In a deeply troubling turn, the Ethiopian government has taken a dangerous route to suppress dissent—by dividing professional communities and criminalizing rightful demands. Health workers, the very backbone of Ethiopia’s public welfare system, are being systematically targeted for asking the most basic rights: fair pay, decent working conditions, and job security.
Rather than engaging in dialogue or resolving legitimate concerns, the government has resorted to a familiar but disgraceful tactic—divide and rule. Instead of uniting all sectors for reform, it is sowing division between health professionals and other lobby workers who are either silent out of fear or openly aligned with the ruling authorities. This manufactured division creates a false narrative: that health workers are “agitators” while others are “patriots.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
The result? Mass dismissals. Qualified, dedicated nurses, doctors, and technicians are being fired for simply exercising their constitutional right to organize and speak out. And to deepen the cruelty, the same government that fired them is now posting new job openings—for the very roles stripped from those who dared to speak up. This isn’t just injustice. It’s institutional betrayal.
Health workers are not enemies of the state. They are healers, frontliners, and lifesavers—many of whom risked their lives during pandemics and crises. Instead of receiving protection and recognition, they are being discarded like liabilities.
This kind of governance—where dissent is silenced, professionalism is punished, and loyalty is manufactured—is a threat to democracy, to healthcare, and to the country’s future. No nation can thrive by punishing its own people for asking to be treated with dignity.
Ethiopians must reject these tactics. The voices of our health workers are the voices of justice. It is not just their fight—it is a national call for fairness, freedom, and the right to be heard.
