Ethiopian election board sets November for Sidama vote

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The much anticipated Sidama referendum on regional statehood would be conducted Nov. 13, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia announced Thursday.

The board said 1,692 polling stations will be set up and 8,460 election officials will be recruited for the referendum.
The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Regional State’s Council will allocate the 76 million birr ($2.6 million) required for the referendum.

It gave the regional state an October deadline to come up with a modality to determine the future of the regional capital, Hawassa, and the sharing of common assets in the event that the referendum favors seceding.

The largest in population of 56 ethnic groups in the Southern Ethiopia Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State, the Sidama people, have been demanding recognition as a separate regional state.

The Sidama youth moved last month to declare cessation from the South regional state without undergoing the constitutionally needed referendum.

That led to deadly clashes with security forces.

The federal government then brought the troubled region under military control, which has since been in place.