The Sidama Regional State, when approved by the House of the Federation, will be the 10th regional state in Ethiopia.
ADDIS ABABA (Anadolu Agency) – The people of Sidama zone — the largest ethnic group — within the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ (SNNP) Regional State of Ethiopia voted to have their own regional state, the country’s election body announced.
In a televised news conference, Birtukan Mideksa, head of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said that 98.51% of the electorate voted in favor of a breakaway regional state.
Voting was held on Wednesday, 20 November 2019, in which more than 2.3 million people went to the polls and cast their ballots.
The Sidama Regional State, when approved by the House of the Federation, will be the 10th regional state in the country.
“The Sidama referendum is an expression of the democratization path Ethiopia has set out on. As citizens go out to vote today, I call upon all to engage peacefully throughout the process.”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
The 1995 Ethiopian Constitution stipulates that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) comprises nine regional states and two autonomous city administrations. This latest development of Sidama zone as the 10th regional state may therefore trigger a revision of the Constitution.
In September this year, Sidama youths declared a de facto regional states before referendum — a move that led the federal government to intervene. Scores of people had been killed in clashes with security forces before the riots were quelled and the region came under a military rule until the situation calmed down.
According to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, there are other ethnic groups, such as Wolayta and Gurage, demanding breakaway regional states of their own out of the SNNP Regional State. The SNNP region is the most ethnically diverse part of Ethiopia, a rural region of around 20 million people that borders Kenya and South Sudan.
Source: Anadolu Agency