With Nuer civilians continuing to face deadly violence in passenger buses, villages and towns across Gambella, the continued political backing of the current regional leadership by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has become a source of profound concern for many Gambellians.

The central question is no longer whether the federal government knows about the crisis. It plainly does. The question is why, despite repeated reports of violence and insecurity, the federal government continues to stand behind a regional leadership that many Nuer residents hold responsible for failing to protect them.

Alemitu’s continued leadership raises serious questions about the federal government’s commitment to civilian protection, accountability and the rule of law. When civilians are repeatedly killed and communities live under persistent fear, political loyalty cannot be allowed to take precedence over public safety.

The situation is not occurring in a vacuum. The United Kingdom’s current travel advice advises against all travel to Gambela, citing regular large-scale violence, intercommunal clashes and armed attacks. That warning is an international indication of how serious the security situation has become.

Yet the people of Gambella are expected to continue living with this reality.

The federal government cannot claim ignorance. It has access to security assessments, administrative reports and information from the region. If, as reported by local sources, civilians were killed and others wounded even around the time of the regional leadership changes, then the timing makes the government’s decision even more difficult to explain.

Gambella does not lack security personnel. The region has police and Special Force units capable of maintaining public order when properly directed, equipped and held accountable. The issue is therefore not simply whether Gambella has security forces. It is whether those forces are being used effectively and impartially to protect civilians and prevent attacks.

The most serious allegations concern claims that elements within regional political and security structures have failed to prevent attacks against Nuer civilians, while perpetrators of violence have allegedly escaped accountability. These allegations require independent investigation rather than political dismissal.

If armed groups are attacking civilians, the responsibility of government is straightforward: protect the population, investigate the perpetrators and prosecute those responsible, regardless of ethnicity or political affiliation.

A government cannot simultaneously demand public confidence while allowing communities to believe that murderers can operate with impunity.

The consequences extend beyond Gambella itself. Persistent insecurity damages trade, transportation, education, investment and the movement of people. It deepens ethnic mistrust and creates conditions in which every new attack risks producing another cycle of retaliation.

The federal government should therefore answer basic questions.

Why has civilian protection failed repeatedly?

Why have perpetrators not been consistently brought to justice?

What independent investigations have been conducted into attacks on passenger buses and other civilian targets?

What measures have been taken to protect vulnerable communities?

And what accountability mechanisms exist for regional officials whose institutions fail to protect civilians?

These are not unreasonable questions. They are the minimum questions that should be asked whenever citizens are repeatedly killed while government institutions remain responsible for their protection.

The Nuer community should not have to choose between surrendering its security and defending itself through violence. Nor should any other community in Gambella. The responsibility for preventing that outcome belongs first and foremost to government.

Political leaders have a duty to protect citizens before protecting political arrangements.

If the federal government believes that the current regional administration is capable of restoring security, it should demonstrate that through measurable action: civilian protection, transparent investigations, prosecution of perpetrators, impartial policing and restoration of freedom of movement.

If it cannot demonstrate those things, then continued political support for the same leadership will inevitably face serious questions from the communities living through the violence.

Gambella needs security, accountability and development—not political arrangements that leave civilians frightened and communities divided.

The people of Gambella deserve a government that treats every civilian life as equally valuable.

That is the standard by which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s handling of Gambella should ultimately be judged.