The House of Federation, led by Speaker Agegnehu Teshager received a report by Wubshet Ayele, Deputy Chairman of the National Election Board of Ethiopia. Photo: HoFAddis Abeba – Members of the Ethiopian House of Federation (HoF) today passed a unanimous decision to approve the creation of a new regional state carved out of a cluster of six zones and five special woredas that were part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) Regional State. The new regional state called, “Southern Ethiopia Regional State”, will be the 12th regional state in Ethiopia, and the third new regional state to be created following a referendum conducted by the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) in the last four years. Previous referendums held by the NEBE include a referendum on 23 November 2019 in which more than 2.3 million registered voters cast their votes that saw the creation of the Sidama regional state out of the SNNP region. As a result of today’s decision by the HoF to officiate the creation of the new state, what was formerly known as the SNNP regional state will come to an end, and instead be composed of four separate regional states: the existing SNNP Regional State itself; Sidama Regional State; Southwest Ethiopia People’s Regional State; and Southern Ethiopia Regional State.

Source: Ethiopian News July 05, 2023 09:33 UTC