Ethnic based federalism in Ethiopia: The Somali region case

Ethiopia is a sub-Saharan African country struggling with many problems such as unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, hunger, child mortality, agriculture-based economy, inadequate health, and inadequate education. In addition to these economic and social problems of the country, there are also political problems that must be overcome and that have seriously damaged the country for years. Although the country has a turbulent political past as it hosts many ethnic structures and cultures, the federal constitution that came into force in 1995 gave the ethnic groups living in the country their rights and gave them equal representation within the federation, and allowed residing in the country with their language, religion, and cultural values. However, it is unclear how well the ethnic federal model has been transformed into a functioning ethnic federal model. Although the Nation's Constitution guarantees decentralized and autonomous regional governments, political practices can largely ignore these principles. For this reason, in terms of Ethiopia's federalism, whether self-rule and shared rule are practiced in Somali and similar ethnic regions, or is the self-government and representation of ethnic structures only a constitutional expression. There were not enough research studies to provide a comprehensive and objective answer to this matter. Therefore, to contribute to these gaps, this study investigated how well Ethiopian ethnic federalism was implemented in the self-rule and shared rule of the Somali region. In this study, in which a qualitative research design was used, the data were collected by using semi-structured online interview questions from 6 people from different professions who have knowledge and experience about the Somali region. The research findings are presented under the titles of political participation, ethnic rights, resource allocation, representation, and expectations. The findings showed that there are problems with the political involvement in the Somali region and that the lack of political participation is seen at all levels, from the local level to the federal level. Regarding ethnic rights and ethnic relations, the research findings showed that the people of the Somali Region, like most of the country, are satisfied and hopeful about the ethnic rights offered by the Ethiopian constitution and the benefits of their implementation in the country. The region's people accept federalism as a solution for the real and radical implementation of these rights. Regarding resource allocation, it has been found that while it is stated in the country's constitution that resources should be allocated to the regions proportionally and fairly and that this allocation should be supervised, in practice, the resources are not distributed proportionally and fairly. They are not audited objectively and transparently. Regarding representation, it has been found that although people of Somali are satisfied with the rights such as self-government, recognition of ethnic identities, and living by protecting religious and cultural values, which are stipulated by the federal constitution, the promises of real ethnic self-government at the local level and egalitarian representation at the federal level have not yet been fully fulfilled. Regarding the anticipation, it has been found that people of the Somali region have expectations in the fields such as the operation of the current constitution, the strengthening of the federal structure, the guarantee of autonomy, the fundamental respect for ethnic identity, and the implementation of this respect in practice, as well as the elimination of the problems experienced in terms of basic needs such as water, electricity, health, education, and making adequate investments in these areas.