Picture: Gurage Zone Communication BureauBy Biruk Alemu @Birukalemu21Addis Abeba: In statement issued today, Arshya Ahmed, the Speaker of the Gurage Zone Council, in Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) regional state, said that the zonal council has called its members for a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, 17 September. Due to the Gurage Zone’s Council decision to vote against the clustering, the remaining four zones: Hadiya, Halaba, Kembata Tembaro and Silte zones, and Yem Special Woreda will be organized in one regional state. A zonal councilor who spoke with Ethiopia Insider on condition of anonymity speculated that Council members might bring up the cluster issue. Many stay-at-home protests were staged in the zone against the cluster restructuring, leading subsequently to the arrests of several individuals who supported the protests and the Gurage Zone statehood request. On 04 August, Kiflu Wanna, deputy speaker of the SNNP regional state Council, submitted the cluster proposal to the HoF requesting to be restructured in the two additional regional states out of the existing SNNP region.

Source: Ethiopian News September 16, 2022 19:12 UTC