20 April 2021
COVID-19 in Ethiopia: A Year in Review
Covid-19’s arrival in Ethiopia was especially inopportune, coming as it did when the country was at a political crossroads and the federation under heavy strain as a result of unprecedented intergovernmental disputes. Covid-19 emerged just two years after the three year public protests which began soon after the 2015 elections in which the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling coalition until 2019, claimed 100% victory. The public protests led to a political division within the party resulting in the coming to power of Abiy Ahmed who re-configured the party. Continue reading >>
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27 November 2020
Ethiopia’s Tigray Crisis: A Troubled Federation
Three weeks ago, the federal government of Ethiopia launched a military offensive against the government of the state of Tigray. Tensions had escalated after national elections were postponed due to Covid-19 and the Ethiopian constitution did not provide a clear answer on the fate of an uncumbent whose term ends before an election. Continue reading >>28 November 2019
Voting for Internal Secession
20 November 2019 might go down in history as one of the turning points for federalism in Ethiopia. It was the day on which the unparalleled clause of the Ethiopian Constitution, which provides ethnic communities with the right to establish their own state (i.e. subnational unit), was put into practice. Continue reading >>
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23 January 2019
Ethiopia’s Ethnic Federalism: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution
Unlike other federations, where geography or administrative conveniences have been used to organize the federation, Ethiopia has opted to take ethnicity as the point of departure for the remaking of the Ethiopian map. In light of growing tensions, however, it is time to rethink this model of federal structure. Continue reading >>15 August 2018
Secessionism, Federalism and Constitutionalism in Ethiopia
On the morning of 4 August 2018, troops were seen taking over key positions in Jijiga, a capital city of the State of Somali, one of the constituent units of the Ethiopian federation. Heavily armed military vehicles were stationed outside the state parliament, the offices of state government and the state TV station. It was not an invasion by a foreign force. It was a federal intervention. Continue reading >>
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