• Government need to demonstrate that it doesn’t tolerate wrong doing  

The response Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gives to the question why his administration has failed to ensure a rule of law is most perplexing and also riddled with a fundamental problem of assumption. To the question he is repeatedly asked on why the government is not doing something about it, his response is “let us have some patience. This isn’t about being powerless.” He retorts by saying how can a government which has arms at its disposal be urged to resort to the use of force. In the “Addis wog” discussion held recently, as he has done several times, he forcefully reinstated his stance saying, “it is from the government that patience is most of expected.”

Honorable Prime Minister, what has patience to do with ensuring the rule of law? Where is the limit of your patience? At which point of impunity will your patience will begin to wear thin and you embark on the course of practicing the rule of law?

The complacency and tardiness manifested by this government to enforce the rule of law and the consequent death, displacement, and vandalism, the upsurge in illicit firearms circulation it has supposedly encouraged has been pointed out by the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) a few weeks ago. HPR has expressed in a strong term the executive branch of the government take the blame for failing to ensure the rule of law and order.

In my opinion, there are two reasons for such a wrong-headed outlook from a person of your statue,

• Your understanding of the rule of law is mistaken. Enforcing the rule of law doesn’t mean being an autocrat or using repressive tactics. It is rather about not using more force than the law allows. If there are conditions that force authorities to use force than the law currently permits, while acting with consideration of the rules, that question could be raised. But, inaction could lead to a state of anarchy to reign. If you are patiently waiting for all denizens to abide by the rule by their will, that time is unlikely to come. As a matter of fact, this would create an atmosphere that would encourage and embolden potential lawbreakers. When your patience runs out, it would be difficult to control. Doing nothing when banks are looted, civilians are executed and targeted because of their identity, this in no way can be described as patience. If patience is required, it is for those who demand their rights through peaceful and legal means or not for those thugs who rob banks and businesses.
• Secondly, such thinking could come from your propensity, albeit minimal, for authoritarian tendencies that have manifested itself from time to time. In your “patience” discourse there is something concealed which is its opposite, repression, and oppression. You have pointed out such likelihoods on many occasions and in a variety of settings. You told us that the government is capable of ensuring security, even special forces are being trained by foreign experts. If you mean to practice long–suffering until your muscle strengthens, that is not a good thing either. When strong leadership and anarchy combine, the result is well too obvious. That path, we have seen it all to the point of repulsion.

At the forum, after having expressed the government’s capability to take strong measures when it decides, in what seems some sort of mockery, Abiy told audiences about the need to participate in an unrelated clean-up campaign. This is either is to downplay the scale of the problem, saying it would not be out of control or to divert the attention from the real matter in discussion.

A call for respect for the rule of law does not mean the call for authoritarian rule

Here it must be stressed that a call for respect for the rule of law does not mean the call for authoritarian rule or heavy-handed suppression. It only means those who break the law should be punished in a legal, timely manner, and the administration should devise conflict prevention and solving mechanism using its large institution. The government should not tinker around the edges to ensure the rule of law.

Photos: https://twitter.com/PMEthiopia

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