE / AFP

Ethno-nationalist revival

The day before, in the late afternoon, politicians had spoken on the stage of Meskel Square. Shimeles Abdisa, the president of the region, appealed to the collective emotion and evoked the ancestors killed by the troops of Emperor Menelik II (1889-1913).

The Oromo nationalist Jawar Mohammed was particularly applauded. This ethno-nationalist fervor worries. Some regretted the absence of the national flag. Most of the participants at Irreechaa relativize. " I feel Ethiopian, " says 17-year-old Betty.

Since the arrival of Abiy Ahmed at the head of the ruling coalition, the majority ethnic group wants to seize his chance. " It's our turn, " says the leader of a large Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

► (Re) listen: [Ethiopia Series] The pride of Oromos (2/3)

    On the same subject

    Ethiopia: the shock after the murderous scuffles of the weekend

    Ethiopia: Oromos angry after murderous mob movement

    Leaders of Oromo armed group return to Ethiopia

    Ethiopia: New IDPs after ethnic clashes in Oromo zone

    [Ethiopia series] The pride of the Oromos (2/3)

    Abiy Ahmed, new face of Ethiopia

    comments