Obang Metho on Overcoming Tribalism, Building an Ethiopian Nation

by Ann Garrison

The Ethiopian government has been engaged in a civil war in its northern Tigray State since the Tigray People’s Liberation Front attacked a federal army base in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray State last November.

Western officials and press have overwhelmingly blamed Ethiopia and its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for the war, for alleged atrocities, and for obstructing humanitarian aid convoys trying to reach the Tigrayan people.

Obang Metho, tells a different story from his home in Gambella, Ethiopia. Mr. Metho is founder and Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE).