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Rob Crilly in Addis Ababa
11 September, 2007
The bunting is up, the streets have been swept and the city’s population of stray dogs has dwindled overnight.
But while the elite of Addis Ababa prepare to usher in the new Coptic millennium at a gala concert, many more say that they feel left out of the lavish celebrations. “Most of the people here are very poor,” said Johannes Tesfay, sitting at a coffee shop opposite the temporary concert hall where tickets for tomorrow’s millennium eve bash cost more than £80.
The rest of the Christian world celebrated the dawn of a new millennium seven and a half years ago – an event ignored by the famously proud people of Ethiopia. They have been waiting patiently for their calendar to catch up ever since. It is based on the ancient Egyptian dating system and contains 13 months. Most of the Christian Church revised dates in the 5th century to take account of calculations suggesting that Jesus was born eight years earlier than previously thought.
The Ethiopians struggled on, making tomorrow the last day of Pagume — the 13-month — of the year 1999.
Organisers believe that the glittering celebrations offer an opportunity for an Ethiopian renaissance.
Mulugeta Aserate, of the Millennium Secretariat, said: “It’s a chance to put the turbulence behind us. The rest of the world knows Ethiopia for famine, civil war and soaking up huge amounts of foreign aid. That’s not the Ethiopia we know.”
Celebrations tomorrow night will centre on the Millennium Central Hall, a temporary £30 million venue paid for by Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, a Saudi billionaire of Ethiopian origin. Traditional Ethiopian artists and pop acts will lead the count-down to a spectacular fireworks display at midnight. That will be followed by the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas. There will also be two free concerts.
Addis Ababa has been given a rapid makeover. Some of the ramshackle slums have been pulled down to make sure nothing can spoil the view for visiting prime ministers. The city council has sent workers out at night poisoning stray dogs, provoking condemnation from animal welfare groups.
But members of the opposition point out that Ethiopia’s problems are far from history. Two years ago almost 200 protesters were shot dead in a wave of protests that followed disputed elections. Last month 31 opposition politicians — detained since the protests — were finally released after receiving pardons for convictions many observers believed were suspect.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian soldiers have been accused of human rights abuses in Somalia where they are fighting Islamic and clan-based militias. Aid agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region. Last week the charity MSF said that its medical teams were being denied access to people in need by government forces intent on tackling an uprising by ethnic Somali rebels.
Bulcha Demeska, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, accused millennium organisers of ignoring the country’s poverty. “These celebrations have been used by this Government to deflect from our troubles,” he said.
Mr Mulugeta insisted that Ethiopia deserved a party. The country is in a far better state than when Meles Zenawi’s rebel army toppled the Marxist junta of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, he said.
“Things are better than 17 years ago but it is difficult when you are building democratic institutions from scratch,” he said. “The tempo is slow.”
Clashing calendars
— The Coptic calendar has 13 months, 12 of 30 days and one of either 5 or 6, depending on whether it is a leap year
— The Persian Jalaali Calendar is a solar calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan. It begins each year on the spring equinox. Today is the 19th Shahrivar 1386
— The Islamic or Hijri calendar is used to date events in many Muslim countries, and used by Muslims to determine when to celebrate Islamic holy days. It has 12 lunar months and 354 days
Source: Times archives