A Political Analysis of the Constitutional Provisions of Self-Rule in Ethiopia’s Ethnic Federal System

Abstract Today, federalism is used as a means of accommodating the diversity of different groups with diverse interests by minimizing the chances of minority groups controlling the majority around the world. Ethiopia established a de facto federal system in 1991 and a legal system in 1995 to manage the diverse interests of its ethnic groups. As pillars of federalism, autonomy and self-determination must be treated fairly for the benefit of all ethnic groups. In a divided society like Ethiopia, autonomy and representation of the middle class become even more important. Although the country’s constitution invests heavily in protecting the autonomy and representation rights of minority groups, Ethiopia’s federal system shows gaps in fully implementing these rights at the local level. This is largely due to legal loopholes and other practical issues that manifest themselves in the form of interference from government officials and incumbent political parties. The paper aimed to investigate the Ethiopian constitutional and legal provisions on minority nationality self-administration using the Awi nation council administration as a case study. To address the objectives of the study, the researcher employed a qualitative approach with a case study as the study design and used primary and secondary data sources. Primary data collected from the key informant interview and focus group discussions Secondary data was also collected from different books, reports, journals, published and unpublished proclamations, conference papers, dissertations, the federal democratic republic of Ethiopia constitution, and the revised Constitution of Amhara. The researcher used purposive sampling and thematic data analysis. With the view to realizing the right of self-administration in the Ethiopian federal structure, the finding of the study has revealed that self-rule is expressed through the distribution of self-determination, cultural autonomy, and effective political participation. The researcher argues that putting the equal recognition of the minority groups under the fake federal system is not sufficient rather the practical implementation of the minority ethnic groups under the different levels of government activities should get the attention of the minority group rights.