The Federal Arrangement and the Sidaama‘s Quest for Self-determination in the Post-1991 Ethiopia
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Date
2021-06
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Addis ababa university
Abstract
This dissertation examines Sidaama’s quest for self-determination in Ethiopia’s post-1991 federal order. The main objective of this research was to examine Sidaama’s resistance to centralized rule and their struggle for regional autonomy. The dissertation used qualitative methodology for data collection and analysis. Key informants’ interviews and focus groups discussion were used to collect data. The fieldwork for this thesis was conducted from 2015-2016 in Addis Ababa, Hawassa city, and different parts of the Sidaama zone.
This study is a comprehensive work on the Sidaama and focused on the path that the group followed to attain a regional state within the Ethiopian federal structure. Besides, the formation of the Sidaama region shows the most recent process of sub-national reorganization in Ethiopia.
The Sidaama mounted an armed struggle since the late 1970s. The study in particular examined the mobilization of the Sidaama for regional statehood under Ethiopia’s ethnonational federal system. Accordingly, the study discussed theories of federalism and self-determination, the self-determination principles contained in the Ethiopian federal Constitution, and how Sidaama’s longstanding quest for regional autonomy was impacted by the federal system.
As discussed in the dissertation, when the Ethiopian internal administrative system was restructured in 1992, the Sidaama were able to secure a regional status. This was reversed in the same year when the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) was established. Since the formation of the SNNPR and the incorporation of the Sidaama in that region without their agreement, there has been a concerted effort by the Sidaama to regain their lost regional status.
The reaction of the federal government to peaceful protests by the Sidaama by and large was violent. The Sidaama political elite within the former ruling party – Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) used provisions of the federal Constitution that entitle ethnic communities to establish their regions by following procedures provided in the constitution. First, following the 2005 electoral crisis in Ethiopia, the Sidaama zonal council endorsed the application for a regional status and supported the demand. The federal government and the EPRDF resisted the move and used patronage to defuse the challenge. The demand for regional status was, however, reignited after the political changes that happened in Ethiopia following the 2018 leadership change. The Sidaama within the ruling party (EPRDF and now Prosperity Party) and outside of it somehow stood together and pressed for regional status. Also, the Sidaama youth (Ejjeetto) played a significant role in mobilizing the public for regional status. Accordingly, in July 2018, the Sidaama zonal council officially demanded the regional statehood. Despite several ups and downs, the referendum for Sidaama regional statehood was conducted on 20 November 2019 in which the Sidaama quest for regional statehood had a landslide result won 97.7%. Accordingly, on 18 June 2020 officially Sidaama national regional state (SNRS) has become the 10th member state in the Ethiopian federation. The formation of the Sidaama regional state brought a crisis to the multi-ethnic region, SNNP. Several ethnic communities within the region are now calling for the formation of their regional governments.
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Selfdetermination