Addis Ababa, (AMECO)-Building public resilience against online misinformation, documenting history accurately, and treating democratic rebuilding as an enduring process are essential to overcoming Ethiopia’s political fractures, the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has said.
Reflecting on the nation’s trajectory in an interview with the Amhara Media Corporation (AMECO), Abiy outlined a framework for addressing the deep trust deficit left by the June 2019 assassinations of senior regional and federal leaders, framing national reform not as a passing phase, but as a sustained structural effort.
Dismantling fractured narratives
A central element of long-term stability, Abiy argued, involves countering political polarization through rigorous historical accuracy. Warning against a climate where both killers and victims are elevated as heroes—a phenomenon he termed a ‘dangerous delusion’—he emphasised that documenting events exactly as they occurred is vital to prevent future generations from paying the price of distorted history.
Building information resilience
To safeguard democratic progress, the prime minister highlighted the necessity of public media literacy adapted to a rapidly changing information ecosystem. As Ethiopia moves from traditional state broadcasting toward a digital landscape dominated by social media, rapid data distribution, and unverified commentators, Abiy urged citizens to engage in continuous self-education to navigate shifting narratives and resist opportunistic political pressures.
Systemic hurdles and institutional memory
Acknowledging the hurdles facing national reform, Abiy noted that the 22 June 2019 attacks—which claimed the lives of regional president Ambachew Mekonnen and army chief of staff General Seare Mekonnen—exposed critical flaws in intelligence assessments and political calculation. The resulting breakdown in trust reinforced a destructive legacy of attempting to seize power by force.
Addressing the tendency of political actors to buckle under temporary crises, Abiy stressed that structural progress relies on leaders and citizens remaining committed to grand national causes rather than short-term gains, concluding that truth and stability will ultimately emerge through concrete, sustained action.
