Scholar Stresses Need for Holistic Approach in Reforming Security Sector

Addis Ababa December 27/2019 The security sector reform in Ethiopia needs “holistic approach”, Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) Director said.

Speaking at a seminar organized by the Institute for Strategic Affairs today, Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) Director of Addis Ababa University, Yonas Adaye, said the security reform needs “holistic approach.”

Though the security institutions have played important role in ensuring the security and stability of citizens and protecting from any threat, the director stated reform should be undertaken in the sector based on various principles, including citizens centeredness, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency, legitimacy and transparency.

The complexity of problems, resistance to change and insecurity, among others, are the challenges to security sector reform, he added.     

National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Tesfahun Gobezay said that the government has been undertaking various measures to reform the security sector.

The reform is needed due to human rights violations, instability and lack of skill in the sector, among others, he noted.

The half-day seminar was held under the theme “The Security Sector in Political Transition” to examine the success, gaps and challenges in light of the broader effort to democratize the state, liberalize the political space and the management of the upcoming election, it was learned.  

Efforts to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, legitimacy and democratic accountability of the security sector have been the major elements of the ongoing political reform in Ethiopia, the organizer stated.

The military, the intelligence and the police are witnessing radical changes altering their leadership, culture, ethos, composition and organizational principle.

However, the period also saw an increase in violence and breakdown of law and order resulting in death, destruction and displacement raising questions on the capacity of the security institutions.

It is to be recalled that the unchecked role of the military in the country's economy, the politicization of the intelligence apparatus and the militarization of region security institutions  characterized the Ethiopia security sector for years.

The current administration has, nonetheless, undertaken numerous measures to improve the subordination of the armed forces to civilian checks and balance and legislative oversight.