Ethiopia

Local government is the oldest and most important political institution in Ethiopia and one that has direct relevance to the conduct of people’s everyday lives. Despite this simple fact, local government does not enjoy the institutional place and status in government that its importance warrants. It has no explicit constitutional recognition and consequently is not endowed with original functions, powers, or sources of finance. It is barely considered in any of the political and legislative reforms taking place in the country. Any democratic and social reform that does take place is, in fact, unlikely to succeed without properly empowering local government and enhancing its democratic mandate. Positive political change ‘requires enhancing the political significance and the democratic pedigree of local governments’. The institutional mechanism for achieving this is ‘the entrenchment in the national constitution of local government as democratic and politically relevant level of government, alongside the transfer of suitable competences and sufficient resources’.