Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, is one of the continent's oldest independent countries,

and served as a symbol of African independence during the colonial period. A modern state,
which incorporating different ethnic groups and regions into one state entity was formed at the
end of the 19th century by Emperor Menelik II. The period that followed, the reigns of Emperor
Haile Selassie and the Military regime, sustained the centralist unitary-state model under which
both individual and group rights were largely repressed. After the fall of the Derg Military
regime in 1991 the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power
and drew up the current Ethiopian Constitution in 1995, introducing a decentralized federal
system of government premised on ethno-linguistic considerations and devolution of power
into regional states.
Though the country’s economy is rapidly growing, a significant segment of the population,
more than a quarter, is still living in absolute poverty. Due to imbalance in the economic
growth and living standards of people, dissatisfaction among the citizens exists in addition to
high youth unemployment, which was created by rural-urban migration to sustain better life,
and high urbanization. Many efforts were made to modernize parts of the country, mainly
modernizing the agriculture sector, in Oromia, Gambelia and SNNP regions, but due to
corruption, poor governance and lack of transparency, it has led to economic exclusion, soaring
inequality, failure to respond to public problems and high unemployment, that all contributed
to protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions which then escalated nationwide.

The EPRDF government was established as federal system with regional and local
administrations drawn along ethno-linguistic lines. This structure is governed by two dominant
bodies. The ethno nationalist, who support the self-rule of ethnic groups and the centripetal
group who criticize the federal system for creating ethnic hostility by eroding national unity.
This group believe that power is concentrated at the center and region have little to no
authority. This ideology has created more ethno nationalists who revert to inter-ethnic
competition and violence.
After the EPRDF came to power in 1991, it tried to create a multi-party democratic system by
expanding its system in the country. However, failure to achieve real democracy through
election, undermined its popular support, and after the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
in 2012, the front began to weaken. The first signs were seen in the 2005 election, which
resulted in the death of almost 200 people and the detention of thousands. Post-election
revealed the party’s intolerance to opposition and the socio political questions that needed to
be answered for the people. The protests that happened later on where the result of the
soaring inequality and public dissatisfaction, which later brought PM Abiy Ahmed to power in
2018. The new PM soon embarked in numerous reforms, from restoring the trust of the public
to tackling the growing ethnic conflicts by promoting Ethiopian nationalism and surge in
economic growth. But after April 2018 conflicts in Somalia, Oromia, Amhara, Benshangul
Gumuz and SNNP regional state as well as borders of Tigray and Amhara, have resulted in the
death and displacement of tens of thousands of people. The ongoing violence in Central and
West Gondar, between Amhara and Qemant communities, and border conflicts of Benshangul-
Oromia border and Wester Oromia areas are some of the problems that exist in the country.
The intervention of government forces especial in SNNP Western Oromia regions of Wollega,
Borena and Guji, and Amhara regions was necessary but still some regions like western Oromia
are said to be outside the effective control of the government. The weakness of the ruling
party, and growing sense of nationalism have become a reason for regions to flex their muscles
in the aspiration for self-rule in the effort to seek autonomy, has caused a lot of friction and
violent clashes.
The best solution is holding a fair and credible election, and establish a national peace and
reconciliation commission to address the problems among the people. In addition the
government must make a way for negotiation of political problems and reform its national
security force to ensure the peace of the nation.
Reference
Accord Report. (2017). Ethnic federalism and conflict in Ethiopia. Retrieved from:
http://www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/ethnic-federalismconflict-ethiopia/
African Center for Strategic Studies. (2018). The Many Layers of the Ethiopia Crisis. Retrieved
from: https://africacenter.org/spotlight/ many-layers-ethiopia-crisis/
Maru. M, (2015). Federalism and Conflicts in Ethiopia. Retrieved from:
https://hornaffairs.com/2015/06/18/paper-federalism-conflictsethiopia/