There is something intolerable about a political argument that becomes sophisticated only when it is explaining why ordinary people must wait for food. Our view of Abiy Ahmed’s wartime leadership is severe: a government that demands legitimacy must be judged by whether people can live under its decisions. Hunger cannot be reduced to a public-relations problem, and humanitarian access cannot be treated as a favour.
The warning was already in the record
A World Food Programme assessment published in March 2022 classified 83 percent of the population surveyed in Tigray as food insecure, including 37 percent as severely food insecure. These figures describe the assessment’s surveyed population in Tigray; they are not national estimates for every Ethiopian household. World Food Programme [1] ↗
Statistics can numb a reader when they should interrupt everything. Behind a percentage is the question of whether a parent can feed a child today. We believe a government confronted with suffering on that scale should be judged by the urgency of its response, its willingness to remove obstacles, and its openness to scrutiny. No leader should be permitted to turn those tests into a referendum on patriotism.
An allegation that demanded an answer
In September 2022, the UN’s International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia reported reasonable grounds to believe the federal government was using starvation as a method of warfare. Ethiopia rejected the commission’s report as biased and its allegations as unsubstantiated, saying it was implementing recommendations from an earlier joint investigation. These are attributed findings and a government response, not a criminal conviction. United Nations Geneva [2] ↗
The gravity of that allegation calls for independent examination of decisions, restrictions and their consequences. A denial is part of the record; it does not settle the matter. We want scrutiny that can reach officials and commanders, protect witnesses and make its reasoning public. Abiy’s government should be challenged on evidence. It should also be prevented from treating the demand for evidence as an act of disloyalty.
Accuracy makes the criticism stronger
WFP’s June 2022 update identified conflict, drought and rising food prices as overlapping drivers of hunger across Ethiopia, alongside a funding crisis for its response. It also reported food assistance reaching more than 800,000 people in Tigray and emergency rations delivered to 1.3 million people in Afar and Amhara. It would therefore be inaccurate to say no aid reached people, or that every instance of hunger nationwide had one cause. World Food Programme [3] ↗
Those distinctions do not soften our anger. They direct it. Relief workers and communities deserve recognition for assistance that reached families. Their work cannot automatically vindicate every government decision. The useful questions are concrete: what prevented additional assistance, who controlled those obstacles, and what could have been changed sooner? Answers should be tested against records and testimony, not against the speaker’s political affiliation.
Survival must come before leverage
Our demand is unconditional civilian access to food, medicine and essential services, accompanied by independent monitoring. Armed actors should not obstruct relief, divert it or use civilians’ needs to strengthen their negotiating position. That standard applies to the government and to its opponents. It is precisely because the standard is universal that we reject attempts to exempt those holding state power.
A hungry child does not owe a government a political concession. Remembering 2022 means refusing to let arguments about sovereignty, strategy or a leader’s prestige make that truth disappear. We want an Ethiopia where the public can demand answers about deprivation without having to prove allegiance first. Abiy’s wartime record must be measured against that basic obligation, however uncomfortable the result is for his supporters.
Sources & further reading
- [1]Tigray Emergency Food Security Assessment ↗
World Food Programme · Mar 21, 2022
- [2]Human Rights Council: Ethiopia commission findings and government response ↗
United Nations Geneva · Sep 22, 2022
- [3]Conflict, climate and soaring food prices push Ethiopia further into hunger ↗
World Food Programme · Jun 23, 2022
Daniel Asfaw and Yohannes Asfaw
We are Daniel Asfaw and Yohannes Asfaw, two brothers who have witnessed destruction and the danger it poses to the next generation. We cannot sit and watch while more futures are put at risk.
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