Patriots’ Day in Contemporary Ethiopia: A Reflection on National Unity Amidst Ethnic Federalism and Political Turmoil

By Amsal Woreta

Part I

Introduction

Patriots’ Day in Ethiopia commemorates the resistance against Italian occupation and the restoration of sovereignty. However, in the current political climate under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, ethnic federalism, internal conflicts, and governance issues challenge the ideals of unity and national pride. This article explores the implications of these dynamics on the significance of Patriots’ Day today.

Traditionally, it symbolizes national unity and resilience. Yet, Ethiopia’s contemporary political landscape, marked by ethnic divisions and conflicts, raises questions about the day’s relevance and the nation’s cohesion.

Ethnic Federalism and Its Consequences

Ethiopia’s adoption of ethnic federalism in the 1990s aimed to empower diverse ethnic groups by granting them autonomy. However, this system has inadvertently deepened ethnic divisions, leading to conflicts and displacements. 

War-torn Ethiopia and a soulless leader on Patriots’ Day

Governance Under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

Initially hailed for initiating reforms, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration has faced criticism for its handling of ethnic conflicts and governance. The Tigray conflict, 

which began in 2020, resulted in widespread human rights violations and a humanitarian crisis. Additionally, the government’s approach to dissent, including the suppression of journalists and opposition figures, manifest or show democratic backsliding.

Displacement and Ethnic Cleansing

The conflicts in regions like Tigray and Amhara have led to mass displacements and allegations of ethnic cleansing. Reports indicate that hundreds of thousands have been forcibly uprooted due to their ethnicity, with so many subjected to violence and deprivation.

Infrastructure Projects Amidst Crisis

Despite ongoing conflicts and humanitarian issues, the government has invested in large-scale infrastructure projects, including luxury resorts and a new palace complex. These initiatives have been scrutinized for reallocating resources from urgent priorities and reflecting a gap between the leadership and the public.

Border Conflicts and National Sovereignty

Ethiopia’s border disputes with Sudan and South Sudan have resulted in casualties and territorial tensions. The Al-Fashaga region has been a flashpoint, with both nations claiming ownership and engaging in military confrontations.

Reevaluating Patriots’ Day: A Call to Unite Beyond Ethnic Lines

Patriots’ Day in Ethiopia was born from sacrifice, resilience, and a collective stand against foreign domination. It was never meant to celebrate division or silence the cries of the oppressed. Yet today, this sacred day risks being reduced to political theater by leaders who weaponize ethnicity to cling to power. As Ethiopia bleeds from internal strife, displacement, and fragmentation, it is time to reclaim the spirit of Patriots’ Day—not as a memory of the past, but as a call to action. This moment demands a reevaluation of what it means to be a patriot: one who unites, not divides; one who defends the people, not their own power.

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Part II

From Patriots’ Day to Betrayal: Ethiopia Under Abiy Ahmed

Leadership That Heals vs Power That Divides

As Ethiopia bleeds internally and fractures deepen, the message of Patriots’ Day could not be more urgent. The generation that died fighting Italian fascism did not envision a country where leaders build palaces while millions starve; where citizens are murdered by their own army, where neighbors are turned into enemies by ethnic propaganda.

Patriots can be honored without war. A true leader does not need statues, palaces, or drone fleets. Ethiopia requires a leader who can transcend tribal divisions, uphold justice, and foster unity through a fair and dignified governance system, grounded in equality and shared goals.                                    

Would a Patriot Leader Change the Constitution to Sell Ethiopia?

One of the most alarming developments under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rule—yet underreported in local media—is the growing effort to revise Ethiopia’s constitutional and legal framework to allow foreign land ownership. This move comes amid widespread evictions of Ethiopian citizens, particularly in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas, under the guise of “beautification” and “development.”

1. Land Grabs Disguised as Development

Since 2018, thousands of residents in Addis Ababa, Legetafo, Yeka, Sheger City, and other regions have been forcibly removed from their homes with little or no compensation. These evictions have disproportionately affected Amhara residents, small business owners, and low-income families. Entire communities have been bulldozed overnight to make way for “green corridors,” foreign-owned real estate developments, or access roads to the Prime Minister’s new palace and luxury projects like Chaka Resort.

While the government claims this is urban renewal, no parallel affordable housing projects or resettlement plans have been implemented. Citizens face dispossession and criminalization for opposing eviction, with many subjected to imprisonment or harassment for contesting the loss of their residences.

2. The Hidden Agenda: Foreign Land Ownership

Now, there are increasing signs that the government intends to amend Article 40 of the Ethiopian Constitution, which currently states that land belongs collectively to “the Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia.” Any change would require constitutional revision—an act Abiy’s regime is rumored to be prepared for under the name of “attracting investment.”

If this change passes: Foreign corporations could legally purchase land in Addis Ababa, around national parks, in agricultural zones, and tourist corridors.

Evicted citizens would have no legal route to reclaim their ancestral homes or farms.

The state would become a land broker, auctioning Ethiopia’s soil to the highest bidder—be it Emirati real estate firms, Chinese agribusinesses, or Western development funds.

This directly contradicts the spirit of Patriots’ Day, which commemorates those who fought and died to keep Ethiopia from foreign occupation and exploitation.

3. A Patriot vs a Land Seller

Would Belay Zeleke, Ras Abebe Aregai, or Lij Seifu Mikael have sold Ethiopian land to foreigners?

Would the patriots who fought at Maichew, Debre Tabor, or Gondar have died for a country where citizens are evicted and replaced by luxury hotels with Dubai investors?

A patriotic leader: Defend the land, not auction

Upholds the constitution that protects the people’s ownership, rather than rewriting it to enable land colonization through legal loopholes.

Builds housing for citizens, not roads to palaces and presidential resorts that exclude the very people paying the taxes.

Abiy’s model mirrors the worst aspects of neocolonial Africa: remove the people, sell the land, appease investors, and criminalize dissent.

4. The Legacy of Treason, Not Patriotism

If allowed to continue, this policy trajectory will: Create a generation of landless Ethiopians living in urban slums, surrounded by luxury developments they can never afford.

Destroy Ethiopia’s communal land heritage—an institution that survived monarchy, Derg, and EPRDF rule.

Accelerate ethnic tensions, as evictions disproportionately target Amhara and urban minorities under an Oromo-dominated administration.

History will not remember this as a reform. It will remember it as betrayal.

Who Truly Owns Ethiopia?

Patriots’ Day asks one question: What are we willing to sacrifice to defend the soul of our country?

If Abiy Ahmed genuinely believes in Ethiopiawinet, then he must protect Ethiopia’s land, not sell it. He must house its citizens, not displace them. He must preserve the constitution’s core—the inalienable right of Ethiopians to live, farm, and die on their land.

Changing the constitution for foreign investors is not modernization, it is legalized dispossession. No leader who loves his country would trade its soil for concrete towers and foreign currencies.

That is not patriotism. That is surrender disguised as strategy.

The Constitution Has Fallen 

Abiy Ahmed’s Regime Sells Ethiopia’s Land

In a move that will be remembered as one of the most dangerous betrayals of Ethiopia’s sovereignty, the Ethiopian Parliament—under Abiy Ahmed’s leadership—has officially amended the law to allow the sale of land, overturning decades of constitutional protection. For the first time since Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown, land in Ethiopia can now be commodified and potentially sold to foreign entities.

This amendment marks a turning point in Ethiopian history—a direct assault on the sacrifices honored on Patriots’ Day, which commemorates Ethiopians who fought to preserve their land and independence from colonial powers.

From Defenders of the Land to Brokers of Betrayal

Under Article 40 of the 1995 Ethiopian Constitution, land was explicitly stated to be “the collective property of the Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia.” This clause protected the country from becoming a playground for foreign investors, land speculators, and exploitative corporations.

But in May 2025, the Abiy-led Parliament—backed by a party with no national mandate and representing an elite few—stripped the people of this constitutional protection. The justification? To “attract investment” and “modernize the economy.”

The regime has: Legalized the dispossession of citizens already being evicted in Addis Ababa, Sheger City, and Oromia under the guise of “development.”

• opened the door to neocolonial land grabs, where wealthy Gulf investors, foreign agribusinesses, and connected elites can buy ancestral lands with no regard for cultural or historical significance.
• violated the principle of Ethiopiawinet, which holds that Ethiopia is not for sale—not its land, not its people, not its soul.

Evictions Were Not a Tragedy—They Were a Strategy

The amendment exposes the truth behind years of mass displacement in Addis Ababa, Legetafo, Yeka, and parts of Oromia and Amhara regions. The demolition of homes and communities was not just a reckless policy; it was a calculated move to clear the land for future sale.

Thousands of Ethiopians were made homeless, humiliated, and impoverished—so that a future legal amendment could turn their pain into profit. Now that amendment has arrived.

Those who resisted eviction were beaten or arrested. Now the land they once lived on is available to the highest bidder—a foreign investor, not a displaced Ethiopian family.

4. What Unity Leadership Would Have Meant in Practice 

A Patriot Leader vs. Abiy’s Legacy of Dispossession

A patriotic leader worthy of Patriots’ Day would have:

• Defended the constitution, not dismantled it for foreign capital.
• Expanded land rights to citizens, not revoked them to appease international investors.
• Promoted rural and urban equity, not built palaces while farmers are evicted.
• Instead, Abiy Ahmed has cemented his legacy not as a reformer, but as a land broker in service of foreign interests, masked in nationalist rhetoric. His “Medemer” philosophy has become a smokescreen for “Melk Negegninet” (land auctioneering).

What Does This Mean for Ethiopia’s Future?

Many residents may need to relocate as land values increase due to speculation.

The ethnic tensions around land ownership will explode, as landless citizens confront new power structures that favor elites and foreigners.

Ethiopia has transitioned from maintaining its sovereignty through historical events like Adwa and Patriots’ Day to participating in the global market.

Conclusion: Selling Soil Is Selling the Soul

Patriots’ Day once symbolized the triumph of Ethiopians over those who sought to take their land. Today, under Abiy Ahmed, the very soil they defended is being sold—legally, shamelessly, and permanently.

This is not governance. This is betrayal written in legal ink.

No statue, no flag, no palace can cover this crime. And no rhetoric about investment or progress can excuse the selling of a country’s inheritance.

To the displaced, to the landless, to the betrayed, history will remember that you were not victims of war alone. You were victims of leadership that put power and profit above patriotism.

Recommendations for Future Leadership

1. Dismantle ethnic federalism and replace it with a civic, inclusive federalism or unitary system.
2. Rescind foreign land ownership laws and protect Ethiopian land.
3. End wars against internal populations and pursue justice for war crimes.
4. Reinvest in public health, education, agriculture, and industries rather than vanity projects.
5. Launch a national truth and reconciliation process to heal ethnic wounds.
6. Defend national borders and make territorial integrity a top diplomatic priority. 

Conclusion: Patriots’ Day in the Age of Betrayal Leadership That Heals vs Power That Divides

As Ethiopia bleeds from within, fractured by war, displacement, and political betrayal, the meaning of Patriots’ Day becomes more urgent than ceremonial. It was never meant to be a day of silence, nor a stage for hollow speeches. It was meant to honor the unity, sacrifice, and dignity of those who stood against foreign domination—not to legitimize the actions of leaders who divide and sell the nation piece by piece.

The patriots of Adwa and the resistance of the 1930s did not fight so future leaders could build palaces above the graves of the displaced, or auction Ethiopia’s soil to foreign interests while the poor starve in camps. They did not die so that tribal divisions could be codified into governance, or so that the nation’s children could be raised in famine, fear, and forced silence.

A true patriot does not need war to be remembered. A true leader does not need palaces, statues, or luxury resorts to leave a legacy. What Ethiopia needs now is a leader who restores justice, not vengeance—unity, not supremacy—truth, not propaganda.

The recent amendment allowing the sale of land, the very soil once defended against blood, is the ultimate betrayal. This is not modernization. It is dispossession masked as progress. Selling the soil is not just an economic decision; it is a declaration that the nation’s inheritance is for sale. No speech, no flag, no national anthem can conceal that treachery.

To the displaced, the silenced, the betrayed history will remember: you were not victims of war alone, but of a regime that placed power and personal gain above patriotism.

Patriots’ Day must now transform from a state-sponsored ritual into a national reckoning. 

The principles of unity, sovereignty, and sacrifice must be restored—not through slogans or staged events—but through the emergence of leadership dedicated to Ethiopian unity over ethnic division, integrity over propaganda, and prioritizing public welfare over personal gain.

Ethiopia faces a critical and ethical turning point. The question is no longer what the patriots died for. It is whether we, the living, will allow their legacy to be buried under the ruins of greed, silence, and fragmentation—or rise, finally, to complete what they began.

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com

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