Rethinking the ENDF’s structure and role

By Addissu Admas

There is not much disagreement as to the basic functions and roles of the military in a country in general. We can all agree without much debate that its mission is to defend and protect a nation’s sovereignty, maintain external security, and protect its interests. Other tasks that it may fulfill are becoming first responder to great natural disasters, providing internal security when the internal security apparatus is overwhelmed, and projecting power for putting on guard eventual enemies; all, I may add, ancillary to its primary functions. 

In Ethiopia, if we look retrospectively the period from the end of the Italian occupation to the present, the ENDF (the Ethiopian National Defense Force), through all its reincarnations, has been involved in roles that it was never designed to perform. In fact, it has done far more “other things” than fulfill its basic functions. Only on two occasions, as far as I am aware, was the ENDF engaged in the defense of the country after the Italian Ethiopian war. These were the Ogaden war of 1977-78, and the Badme war of 1998-2000. For the rest, it notoriously hijacked and run the People’s Revolution of 1974 and established de facto a military rule for the following 17 years, by mostly using its might to suppress all internal protests and rebellions. And of course the same can be asserted for the imperial period regarding the use of the ENDF in suppressing the countless protests and rebellions. 

In fairness, it is also dutiful to acknowledge that it has served valiantly under the UN and other international organizations in the Korean War (1950-53), in the Congo (1960-64), in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocidal civil war (1994-96) and in Somalia (2014-22). Unfortunately however, what we have come to expect to be the function of the military in Ethiopia is the suppression of all forms of internal rebellion and being effectively the sole instrument guaranteeing the unity of the country. Indeed, if we observe the current Ethiopian situation, we can only conclude that it is a country held together by military force. The military is currently waging war in Amhara and Oromia and is essentially in a constant “posture of war” in Tigray and the rest of Ethiopia. 

The Woyane regime was able, through its perfidious use of “divide and rule” politics in its governance of the country, to prevent concerted regional rebellions and was therefore able to maintain a much-reduced ENDF. It also relied heavily on its capillary network system of civilian surveillance, based on a Chinese model, often referred to as 1 to 5 system. The current regime, despite its promising beginnings, is almost completely relying on a much expanded and massively re-armed ENDF to hold the country together. This may provide the illusion that the unity of the country can be achieved by force only. What PM Abiy Ahmed and Field Marshal Berhanu Jula must realize is that what can keep Ethiopians of all ethnicities together as a nation is their general will as suggested in the Constitution. No amount of force will keep Ethiopia together in peace, if it is not the wish of the people. Indeed, the time to reassess and reconfirm our commitment to a united Ethiopia is now. 

We have assumed that with the adoption of the current constitution, Ethiopia would have transitioned to a completely rethought, redesigned and restructured ENDF. But, in effect, it has not changed that much, if at all. It is de facto still an imperial military used and abused by those holding autocratic power. It is in essence the tool for enforcing the administration’s policy, rather than being beholden to the Ethiopian people and their representatives in the House. In other words, it does not reflect at all the federal arrangement the country has chosen. In fact, the whole military system of Ethiopia has never had as nebulous a function as in the present. 

The Constitution states clearly the existence and function of the ENDF (Art. 87). It also affirms the existence and function of what it calls regional (Killil) state police, which has been variously referred to as militia or special forces (see Art. 53.2.g). Why speak of militia or special forces when the Constitution speaks only of state police? The lack of precision in this matter can and has had in fact deleterious consequences. 

Ethiopia being a federation of “Nations, Nationalities and Peoples”, the drafters of the Constitution should have dedicated more than a cursory line to this matter and should have clarified further what this State police is and what functions it has and what its relationship with the ENDF is.  In fact, since we are a federal country, the structure, function and relations of the ENDF to regional states should have been considered seriously in the Constitution. 

The State Police, as the term itself indicates, is established and designed for the protection and maintenance of law and order in the civilian population. Militias, on the other hand, are not stable and permanent organizations and are very seldom used for the restoration or maintenance of security in the regional or national states. They are customarily known to be “a people’s army”, either fighting along the regular army, or as in the case of confederal states, becoming themselves the fighting army itself. The term “special forces” is even more misleading since in modern times it refers to a corps of select and highly trained soldiers organized for specifically targeted operations. These are what we usually refer to as commandos. Both terms therefore cannot conceivably be applied to members of the State Police without creating unnecessary confusion. 

As a federal country, Ethiopia could legitimately have at the same time a State Police (as per the Constitution), a militia system and even special forces if she desires to. One does not exclude the other. All can have their own functions and space. Whereas the State Police and militia would be directly under the powers of the regions (Killil), the special forces would be better managed by the federal government. 

Anyone following Ethiopia’s current situation closely, must have asked oneself what the exact relationship is of the so-called State police, or militia as they are often and erroneously referred to, with the ENDF or the federal government in general. We know that Amhara militia or Fano have played a decisive role in containing and defeating the TPLF’s army. Once the Tigray war was over, they were ordered to integrate with the ENDF just because it suited the political agenda of the Prime Minister. The result is that we have now a very destabilized and embittered Amhara nation willing to fight to the end to assert its rights. If Ethiopia is indeed a federal country of self-governing regions, then it is high time that we not only establish a precise nomenclature for referring what kind of armed personnel each Killil has or should have, but also what kind of relationship it should have with the ENDF. 

Going forward, Ethiopia is best served by a confederal arrangement, as I have previously argued in this forum. The consequence of Ethiopia maintaining a vast standing federal defense force like many unitary states will tend to consume a great share of the country’s resources and will always be liable to becoming, wittingly or unwittingly, the tool of an autocratic ruler. What Ethiopia needs instead is, as in confederal states, to have the youthful segment of her population in every region to form a militia that is well-trained, retrained as needed, and on call until a certain age to serve only when truly national emergencies arise. This means determining by law for every able bodied and mentally sound Ethiopian to receive basic military training, at an agreed upon age, to be on call to serve the nation as needed, and to remain on call for a determined period, all with conditions to be determined by the House. This is what a militia is and how it functions. To be sure, I am not suggesting that a militia system superimpose itself on the state police, nor that it replace it. The two can and is in fact desirable that they co-exist. Neither will the militia system need to eliminate the ENDF as such. However, it will downsize it to a much greater degree. It will reduce it in effect to become the effective professional and permanent core of the ENDF, in charge of training, organizing and coordinating the militia. As the core professional military personnel, the ENDF will avail itself with the best military and non-military training in the country or abroad. Its own organization, articulation with regional forces, and hierarchy would be legislated by the House. 

I am more than aware that my proposal will appear at first blush to be counterintuitive and even fraught with danger. I maintain, however, as I will explain, that it is on the contrary the only alternative offering Ethiopia long-term stability and peace. 

Having a gargantuan ENDF has done more harm than good to Ethiopia. As I have stated earlier, it has been used consistently as a cudgel for suppressing all forms of rebellion, to maintain an autocratic rule and for pursuing an undemocratic agenda. Moreover, it has been a huge drain on our under-developed economy. Needless to say that the bigger it becomes the more the ENDF will be enmeshed in the politics of power and aggression. 

When citizens become soldiers, as is the case with confederal militia systems, wars are not easily initiated, and the professional military core is prevented by clear directives from engaging in the politics of power or aggression. If a militia system is instituted in Ethiopia, whatever power is at the helm cannot simply declare war or mobilize the militia to fulfill its own agenda, since it would require a serious debate in every regional parliament before citizens are called to arms. The cavalier way with which past and present administrations have made recourse to military force would be severely curtailed, if not eliminated.

Article 74.1 of the Constitution bestows upon the Prime Minister – as if being the Chief executive and Chairperson of Ministers were not enough – the power and title of Commander in chief of the ENDF. This is the perfect recipe to ensure that autocracy continues to live and thrive in Ethiopia. As we are witnessing today, even countries that have been presumed to have been consistently democratic throughout their history, like the U.S. and Israel, are dealing currently with Chief-Executives who are showing no scruples in using their commander in chief power to pursue the most heinous agenda. Ethiopia who has never experienced anything resembling their democracies, has committed the fatal error in allowing its prime minister to be also its supreme military commander. What better set-up for perpetuating autocracy in our country!

With a federal, or yet perhaps better a confederal arrangement, Ethiopia would be better served by a separate entirely independent commander in chief, or better by a council of senior military brass of the ENDF, answerable only to the Peoples’ House of Representatives.  Matters of the use of the militia should be in fact the purview of the House, and not the outcome of  “secret dealings” between the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff. 

What today transpires clearly is a Prime Minister that with the connivance of the Chief of Staff, with almost complete disregard of the House and the High Courts is basically pursuing his politics of force using the ENDF as his own private tool. Nevertheless, my point here is not whether the ENDF is being used according to democratic procedures or not, or even less whether the use the prime minister is making of it is justifiable or not. My point is, unless the ENDF is rethought and restructured as requires a federal or confederal system, we will never rid ourselves of autocracy and its consequent destabilizing effects. We Ethiopians were hoping and waiting that our federal arrangement as codified in our Constitution would have not only enshrined the principle of self-determination, but even more importantly would have eliminated the possibility of autocracy and promoted a democratic culture. What we have instead is a government reverting to old-fashioned autocracy that has not only effectively ended our hope for democracy but is leading to the disintegration of our ancient state through the misuse of the ENDF. Thus, rethinking and restructuring the ENDF is not a matter of choice but one of necessity and survival.

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com      

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