The Current Decentralization Process in Ethiopia the Case of Oromia Region
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Date
2001-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Decentralization is believed to improve development activities by allowing
lower levels of government bodies and the people at large to participate in
development planning and implementation. Of course, such participatory
development through decentralization can be realized if important preconditions
such as political commitment, availability of and access to resources, capacity of
implementing agencies and the like are adequately met. The on-going decentralization process in Ethiopia has introduced a major
change in the political, economic and social systems of the country. The new
decentralization process, effected since 1991, is organized under federal form of
government whereby the country has been divided into nine regional governments
and one city administration under the umbrella of the Federal Government. The
regions are delimited mainly based on historical, linguistic and ethnic
considerations. This study is aimed at investigating the process of decentralization in the
country. It is conducted mainly on a case study technique where one region,
Oromia Region, is randomly selected from among the regions in the country. The
research provides a brief description of the conceptual framework of
decentralization, then the data collected and its analysis. Finally it presents
conclusions arrived at. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods
were used. Interviews were conducted with 25 key informants-individuals
assumed to have particular knowledge on the issue of decentralization. Group
discussions and survey questionnaires with 14 participants were also included in
the research. Oromia Region is the largest of all in terms of territorial size and
population. It has a relatively strong institutional and manpower situation as
compared to other regions. However, close scrutiny of regional activities reveals
that there is a lot to be done. Although authority and powers seem to be
decentralized, the extent of decentralization below regional levels, to the zonal,
woreda and kebele levels is limited. Moreover, the decentralization process in the
Oromia region is challenged by many problems such as low revenue basis, very
low administrative and manpower capacity and poor inter-organizational
arrangements and relationships. There is a large vertical imbalance between the revenue raising powers and
expenditure responsibilities of the Oromia Region. Therefore, every year, more
than 70 percent of the budget of the region is granted by the Federal Government
in the form of unconditional subsidy. This means that in Ethiopia, expenditure
responsibilities have tended to be centralized in favor of the Federal Government.
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Keywords
Decentralization Process in Ethiopia