2016 in Ethiopia

The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Ethiopia.

← 2015 2014 2013 2016 in Ethiopia → 2017 2018 2019
Decades:	1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2016 Timeline of Ethiopian history

Incumbents

• President: Mulatu Teshome
• Prime Minister: Hailemariam Desalegn

Events

Ongoing

• Oromo protests

April

• 6 April – Seasonal rains come early to the country, causing floods, leaving at least 28 people dead.^[1]
• 16 April – Ethiopia claims that South Sudanese men killed at least 140 people across the border.^[2]

June

• 13 June – Ethiopia and Eritrea argue over who caused a recent border clash between the two nations.^[3]

August

• 5 August – Student protests erupt in Addis Ababa and quickly spread across the country.
• 8 August – Over 50 protesters are killed by security forces over the past few days. Internet and journalist access is also restricted by the government.^[4]

September

• 5 September – 23 prisoners are killed in a fire and stampede at the Kaliti Prison near the capital of Addis Ababa during an attempted prison break.^[5]

October

• 2 October – Police allegedly attack Oromo protesters at a religious festival in Bishoftu, causing a stampede that killed 52 people.^[6]
• 5 October – The railway line with Djibouti opens.^[7] However, an American women is killed during protests.^[8]
• 9 October – A state of emergency is declared following months of protests against the government.^[9]
• 10 October – Ethiopia blames Egypt and Eritrea for the recent unrest in the country.^[10]
• 20 October – A government minister reveals that over 1600 people have been detained following the state of emergency.^[11]

November

• 24 November – 20 aircraft pilots are detained in Ethiopia's Gambela region after "illegally" arriving from Sudan.^[12]

December

• 1 December – After arriving back from a trip to Europe, Merera Gudina, an opposition leader, is detained for allegedly violating the state of emergency.^[13]