The Socialist Derg Regime and Violence Against Kumpal Ethnomedicine in Ethiopia (1970s–80s)

The relationship between African governments and ethnomedical practices is marked by policy dilemma and ideological conflicts. Through an ethnographic study spanning 2016–17 and employing "violence" as an analytical framework, this article shows how the socialist Derg regime in Ethiopia (1974–1991) devastated ethnomedicinal practice of ethnic Kumpal. The regime persecuted practitioners, accusing them of aiding insurgents with bulletproofing remedies, dismissing their beliefs as feudal remnants, and coercing the community to renounce traditions through oathing. The article presents an uncommon case study of brutal forms of violence by an African socialist regime targeting its own people over their ethnomedical practices.