Securitization of Politics in Ethiopia: Scrutinizing Crisis in Western Oromia in Post-2018

Abstract

The article is aimed to scrutinize security crisis in Western part of Oromia, within the broader context of unearthed securization of politics in Ethiopia. The post-2018 political situation in Ethiopia is characterized by severe security crises in almost all parts of the country, and these security crises have regional and international dimensions. Politicians build security sectors to secure their political life when the normative political process has stalled. There are also ongoing security crises in the western part of Oromia Regional State, ranging from the displacement of Oromo from Benishangul Gumuz Regional State and border areas in Oromia to the ongoing massive massacres of Oromo in East and Horro Guduruu Wallagga by mercenaries from Amhara Regional State, to ongoing human rights violations such as arrests, extrajudicial killings, etc. Accordingly, this article intended to discuss the imperatives of securitized political issues in perpetuated security crisis in Western Oromia since 2018. The research was approached as qualitative research with a case study design to exhaustively discuss the security crisis in West Oromia as a particular case. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was collected through interviews, personal observations, and semi-structured conversations with peers, while secondary data was obtained through a content analysis of the literature. The research found that the failure of the 2018 political transition perpetuated a security crisis across the country. Western Oromia is marked as a sensitive political ecology, and political issues are highly securitized. Geographically speaking, West Oromia is viewed as an outlying area, yet it holds a central position within the national political landscape. Hence, within the examined region, political inquiries are approached through security measures, resulting in a complex security crisis with severe consequences for the local population. Therefore, desecuritizing the political agenda and giving a chance to normative politics or finding a “political solution to the political problem” is recommended as the only way forward in the country.