Ethiopia: Who Gets to Author Ethiopia's Political Order? Why the Crisis Is About More Than Identity Politics

What the report says

An Addis Standard analysis published through AllAfrica on 2 October 2026 argues that Ethiopia’s recurring political crises should not be understood only as identity politics. The author, Dr. Hambisa Belina, says the deeper issue is an unresolved question of who gets to shape the country’s political order, including its rules on membership, territory, land, resources, authority, and protection. The piece frames Ethiopia’s conflict as a historical struggle over political authorship rather than a simple clash of ethnic identities.

The article says state formation in Ethiopia was contested from the outset, with different histories describing late 19th-century expansion either as national unification or as conquest and incorporation. It argues that many Oromo and other peoples were brought into the state as subjects under centralized rule, while local institutions, languages, and landholding systems were subordinated. The analysis highlights the marginalization of Indigenous political structures such as Gadaa and links this to continuing disputes over citizenship, land, and legitimate authority.

The article also reviews post-1974 and post-1991 developments. It notes that the Derg declared equality but remained highly centralized, while the federal system introduced after 1991 and written into the 1995 Constitution promised recognition, self-government, and language rights for nationalities and peoples. The author says those gains were real, but incomplete, because weak democratic protections can still leave minorities, migrants, mixed communities, and dissenters exposed. The broader point is that recognition without durable institutions of power has not fully settled Ethiopia’s foundational bargain.