Ethiopian Federalism: Fact or Fiction?

(Some Notes from the Ground)

(Ethiopia’s Federal Experiment: Essentials & Pointers)

(Zerihun Teshome, Hashim Tofik, Getachew K.Reda)

Center for Federalism and Public Policy Research(CEFPOR)

 Ethiopia’s Federal Experiment: Essentials & Pointers 

Evaluating the extent to which a nation’s federal experience is faring in practice will require more than just the usual questions as to whether or not the requisite institutional frameworks & procedures normally expected in a federal system are put in place. It will among other things require a thorough investigation into the labyrinth of the sets of incentives and benefits/ advantages that may have actually accrued to the constituent units of the federal system. The latter becomes all the more important particularly when one looks at it in light of the rationale for the reconstitution of the entire political structure on the basis of rectifying historical injustices perpetrated on marginalized groups of the Ethiopian polity.

In the case of Ethiopia’s federal experience of a little over a dozen years, the most important questions that need to be raised should similarly focus on the nitty-gritty of the business; whether or not it’s been delivering on some of the promises it had to start with. How much of the benefits they had in the previous regimes been denied-benefits that the new Constitution & the institutions it put in place were hoped to bring to the nations, nationalities and peoples- are indeed being progressively realized? Is the federal formula really contributing to the further enhancement of the process of building democratic governance already underway? Has this process brought about meaningful results in terms of ensuring the empowerment of the various ethnic groups in the areas of self administration, developing their cultures & languages, promotion of justice & the Rule of Law; the provision of social services such as education & health facilities based on the principle of equality & fairness, and; whether or not concrete steps are taken to systematically address the economic hardships that had beset the citizens of the Country.

One also needs to ask whether the social, economic as well as political objectives pursued by the government/s through the various policies over the last decade or so have in any way contributed to the strengthening of a sense of shared destiny and new chapter in national unity that draws on the diversity of all the peoples while at the same time building on their shared values & aspirations- resorting to democratic means of resolving conflicts when and wherever they arise, or; whether on the contrary it led to an escalation of tension and conflict among the different ethnic groups thereby opening the floodgates of mistrust and rampant animosity. Similarly, it is worth the while to ask whether or not our federalism displayed readiness & openness to take the steps necessary to improve on apparent failures while building on qualified successes. Lastly, what practical steps may need to be taken for the future and so on & so forth are some of the questions we should seek to satisfactorily answer.

Properly understanding the raison d’etre for the decision of the authors of the Constitution to go for ethnic federalism will help us lay bare the complex realities surrounding Ethiopia’s federal experience and find valid answers to the above & similar other questions. Equally importantly, one needs to take full cognizance of the myriads of challenges this bold experiment has faced over the last ten or so years as well as the steps taken and mechanisms employed by the State to address these challenges.

It should be stressed at this juncture that Ethiopia’s version of federalism has a dubious honor of being the first of its kind to recognize the right to secession as an integral part of the right to self determination which comes to many a commentator as strangely curious at best and/or at worst, even decidedly disastrous. Strange because no other nation has ever done so much as venture into expressly and unequivocally recognizing the right to secession. It is also curious because its authors seem adamant that the inclusion of this right will help guarantee, rather than impede, the realization of a stronger unity among the various ethnic groups. Yet another point closely related to this also can be raised: the exercise of this right and other group-specific rights is also believed to be not in any way incompatible with the protection of individual rights. 

For others, this rather bizarre provision is a prescription for disaster of sorts-an unwise/sinister move that will spawn new & encourage old incidences of division and separatism among groups with a less-than-reassuring record of loyalty to the Center.What with the Country’s checkered past, the legendary heavy-handedness of previous regimes in dealing with differences and their penchant for simple solutions to complex problems, the concern of some commentators that the right to secession may lead to tension can be all but totally unfounded. According to some one commentator,

''...the new Constitution... gave each region the right to vote democratically to secede, ensuring that political elites in the capital city, whoever they might be, could not risk ignoring the concerns of ordinary citizens in every part of the country, or that one part of the country could not impose its views on the rest.''

However, much of the uproar about and vociferous denunciation of the federal system or this particular provision by stiff-necked ideologues or academics - both home-grown as well as Western - are hardly easy to fathom. One can make some conjectures as to why, though. For one thing, it must have to do with the ideologically charged stubbornness that is given to dismissing, offhand, anything that does not suit well with their received wisdom or Western-Orthodoxy as ipso facto parochial & stillborn. For another, it can have a semblance of a seemingly valid sense of foreboding that more often than not teeters on stupidity. Even when critiques against the advisability of Ethiopia's variant of federalism display some measure of cleverness, rhetorical consistency or better still, good intention, they nonetheless reflect, if remotely, an acute lack of perspective on & a gargantuan failure to appreciate, matters of utmost relevance : the historical, political, social and economic exigencies that dictated the types of compromises and logical anomalies incorporated in the document that was in 1995 to become the FDRE Constitution.

Basic Premises & Inputs

The historical rationale for undertaking the reconstitution of the Ethiopian State on the basis of the values & principles of democratic federal system was none other than the urgent need to address the perennial agenda of all governments at the helm of the Ethiopian State: How best to deal with the inescapable reality of the diversity of the peoples of Ethiopia and the enduring desire to maintain a modicum of unity represented by a functioning central authority. Through out the better part of our history, the choices made & the approaches employed in order to answer this particular question had unleashed tons of cataclysmic reactions and counter-reactions that wrought so much havoc on a tremendous scale and magnitude. More often than not, the successive regimes resorted to naked violence as an instrument of assimilation and subjugation which ultimately led to the establishment of numerous ethnic-based separatist movements that saw no other choice than armed insurgency as their first and last port of call.

The downfall of the Dergue regime on the 27th of May 1991 was only the dramatic culmination of the long-drawn-out predominantly ethnic-based armed groups. This was an important milestone that gave impetus to undertaking the process of bringing about a realistic, viable and democratic solution to the problem. When we factor all these developments in to this process of existential importance to the Ethiopian State, it is only natural that the Transitional Charter and subsequently the FDRE Constitution would be the inevitable outputs. As Will Kymilicka aptly puts it, it is not necessary to overstate the importance of the mere protection of individual rights to protect certain group-specific rights.Federalism, he argues, is far-better suited to deal with the question of unity in diversity in multi-cultural or multi-lingual societies such as Ethiopia.

Indeed the fall of the Dergue Regime after seventeen years of a text-book brutality was received with ambivalence by those who made it their business to wager their political or professional future on the future of the Ethiopian state. Considering that there was no love lost between the Dergue and the peoples of Ethiopia, the development clearly represented a moment of an unqualified freedom from tyrannical Regime. To that extent, it was a great opportunity in its own right.

On the other hand, the fact that the fall of the Dergue was primarily the result of the combined struggle of mostly ethnic-based armed groups meant that the future of the Ethiopian State as we had  known it before was far from certain at best and bleak at worst. This was an extraordinarily tremendous challenge. Even more challenging was the rather 'unhealthy' plethora of over-radicalized separatist as well as centrist political groups with mutually exclusive objectives to achieve that was witnessed before and after the fall of the Dergue. The birth of Ethiopia's federalism should therefore be seen against the backdrop of these developments which presented themselves simultaneously as opportunity & Challenge. The Federal System in Ethiopia was the outcome of negotiations and political trade-offs among the various stakeholders made in their attempt seize the opportunity to find a realistic solution equal to the challenge.

The adoption of a federal system was indeed borne out of a clear appreciation by the peoples of Ethiopia in general and political group/s that defeated the Dergue in particular of the stark realities of the Country and their firm resolve to put in place a system that will help break the cycle of conflict & violence by ending marginalization and subjugation of ethnic groups, and ; one that promotes the culture of tolerance and mutual benefit and that empowers peoples to exercise a full measure of self administration thereby enhancing the development, promotion & protection of their cultures & languages.

But then again, there are some schools of thought that seem to have taken a vow of stubbornness to remain oblivious of the obvious, whose unfair characterization of this experience clearly flies in the face of the reality on the ground. According to the doom saying that permeates the vitriolic language of its vehement detractors and opponents, the federal system was a clever scheme of 'traitors' to speed up the dismemberment of the Ethiopian State. On the contrary, not only has this nascent federal system turned a corner by setting in motion the progressive realization of the ascendancy to empowerment of hitherto marginalized ethnic groups; it also succeeded in salvaging what little semblance of central authority was left after the fall of the Dergue. To put it bluntly, if it was not for the presence of a genuine desire on the part of the dominant political Group to stave off disintegration, the danger was unmistakably around the corner & hardly anything else could have pulled off a trick to avoid it in a civilized and viable way.

The process of reconstituting the Ethiopian State along the principles of federalism has from earlier on faced myriads of challenges that stood in one way or another in the way of constructive political engagement on the part of all the political actors both sides of the aisle. These challenges lived off, among others, the entrenched culture of mistrust, intolerance and discontent among the different ethnic groups compounded by decades of abject misery & rampant injustice, and; the debilitating effects of ethnic marginalization & subjugation that gave way to a sense of disillusionment that precipitated separatism & sectarian conflicts in large swathes of the Country thereby creating major stumbling blocks against maintaining strong central authority. The tasks of hammering out a working formula that would effectively address these concerns as well as drawing mutually agreed agenda were therefore some of the key steps that needed to be taken in an effort to allay the fears of hitherto marginalized groups that they might back-slide/relapse into tyranny & injustice and to enhance and sustain the desired peace & stability; and to instill in the peoples of Ethiopia a sense of belongingness and partnership in the entire political, economic as well as social endeavors underway in the Nation.

Obviously, fully appreciating the need for undertaking the monumental task of breaking the cycle of suppression & violence did but render the radical & revolutionary step of recognizing and ardently protecting the wide range of group as well as individual rights an absolute imperative to guarantee and ensure the continuity and survival of the Ethiopian State!

Accordingly, the introduction of institutional and legal frameworks that would facilitate the further enhancement of the ideals of democracy and self- governance needed, as far as possible, to be undertaken consciously and with a full measure of devotion - while at the same time providing for a peaceful & democratic mechanisms of resolution of conflicts among the constituent entities that leaves wide open the possibility of a ceremonious exit in the case of irreconcilable differences!

 Indeed, we can really speak of genuine & strong unity only when we properly and resolutely undertake to extend an equal measure of protection for all ethnic groups and make sure that we have a modicum of policies and strategies that can affirmatively impact upon the progressive realization of the imperatives of democracy, the Rule of Law and sustainable economic development. That is therefore why in order to enhance the unity of the peoples of Ethiopia, this process had to underscore all along, and continues to do so, the non-negotiability of the sanctity of the rights of ethnic groups to an unfettered access to justice and broad level of exercise of self government including the right to secede and go their own way when they feel that any of their rights are infringed upon in such a manner as to render the possibility of democratic and peaceful resolution beyond the pale.

By and large, this process was set in motion following the fall of the military regime and it was formally solemnized with the promulgation of the federal Constitution by a popularly-elected Constituent Assembly in 1995. Ethiopia has ever since embarked upon a monumental task of political, social as well as economic transformation which has & will have far-reaching repercussions on the lives of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia.

Making a brief attempt to throw light on the extent to which this project has fared in practice is the mainstay of this paper.

In essence, the rate of success of the project of first putting in place and then further strengthening of the federal system and all the requisite institutional frameworks in Ethiopia can be evaluated on the basis of whether or not it has been consistently treading along the sets of ideals it set out with and the extent to which these ideals have been institutionalized or achieved. To that end, we will in the following pages analyze the significance of the series of developments related with this experience in three broad categories/ periods of time. We sincerely believe this will enable us to get a better picture of the myriads of challenges faced and the victories registered in the course of the last dozen years so that we will be better placed to improve upon the initiatives taken thus far by building on the success stories while exerting unstinted efforts to face the failures head on.

The three periods were categorized according to their lexical order and also on the basis of the nature and types of exigencies that had at different times to be dealt with depending on the orientations and predispositions as well as combination of actors that in one way or another contributed to dictating, shaping and formulating the topical issues during each of these periods.

We will therefore begin our discussion with the formative stages of this novel/unheard of political experiment by highlighting the most pressing concerns that had to be given prior attention by the contemporary political actors whose inputs came to bear on the reconfiguration of the Country's political Contour.

The Formative Stage (May 1991- 1994)

This period spanned from the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Dergue all the way through to the convening of the Constituent Assembly that was tasked with deliberating upon and eventually ratification of a new Constitution. This period was characterized mainly by the ever greater increase in the magnitude and depth of the dynamics & imperatives of change that rocked the establishment of the Ethiopian State to its bottom thereby rendering its future all but certain while causing the fragility of Peace and stability in a scale that had seldom been witnessed in the Nation's past. The entire transition period was dedicated to the maintenance of peace and order.

Laying down the Foundations & House-Keeping Details (1995-2001)

This period covers the period between the promulgation of the FDRE Constitution on 8th of December 1995 and the year 2001 when the ruling Party embarked on a bold step of renewal within the ranks of its leadership. It was during this period that the institutional frameworks necessary for a functioning federal system did begin to emerge at all levels of government- federal, regional & local- with the establishment of Nine Regional States under the auspices of the Constitution. This period was also characterized by a flurry of policy initiatives and changes that aimed at sensitizing the peoples of Ethiopia to be aware of and exercise their constitutional rights including the right to self government. Accordingly, lots of efforts were exerted to enable the peoples of Ethiopia to use, develop and protect their cultures & languages. The process of ensuring empowerment and economic development that had already been launched during the Transitional period was further invigorated in this period and the efforts to extend to the peoples the social & economic facilities they had in previous regimes been denied - services such as education, health care & equitable growth were gathering more momentum throughout this period.

Reinvigorating the Federal System (2001 up to the Present)

This period starts with the onset of the so-called Renewal Process in the middle of the year 2001 during which the major political squabbles among the big-wigs of the EPRDF leadership were thoroughly & critically debated among its leaders. During this process of Renewal, the ideological differences were so intense and 'irreconcilable' that they were publicly & acrimoniously played out eventually leading to a major split between hardliners and "liberals" in the ranks of the crème de la crème of its leadership.

 This development was of particular importance in the process of reinvigorating the Country's nascent federal system mainly because it ushered in an era that saw a flurry of new policies & strategies (And the fine tuning of old ones, of course!) representing a significant ideological departure in terms of bringing clarity with the economic and political priorities of government. Needless to say, these policies were to have a far-reaching impact on the lives of the people.

Furthermore, the provision of social facilities such as education & healthcare were given significant boost during this period. Tons of resources were disbursed for the construction of roads, highways and other economically viable infrastructural facilities which helped facilitate and further enhance the expansion & coverage of the multifarious benefits and advantages that had already begun to accrue to the peoples of Ethiopia. This period also saw a growing institutionalization of the commitment to as much as possible work towards the revitalization of the unity of the Peoples of Ethiopia on the basis of equality of opportunity of and representation; unity that reflects the ideals of fair play & justice while exerting  great deal of efforts to meet the imperatives of democracy & Good Governance.

Generally speaking, our appraisal of the federal experience of the last twelve or so years should take note of a number of factors such as: the multiplicity of interests-often antagonistic- that were brought into the fray; the differences in the concerned parties' areas of focus & priorities; the haunting legacies of political pathologies & the like. This will enable us get a better picture of what did really transpire-positive or negative alike- over the years. That way, we can spare ourselves of the trap of consciously developing blind spot to glaring setbacks or that of making blanket denials of reassuring outcomes during the course of the federation. At the very least, putting all things in their proper perspective will help us have a clear insight into the dynamics that necessitated the federal arrangement in the first place rather than lambasting it as a gimmick the Political Groups in charge pulled in order to hold on to the reins of power.

Despite a few setbacks here and there and considerable challenges in more than one occasions, overall this period has seen the continuous improvement and deepening of the federal system and the ground on which it is anchored.Quite simply, federalism and the notions that go with it-notions of devolution and decentralization of power, for instance- are becoming more and more ingrained in the psychological make-up and socio-political fabric of today's Ethiopia. It would not therefore be lost on anyone with a right mind that the best contribution we can make in carrying through the ideals of this system is not so much by denying the reality-however stark that may be- of a budding federalism as by embracing the need for a constructive engagement with it and a continued effort to make a realistic and positive influence. That also seems to be the case why almost all out-of-the-way maneuvers attempted to nip this system in the bud so far have proved monumental failures.

The Practical Implications of the Federal Arrangement

The most important centerpiece of the FDRE Constitution has to do with the empowerment of the various ethnic groups in Ethiopia to shift for themselves and administer their own affairs by representatives they elect and remove at their will. It is also based on the strong assumption that the recognition of this right to self-government coupled with the fullest possible protection of individual human & democratic rights will eventually contribute to the further enhancement and strengthening of the unity of the peoples of Ethiopia. In order for this to happen, the system has to ensure that the peoples of Ethiopia indeed have a genuine sense of ownership of and belongingness in the federal system and the unity it represents. Far and above the essential policy and other legal instruments that help achieve it, the fullest possible protection & enjoyment of these different rights basically presupposes the wherewithal or possession by the peoples of the actual capacity to exercise their powers in any way they think fit.

In a political system that purports to give full faith and credit to a functioning self government, the issue boils down to whether or not the peoples own the means--information, knowledge, finance & other resources-- by which they can fully avail themselves of these extensive rights. As Amartya Sen persuasively argues in his Development as Freedom, political freedoms & liberties will only remain paper tigers unless the citizenry do not possess the knowledge and educational skills that enable them to make a full measure of participation in the political system.

There a great deal of empirical evidences that can clearly demonstrate the commitment to ensure that the peoples of Ethiopia indeed get access to the requisite knowledge & other resources that would enable them to exercise the full range of rights and privileges the Constitution enshrines including the right to a full measure of self government. The efforts that are underway to extend basic social services such as education, health care and so on so forth are some of the factual examples we can raise.

Primary Education

Today, there are more than 12 million students enrolled in more than 10 thousand elementary schools throughout Ethiopia. The number of elementary schools in Ethiopia sometime around the fall of the Dergue regime was only two hundred and seventy seven where as the total number of students was not more than two million. The state of education fifteen years ago was a far cry from the kind of fairness and equitability in the geographical distribution of schools that has been achieved so far. The state of education today is even more equitable and fair when we look particularly at what has been achieved in terms of giving special attention to females and disadvantaged ethnic groups. The education policy of the FDRE has mainly focused on ensuring that the people in rural areas that constitute more than eighty five per cent of the entire population and home to the scores of ethnic groups get an extensive coverage of education. And this growth in the education coverage in the rural areas has contributed, & will continue to do so, to the genuine & comprehensive empowerment of the peoples of Ethiopia thereby enabling them to fully enjoy the various economic & political rights and to make a conscious & meaningful participation in all walks of political life.

Secondary and Tertiary Level Education

The growth in the coverage of secondary education has similarly been dramatic. The number of secondary schools in the Country has made a significant rise from only 286 schools in 1991 to more than Eight hundred as of 2005. This does not include the more than three dozens of Technical and Vocational colleges that have been established throughout the Country. For the better part of the fifty years since the launch of tertiary level education in Ethiopia, there had until very recently ( merely ten years ago!) been only two Universities  which could, at their best, enroll not more than ten thousand students every year.

The last ten or so years have nevertheless seen the number both of the universities and the students they enroll growing by leaps & bounds. Today, the number of universities that are fully operational has reached thirteen with ten more universities admitting half the student population they would eventually cater for once they become fully operational. Needless to say, the growth so far is impressive; however, the fact that the number of students that all these universities enroll has already grown by many folds to reach a staggering fifty thousand a year is even more important. The number of students that will join universities every year is expected to reach about a hundred and ten thousand within a year or two as soon as all the newly established thirteen universities begin to operate with their full capacity.

This number does not however include the close to a hundred private universities, colleges and junior technical colleges that have been established throughout the Country within the last ten or so years. Although the statistics with regard to enrollment & attrition in the private sector is somewhat sketchy, officials however put the figures to close to fifty thousand. It would perhaps be worthwhile to note that the commitment of the government for the further development of social facilities such as education & health care services and the policies drawn to carry these objectives through, have made a significant contribution in encouraging the private sector to invest in these areas thereby augmenting the overall efforts of the public sector thereby ensuring a much more rapid growth in coverage both spatially & time wise. On the whole, the expansion of secondary and tertiary level education has been an impressive one not only because the number of academic institutions and the students they enroll has increased by tenfold.

While we agree that the sheer growth in enrolment is commendable in its own right, there however are at least two things that are equally, if not more, important. The first important progress should ensuring the equitability of distribution which is a function of how much access all the regions and their citizens have gained to a given set of resources. The growth in secondary & tertiary education coverage, for good measure, has been spread fairly over the various parts of the Country which fact owes to the qualified success of the efforts governments at all levels consciously exerted with a view to reaching out to those segments of the population that had for a long time been left by the wayside. Similarly, the FDRE Constitution clearly provides that policies that ensure the fair distribution of social services as well as the infrastructures needed. To that end, the Constitution imposes a positive duty on the part of the Federal government to introduce special support packages and other affirmative intervention models to see to it that equitability and fairness of access to this services and related resources are maintained to the extent possible. While the trend so far seems to reflect that, the process has indeed a long way to go and more efforts are needed to ensure a greater rate of success.

The other point that can be raised is whether or not the necessary mechanisms of assuring the quality of the services offered by both public & private academic institutions are put in place. Quality assurance mechanisms are important if the provision of educational facilities is going to achieve its ultimate purpose, i.e., citizens better equipped with the knowledge and skill that will enable them to become conversant with, and play a conscious & meaningful role in finding solutions for, the problems that the society they live in faces. In this regard, the institutional frameworks that are aimed at assuring the quality of education at the level of tertiary education have been put in place for quite some time now. Although the extent to which this will succeed remains to be seen, it is an obvious imperative that this process gathers more momentum in order to bring about the desired outcomes. The continuous process of assuring the quality and relevance of education, coupled with the sheer growth of coverage in secondary and tertiary level education, will help bring about the fullest possible empowerment of the peoples of Ethiopia in all walks of political life thereby enabling them to break the shackles of ignorance & extricate themselves from abject poverty.

Other Training Packages

On top of the above-mentioned efforts that resulted in the expansion of elementary, secondary & tertiary level education that saw the construction of thousands of schools, hundreds of TVET facilities and nearly two dozens of higher learning institutions, a great deal of training packages on various topics have also been drawn up and massively undertaken. By and large, these training packages focused mainly on building the capacity of civil servants and officials of the Regional States to draw, execute and monitor policies that are aimed at further enhancing the development endeavors already underway in the country as a whole and in their respective regions in particular.

More exemplary in this regard was the role the Ethiopian Civil Service College played within a very short period of time. The College was launched with the specific objective of training personnel from all the Regional States in various fields of expertise with a view to helping the States' Civil Services meet their need for professionals with different areas of expertise. These programmes were of particular significance & far greater importance to the most backward regions such as Gambella, Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, the SNNPRS and Somali Regions whose administrations had to start from scratch with barely any local professionals to man their bureaucracies. The other positive aspect of the programmes in the ECSC was the broad opportunities it created for female trainees thereby bringing them closer to full empowerment.

These programmes and other similar ones have created unprecedented opportunities for the citizens of these peripheral Regions to genuinely exercise their right to self-government by freely electing their own representatives within their localities. But in a larger sense, the availability of hundreds of trained professionals thus trained has created the opportunity not so much for being able to elect their representatives merely because they are 'one of their own'; it has also created an opportunity for the peoples of these otherwise backward Regional states to elect their own 'more capable & educated' representatives from among many such others in the Regions.

The experience in Gambella Regional State is perhaps one of the many such successes and a very telling one at that. In the five years between 1996 and 2001 alone, more than two hundred students from the Gambella received training in the ECSC graduating with bachelor's degrees in various disciplines. More than Eight hundred and eight people did attend different kinds of programs abroad while other two hundred and seventy students were studying in domestic higher learning institutions, not to mention the more than hundred and twenty civil servants that enrolled and successfully completed distance programmes with the Open University of London. The case of Gambella is cited simply because it showcases the sheer scale of human resource development that has been taking place in almost all the Regional States mentioned earlier and the far-reaching impact it will have in strengthening the federal system by further developing their shared values & enhancing their sense of belongingness.

Other Social Services & Infrastructures of Self-governance

The basic institutional and administrative frameworks required to implement the peoples' right to self-administration include, but are not limited to, elected councils, executive units and administrative structures at Regional, Zonal, and Wereda as well as Kebelle levels. These structures are also instrumental in setting in motion the initiation, formulation and execution of the multifarious policies to be undertaken with a view to realizing the aspirations of the peoples of Ethiopia as enshrined in the Constitution. The structures were not only put in place and properly staffed, but they have also made long strides in the provision of various social services and the building of infrastructures that are instrumental in achieving the ideals of prosperity & economic development.

The distance an Ethiopian would on average have to travel before they could find a paved road came down to 15 kilo Meters in 2005 from more than thirty kilo meters. This distance is slated to go down to five kilo meters in a year or two upon the completion of a new phase of infrastructure development.

Only 9.6 of the rural population that constitutes more than 84 per cent of Ethiopia's population had access to potable water until the year 2002.That percentage grew by more than almost threefold in 2005 to 25.2 per cent. With regard to the provision of electric power supply, today almost all the Weredas in the Country have now access to Electric power. The Rural Electrification Programme launched by the Federal Government plans to extend the coverage of the electric power access to fifty per cent of the entire population while ensuring universal access to diesel-generated power throughout the rural areas in less than four years time. Almost all Kebeles throughout the Country have access to wireless telephone services whereas the provision of land lines and mobile phone services has been steadily growing.

With regard to health care, a number of projects aimed at putting in place preventive health care services and similar health extension packages have been undertaken with far-reaching impact on the livelihoods of the peoples of Ethiopia. Apart from the construction of numerous health-related facilities such as clinics, health centers and hospitals, thousands of health posts are set up throughout the country. So far, the coverage of health care facilities has reached a point where today, on average, one health center caters to fifty thousand people. Programmes aimed at doubling the rate of coverage in three to four years time are also well underway. These projects are expected to ensure that one health Center would on average serve twenty five thousand people. All these programmes have so far contributed to the prevention of diseases such as malaria while helping decrease child and maternal mortality rates to some extent.

Generally speaking, all these developments have tremendous implications in improving the livelihoods of the peoples of Ethiopia. The income farmers in different Regions can generate from what they produce has increased simply because improved road & transport facilities, as well as increased access to market information through better means of communications, have made it all the more possible for otherwise powerless peasants to demand better prices for their commodities. Simply put, the most important implication in the political system is the ever greater empowerment of the citizen and a progressively increasing & more meaningful participation in all walks of political life.

There can be no better pointer to gauge and evaluate the success or failure of the federal experiment than this increased empowerment. After all it is this increased empowerment, among others, that helps enhance the strengthening, as per the Constitution, of a strong and viable economic union under which the multifaceted rights, aspirations and benefits are protected to the fullest extent possible.