Sidama Crisis Monitor

By Sidama National Liberation Front (SNLF) and Sidama Human Rights Council (SHRC)

March 01, 2026

African leaders have failed the citizens of the continent time and time again since decolonisation.  With the exception of few countries, citizens’ expectations for democracy, respect of human rights and rule of law and socioeconomic development have not been met. Ethiopia and the entire horn of Africa are no different. Rather, Ethiopia stands as one of the worst in the context of offering democratic governance, peace and development.  The Ethiopian nations and nationalities have increasingly faced relentless cycles of civil wars, dictatorships and humanitarian crises decade after decade.

Due to the lack of democracy and accommodative political platform, and the absence of accountability for politicians in the face of gross violation of citizens’ rights, the Ethiopian empire has indeed been among the worst in the governance track records in the world. Since Abiy Ahmed’s assumption of power in 2018, such flagrant violations of citizens’ rights have become widespread in various parts of the country including in Sidama, Oromia, Tigray, Amhara, Gambella, Benishangul, Ogaden Somali regional states and elsewhere throughout the empire.  This regime has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in various parts of the country with varying degrees where the war on Tigray, Oromia and now Amhara has caused the death of millions of civilians  and significant material damages.

Over 247 Sidama civilians who were peacefully protesting the refusal of the regime to hold a referendum to allow statehood between June 2018, and July 2019 were massacred. The brutality of the regime had shocked the Sidama nation although the Sidama people heroically pushed with their demand and achieved Regional Statehood through a referendum held on 20 November 2019.  Despite achieving Regional Statehood in 2019, the Sidama people were denied their right to administer their regional state until today as fascist Abiy Ahmed sought to exact revenge on the Sidama people for campaigning for regional self-determination. In contravention to the constitution of the country, he directly appointed Desta Ledamo, the former spy agent of Mufriat Kamil, the Head of the now defunct Southern Ethiopia People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), who sought to derail the demand of the Sidama people for statehood. Desta Ledamo, a grossly incompetent and the most corrupt cadre in the history of the Sidama nation, and other lackeys such as Abraham Marshallo have exacted revenge on the Sidama people in the past 7 years on behalf of fascist Abiy Ahmed by looting the regional fiscal budget and igniting massive humanitarian crisis and poverty, hunger, youth unemployment, and rampant abuse of basic human and democratic rights of the Sidama people.

Furthermore, such alarming developments are engulfing not only Ethiopia, but also the entire horn of Africa involving Somalia, Sudan’s ongoing civil war that are wreaking havoc  and causing loss of millions of lives and significant material losses. Mass displacements and the death of unarmed civilians in their millions has become a common occurrence. This coupled with Eritrea’s authoritarianism and Somali land’s fragility makes the region a hotspot over which the emerging middle powers including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and many others fight for dominance and control. To satisfy the demands of the rulers of the indicated countries, the citizens of the horn of African countries are increasingly subjected to forced conscriptions to fight interest groups’ protracted wars outside their countries. Ethiopia and Sudan are fighting UAE’s war on both countries’ soil. The generation has become disillusioned, hopeless, aimless, and dreamless therefore fleeing their own countries in their tens of thousands to travel to unknown horizons searching for safety, security and better future they are all denied in their home countries. Unfortunately, only less than a half of these make it to their intended destinations and many of them perish on their ways.  

SNLF and SHRC strongly believes the unfolding political, socio-economic catastrophes can only come to an end if an inclusive and democratic political framework is created and active societal participations are enabled without restrictions. We strongly believe that creating opportunities for critical political dialogues remains of paramount importance. Moreover, having a political system that recognises and respects peoples’ unalienable rights to self-determination and individual freedom and collective existence in their defined territories can pave avenues for lasting peace and peaceful coexistence in Ethiopian and the wider horn of Africa.

Ethiopia’s political and socio-cultural malice has got a deep seated and over a century old grievances of the oppressed nations and nationalities against successive Ethiopian rulers thereby demanding for their rights to self-rule and genuine autonomy to be honoured. Cognizant of these, the predecessors of Abiy’s brutal regime have ratified a comprehensive legal instrument (constitution) that theoretically allowed various conquered and colonised nations of Ethiopia to assert their right to managing their own affairs including economy, cultural and social aspects. In practice however, these were not fully implemented although the presence of such constitution empowered the colonised subjects to feel recognised and allowed at least nominally to decide on the

The Sidama Youth Should Never Fight Abiy’s Wars in Oromia, Amhara and The Second Round of War in Tigray Or Eritrea

 The sons and daughters of the Sidama nation are being continually and forcefully conscripted in their thousands to fight Abiy Ahmed’s war on own citizens. Tens of thousands of youth from Oromo, Wolayta, Gedeo, Hadiya, Gambella, Benishangul, and Kambata, are conscripted for the same objectives- to fight with fellow Ethiopian brothers and sisters for the sole reason of keeping Abiy and his corrupt and criminal associates in power.

Alarmingly, Abiy’s regime is moving over a half a million army toward Tigray and Eritrea boarders. Amhara Fano and Oromia’s OLA (Oromo Liberation Army) are on a conventional war with the regime in power. Tigray’s two years devastating war that came to an end following November 2022’s Pretoria peace deal has only silenced gun but Abiy’s current massive military mobilisation is sparking serious concerns because Abiy’s reckless regime will never refrain from repeating its genocidal war on already devastated Tigray to date under siege. This must be categorically condemned and stopped!

Cognizant of the devastating civil wars in Ethiopia, we further condemn with strongest possible terms Abiy’s ongoing civil wars on own citizens his regime is waging on Amhara, Oromia, the pending war on Tigray and Eritrea. We condemn the ongoing massive military mobilisation instead urging all parties to exercise utmost restraint only allowing chance for a political dialogue both within the country and beyond. The Sidama nation views the second threat of war on Tigray as an existential treat to not only Tigray but also to all other oppressed nations in the country. Tigray has an inalienable right to self-determination in its constitutionally recognized territory. We call upon the Sidama and other nations to categorically reject sending its sons and daughters to fight Abiy’s wars in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray or Eritrea. We urge the Sidama nation to reject the efforts of Abiy’s cadres installed to punish the nation to mobilize the Sidama youth for criminal war enterprise

Free All Sidama’s Political Prisoners:

We also call on the Sidama nation to demand justice and freedom for the over 100 youth currently languishing in prisons across Sidama due to the miscarriage of justice following the government instigated conflict between Sidama and Wolayta community members in Hawassa in 2018. The recent imprisonment by corrupt and criminal ruler of the Sidama State, Desta Ledamo, and other corrupt cadres of the youth who demanded good governance, respect to the rule of law and justice and freedom constitutes a gross violation of basic human rights and crimes against humanity and must be condemned by all. 

The Sidama Nation Should Boycott the June 2026 Elections.

The current regime aims to legitimize its corrupt and dictatorial rule through a bogus general elections planned for 1 June 2026. Free and fair elections can never be possible in Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed’s theocratic prosperity party rule. The political environment in the country where civil wars are raging in the two largest regional states and the threat of war is looming with Eritrea and Tigray makes it impossible to conduct any elections. In Sidama, the regime that has dissolved the Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM) the party that relentlessly campaigned for a regional self-rule with the previous regimes, has now fabricated a dozen fake political parties to participate in the upcoming elections fronting for the prosperity party. The Sidama people should boycott this upcoming grossly unjust, unfree and unfair elections.

Furthermore, Abiy’s Sidama cadres are plotting to divide Sidama elites by pitting them against each other. We strongly condemn Aby’s Sidama cadres’ divisive agenda! Instead, we strongly advise all Sidama individuals and those who are playing behind the scenes games to refrain from preparing Sidama for Abiy’s divide and rule system. The Sidama and the other nations must unite and defend themselves from the existential threats Abiy’s regime is posting to all nations and peoples of Ethiopia.

Call To Action:

Finally, the war Abiy is preparing to wage on Tigray, possibly neighbouring Eritrea and proxy war on Sudan on behalf of the UAE, is deplorable acts of aggressions that must be categorically condemned. We urge the ongoing war on Oromia, Amhara and elsewhere in the country to be unconditionally condemned and stopped!! We call upon all political players to agree to a political dialogue to extricate Ethiopia from the quagmire of civil wars that are dehumanising and depersonalising citizens whilst the ruler on power and his associates are talking non-existent success. 

To conclude, we urge all peoples of Ethiopia to understand the seriousness of the situation the peoples of Ethiopia are under. We strongly advice all nations nationalities and peoples to come together by putting their minor differences aside to unite, challenge and remove this regime from power to stop a possible unruly state collapse and disintegration of the country. 

Issued by Sidama National Liberation Front (SNLF) and Sidama Human Rights Council (SHRC)