Wolyta Zone council Emergency Meeting Passes Seven Resolutions, Including creating a secretariat to prepare for statehood

Ethiopia, Wolayta, June 22/2020- Following a day long emergency meeting by the council of the Southern nations

Nationalities and People’s State, (SNNPR), Wolyta zone council members have unanimously approved seven point resolution to establish a secretariat to oversee preparations to 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 SNNPR’s council in protest against recent move to recognize the region into four states. The representatives said the move failed to consider Wolayta zone’s request for separate statehood.

The seven point resolutions approved by the zonal council are:

1. The Wolyta Zone council will not accept any other response to its request for self- rule and statehood other than a response based on the countries’ constitution granting the Zone a right to the request.
2. The House of Federation (HoF) to pass a decision requesting The National Eloctoral 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.
3. Any measure against the 38 members of Wolyta Zone representatives who withdrew from the council of SNNPR is not acceptable and that SNNPR’s council should not and in any way discuss matters related to the Wolayta Zone and pass decisions.
4. Wolayta Zone security forces including police militia, the youth and the people of Wolyta to coordinate the peace and security of the Zone and that SNNPR’s security forces will no longer assume responsibility of peace and security matters of the zone and should therefore leave the Zone.
5. The council to organize pre- regional state preparations and the establishment of the secretariat office to oversee the process including preparations of Wolyta Regional state flag, draft Constitution as well as policy and strategy documents on political, social and economic affairs of the future.regional state.

6. The need to coordinate a continuous struggle with the request for self- rule and region state status will be answered

7. The need to strengthen nations with the neighboring states and peoples as well as the need to protect the Wolyta people’s peaceful struggle from forces of political conspirators against the struggle.

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