Republican Guard (Ethiopia)

The Ethiopian Republican Guard is a specialist armed unit, tasked with the protection of top public officials of Ethiopia and of their families.[1]

Republican Guard
የሪፓብሊካን ጠባቂ
Active23 December 2018 - present
Country Ethiopia
RoleProtective security unit
Part of Ethiopian National Defense Force
Commanders
Current
commander		Brigadier General Birhanu Bekele

History

Ethiopia had an Imperial Guard during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, but the Derg disestablished it in 1974. Since 1991, Ethiopian leaders and officials have been protected by security details assigned by the Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).[2] The security arrangement did not, however, form a force specifically dedicated to this task.[3]

The Republican Guard was established in summer 2018, following the explosion of a hand grenade in the middle of a crowd attending a speech in Addis Ababa of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on 23 June 2018.[1] Alongside the June 2018 attack, the Office of Prime Minister linked the establishment of the Republican Guard to other disturbances occurred in Ethiopia.[4]

Criticism

The establishment of the Republican Guard met significant criticism from Tigrai sources, the latter ones comparing the Republican Guard to preparations for a dictatorship[5] or to other "praetorian" units, such as the Nazi SS, Duvalier’s Tonton Macoute of Haiti and the Iraqi Republican Guard under Saddam Hussein.[6]

According to René Lefort and Kjetil Tronvoll for the pro-democracy political website openDemocracy, there is the danger that the Republican Guard may grow in parallel to the regular armed forces.[7]

Organisation

The Republican Guard is described either as an army unit,[8] either as being outside the Ethiopian National Defense Force, but answerable only to the Prime Minister.[6]

As of December 2018, the chief of the Republican Guard is Brigadier general Birhanu Bekele.[9] According Michael Schmidt, the Guard is mostly staffed by soldiers of Oromo ethnic origin.[10]

Mission

The Republican Guard is tasked with defending the Ethiopia’s constitution and constitutional order, specifically by protecting the highest level of the Ethiopian leadership from threats and attempted attacks.[1] In its specific objective, the Republican Guard is mandated to use any means necessary.

See also

References
  1. Mumbere, Daniel (23 December 2018). "Photos: 'Republican Guard' demonstrates readiness to protect Ethiopia PM". Africanews. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. "Ethiopia Forms Elite Force to Protect Leaders". Ezega News. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. "L'Ethiopie se dote d'une garde républicaine". Africanews (in French). 23 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  4. "Ethiopia's Republican Guard demonstrate readiness to defend leaders". Borkena. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  5. "Full-fledged military dictatorship is around the corner in Ethiopia". Tigrai Online. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  6. Hagos, Tecola W (1 January 2019). "Ethiopia: Bizarro government? Bizarro politicians? Bizarro nation?". Tigrai Online. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. Tronvoll, Kjetil; Lefort, René (27 February 2019). "Ethiopian elite lost in electoral maze under Abiy's gaze". openDemocracy. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  8. "Ethiopia establishes Republican Guard, a new army unit to protect the country's leadership". Horn Observer. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  9. Hana, Belay (24 December 2018). "Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visits the newly formed Republican Guard". Mereja.com. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  10. Schmidt, Michael (9 May 2019). "Ethiopia's democracy dilemma". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
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