Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in sunglasses and a tan uniform, runs at the front of a large group of officials in matching tan uniforms on a paved training ground.

Abiy Ahmed Says His Ministers and Senior Officials Are Taking Military Training at Hurso

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in sunglasses and a tan uniform, runs at the front of a large group of officials in matching tan uniforms on a paved training ground.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed runs with senior government officials at the Hurso military training center in a photo he posted on X on Saturday. Photo: Abiy Ahmed Ali (@AbiyAhmedAli) via X

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Saturday that the leaders of what he calls the Medemer government, among them cabinet ministers and state ministers, are taking military training at the Hurso military training center, and he shared photos of himself running and sitting with them in trainee uniforms.

“The leaders of the Medemer government are taking training at the Hurso military training center,” Abiy Ahmed wrote in Amharic in a post on X and on Facebook under the heading “For all round prosperity, leadership with all round readiness.” He wrote that “military science, experience and life have no rival in shaping a person’s purpose and character,” and that the training would play “a role that cannot be underestimated” in understanding and carrying out the ideas of what he calls the grand strategy of Medemer civilization, among them “building a steadfast country that does not bow to anything or anyone” and “ensuring the country’s security at all times.” He ended the post with these lines: “Soldiers have a target, and civilians have a purpose. The goal of both is to achieve victory. By bringing the two disciplines together, we will create a generation that both hits the target and achieves the purpose.”

BBC Amharic reported that the photos show ministers and state ministers appointed to the government formed in September, as well as heads of other offices, wearing the uniforms of trainee soldiers, and that among them are House of Federation Speaker Muferiat Kamil, Finance Minister Fitsum Assefa and Health Minister Mekdes Daba. The BBC said it had not been announced when the training began or how long it would last. Fana Media Corporation reported that Abiy joined the officials in the exercises at Hurso on Saturday, and Addis Standard also carried his statement.

The training comes as the war with TPLF forces in the north has resumed and the army, with its Tigrayan allies, holds most of Tigray and is pushing toward the Eritrean border, raising fears of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have cut diplomatic ties, BBC Amharic noted. Abiy said this week, during a visit to Russia, that Ethiopia had taken delivery of Su-35 fighter jets, as Zegabi reported, and the authorities in Addis Ababa are also fighting Fano forces in Amhara, where a drone strike on a camp for displaced people killed 18 people on Thursday, residents and a hospital source told the BBC, as Zegabi reported. On Friday, listeners who write regularly to DW Amharic’s youth program from several parts of the country told it that young men were being suddenly and forcibly picked up off the streets and recruited into the military, DW reported.

On X, Tesfanews (@tesfanews), which describes itself as a source of Horn of Africa political news, views and commentaries, wrote that “the new one time mandatory military training” for ruling party officials, members of the Council of Ministers and other officials “is reportedly continuing” at Hurso. Abrar Suleiman (@AbrarSuleiman), who posts in Amharic to about 400,000 followers, asked: “How did you see the Prosperity [Party] officials entering the Hurso training center for military training? Is it ‘good, let them have a taste of it,’ or does it smell of Sawa Sawa?” referring to Sawa, Eritrea’s national military training camp. The account ናተይ (@Fenkl17), whose bio describes a Tigrinya speaker, wrote in English that “looks like sawa has opened a branch in Ethiopia.” Milkessa Gemechu (@milkessam), whose bio says he is a college assistant professor, wrote in Amharic that “in that country, everything is heading to the war front” and added in Afaan Oromo that “everyone has become a militia.” MasMan (@masbekele), who describes himself as an IT consultant, wrote in Amharic that he did not believe taking Abiy Ahmed’s new cabinet to a military training center “is a mistake in itself,” but that “civilian leadership is different from military leadership” and that “a good leader is measured not by how he performs on parade but by the results he brings to the people.” Replying to the prime minister, the account @aschalk_f (post) wrote in Amharic that training like this is “like a ‘mental gym’ for leaders” that strengthens “not only the body but morale, discipline and ‘the system from top to bottom.’”

Sources