Center for Federalism Studies

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Contested Secularism in Ethiopia: the Contention between Muslims and the Government
(Addis Ababa University, 2016-06) Mohammed Dejen; Assefa Fiseha
This study examines the nature, causes and dynamics of the conflict between the Muslim community and the Ethiopian government, particularly since 2011 over issues related to secularism and freedom of religion. By analyzing the historical trajectories of statereligion relations and the contemporary developments, the study seeks to answer why the relationship between Muslims and the government has soured – despite an auspicious beginning – leading to securitization of Islam in general and Islamic reform movements in particular. This is evident in the firm governmental control over Islamic institutions and the repression of the Muslim protest movement. Muslim grievances and complaints – channeled through their representative, social media and their weekly protests – were articulated in historical and social terms but sought remedy for religious parity within the constitutional framework of secularism and freedom of religion. Using the various complaint letters of the Muslims’ Solution Finding Committee, official speeches, government policy documents and the data obtained from the field through qualitative methods of data collection techniques, the study scrutinizes the concerns and fears of the Muslims and appraises the government’s claim of religious extremism in general and Islamic fundamentalism in particular as a national security threat. At the heart of the contestation lies the defense of secularism on both sides; each accusing the other for ‘violating the secular constitutional order’. From many of the empirical researches conducted so far, the data collected and analyzed in this study and information obtained from the narrations and deeds of the Committee members, the accusation of Muslims (what it calls Salafis/Wahhabis) by the government ‘conspiring for establishing an Islamic government and harboring religious extremism’ is found to be an overstretch and government responses to the demands of Muslims are too simplistic and inaccurate. Many of the government policies and actions towards Muslims are marked by antithetic between ‘bad and good, tolerant and intolerant, moderate and extremist’ that resonates with the western governments’ dichotomy between what Mamdani (2002) calls “good and bad Muslims”. By doing so, the option for promoting the practice of Sufism (supposed to be tolerant, apolitical and hence good) and encouraging Sufi-oriented Muslims to occupy important leadership positions in the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (Mejilis) have been ‘on the table’ for countering religious extremism and political Islam in the Ethiopian government policy circles. This has resulted in the deep involvement, if not intervention, of government in religious matters, which the principles of secularism and freedom of religion did not warrant. The strategy of encouraging apolitical and tolerant religious groups for developing mutual tolerance and peaceful coexistence between religious communities by itself might not be a bad idea but it has to be done by the government without taking religious side. Secularism should also be interpreted as ‘a constitutional principle’ that requires states to treat all religions equally and their official policies being free from the dictation of religious dictums instead of interpreting it as ‘a way of life’ to be adopted by individuals to secularize students through the prohibition of religious practices in educational institutions.
Decentralisation for Nation -Building and Managing Ethnic Diversity in South Sudan
(AAU, 2023-06) David Ruach; Assefa Fiseha
The definition of what holds a nation together varies not only from country to country but also over time within a nation. Bringing people from diverse cultures, languages, and traditions together is a founding principle in many multiethnic societies. Throughout history, leaders have introduced policies such as federalism, devolution or decentralization to foster common values that would help various ethnic communities in a polity identify with the state. Hence, one of the objectives of governance in a multiethnic society is to manage diversity and resolve conflicts through the building of inclusive state institutions that can equally serve different ethnic communities without exclusion. This thesis argues that with inclusive and participatory state institutions in place, citizens remain connected to the state as inclusive political institutions enhance the sense of belonging to the system. The objective of this study, therefore, is to investigate why the decentralised system of governance as adopted in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan failed to address the question of nation-building and manage ethnic diversity. Building inclusive state institutions with which South Sudan's various ethnic communities can identify with, is seen as central to the argument in the study. The study considered the design, structures, and institutions of the Constitution in the context of state-building, peace-building, and nation-building in post-conflict South Sudan. The central question in this study is: Why decentralised system of governance has failed to address the challenges of nation-building in South Sudan? The study is informed by righ literature in comparative federalism particularly in divided societies that argues for inclusive political institutions and public policy to build sense of belonging in society as a means to manage divisions and ensure relative peace. This is the main tenet of federalism in the post Cold-War era although its validy remains contested. To search for an answer to this question, we employed secondary and primary data sources. The secondary and primary sources include the transitional constitution and its institutions, as well as a few selected state constitutions. The study employed in constructivism research approach and used interepretivism methodology in analysis of data. The author has reviewed and analysed different peace agreements signed between different political parties in the political history of Sudan and later in South Sudan after independence. These peace accords include Addis Ababa Peace Agreement of 1972; the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005; the Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan in 2015; and the Revitalized Peace Agreement of 2001. The author has also reviewed and analyzed other national documents relevant to the study such as the Local Government Act of 2009 and South Sudanese parties Act 2012. For the collection of primary data, I conducted unstructured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with the selected key research informants. Major findings of the study reveal that although the decentralised system of governance was adopted in 2005 and promises to transfer power to the states and local government, it has failed to bring about inclusive political system and autonomy (self-rule and shared rule) to states in South Sudan. Despite promises for devolution and several power sharing schemes, South Sudan remains in the hands of a Dinka dominated political elite and a President who prefers to rule by decree. The making and ummaking of state boundaries, appointment and dismisal of state governors and legislatibe bodies are clear indicators. The series of power sharing schemes meant to bring different political actors at national and sub state level have never been taken seriously. All added, the regime resorts to personal rule and lacks political will to implement devolution and inclusive political system in South Sudan. The fragmentation within the ruling elite is also affecting state and nation building efforts. The regime has has failed to create inclusive state institutions that could deliver critical services to the people of South Sudan. The political leadership of the ruling SPLM party has failed in building capable and effective state institutions. It has also failed to bring lasting peace to the new nation. It also failed to manage ethnic diversity in the new nation. The findings have also attributed the problem to constitutional and institutional design, structure, implementation, and the institutions created by the system. A decentralised system of governance in its design from the very onset was a top-down approach where the political process was controlled by the SPLM without the involvement of other stakeholders. Decentralised system of governance has also failed to resolve deep-rooted and protracted conflicts. That is to say, after more than a half-century of the struggle for justice, equality, and prosperity from successive Khartoum-based regimes, South Sudan’s political elite, mostly from one ethnic community that governs the country, failed to build democratic and inclusive state institutions that could create a common identity and a shared national interest amongst different ethnic communities. The indication is that barely two years after independence was celebrated in 2011, simmering hostilities and a leadership struggle for political power erupted between the political elite of the governing SPLM-political party, who also hailed from two major ethnic groups. The elites from the two communities (Nuer and the Dinka) once again turned the country into a battlefield. With the conflict persisting, the powerful political elite at the center thus captures the state, its institutions, and resources. As a result, it is recommended that South Sudan's plurality as a multiethnic society places a serious demand on its current leaders to find amicable paths to effective and successful nation-building. The establishment of representative, inclusive, and democratic state institutions at all levels of government is a hallmark for establishing a political community with shared values. Multinational federalism, with significant devolution of powers and resources to subnational levels of government allows citizens to develop a common identity and shared values while living peacefully together as they share a common destiny. Despite the constitutional promise for devolution of power and resources to states, the national government has centralized power and resources manifsted amongt others by presidential decress that by pass state institutions, central appointment of state governors, the making and unmaking of states boundaries defeating the purpose of devolution. Thus, the thesis concludes that South Sudan is a deconcentrated unitary state that has made power and resources concentrated in the hand of a few elites in the centre. Citizens need to be are connected to the government through relationships of authority, support, participation, and inclusion, an inclusive poltical community can emerge and nation-building could be a successful endeavour. Inclusivity and participation of citizens in the governance process, including decision-making, could only be achieved through the adoption of an effective mutlinationl federal system in which political leaders are willing to devolve power and resources to subtional levels of government.
Federalism and Urban Governance: An Explorative Study of Intergovernmental Relations in Cities of Adama and Assosa, Ethiopia
(Addis Ababa University, 2017-05) Ketema Wakjira; Assefa Fiseha
FedeIn the contexts of federal/multilevel arrangements and the urbanization processes, the effectiveness of urban governance involves intergovernmental coordination and cooperation. This thesis aims to explore the institutions and practices of IGR in urban governance under the federal system of Ethiopia. Through a comparative analysis of the case cities of Adama and Assosa, it analyses how the contextual factors in which the cities are embedded determine the design of urban institutions, local capacity and their relationship with the regional and neighboring local governments. The thesis also examines how the processes and practices of IGR operate in urban service provisions in the two cities under consideration. The study has used Intergovernmental Relation (IGR) framework as an institutional and practical exploration of urban governance issues in a federal setting. A multilevel research approach and a case study design are employed to analyze the municipal governance architecture, city’s vertical and lateral relationships, and IGR in urban service deliveries. The study has found out that the problem of urban governance is due to a mismatch between the local institutional capacities and functional responsibilities, and the existing institutions and practices of IGR did not empower the cities to bring effective urban service deliveries. The regional states have put the principles including the local autonomy, city’s accountability to the region and the need for cooperation, mutual respect, support and partnership as the basis for relations between the cities and regional states. The analysis, however, shows that the role of IGRs in urban service delivery is hampered due to competing urban visions, unsettled design of urban institutions, blurred regulatory powers over urban space and use of IGR instruments for political expediencies. This study, therefore, contends that the settled institutional status of cities, adequate local capacity, and strong and empowering institutions of IGRs could help for resolving the challenges of urban governance in Ethiopia.ralism, Intergovernmental Relations, Urban Governance, Ethiopian Urban Management
The Impact of Asymmetrical Representation of Federated Units in the Ethiopian Federation on Decision Making Process: Case Study of House of Federation
(Addis Ababa University, 2014-05) Seid Ali; Assefa Fiseha
Fair and proper representation of federated units especially the minorities in the central institution is the tradition of federations. The second chamber is one institution which federated units are represented and participated in decision making process at the center. Most federations give equal representation to all member states in the second house irrespective of population number to protect the minorities from the domination of larger units. While others use population number as a major criterion, still some others, though they use population number as a criteria they gives weighty advantage to less populous regions to protect their interests. Unlike others, in Ethiopian federation the second chamber is composed of nation, nationality and peoples. The states are indirectly represented by the nation, nationalities and peoples they hosts. This system creates a wide gap in winning of seats among member states as the number of population and diversity of the region is considerably differ from each other. as a result, since all decision of the house is passed by simple majority vote, it pave the way that strongly represented regions control all decisions of the House in their interest at the cost of smaller regions. In view of that, the paper assess the impact of these system of representation practiced in the House of Federation in the decision making processes particularly on the determination of formulas in the allocation of subsidies to regions. For examination of this study qualitative method was employed with multiple data collection tools like, document analysis and interview with concerned government officials at the federal and regional governments. Purposeful sampling techniques are applied to select the respondents. The investigation suggests that, the representation set up has an impact on regions with small number of representative in the HoF on the decision making process of subsidy allocation formula because of their marginal number of seats. Though the HoF represents all federated units, most seats of the House are constituted by some more populous and diversified regions and the minorities are not in a position to influence the decisions and safeguard their interests and their representations are nominal just to notify their concerns not to really participate and influence in the decisions of the House. Thus, the findings recommend that, the minority should gain adequate power on decision making process of the House to protect themselves from majoritarian decision
The Impact of Federal-States Intergovernmental Relations on Regional States Autonomy in Ethopia
(Addis Ababa University, 2014-06) Kenna Deme; Assefa Fiseha
Federal-states intergovernmental relations have direct impact on the operation of the federal system and very important in understanding the operational part of a federal system since it has the tendency to alter or entirely change the constitutional division of power. This is so, because intergovernmental relations are inherent in federations which give life to the federal system through practice after the constitution divide powers between orders of government. Some federations deal it in their constitution while others develop through legislation. Some relies on institution that manages these relations. In Ethiopia, the constitution is not adequate in providing some hint how to manage. Nor it provided institution that does this. The federal government established organization of regional affairs in 1994 that later devolved to ministry of federal affairs in 2001. As the assessment of this institution is made by this thesis, it is limited to some extent, if not invisible in coordinating the relations between federal government institution and states institution. This thesis is aimed to analysis the impact that federalstates intergovernmental relations operate in the absence of adequate constitution and practical institution, in the dominant ruling party and infant-stage federal system has on the autonomy of states. To come to this objective, it firstly provided conceptual framework from existing literatures and then captured federations' experiences. It also used interview conducted on four groups; namely, government official at state, government official at federal, academician group who are familiar to the study and political party both ruling and opposition party. Using all these mechanisms, the result shows that in Ethiopia, federalstates intergovernmental relations influences the constitutionally given state autonomy and the federal government and its executive institutions dominates the process of Ethiopian federal-state intergovernmental relations.
Practice of Self-government in the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State: The Case of Segen Area Peoples’ Zone
(Addis Ababa University, 2014-06) Misganaw Addis; Assefa Fiseha
The purpose of this piece of work is examining practice of self-government in the SNNPRS with particular reference to the Segen Area peoples’ Zone. Given that the federal project in Ethiopia is a new model (synthesis) that has replaced the failed ‘nation-sate’ building project since 1991, self-government to the NNPs has become the ideological core of the incumbent party and pillar of the constitution. As per the gist of the FDRE Constitution, the NNPs are the actual constituent units and composers of the federation, and hence they are entitled to unconditional self-determination right (Art 39 (1)). The SNNPRS, which is one of the 9 subnational units of the FDRE, is known for extraordinary diversity constituting some 75% of the total NNPs of the federation. The NNPs of this Regional State practice self-rule at the local level with territorial autonomy. The Regional State Constitution permits the indigenous NNPs of the Region to establish local self-government by adopting Zone/Special Woredas (Art 45(2)). The previously self-governing NNPs in the region namely: Konso, Dirashe, Burji and Amaro, had been exercising such right for not less than fifteen years. However, currently they have been merged and established shared Zonal Administration known as Segen Area Peoples’ Zone incorporating newly emerged Woreda called Alle. The merger has changed the Special Woredas to Ordinary Woredas, at the same time shifted the nationality self-rule to multi-ethnic self-rule, which is a paradigm shift from favorable to unfavorable scenario in view of practice for self-rule. For examination of this study the method and procedure employed was qualitative in design with multiple data collection tools namely: document analysis, field observation, FGD, and interview. Triangulation and ethical consideration was made to come up with reliable and valid findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The sample technique utilized was purposive sampling- a non-probabilistic method. To this effect, convenience and judgmental sampling was administered. The data gathered with this method was systematically organized followed by analysis and interpretation. As per the findings, the merger has caused negative outcome on the practice of self-rule to the NNPs. The conclusion drawn is that the merger has negated the constitutional promise and ideological commitment of the ruling party besides the pragmatic negative outcome. Finally, the study suggested possible mechanisms to address the challenges of self-rule practice followed by the merger. Key terms: federalism, self-determination, self-government, ethnicity, and local government
Regional Autonomy of Policy-Making and Implementations in the Ethiopian Federation: a Comparative Study on the Formulation and Implementations of Urban Policy in the Amhara and SNNPR States since 1991
(Addis Ababa University, 2018-04) Tamirat Cheru; Assefa Fiseha
After the collapse of the Derg regime in 1991, Ethiopia had adopted a federal political system. However, some group of scholars and individuals argue that, regional states of the Ethiopian federation are so far not yet become platforms for policy innovations by asserting that, regions are merely limited to the implementation of centrally designed policies and laws. The objective of the study is to investigate regional autonomy of urban policy-making and implementations in the Ethiopian federation taking the Amhara and the SNNPR states comparatively. The study provides answers for the core research question: - Are the Amhara and SNNPR States autonomously adopting and executing urban policies? It also examines the roles of citizens and other stakeholders in both policy-making and implementation schemes. The study is a descriptive and explanatory research conducted qualitatively using a variety of data sources such as primary and secondary data that involves plenty of legal documents. Structured and semi-structured interviews, FGD’s as well as field observations were also employed. In doing so, in both regions, different sections of the population were purposively nominated for interviews and FGD’s. Among others, members of regional and local officials, concerned public servants and experts, representatives from CSO’s, residents from urban and peri-urban areas, youths and women were involved in the process of the study. On the other hand, as a framework to analyze the theme under study, core theoretical and conceptual approaches about federalism, regional autonomy and public-policy are briefly reviewed. In addition, the experiences of sub-national autonomy of policy-making and implementations in the American, Swiss, Indian and South African federations are also dealt. After the adoption of the federal system, indisputable socio- economic, political and infrastructural developments are witnessed across the country in general and in the Amhara and SNNPR states in particular. Politically, inter alia, regions have their own legislatures, executives and judicial organs. Among others, regions are constitutionally authorized to make their own socio-economic development policies, strategies and plans. The study found that, both regional states have autonomously adopted urban policies in the form of proclamations, regulations, directives and GTPs. However, due to the existence of one dominant party-EPRDF- that centralizes power by means of ‘democratic-centralism’, regions are so far not yet fully exploited their constitutional mandate of policy-making. In fact, the experiences of the Amhara and SNNPR states reveals that, policy-making at the regional level has been commenced though not yet fully exploited. Moreover, after the establishment of the National Planning Commission, better opportunities were created for the involvement of regions in the adoption of socio-economic development planning at the national level. Post-1991 federal polity of Ethiopia has also witnessed horizontal urban growth and development. In this regard, Bahir-Dar city of the Amhara region and Hawassa of the SNNPR had been horizontally expanded and becomes very gorgeous for residence, investment as well as for local and international tourist attractions. In both cities, significant infrastructural developments have been witnessed for the last two decades. Likewise, a variety of job opportunities were created for a significant number of unemployed citizens. However, the existing very ambitious horizontal urbanization schemes of both regional cities brought adverse impact on the land tenure rights and the livelihood of the suburb agrarian communities. The existing compensation strategy is unfair to effectively rehabilitate the livelihood of expropriated households. Above all, implementation discourses of horizontal urbanization and land expropriation are characterized by lack of transparency, accountability and participatory approaches. In sum, both the Amhara and SNNPR States autonomously adopted urban policies in the form of adopting urban laws, regulations, directives, plans and programs. However, the roles of citizens and other stakeholders in both policy-making and implementation schemes is still inadequate. In both regions, there are no adequate institutional systems for the active involvement of citizens and other stakeholders in the process of policy-making and implementation schemes. Regional and local officials usually fail to effectively communicate and to create adequate public awareness and participatory approaches before the adoption and implementations of policies in general. Among other factors, the existence of a single dominant political party system affects regional autonomy of policy-making. Therefore, the study in its last section provides some recommendations to better enhance regional autonomy of policy-making and implementations. Generally, the study is imperative for government officials, practitioners, citizens as well as for researchers who wants to conduct research in relation to regional autonomy of policy-making and implementations.
The State of Vertical Division of Political Power in the Ethiopian Federation
(Addis Ababa,University, 2017-04) Fiseha Hafttin ; Assefa Fiseha
Vertical divison of power is the essence of federalism in this qualitve dissertion. The author Investigates the state of vertical division of political power in the Ethiopian federation this Work was guided by the assumptions and principles of the critical paradigm.

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