Managing Religious Conflict under the Federal System of Ethiopia: The Case of Jimma Zone in Oromiya National Regional State

Abstract

The FDRE Constitution incorporates fundamental rights, freedom of religion and adopts secular form of government. As a result, believers of different faiths exercise these rights freely for the first time in Ethiopian history. However, these efforts do not bring religious peace and tolerance as expected. Thus, the presumed positive correlation between secularism and sustainable inter-religious relations in Ethiopia remains problematic. This paper attempts to look into the federal system of Ethiopia and its capacity to manage religious conflicts. It tries to search for the causes of religious conflicts in Jimma Zone of Oromiya National Regional State where the problem is serious and frequent. Based on this fact, the research examines the danger of extremism in the stability of the country, explores whether the government organs and its officials implement the constitutionally recognized religious rights and investigates whether the federal system is effective to prevent or mitigate religious related conflicts. The design of the study is based on the qualitative methodology. Information is gathered using primary and secondary data. The study aims at collecting available sources of information from the informants through interview and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Unstructured interview is employed. Books, Journals, Reports, Internet sources, etc. are used as a secondary data. The paper gives emphasis to the current challenges of the government in managing religious conflict especially at the local levels of the government. Finally, it suggests possible recommendations that will help to prevent religious conflict.