The official narrative on the motive and the exact nature of the assassinations of the president of the Amhara regional state and the country’s army chief of staff in an alleged local coup attempt has not convinced everyone. In order to clear the clouds of doubt and suspicion, the government must establish an independent, impartial commission.

Following the election of young Ethiopian Prime Minister in April 2018, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia has gone through reforms of a kind that my generation has never witnessed. Just a few years ago, journalists, religious leaders, members of opposition political parties and leaders of civil societies were arrested, charged and convicted using the country’s infamous anti-terrorism proclamation, whose very objectives were diverted by the ruling party to eliminate dissidents from the political discourse. Thousands and thousands of youth (especially the Oromos and Amharas) had been detained and tortured in public and secret prisons. Others were killed summarily on the street. The torture and inhuman treatment is now part of public knowledge for the most part. The national television and other media organizations broadcasted the video interviews of those who were inhumanly treated and mercilessly tortured by the security agents. Listening to those forms of torture and seeing their mental and physical scars shocked the Ethiopians. Few individuals or companies having familial and political connections with the ruling party completely dominated the country’s economy especially the import-export business. The country blacklisted more than 4000 of its citizens and tried outspoken members of exiled opposition parties in abstenia and bogusly convicted them for terrorism crimes.  

A significant number of Ethiopians-including me-believed that Ethiopia’s minority ruling party was unwilling and incapable to take the country out of the deep political crisis. To his credit, the new Prime Minister proved us all wrong. Immediately after his appointment by the parliament, he has embarked on bold and speedy reforms on all major sectors, the economy, military, intelligence and security, judiciary, electoral board, media and so on. The Prime Minister toured various parts of the country, preaching love, forgiveness, and togetherness in an attempt to counter the works of his predecessors who stoked division among the public. Under his Attorney General office, Abiy established the legal advisory committee comprising the country’s top-notch lawyers and professors of law to review draconian laws such anti-terrorism, civil societies, media and election board proclamations used by his predecessors to imprison dissidents and stay in power. Abiy took the initiative to end the “no-war, no-peace” situation between Ethiopia and its neighbouring Eritrea, after 20 years of hostility. The Prime Minister bolstered the peace initiative in South Sudan and in Sudan. Based on his political, economic and diplomatic reforms both inside his country and in the troubled region of East Africa, Ethiopians and Africans called the Noble Prize Committee to award him the prestigious award. The Prime Minister was able to receive the UNESCO Peace Prize Award and was selected as one of the 100 influential people of 2019 by Time Magazine.

A period of uncertainty and upheaval

The Prime Minister’s appointment and his speedy liberalization of the political space exposed Ethiopia’s multi-national and deep divisions, disputes, displacements, and even clashes between ethnic groups. Ethnic conflicts and clashes in Burayu, and Gedeo and other places spiraled into a humanitarian crisis. Nearly three million people were internally displaced which is the highest number of internally displaced of any country the world in 2018.  The Prime Minister has been accused of being severe with the Amhara and Tigrai ethnic groups and has been very flexible and compromising when it comes to the Oromos, where he is coming from. Despite vehemently denying the allegation, he has been accused of giving excessive advantage to Oromos in key government posts. The Prime Minister’s reluctance to the respect of the rule of law especially at the beginning of his reign dismayed many. He, for example, glossed over the concerns about the numerous vigilante groups causing political instability in the regions. To date, the Prime Minister has not had policy responses to his National Security Advisor’s assessment of Ethiopia’s existential threat being “ethnic-based politics.” The Prime Minister continues to vigorously defend the federal constitution which divides Ethiopia into ethnic-based regions.

The June 22, 2019 Assassinations

On June 22, 2019, something unprecedented happened in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the second populous and politically influential region. It was alleged that Brigadier General Asaminew Tsige, the region’s head of the peace and security bureau, and his loyal soldiers killed Dr. Ambachew Mekonnen, the region’s president, along with his advisor and the regional attorney general while in the capital city, Chief of Staff General Seare was killed by his own guard along with another retired general. Niggussu Tilahun, the spokesperson of the Prime Minister, labeled the incident a coup d’etat a couple of hours later without any further investigations. On June 24, 2019, security forces on the outskirts of Bahir Dar, the regional capital, killed Asamnew Tsige, the alleged perpetrator. Following these incidents, more than 250 people were arrested on the suspicion that they have in one way or another participated in the alleged coup d’etat.

What has been on the news following these incidents alarmed many Ethiopians. Government officials both at the regional and federal level kept changing the facts of the matter about the incident, a situation immensely aggravated by extravagant and bogus claims on the social media. Conspiracy theories and cries for justice follow. Opponents of the Prime Minister from his own political party might have contributed to the spread of misinformation and disinformation about the incident. The government’s attempt to block internet backfired on itself. Many remain suspicious about the government’s haste and efforts to put all the blame on the shoulder of one person- the frustrated regional security chief.

During funeral ceremonies both in Amhara and Tigray regions, open criticisms and condemnation against the federal government were heard. In a rally in Bahir Dar, some were even heard saying that “It was the Prime Minister who orchestrated the killings in an attempt to control the Amhara region and the Amhara ethnic group.”

To date, the single source of information about the incident is the government. While the government is using state media organizations to issue favorable press releases, reports are coming out of the Amhara region that local opposition-inspired journalists are either being harassed or prohibited from reporting from the ground. The absence of well-authenticated facts of the assassinations gave birth to conspiracy theories, confusions, suspicions, and baseless conclusions. If what has been reported stands now, the Prime Minister will lose the support of the majority of the Amhara people. There is a growing belief that the Prime Minister is using the incident to attack members of the National Movement of the Amhara (NaMA) political party, a widely supported opposition party established a year ago in the Amhara region.

Does the federal government use this opportunity to arrest and imprison its dissidents?

To maintain the support of the Amhara people, to make the record clean and straight and even to clear up the taints around his name, Abiy must establish an independent and impartial commission whose very objective is to go to the bottom of the facts to let the public know what exactly happened on June 22, 2019. True, the findings of the independent commission may not be unanimously accepted. But, facts are facts and facts change the position of responsible citizens. One way of making the commission impartial will be to recruit religious leaders, elders, influential persons, dignitaries, trial lawyers and other respected individuals of the country as members of the commission. The commission, among other things, may be given the mandate to work on the following issues: Who did what on June 22, 2019? Was it a coup d’etat or was it a dispute between regional leaders? Was it an isolated incident or was there a coordinated attack on the federal system? Did opposition political parties in one way or another participate in the assassinations? If so, in what ways? What exactly caused the incident? What security breaches were there to embolden the perpetrators to attack the highest leaders of the region and military chiefs? Was there any role played by both the regional and federal government leading to the problem? Following the incident, did the federal government use proportional measures to maintain peace and security in the country? Does the federal government use this opportunity to arrest and imprison its dissidents? In other words, is Ethiopia “back to square one” of using its military to suppress dissent? What do Ethiopia and the international community learn from this to move forward with the reforms initiated by the Prime Minister?

I am one of those Ethiopians who still feel that we should do everything we can to help Prime Minister Abiy succeed both in Ethiopia and globally. Recommending the establishment of an independent commission to investigate this issue is part of that strong desire to help him maintain the support of the second populous region in the country.

Main Image: Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen during the funeral ceremony in Amhara’s regional capital of Bahir Dar. BAZ RATNER / REUTERS

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