You can download the paper by clicking the button above. Ethiopia National Displacement Report 9, Round FDRE, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) Rural land administration and land use proclamation, Federal Negarit Gazeta, Proclamation 456/2005 (2005), para. The original flashpoint was the Addis Ababa Masterplan that sought to integrate Addis Ababa with the surrounding area in Oromiya as part of an integrated urban development plan. In contrast, recent government promotion of large-scale agricultural investments provides a clear counter-example in which land access for outsiders has been prioritized over that of politically marginal indigenous populations. endobj The spread of COVID-19 and regulations to curb it has caused unemployment and has exacerbated the food insecurity situation in the country. Gebru Mersha and Mwangi Wa Githinji, Untying the Gordian Knot: The question of land reform in Ethiopia (Policy Paper 9, International Institute for Social Studies/United Nations Development Programme, The Hague, 2005), p. 8. It argues that ethnic politics is positively correlated with ethnic conflict through ethnic security dilemmas, amplifying grievances, and feeding on greed. Research has repeatedly highlighted the multiple and overlapping nature of land tenure in sub-Saharan Africa. Interview, respondents SR1, land administration experts, SNNPR land administration, Awassa, 23 February 2010. Tadesse Berisso, Planning resettlement in Ethiopia: The experience of the Guji Oromo and the Nech Sar National Park, in Alula Pankhurst and Franois Piguet (eds), Moving people in Ethiopia: Development, displacement and the state (James Currey, London, 2009), pp. Klaus Deininger and Songqin Jin, Tenure security and land-related investment: Evidence from Ethiopia, Proceedings of the first international conference on the Ethiopian economy II (Ethiopian Economics Association, Addis Ababa, 2004), pp. Some Kembata acknowledged that these actions probably deepened Oromo resentment.65. In a few cases, this included people involved in extended state structures, for example, those holding unpaid positions in the many local committees that play an important role in implementation, albeit not paid officials. Indeed, the government has sought to reinvigorate and co-opt customary tenure as a means of pursuing its own policy objectives in recent years. Indeed, the regional government recognizes that when it works through the Gadaa it is more successful than through the local government.41 As such, the position of Aba Gadaathe political leader of the Gadaa and the ultimate authority over customary lawhas been institutionalized in line with the government structures of zone and wereda42 and reports to the regional Bureau of Culture and Tourism.43 The regional land policy now also requires community elders to make the first attempt at dispute resolution, including with respect to land disputes. I fear that if this government fails, their eyes are on our land and the same thing may happen again. The first proposal regarding forestland on the border of SNNPR and Oromiya involved land in Sidama zone, while the SNNPR resettlement programme focuses on Bench-Maji, faraway in the southwest of the region. We advocate for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all. As such, while there are certainly particular characteristics of the Ethiopian case, many of the key issues regarding ethnicity and land mirror debates taking place across the continent. Third, land tenure regimes imply different forms of citizenship, defined as the boundaries of membership in a political community.13 Neo-customary tenure regimes frequently imply local citizenship based on membership of a particular descent group and confer economic and political rights, including entitlements to land. Ethnic Conflict As argued by Endrias Eshete, To confer the right to secession on national communities is to grant that a regional states collective property rights take priority over the property rights of outsidersnonmembers and federal governmentin the region. Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1996); Helne Maria Kyed and Lars Buur, New sites of citizenship: Recognition of traditional authority and group-based citizenship in Mozambique, Journal of Southern African Studies 32, 3 (2006), pp. Web2.3 Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia: myth or reality? It also led to the sanctioning of boundary demarcations that contradicts the criteria listed under the federal constitution. Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale Insurgency, 1963 - 1970 Published online: 28 September 2020 Article Property rights conflict, customary institutions and the state: the case of agro-pastoralists in Mieso district, eastern Ethiopia* Fekadu Beyene The Journal of Modern African Studies Published online: 12 May 2009 Chapter Furthermore, in light of the precarious nature of the OPDOs relationship with the ethnic group that it is supposed to represent, it would be very difficult for the local administration to side with the Kembata over the Oromo majority. The Alle and Konso ethnic groups have a long history of close relationships. 6582, 69. The Tradition of Conflict Meanwhile, some of the first non-Oromo arrived during the Imperial conquest in the late nineteenth century. Land tenure regimes are not just means of distributing resources but key mechanisms by which states relate to their societies and project authority into rural areas. Published in: Grard PRUNIER and Eloi FICQUET, editors, 2015, Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia: Monarchy, Revolution and the Legacy of Meles Zenawi. The Politics of Ethnic Identity and Conflicts under Ethnic Under federalism through the 1990s, political representation and territorial administration were reorganised in terms of ethnicity. The Derg regime (197491) nationalized all rural land in 1975, distributing usufruct rights to smallholders. The last Derg land redistribution is accepted as final and any ethnic minorities that received land at that time have the same rights as indigenous Oromo.80 Since the Kembata were allocated land under the Derg, their land should be returned to them. Under the Derg, land was redistributed several times between 1977 and 1990 to adjust for changing household size, taking no account of ethnicity, with the result that all kebele residents received land. The Derg undoubtedly had political motivations, namely the destruction of the landholding class that was the base of Imperial power.16 However, land reform was justified in egalitarian and social justice terms encapsulated in the rallying cry of land to the tiller. Interview, respondent TM18, a Kembata who remained in Turufe. Yohannes Gezahegn, Bizuayehu Ayele, Getachew Fule, and Mesfin Tadesse, Ethiopian village studies II: Turufe Kechema (WeD-Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, 2006). In particular, the federal government has re-centralized authority from regional administrations to lease land to agricultural investors in lowland areas of Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella and South Omo.93 In the process, pastoralists and shifting cultivators have found their land access curtailed in direct contradiction of the principles of ethnic federalism. 22146. Interview, respondents TM23, male Tigrayan resident, Turufe Kechema, 17 January 2010; TM26. WebMuhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. 1950. For example, one respondent acknowledged that the government prevents the Oromo from taking further action but the fall of the government could bring change: If we get the chance to remove them [the Tigrayan and other ethnic groups] we would not give them even one day in Turufe. These missionaries rehabilitated people treated for leprosy, in particular Kembata, by dividing two gasha between them.51 The area also attracted migrant labour during busy agricultural periods and some migrants have subsequently settled. The first, and most influential, set of land tenure institutions and associated ideas relate to the system of state land ownership. The majority fled to Amhara and were subsequently included in the Amhara resettlement programme that focused on the western Amhara lowlands. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to most Oromo respondents, the conflict originated in an incident in the 1980s in which Oromo thieves (shifta) were stealing crops from local people, both Kembata and Oromo, or in which Oromo farmers allowed their cattle to graze on the harvest of Kembata farmers.60 The Kembata reported the crime to the authorities, and the Oromo defendants were imprisoned and, subsequently, executed. The dissertation provides some recommendations to the government of Ethiopia. Fieldwork greatly benefitted from research assistance by Tolosa Mamuye and Amsalu Darge. The analysis highlights tensions between these three sets of land tenure institutionsstate ownership, ethnic federalism and neo-customary tenureand their implications for minority land rights. This brought displacement in Ethiopia to a peak of 3.04 million IDPs in March 2019. Ever since 1991, the OPDO has ruled Oromiya and Turufe-Wetera-Elemo. The OPDO has been regarded by many as an artificial creation of the TPLF/EPRDF that has struggled to establish legitimate authority in Oromiya. Vol. Both the displaced population and the government rejected any possibility of returning to Wellega. WebSearch for documents Learning to Live With Conflicts Federalism as a Tool of Conflict Management in Ethiopia An Overview Published Popular Published on 17 July 2018 Modified on 23 July 2018 By Super User 595 downloads Download (pdf, 288 KB) Mersha and Githinji, Untying the Gordian Knot, p. 8. Contending views from myth to National Question-----16 2.4 Ethnic identity: embedded in the groups or a mere political artefact? 94-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15 Abstract: Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, Ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts 4.1. The proposals to relocate the Kembata to SNNPR also serve to illustrate some of the inherent tensions within the federal project. (PDF) Management of ethnic conflict in Ethiopia: The case of 51107; Sarah Vaughan, Ethnicity and power in Ethiopia (University of Edinburgh, unpublished PhD thesis, 2003); David Turton, Ethnic federalism: The Ethiopian experience in comparative perspective (James Currey, London, 2006). conflict in Ethiopia If your style isn't in the list, you can start a free trial to access over 20 additional Instead, the EPRDF has sought out the political middle ground between the centrists and regionalists.94 In particular, the EPRDF has employed federalism in an attempt to neutralize the ethno-national sentiments of the latter, while limiting the implementation of the more extreme and highly problematic implications of ethnic federalism, including with respect to land administration. No. Interview, respondent OR1, senior expert, Oromiya Land Use and Environmental Protection Bureau, Addis Ababa, 17 November 2009; ONRG, Proclamation to amend the proclamation nos. In April and later in June 2018, conflict which was aggravated by competition for land and resources broke out between Gedeo and Guji Oromo tribes in West Guji. The third is the neo-customary land tenure regime in Arssi, Oromiya, which, though originating in Arssi Oromo society, has been promoted and adapted by the state in recent years. 56/2002, 70/2003, 103/2005. Ethnic Conflicts Web(PDF) Ethnic conflict in Ethiopia: Federalism as a cause and solution Ethnic conflict in Ethiopia: Federalism as a cause and solution DOI: 10.46652/rgn.v6i30.832 CC BY-NC-ND A comparable case is provided by Tesfaye Tafesses study of the displacement of 12,000 Amhara from East Wellega, Oromiya in 2000.90 Amhara had migrated to the area over several decades and, while relations between Amhara settlers and the indigenous Oromo were good for many years, growing land shortages and ethnic federalism resulted in a deterioration. So we want to remove the other groupsit is beyond just land but it is to realize our right to language and culture. 1078101. Emphasis added. Fasika Gedif is an assistant professor of social-anthropology at Bahir Dar University (BDU), and is currently the chair of the Department of Social-Anthropology at BDU. While these investments and urban expansion constitute important additional pressures on land in the area, these have only had a more recent impact and were not influential in the events discussed below. During Imperial and Derg rule Gadaa was effectively wiped out in most of Oromiya and only really persisted among the Boran Oromo pastoralists. Underlying Causes of Conflict in Ethiopia: Historical, Political, In this study, based on the analysis of context, causes, actors and dynamics of Alle-Konso inter-ethnic conflict two major scenarios are drawn: Best-Case and Worst-Case Scenarios. They divided the Kembata land amongst themselves. Some left voluntarily, some forcefully.72. The broad contours of the Ethiopian debate regarding the land rights of non-indigenous minorities and the political implications of these issues mirror those taking place across much of the rest of Africa.98 As elsewhere, ambiguity in land tenure in Ethiopia results in considerable uncertainty regarding the land rights of non-indigenous minorities. This co-optation of customary institutions as a means of enhancing authority is a common government strategy, see Tobias Hagmann, Beyond clannishness and colonialism: Understanding political disorder in Ethiopias Somali region, 19912004, Journal of Modern African Studies 43, 4 (2005), pp. At present there are significant minorities of Amhara, Tigrayan, Kembata, and Wolayita in Turufe, with the Oromo making up 54 per cent of the population according to one survey.52. 11931. Finding a way to balance growing ethno-nationalism with the protection of minority rights remains one of the central challenges facing the government, notably with respect to what are, at the time of writing, fast moving events in Ethiopian politics. Crewett et al., Land tenure in Ethiopia; Tom Lavers, Agricultural investment in Ethiopia: Undermining national sovereignty or tool for state building? Development and Change 47, 5 (2016), pp. Getachew Fule and Mesfin Tadesse, Ethiopian village studies: Turufe Kechema (Addis Ababa University & University of Oxford, Addis Ababa & Oxford, 1996). Liz Alden Wily, The law is to blame: The vulnerable status of common property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa, Development and Change 42, 3 (2011), pp. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The picture is further complicated by Oromiya regional government attempts to re-establish the Gadaa institution. Since then, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 336,762 cases as of 22 September 2021. That said, while the relative importance of different land tenure systems varies between countries, the tensions between these systems raise closely related issues. As such, they argued that the entire Kembata clan was responsible for the execution.63 Furthermore, the Kembata reported the crop loss directly to the peasant association, bypassing customary dispute resolution since they believed that the elders were biased towards the Weyrera.64 Customary dispute resolution is a highly valued social institution in Oromiya, while the pursuit of justice through the courts is considered disrespectful of customary law. Following this, conflict broke out in the North of Ethiopia and it is estimated that more than two million IDPs have been displaced due to the conflict. Since June 2019, Ethiopia has been combating a desert locust invasion which is reportedly the worst the country has seen in 25 years. The structure of government administration (from highest to lowest level) is: federal, regional, zone, wereda, kebele. Ethnicity and Inter-ethnic Relations: the Ethiopian
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