Wherein Lies the Equilibrium in Political Empowerment?

Regional Autonomy Versus Adequate Political Representation in the Benishangul Gumuz Region of Ethiopia

Absztrakt

After the implementation of the post 1991 EPRDF government’s program of ethnic regionalism, local ethnic rivalries have intensified among indigenous nationalities and non-indigenous communities of Benishangul Gumuz. The quest for regional autonomy of the indigenous nationalities, especially, to profess their need of self-rule, did not resonate very well with the political representation rights of the non-indigenous communities. In this regard, the paper argues that the problem is mainly attributable to the fact that the Constitutional guarantees provided under the FDRE Constitution have not been seriously and positively implemented to bring about a balanced political empowerment. Making the matter even worse, the regional state’s Constitution placement of a Constitutional guarantee by which the indigenous nationalities are considered to be the ‘owners’ of the regional state coupled with an exclusionary political practice, relegating others to a second-class citizenship, has undermined the notion of “unity in diversity” in the region. Thus, striking a delicate balance between the ambitions of the indigenous nationalities regional autonomy on the one hand and extending adequate share of the regions political power to the non-indigenous communities on the other is a prerequisite for a balanced political empowerment.