A referendum on the creation of a South West Region was held in the Keffa, Sheka, Bench Sheko, Dawro, West Omo

Zones Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

, and

Konta Konta is a Municipal Council and tehsil headquarters in Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, India. Konta is a model town situated near bank of sabri River and Konta Legislative Assembly constituency is one of the 90 Legislative Assembly , Konta ...

special district of the

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern E ...

(SNNPR) of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

on 30 September 2021 in conjunction with the

2021 Ethiopian general election The 2021 Ethiopian general election to elect members of the House of Peoples' Representatives was held on 21 June 2021 and 30 September 2021. Regional elections were also held on those dates. The election was initially scheduled for 29 August 20 ...

. It was the second referendum on a new

regional state A regional state, or a regionalised unitary state, is a term used to denote a type of state that is formally unitary but where a high degree of political power has been highly decentralised to regional governments. This contrasts with a state org ...

held in Ethiopia since

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...

became

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

in 2018.

Results

Aftermath

On 9 October 2021, the

National Election Board of Ethiopia The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' R ...

(NEBE) released the results of the referendum. In a turnout of nearly 94%, voters decisively approved the proposed new regional state. The result meant that

South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region The South West Region, officially the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region () is a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was split off from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) on 23 November 2021 after a succes ...

became the country's 11th regional state, after it was approved by the

House of Federation The House of Federation () is the upper house of the bicameral Federal Parliamentary Assembly, the parliament of Ethiopia. It has 112 members. Each Nation, Nationality and People shall be represented in the House of the Federation by at least o ...

. It has its own regional council and constitution, enjoying a degree of autonomy enshrined in Ethiopia's constitution. After being approved on 30 October by the House of Federation, the new region was established on 23 November 2021, and Negash Wagesho appointed to lead it.

References

{{Ethiopian elections South West Region Referendums in Ethiopia Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region Administrative division referendums