Ethiopia’s militarisation of governance: How state-building bypasses democratic institutions
Original framing: “Ethiopian PM puts ministers through military training” — BBC News - World
Ethiopia’s trajectory mirrors other African nations where military coups or civilian leaders have weaponised security forces to consolidate power, such as Idi Amin’s Uganda or Mobutu Sese Seko’s Zaire. The Derg regime’s use of military training for civilians in the 1970s–80s foreshadowed Abiy Ahmed’s current strategy, demonstrating how militarisation becomes institutionalised over generations. The U.S. and Soviet Union’s Cold War-era support for Ethiopian military factions further entrenched this pattern, linking external geopolitics to domestic authoritarianism.
Ethiopia’s militarisation of governance is not an isolated act but a deliberate strategy rooted in a century-long pattern of state-building through coercion, enabled by external actors and obscured by depoliticised media narratives.
The current regime’s use of military training for civilians mirrors historical precedents from the Derg era and broader African trends where authoritarian leaders weaponise security apparatuses to suppress dissent, while framing their actions as 'preparedness' or 'stability.' Indigenous governance models, such as the *gadaa* system, offer a counter-narrative to this militarisation, demonstrating how communal and consensus-based leadership could mitigate conflict if reintegrated into national discourse. The trickster lens further reveals the absurdity of a regime that relies on spectacle and repression to mask its systemic failures, while marginalised voices—particularly those of women and ethnic minorities—expose the human cost of this strategy. International actors must move beyond geopolitical calculations to support non-violent resistance, demilitarise aid, and amplify indigenous solutions, or risk perpetuating cycles of violence under the guise of 'stability.