The people of Gambella deserve a leader who govern with integrity, impartiality, and respect for the rule of law. Leadership should unite communities

Egomaniac Leader Gambella Ever Had

rather than deepen divisions, protect every citizen regardless of ethnicity, and ensure that public institutions serve all people equally.

Gambella has suffered a lot under egomaniac leaders who failed to restore security, prevent violence, or govern fairly. It is therefore essential for such failures to step aside through constitutional and democratic processes. The region needs a new leader committed to accountability, justice, reconciliation, and equal protection for all of people of Gambella.

Only leadership that places the interests of all Gambellians above ethnic or political lines can restore peace, rebuild trust, and create a stable and prosperous future for the region.

The Prime Minister must take decisive action to restore peace and the rule of law in Gambella by ensuring that leaders who are harbouring criminals are held accountable and removed from positions of authority.

Only by upholding justice and accountability can a lasting peace and stability be achieved. While prayer, church gatherings, and mediation by elders can provide spiritual support and encourage reconciliation, they cannot substitute for effective governance, impartial law enforcement, and the consistent application of the law.

Sustainable peace in Gambella requires strong institutions, accountability, and a commitment to protecting all communities under the rule of law which President, Alemitu and her predecessor, former President, Omot Ojulu watered down.

Meaningful peace in Gambella will not come from prayer meetings, church gatherings, youth concerts, or symbolic peace campaigns alone which has usually been the atmosphere in Gambella.

While those initiatives may encourage dialogue and reconciliation, they cannot replace the need for justice, accountability, and the rule of law.

The Federal Government must take decisive action to ensure that public officials or leaders who are found, through due process, to be supporting, organizing, or harbouring criminal violence are removed from positions of authority and held accountable under the Ethiopian law which Gambella leadership violate time in and time again.

When state institutions act impartially and protect all communities equally, that is when a lasting peace can be achieved. At this stage, there is no demonstration of that as violent organisers are not held accountable for their actions which at this stage makes the peace effort remains elusive or out of reach.

The worsening insecurity and divisions in Gambella are not the result of the weakness of the Nuer Tribe or other communities living in Gambella. Rather, they reflect the failure of state institutions to enforce the law impartially and to prevent those who abuse public authority from acting with impunity.

Until accountability is applied consistently and the rule of law is restored, peace initiatives alone are unlikely to produce lasting stability. If a Nuer were to become the President of Gambella and govern fairly, impartially, and in the interests of all communities, tranquillity could be restored within a relatively short period.

With inclusive leadership, respect for the rule of law, and equal protection for every citizen, Gambella could begin to regain the harmony it once enjoyed. This article believes that Gambella can return to a time when Nuer and Anyuak lived peacefully alongside one another, worked together, visited each other’s communities, and even shared meals as neighbours.

Achieving that future, however, will require political leadership committed to justice, reconciliation, and equal treatment for all, regardless of ethnicity. What is happening in Gambella today represents not only a profound failure of leadership but also a failure of the regional authorities to protect all citizens equally.

The current administration, including President Alemitu and former President Omot, bears political responsibility for failing to prevent violence and insecurity affecting the Nuer population.

Public officials who have tolerated, enabled, or supported abuses should be investigated and, where appropriate, held accountable through lawful and impartial processes.

The people of Gambella deserve a government that upholds the rule of law, protects every community without discrimination, and ensures that no one is above the law. But President Alemitu had shown that she is more powerful than the Prime Minister of Ethiopia releasing convicted criminals and standing on the way of justice of alleged murderers.

Only through accountability, justice, and equal treatment can a lasting peace and trust be restored. The regional authorities failed to prevent violence against the Nuer community and did not respond impartially to the conflict instigated by the armed groups such as the GPLM and the Lwa Chiri movements.

Such groups were allowed to operate with insufficient restraint, resulting in serious harm to Nuer civilians. These allegations should be subject to independent investigation and accountability but neither Omot nor Alemitu never shown interest even establishing a crime scene let alone going after the killers.

As the Anyuak controls key positions of the Gambella Regional Parliament, Nuer communities have become the victims in myriad ways. When the Nuer communities attempted to defend themselves or respond to attacks, the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) was deployed based on information that portrayed the Nuer as the primary aggressors, while the violence committed against them was overlooked or underestimated.

This represents a serious failure of governance, impartial law enforcement, and the state’s responsibility to protect all citizens equally.

Lasting peace in Gambella will require the removal of these leaders who established their policies on hate and violence.

One example that illustrates this pattern is the burning of Pulkotka village. The village was set ablaze by armed Anyuak assailants.

Knowing Nuer residents and others would return to rescue people and property, President Alemitu directed the Ethiopian Federal Police to the area after allegedly providing misleading information that those found in or around the burning village were attackers preparing to assault the Anyuak community.

This represent a serious misuse of state authority by directing security forces against people responding to an attack rather than those responsible for the violence. Such claims are the hallmark of egomaniac leaders from Anyuak community.

President Omot Ojulu in a meeting with the federal forces

Omot Ojulu at his tenure direcetd the ENDF to attack the same village where 16 people lost their lives. This should have been independently investigated at the time these innocent Nuer were killed by the ENDF after a wrong information was given them by Omot.

The Prime Minister would need to establish a royal commission in Gambella so that anyone found responsible for providing false information or facilitating violence should be held accountable through due process.

According to the understanding of Gambella Vision, members of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) often relied on information provided by regional authorities because they could not readily distinguish between members of the Nuer and Anyuak communities.

This website believe this made them heavily dependent on the accuracy and impartiality of the information they received.

In the case of the burning of Pulkotka village, when the ENDF arrived at the scene, they acted on information allegedly provided by President Alemitu that identified the Nuer present in the village as the aggressors rather than as people attempting to rescue their families and property.

As a result, the security forces opened fire on Nuer civilians based on inaccurate or misleading information President Alemitu provided to them. There are so many events like this divisive Anyuak leaders acts upon to please their GPLM and Lwa. Chiri bases.

These allegations point to a serious failure of leadership and command responsibility. They also underscore the need for an independent investigation to establish the facts and to ensure accountability for anyone found to have deliberately misled security forces or contributed to violence against civilians.

These events reflect a profound failure of leadership. The current regional leaders have governed in a manner that has not treated all Gambellians equally, regardless of their ethnicity. Rather than ensuring that every community receives equal protection under the law. Their actions and decisions have deepened mistrust and contributed to continued violence.

A leader who is genuinely committed to serving all the people of Gambella would not tolerate the misuse of security forces against civilians or fail to protect communities facing violence.

Instead, such a leader would establish effective measures to prevent conflict, ensure impartial law enforcement, respond swiftly to threats against any community, and promote justice and reconciliation for all citizens, irrespective of their ethnic background.

It is the opinion of Gambella Vision that lasting peace in Gambella depends on leadership that is accountable, impartial, and committed to protecting the rights and security of every Gambellian without discrimination.

In our view, areas that have experienced repeated episodes of intercommunal violence, such as Abol, Berberseb, villages in Itang Special Woreda, including Itang town and Depo, Adebabay and Omeniga  in Gambella town, should receive a permanent security presence from the Gambella Police and other professionally trained security fGambe such as the Liyu haile (Special Force).

Their primary responsibility should be to protect all civilians equally, prevent attacks before they occur, and respond rapidly to any outbreak of violence, regardless of which community is affected.

At the same time, the Regional Parliament should strengthen laws against ethnically motivated violence and ensure that anyone convicted through due process of committing hate crimes resulting in death faces severe legal penalties.

Judges, police officers, and other public officials should also be subject to regular performance reviews and independent oversight to ensure that they enforce the law impartially and fulfil their constitutional responsibilities. Those who fail to uphold the law or abuse their authority should be removed from office through lawful procedures.

It is our believe that these measures would provide a stronger deterrent to violence than symbolic peace initiatives alone. Effective law enforcement, judicial accountability, and equal protection under the law are essential for restoring lasting peace and public confidence in Gambella.

These reforms would require a leader who is both willing and able to challenge entrenched interests and implement the rule of law impartially. Mbella vision believe that, under the current political circumstances, a Nuer leader would be more likely to pursue these reforms and restore public confidence across the region.

Gambella Vision concern is not with any ethnic community as a whole, but with political leadership and the incentives that shape decision-making. Some leaders may face strong pressure from influential groups within their own communities, making it difficult to confront violence or hold perpetrators accountable.

Lasting peace in Gambella will depend on leaders who are prepared to act independently, protect all communities equally, and enforce the law without fear or favour, regardless of ethnic or political affiliation. A Nuer Leader suits situation well.

This article was written by Gambella Vision staff.