Initially, the announcement that Kampala’s Ethiopian Village restaurant was due to re-open on September 11th seemed a bit awkward. After all, it was bombed by Al-Qaida linked terror group Al-Shabaab, two months earlier. But Mami Mengisha, the founder of the restaurant, is determent not to let terrorism destroy her business.

by Arne Doornebal

From a distance it seems as if the Ethiopian Village just got a general renovation. The green colors shine brightly and there is a new screen for watching football. People hide themselves from the sun under parasols of Dutch beer brand Bavaria.

Though there is one huge difference with a normal make-over: this one was necessary after the restaurant was hit by a suicide bomber. Fifteen people died in the explosion, while they were watching the final of the World Cup soccer between Spain and The Netherlands, on July 11th.

Serving guests
,,I was busy serving five people when the bomb exploded,” recalls Mengesha. The injury time of the first half had just begun. The staff was in the back of the restaurant, waiting to serve drinks at half time. ,,The ground shook like it was an earthquake, it was dark and there was a lot of smoke. For a moment I thought the projector had blown, until I saw people down on the floor, screaming. The explosion had demolished the screen.”

Towards the end of the match another bombing took place in Kampala, also targeting football fans. Sixty people died. By the time the Dutch players left the pitch of Soccer City crying over the lost final, the dead bodies had already been removed from the Ethiopian Village restaurant in Kampala.

The restaurant paid the price
,,People immediately helped the wounded, and carried them away,” says Mami Mengesha. The police and ambulances came quickly. ,,Even private cars were used to transport the wounded and the dead.” A small monument near the place where the explosion took place remembers the attack. ,,We did not print the names of the victims, because we are not sure of all of them,” explains Mengesha. In the chaotic aftermath of the attacks, the deceased of both bomb locations were all being put on the same list.

Soon the attacks were claimed by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaida linked group that controls the southern part of Somalia. Uganda was targeted because it has peacekeeping soldiers in Somalia, fighting Al-Shabaab. Also Ethiopia in recent years battled elements of Al-Shabaab and its predecessors. The restaurant, founded by Mami Mengesha in 1993 and later developed into a popular hang-out, paid the price for that.

,,The Ugandan president visited the restaurant the day after the bombing, telling us he supported us. That gave us strength.” For the founder there was no doubt: Ethiopian Village would rebuild and re-pen.

Celebrating a new year on September 11th
,,September 11th was exactly two months after the attacks, and on that day the Ethiopians and Eritreans celebrate the beginning of a new year,” says Mengesha. ,,And off course, September 11th is a day when victims of terrorism are remembered worldwide. We are not afraid. We will continue with our lives.”