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Federalism for fair growth /Desta Hailu/
As citizens were not part of the development agenda during previous regimes, they did not have the right to fairly utilize the country’s resource and generate wealth that would better their lives. One of the basic beliefs of the federal system is enabling the nation, nationalities and people benefit from the resource of their country.
In addition to this, it is also about allowing the country’s nation, nationalities and people to own land (which is a source of wealth) to help them get fair benefits from the economic and social developments garnered and give responsibility and duty to them to coordinate their own resources to develop their locals exercising their right to self-administer.
Ensuring equality between different ethnicity of the country that would enable to build Ethiopian identity by correcting the uneven relations that existed in the country under previous regimes, enabling every Ethiopian to put their own contribution to build Ethiopia, ensuring a self-administration system that would allow them to determine their local issues, in general enabling each citizen fair benefit from the country’s development is the main and basic thinking that the federal system is built upon.
In this same constitution, the basis where human and democratic rights are respected throughout the whole country, and the basis for democratic unity is laid. Also, the beauty and unity of the nation, nationalities and people were nurtured whilst ultimate sovereign power was given to the people, and the journey towards the building of developmental and democratic system is initiated.
Citizens are moving on hand in hand to widen the successes and results of the constitution more than ever. During these times, good results were gotten by taking up positive measures in development and growth performance in terms of ensuring fair benefit to regions. By exercising the right to develop that is enshrined on the constitution, rapid development was recorded in every region. The pan national federal system has started to be implemented by being proclaimed on the constitution. The pan national federal system has been able to answer questions of identity and economic growth that were stifled under previous oppressive regimes.
The issue of building a single political and economic community is being hastened under the renaissance path the country is going through. Under the framework of self-administration, the federal system has enabled nation, nationalities and people to have direct participation. With this, their political, economic and social participation and their benefit at every level have increased. They are contributing hugely in the country’s growth by developing their locales. And in terms of ensuring equal benefit for regions, it maintains that there is an equal benefit by the regions from the country’s development performance.
In terms of ensuring regions’ equal benefit, the developmental government has created a suitable situation were clear economic laws, development policies and strategies are formulated and is getting executed. By formulating good lessons gained from the implementation, mechanisms have been setup that would take them to every areas of the country.
By identifying bottlenecks in the implementation of development policies and strategies and making sure they are amended, the inclusivity and benefit of nation, nationalities and people is being ensured. By enabling the regions formulate rural and urban development and good governance plan and making their people the main implementers; they are able to play their role in the double digit economic growth that has been recorded by the country for the past eight years.
The federal government is building roads that are linking regions with other regions and with neighboring countries as along with telecom service. And by hastening electric power supply, by creating and strengthening air transport service and local and foreign market ties, the goal of creating a single economic community is being implemented in a capable manner.
The horizontal and vertical relation between regions aimed are nurturing cooperation within themselves and the sharing of their experiences is playing a huge role in ensuring equal benefit and fair development and growth.
It showed that as long as it is possible to maintain the process by solving development and good governance bottlenecks and by building upon good experiences, there is no reason why the country cannot enter middle income countries. In general, there were areas that were in an even worse poverty and backwardness than the country. As clearly stipulated on the FDRE constitution, these regions have currently protected their political rights as the rest of the country’s regions.
This means, starting from administrating themselves, they are working relentlessly to make their people beneficiaries from peace, development, democratic and good governance by developing their locales. As any sane person can see, the current social and economic institutions and infrastructures are being built in these regions in an amazing pace.
Through the growing number of human resource development in the federal higher education institutions, the implementation capability of regions that needs special attention is being built. The areas have become peaceful more than ever. The infrastructure installation is being hastened more than ever.
Suitable conditions are being created for market ties that would help in the region’s productivity. By pouring their finance, local and foreign investors are going through a path of development and growth. And this is creating a suitable condition for technological transfer to the areas, creating job opportunities and also creating additional source of income for the dwellers.
Side by side to the developmental effort of the regional states and the people, a special support board that incorporates ministers is established by the federal government. By formulating development cooperation program of neighboring regions, there is effort being waged to build lasting capacity to allocate budget that would fulfill the millennium development goals and to install supportive mechanisms.
What should be known is that the villagization program objective is to create a suitable condition where citizens will be in the position to benefit from their country’s development and growth, and to be part of the good governance and democratic order building process. In addition to this, the program is done to maintain good governance, democracy and development rights in the country. In terms of democratic rights, it is obvious that it is hard for citizens to wage organized struggle or voice their say while living separately.
Therefore, the villagization program aims at bringing them together to one area. It enables citizens to carry out their role in their rights and benefits as people, and hold talks with the government structures and search for solutions. This program has enabled social, economic and infrastructural services as per the country’s capability. And as a result, huge improvement has been seen in terms of ensuring citizen’s food security. This program has the objective to save citizens from climate change that is happening at global level and from its effects. It is a program that is being implemented in consent of the people and based on democratic principles. It is implemented by first making sure that there is ample water supply for backyard, farm and grazing lands. Works on attitude, skills and input supply that would enable the people to enter production without being dependant on aid or assistance from others is being done side by side to these efforts.
In addition to this, the program also involved the building and use of social infrastructures. This villagization program ensures the growing benefits of the people living in special support regions from peace, development, good governance and democracy order building. I think from this any person can understand how much constructive role federalism plays in the development right of our country’s nation, nationalities and people. Therefore, it can be said that federalism has enabled every region to grow in a relatively equal terms.
