The interaction among people across the globe has been passed through different stages to get to

today’s shape and form. The process of modernization, technological advancement, and changes

in patterns of subsistence have been creating disagreements among different groups of people.

Over time, collectivism, tolerance and mutual understanding have been deteriorated, and

individualism and selfishness ascended. Such a shift in perception and pattern of life leads to

various kinds of conflicts. One of the major conflicts among a group of people is an ethnic conflict.

Ethnic conflict defined as a situation in which two or more actors undertake unsuited, yet entirely

desirable goal from their individual perspectives that the goals of at least one party are defined in

exclusively ethnic terms (Karl Cordell and Stefan Wolff, 2009). Even though the conflict can arise

in any group of people, nations with multiethnic groups like Ethiopia are highly vulnerable to the

risk.

Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, embraces more than eighty-five ethnic groups having

diversified language and cultural heritage. In the year 1991, following the downfall of Derg1,

Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), took

power. The coalition has created ethnolinguistically organized regional states of the federal

republic. Since then, though the degree and intensity vary, ethnic conflict has been a common

phenomenon in the country. For ease and clear understanding, this paper will focus on the ethnic

conflict between Oromo – the largest ethnic group and Gedio ethnic group. The ethnic groups are

located in southern Ethiopia. Associated with ethnic federalism, several reasons have been

contributing to the conflict. To understand more about the Oromo and Gedio ethnic groups

1
Military junta that governed Ethiopian from 1977 to 1991
conflict, it is necessary to discuss the underlying reasons for the conflict, the linkage of the conflict

with economic and political power, and changes revealed on the ethnic identities over time.

The underlying cause of the conflict is ethnic based federalism introduced by Ethiopian People's

Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991. Historically, the country was structured into

governorate-general. This structure comprised multi-ethnic groups within one administrative unit

that intended to facilitate tax collection, governmental service delivery, and smooth

communication with the central government. Though the current ethnic groups did exist in the

past, the unifying elements, the national culture, and solidarity in the name of Ethiopia were quite

bold. The nature of the ethnolinguistically established structure overtime weakened such a bold

national interest and divided the people in an inarticulable manner. The structure did not only

delineate the areas of the region but also made access to resources, in the new administrative unit,

based on ethnic identity. According to Debelo Regassa, “when former common resource bases are

divided into different regions, access rights strongly depend on ethnic membership rather than

being negotiated through a traditional approach” (2012). This scenario created hate among the

groups, and group conflict became a common phenomenon whenever one of the groups wanted to

access the resource and was not able to do so.

An intention behind the introduction of ethnic federalism was to sustain the political power of the

coalition, particularly the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF). In the ruling coalition, TPLF

controlled key political positions where it had practiced almost all forms of tyranny and looted the

nation’s resource to their backyard for personal benefit. The TPLF dominance and embezzlement

of resources described by McCracken as, “Along with resources obtained from other regions

within Ethiopia, the international aid has been disproportionately diverted to the [officials on

power and their followers] by the TPLF-dominated central government” (McCracken, Matthew,
2004). Surprisingly, TPLF represents the ethnic group that comprises 6% of the nation’s

population. On the other hand, the Oromo – the largest ethnic group accounting about 34% of the

total population – is politically under-represented. This state of affairs made the Oromo people

angry and initiated conflict across the nation with neighboring ethnic groups including the conflict

between the Oromo and Gedio ethnic groups.

Over the passage of time, the divergence among people escalated to its maximum state. Resulting

from the oppression and under-representation of the larger ethnic groups, massive protest and

political unrest have erupted and shook the nation for the past three years. The protest, primarily

led by the youth, forced the existing prime minister to resign and brought the new prime minister

to the power. The new prime minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, was from the Oromo – the largest ethnic

group. He came up with various reform ideas ranging from making peace with the extreme enemy

Eretria, freeing political prisoners, pledging to open the state-controlled economy to private

investors, and promising to undertake reconciliation with exiled opposition parties. However, the

reform could not stabilize ethnic conflicts in different parts of the nation. A few previous

authorities and their followers, who have been largely benefiting from political and economic

power, were significantly affected by the new prime minister’s reform agenda. As a result, they

started ethnically agitating people by providing misleading information regarding the ethnic

identity and land ownership to sabotage a peaceful transition of the power. Thus, as compared to

previous ethnic conflicts, a huge one has occurred between the Oromo and the Gedio ethnic groups.

As stated in the Washington Post, the conflict between the Oromo and Gedio ethnic groups was

the most serious and triggered immense displacement (Schemm Paul). Both ethnic groups were

killing and forcing the people of their counter ethnic group to leave their residences.
Previously the government’s ethnic federalism has been over politicizing ethnic differences and

drawing ethnic boundaries instead of emphasizing on the long existed shared elements that

underscore peaceful cooperation between the groups. As a result, the bondage between the groups

became fragile. Using this fragile status as an opportunity for their personal benefit, the defeated

and crooked political elites from both groups in collaboration with TPLF started sowing a hatred

seed between the groups. Thus, the rural households who could not carefully analyze the

consequence that has been involved in the conflict. The political elites are organizing and initiating

the conflict assuming either to gain political power or to abort the ongoing reform in the nation.

A dramatic shift has been revealed in the relationship between the Oromo and Gedio ethnic groups.

Before the introduction of ethnic-based federalism in Ethiopia in the early 1990s, the groups

exhibit an interethnic relationship. However, right after the introduction of the state structure,

situations have radically changed. The Oromos established a relationship with neighboring Oromo

brothers, and they collectively became an enemy of the Gedio. The Gedio’s friendly relationship

has also been changed. This primarily stemmed from the new federal policy and structure that

ethnically grouped the Oromo under Oromia regional state and the Gedio under the Southern

peoples’ regional state. Consequently, the administrative and social services, shared cultural

elements that the two groups had in common have been falling apart. As a result, their great identity

of Ethiopianess and solidarity among themselves deteriorated and small group identities emerged.

Overall the current problem emanated from ethnic based federalism. The ruling party of the

country has been awfully politicized the ethnic differences and inarticulably divided the people in

order to sustain its political power. As a result, with the change in the governmental administration,

severe conflict has erupted between the Oromo and Gedio ethnic groups which resulted in the

death and internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens. Careful leadership,

diplomacy, and institutional design are required to combat the problem. Unless a government is

capable, determined, and committed to bringing peace, and the conflicting parties move away from

a maximum demand and towards the compromise that recognizes each other's needs, the situation

will worsen.

References

Cordell, Karl, and Stefan Wolff. Ethnic Conflict: Causes, Consequences, Responses. Cambridge,
UK; Malden, MA: Polity, 2009., 2009.
Debelo, Asebe Regassa. “Emerging Ethnic Identities and Inter-Ethnic Conflict: The Guji- Burji
Conflict in South Ethiopia.” Studies in Ethnicity & Nationalism, vol. 12, no. 3, Dec.
2012, pp. 517–533. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/sena.12007.
McCracken, Matthew J. “Abusing Self-Determination and Democracy: How the TPLF Is
Looting Ethiopia.” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, vol. 36, no. 1,
Winter 2004, pp. 183–222.
Schemm, Paul. “Ethiopia’s Reforming Prime Minister Runs into a Roadblock of Ethnic
Unrest.” The Washington Post, 2018.