With Nuer civilians continuing to be killed in passenger buses, villages and towns across Gambella, the continued political support for the current regional leadership by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has become a nightmare for many Gambellians.
The Prime Minister’s decision to reappoint the current regional leadership raises a fundamental question: what price are Nuer civilians expected to pay before the federal government decides that enough is enough?
Alemitu’s return to power raises serious questions about the federal government’s willingness to protect civilians, restore law and order, and hold those responsible for violence accountable.
For many Nuer in Gambella, the message from Addis Ababa is deeply troubling. At a time when communities are demanding security and accountability, the federal government has chosen continuity rather than a fundamental change in leadership.
The situation is made even more disturbing that organised armed networks associated with Anyuak actors are responsible for repeated attacks against Nuer civilians, and that elements within the regional political establishment have failed to stop them.
These allegations require serious investigation, accountability and independent scrutiny not political protection such as what the Prime Minister is doing.
Prime Minister, Abiy cannot claim ignorance of what is happening in Gambella. The federal government receives security briefings from the region every day.
If reports of continuing killings are reaching Addis Ababa, then the question is no longer whether the Prime Minister knows about the crisis. The question is what he intends to do about it.
Reports of further violence around the time of the appointment only deepen the concern among Gambellians. If civilians are being killed and wounded while political appointments are being made, then the federal government must explain why the protection of civilians has not been placed above political calculations.
The consequences extend beyond Gambella. Continued violence damages Ethiopia’s reputation, undermines confidence in government institutions and threatens the social and economic life of the region.
The Nuer Zone is increasingly described by residents as isolated and cut off from essential supplies and movement.
Whether one agrees with that description or not, the underlying reality is difficult to ignore: a population cannot be expected to live indefinitely under insecurity, restricted movement and fear.
Nuer Child Injured Yesterday
The international community is also taking notice. The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office currently advises against all travel to Gambela region, citing recurring large-scale violence, intercommunal clashes and armed attacks.
That warning should be an embarrassment to every level of government responsible for security in Gambella and the Federal Government which allows the killers to thrive.
Gambella does not lack security personnel. The region has police and Special Force officers from both the Nuer and Anyuak communities.
The question is whether those forces are being properly deployed, properly commanded and given the political backing necessary to protect civilians without discrimination.
A regional government that genuinely wants peace should be using every legitimate law-enforcement institution available to prevent attacks, protect passengers on roads and villages, arrest suspects based on evidence, and bring perpetrators before the courts.
Instead, the continuing insecurity has created a perception among many Nuer that the regional government is either unwilling or unable to protect them.
That perception cannot simply be dismissed.
There are also serious political allegations surrounding the ideology and objectives of different political actors in Gambella, including claims that some elements seek to marginalise or drive Nuer communities from parts of the region.
Those allegations must be investigated rather than ignored. If there is evidence of an organised campaign of ethnic displacement, the perpetrators and those facilitating it should face the law.
Alemitu’s style of governing has become a subject of growing criticism among those who believe the regional government has failed to restore law and order. The presence of murderers or armed attackers who remain at large would represent a catastrophic failure of the justice system.
And yet the federal government continues to stand behind the regional leadership.
Why?
That is the question Prime Minister Abiy owes Gambellians an answer to.
The federal government has repeatedly demonstrated that it possesses the authority to intervene when regional administrations fail. Removing a regional administration or changing its leadership is not beyond the reach of Addis Ababa when the political will exists.
So why does that political will appear absent in Gambella?
The Prime Minister must also confront the development record of the regional administration.
Where is the transformation Gambella was promised?
Where are the major roads?
Where are the significant public infrastructure projects?
Where is the economic development that should accompany the region’s enormous natural and strategic potential?
Years of political leadership have produced widespread frustration over development, governance and corruption. When those failures are combined with continuing insecurity, the federal government cannot reasonably ask Gambellians simply to accept the status quo.
The situation is becoming a dangerous political calculation.
If one community believes the government is protecting those responsible for attacks against it, while another believes the state is taking sides against it, then trust in government collapses.
Once trust disappears, communities begin looking for their own means of protection.
That is the road to escalation.
The Prime Minister should understand this better than anyone.
Choosing political loyalty over civilian protection is not a strategy for peace. It is a recipe for deeper resentment, retaliation and communal conflict.
Gambella does not need more bloodshed.
It does not need another cycle in which one killing produces another killing, one attack produces another attack, and one community responds to violence with violence of its own.
It needs impartial law enforcement.
It needs accountability.
It needs political leadership that protects every Gambellian, regardless of ethnicity.
And it needs a federal government prepared to put civilian lives ahead of political convenience.
Bus Attacked by the Anyuak terrorist.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has the authority to demand accountability from Gambella’s leadership. He has the authority to insist that security forces protect civilians. He has the authority to demand investigations into killings and attacks. He has the authority to replace officials who fail to maintain law and order.
What he chooses to do with that authority will define his responsibility for what happens next.
For Gambellians watching from the ground, the question is becoming painfully simple:
If the federal government knows what is happening, and has the power to intervene, why has it chosen not to act decisively?
That is not a question Gambellians should have to keep asking while civilians continue to die.
This article was prepared by Pam Chuol Joack, a Gambella Vision Contributor and Analyst in Gambella Affairs.
