Addis Globe, September 11, 2020.

Ethiopia, a country that follows a calendar seven years behind the Gregorian one, welcomes a new calendar year of 2013 that began on Sept. 11, 2020 A.D.

Ethiopians, struggling to shake off the trauma of the past year, embarked on their new calendar year with hope and hype. The past year Ethiopians faced deadly natural and man-made calamities that include desert locust invasion, floods, violence killing and displacing hundreds of people, and COVID-19 pandemic. The country was on the brink in July, following the killing of Hatchalu Hundessa, Oromo activist, singer, and songwriter.

President Sahlework Zewde, in her new year message, called on all Ethiopians to continue their support to successfully realize the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the New Year. She also stressed that the general public has to play its responsibility in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by following the guidelines put in place by medical professionals properly.

In their messages, leaders of the Christian and Islamic religions hoped the new year brings peace in the lives of people.    

The revered president of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, Hajji Mufti Omar Idriss, described the past year as “The year we saw brothers fighting against brothers,” and added “We should never allow a repeat of that”.

Abune Mathias, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, asked “the nation to come together, learn from the past and move on. He underscores last year as “a very sad year both for the nation and for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as many churches were burnt”.

Picture Credit: RASTA IETS