Before Ahmed took over after a stormy convention within the now-defunct Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the various ethnicities in Ethiopia hardly tried to coexist in peace and harmony.

The ethno-federal system introduced by Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s former long-serving prime minister and godfather of the modern nation, seemed doable, at least on the surface. While it is true that federalism in Ethiopia can be observed only in the “official” name of the republic and some other appearances like the celebration by the country’s various ethnicities of their respective cultural events and traditions, it is also true that the nation was glued together in one piece by the Zenawi system no matter how fragmented it was deep down inside.