A developing country like Ethiopia inevitably has many challenges. But nothing poses the greatest risk like the breakdown of order and the rule of law. And not by the law. The monopoly on legitimate violence belongs to the state, but the moment this rule stops to apply, the country begins a steady decline into an abyss from where coming back out in one piece will be hard.
The past two years have seen internal displacements, losses of human lives and the destruction of property, paralleling the promise of democratic transition that has also been taking place on the side. On multiple occasions, regional governments have been unable to contain major threats within their administrative demarcations without the help of the federal army.
The result has been a general sense of anxiety by the public over the fate of the country. Ethiopia is on the knife’s-edge!
Income inequality, political partisanship and poverty are bad and may even be contributing factors to lack of law and order. But the breakdown of the rule of law, where the rights of citizens to move and make a living is curtailed, poses the ultimate existential threat to a state. Citizens, more than a better education system, better standard of living and democratic rights, crave security. A state that cannot provide this is historically doomed to civil war or failure.
PUBLISHED ON
Jan 05,2020 [ VOL
20 , NO
1028]
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