ADDIS ABABA, Oct 13 (NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES) — The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on Wednesday disclosed it has set Feb 6 as a referendum voting date to create the East African country’s 12th region.
In a press statement, NEBE said registration of voters will commence on Dec 20 and end on Jan 3. The statement further said the final referendum vote tally announcement date has been set for Feb 15.
In August, Ethiopia’s House of Federation, the upper house of parliament, approved a resolution to hold a referendum on the creation of the country’s 12th region.
In a press statement, the House of Federation said the resolution was approved after authorities in six zones and five districts that are currently under the Southern region filed a petition for the formation of a new region.
The House of Federation said the petition was received from Wolayita, Gamo, Gofa, South Omo, Gedeo and Konso zones as well as from Derashe, Amaro, Burji, Alle and Basketo special districts.
Ethiopia currently has 11 regions. Over the years, several ethnic groups in the country have been campaigning to create their own regions, occasionally sparking fears of political instability in the East African country.
The vote, green lighted in August by the upper house of parliament, will take place on February 6 in six administrative zones and five special autonomous districts called woreda that currently belong to Ethiopia’s diverse Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region (SNNPR).
Notably concerned is the Wolayta administrative zone, inhabited by the people of the same name, which has for years claimed to have its own region.
The results will be published on Feb 15, 2023, according to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia.
Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, two new regional states have emerged: Sidama in 2019 and SouthWest in 2021, both of which separated from the SNNPR, a mosaic of minority ethnic groups and scene of tension and violence in recent years.
Numerous reforms undertaken by Abiy upon his ascension to power, following more than two years of popular protests denouncing the Tigrean minority’s grip on the government, unleashed a whole host of territorial and ethnic claims.
A major armed conflict since November 2020 has pitted the forces of the federal government against those of the leaders of the Tigray region, linked to the TPLF. — NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES
