Hachalu Hundessa (Oromo: Haacaaluu Hundeessaa Boonsaa; Amharic: ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ; 1986[1] – 29 June 2020) was an Ethiopian singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist.

Months after the single was released in June 2015, protests opposing the Addis Ababa Master Plan occurred throughout the Oromia Region.

[10] In December 2017, Hachalu sang at a concert in Addis Ababa that raised funds for 700,000 Oromo who were displaced by ethnic violence in Somali region.

Filenbar Uma, a member of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front in Ambo, described security forces shooting as "people were kept from going" to the funeral.

[14] Hachalu's casket was driven into the stadium in Ambo in a black car, accompanied by a brass band and men on horseback.

[12] Two people were shot to death in Chiro, while protesters in Harar toppled a statue of prince Makonnen Wolde Mikael.

On 30 June 2020, a statue of Emperor Haile Selassie in Cannizaro Park, Wimbledon, south-west London, was destroyed by Oromo protestors.

[18][19][20] Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his condolences to Hachalu's family, urging calm amid growing unrest.

Jawar has led calls for more rights for the Oromo people, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, who have been politically marginalised by previous governments.

[24] Ian Bremmer wrote in a Time magazine article that Prime Minister Abiy "may just be looking for a scapegoat that can unite Ethiopians against a perceived common enemy".