News: Wolayta zone council emergency meeting passes seven resolutions, including establishing a secretariat to prep for statehood

Addis Abeba, June 22/2020 – Following a day-long emergency meeting by the Council of Wolayta zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regional State, (SNNPRS), zonal Council members have unanimously approved seven point resolution including a resolution to establish a secretariat to oversee preparations for the zone’s demand for self-rule and regional state status.

The Council’s emergency meeting is the first since all 38 members of Wolayta zone representatives withdrew themselves from SNNPRS Council in protest against recent move to reorganize the region into four states. The representatives said the move failed to consider Wolayta zone’s request for separate statehood.

The seven point resolution approved by the zonal council are:

• The Wolayta zone council will no accept any other response to its request for self-rule and statehood other than a response based on the country’s constitution granting the zone the right for its request;
• The House of Federation (HoF) to pass a decision requesting the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to conduct a referendum, and if this didn’t happen, the federal government should take the responsibility for anything that may occur;
• Any measure against the 38 members of Wolayta zone representatives who withdrew from the Council of SNNPRS is not acceptable and that SNNPRS Council should not in anyway discuss matters related to the Wolayta zone and pass decisions;
• Wolayta zone security forces including police, militia, the youth and the people of Wolayta to coordinate the peace and security of the zone and that SNNPRS security forces will no longer assume responsibility of peace and security matters of the zone and should therefore leave the zone;
• The Council to organize pre-regional state preparations and the establishment of a secretariat office to oversee the process including preparation of Wolayta regional state flag, draft constitution as well as policy and strategy documents on political, social and economic affairs of the future regional state;
• The need to coordinate a continuous struggle until the request for self-rule and regional state status was answered; and
• The need to strengthen relations with neighboring states and peoples as well as the need to protect the Wolayta people’s peaceful struggle from forces of political conspirators against the struggle.

The Council also reiterated that the Wolayta people’s constitutional demand for self-rule and regional state status has gone unanswered for 27 years. AS