The road from Laka Kebele, 36 kilometers west of Arba Minch and over 500 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, winds toward neighboring Mazo Doisa Kebele through green, cloud-topped mountains of the Gamo Highlands.
The narrow gravel road cannot accommodate most vehicles, and only motorcycles and mules are able to ferry people and desperately-needed supplies across it. But even they struggle with the steep slopes made treacherous by wet mud. Traveling on foot, the journey is long and exhausting, taking as long as six hours for even the most experienced locals.
Small brooks and underground water flow from the mountains, cutting across the road at intervals. Trees and other flora cling to the slopes, while underground waterfalls pulse beneath the surface.
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Spotted across the landscape are the rural villages of Gamo Zone, whose colorful residences are often adorned with artwork. Residents here largely depend on livestock and the cultivation of mango, apple, papaya, sugarcane, banana, onion, and sorghum to earn a living.
A Recurring Tragedy
Several hills and many rivers past Laka Kebele appears the silhouette of Hamus Gebeya. The cold, damp highland town is currently hosting the survivors of the tragedy that befell the Gamo Zone in the second week of March 2026. More than 120 people are believed to have died in the landslides and floods that hit six different kebeles, while nearly 20,000 have been forced to flee their homes.
Many of them have taken refuge in Hamus Gebeya, where there is no electricity and the only light at night comes from torches, the screens of mobile phones, and the starry sky.
Among those in the shelters is Etenesh Era, a 28–year-old domestic worker, who made the grueling trip from Addis Ababa to Hamus Gebeya upon hearing news of the landslide and her father’s death.
The mother of three told The Reporter Magazineher brothers are receiving medical treatment in Arba Minch, as is her mother, whose leg was broken during the calamity.
“My father meant everything to me,” she said, her voice breaking.
Her grief is compounded by the suffering of her family, and the loss of their home and the livestock on which their livelihoods depend.
“We lost six cows and many sheep and goats,” said Etenesh, fighting back tears. “We can’t go back. There’s nothing left for us there.”
She told The Reporter Magazine that some of their neighbors had lost as many as six or more relatives.
“Some bodies have still not been found,” said Etenesh.
Enie Banga, 23, a mother of two, said she lost her home and cattle in the disaster, which struck in the early morning of March 10 and continued until 8:00 a.m.
Nearby in the market-turned-camp were Tigist Gezahegn and her brother. Tigist was almost nine months pregnant when the disaster struck, and she was brought to Hamus Gebeya after her neighbors dug her out of the mud and debris.
She told The Reporter Magazine that she was buried as she attempted to rescue her father, who sadly did not make it. Tigist, still carrying her child, now resides in a shelter under the care of her brother, a weaver.
Like Tigist, Belaynesh Mekasha, 55 and mother of 11, was dug out of the mud by responders, but only after she sustained fractures in her leg and both arms after being swept up in a flood while she slept.
When The Reporter Magazine visited the area on March 19 and 20, the Gamo Zone Administration had set up nine temporary shelters in Hamus Gebeya. Local officials had also distributed mattresses, blankets, cooking pots, biscuits, and other crucial supplies.
Medical services are also being provided at the shelter.
Dilot Beyene, a health officer and coordinator of a temporary clinic in Hamus Gebeya, said response efforts started with first-aid in a nearby residence before a makeshift clinic was set up.
“We’ve referred two affected individuals to Arba Minch Hospital and they are doing well now,” he said.
Seifu Wanqa, head of the Gamo Zone Health Bureau, said more than 261 people affected by the landslide have received treatment.
“Most of the victims are mothers and children, so we’ve provided supplementary food to 53 lactating and 67 expecting mothers,” he told The Reporter Magazine.
Hakimie Ayele, Gamo Zone’s deputy administrator and labor bureau chief, stated that while food, sanitary materials, and medical treatment have been made available, the major challenge now lies in getting more supplies across the rugged and inaccessible terrain.
Twenty kilometers away in Laka Kebele is where humanitarian assistance destined for Hamus Gebeya must be offloaded from trucks and packed onto motorcycles and mules, who must then traverse a narrow, steep road made even more dangerous by the prospect of mudslides. Some parts of the road have disappeared almost entirely. Motorcyclists are paid 1,500 Birr to carry supplies to Hamus Gebeya.
Sources indicate that at least 125 people have died due to landslides, mudslides, and floods, while more than 11,000 have been displaced, and homes, farms, infrastructure, and animals have been buried or swept away.
Hakimie told The Reporter Magazine the local administration is working on a long-term resettlement plan for the displaced.
He noted previous experience in relocating people from high-risk highland areas to Kucha and West Abaya on the recommendations of a landslide risk assessment three years ago.
Hakimie argues the local administration did not foresee the latest tragedy.
“This year’s early Belg rains triggered the disaster in a very short time,” he said.
Data from the zonal communication bureau indicates more than 76 million Birr has been raised for humanitarian assistance, in addition to in-kind donations. Hakimie told The Reporter Magazine that local administrators are working to identify the most vulnerable sites and set up an early warning system for the future.
“We’re planning to relocate people in high-risk areas, such as steep mountain slopes, to low-risk areas nearby by creating awareness among residents,” said the Deputy Administrator.
Wegene Bizuneh, head of the South Ethiopia Regional Disaster Risk Management Commission, stated that more than 18,000 have been displaced and revealed that 81 bodies have been recovered.
He noted that many victims were killed while attempting to save others.
Unfortunately, deadly landslides are not infrequent in the region. In July 2024, the neighboring Gofa Zone suffered one that killed nearly 300 and displaced an estimated 25,000 people.
In the aftermath, thousands were relocated from KenchoShachaGozdi Kebele to Western Abaya, an administrative boundary between Arba Minch and Wolayita. However, the resettlement program has not gone as planned, according to a resident who spoke to The Reporter Magazine anonymously.
“They have no appetite for resettling there. Some have even returned to KenchoShacha because the lowland temperatures aren’t like the highland cold they’re accustomed to,” he said.
A Region At Risk
Ethiopia’s highland topography, characterized by varied geology, unstable land, geomorphological conditions, and high rainfall combined with human activity, is vulnerable to landslides.
The Gamo Highlands, characterized by heavy precipitation and human intervention, are particularly at risk, according to a study conducted by Lemma and his Arba Minch University colleague, Abera Uncha (PhD).
Their findings are backed by mapping conducted by the Ethiopian Geological Survey, which highlights risks in the northern, northwestern, central, southern, and southwestern parts of the country. An Addis Ababa University study conducted in 2021 estimated that up to 49 percent of the country’s land coverage is prone to landsliding.
The study classified 39 percent of the country’s land coverage as being at ‘moderate’ risk of landslides, while 10 percent was found to be at ‘high’ risk. The inhabitants of these areas often have very low income levels, meaning that natural hazards like landslides can have a hugely disproportionate effect on their livelihoods, which often depend on agriculture and livestock.
Lemma Tadesse (PhD), who teaches geography and environmental studies at Arba Minch University, explains that the particular area’s geology—combined with heavy rainfall and human activity—makes it highly susceptible to landslides.
The culprit is the region’s vast groundwater reservoirs, which are prone to saturation and collapse, says the expert, who notes that March’s was the third landslide affecting five kebeles in Gamo.
The survivors sheltering in Hamus Gebeya are evidence that the scientific evidence is not being followed up with effective mitigation and prevention programs. For them, the wait continues—for bodies yet unfound, for relocation that may or may not come, for a future that looks nothing like the life they knew.
“The major challenge remains that the resettles from any area want to return to their ancestral lands, and there are even some who refuse to resettle to other safe areas,” he explained.“The Gamo Zone administration must convince everyone in these areas to evacuate. People shouldn’t live there in the first place.”
Lemma’s academic research indicates that up to 86 percent of highland areas in the region are moderate or high-risk landslide zones. He stressed that the Gamo Zone and the woreda administrations are well aware of this fact, “but relocation requires economic resources—it’s a budget to solve the problem.”
He noted that 40 percent of the highland areas are uninhabitable.
Residents of Bokole were once resettled voluntarily to lower areas, Lemma recalled, but later returned to the highland mountains, demonstrating a major rehabilitation challenge.
“You cannot rehabilitate the people if they are not evacuated from the area where their arable land size is very small,” he stressed.
He recommends raising awareness among the community about the risks.
Concerns over Accountability
The argument that a lack of “budget” is the sole barrier to safety is increasingly being called into question. If the science is clear and the danger is known, the question shifts from why action hasn’t been taken to where the resources intended for that action have gone. The tragedy is no longer just a matter of geological instability; it has become a matter of institutional integrity. In the Gamo Highlands, the wait for relocation is increasingly overshadowed by a burgeoning crisis of trust.
Speaking to The Reporter Magazine anonymously, a local official questioned whether funds collected for victims and survivors are reaching the people they are meant to help. He cited a massive embezzlement case involving response efforts for the 2024 Gofa landslide. In October 2025, zonal authorities detained a group of individuals who stood accused of attempting to embezzle more than 60 million Birr intended for the victims of the landslide. The case remains ongoing at court.
The local official blamed the absence of early warning systems under the South Ethiopia Regional State administration for the tragedy, tying it to corruption and mismanagement.
“There are officials who use the financial assistance for their own benefit,” he told The Reporter Magazine.
