The Administrative Autonomy of Local Governments in the Southern Region of Ethiopia: Case Study of the Hadiya and Kambata Tambro Zone Administrations

Teketel Lamango, Bekalo (2026) The Administrative Autonomy of Local Governments in the Southern Region of Ethiopia: Case Study of the Hadiya and Kambata Tambro Zone Administrations. ACTA HUMANA: HUNGARIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PUBLICATIONS, 14 (1). pp. 81-101. ISSN 0866-6628

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Abstract

The aim of decentralisation is to improve service delivery and to bring administration closer to the community in the developing countries in general; particularly in Ethiopia, the constitutional mandate of local governments is to provide effective public services to their citizens. Consequently, the effectiveness of local governments depends on the extent of autonomy the constitution grants them to provide effective services. Therefore, the main objective of the study is to assess the extent of local government administrative autonomy in southern Ethiopia. This study employed a quantitative research approach; we collected data by distributing a questionnaire to local government officials. The findings identify the significant gap between local government administrative autonomy and enshrined federal and regional legal frameworks in practice in Ethiopia. Therefore, the major findings revealed in this study are upper-level government interference, i.e. federal, regional, or zonal administration interference; ambiguous legal mandates; limited human resources autonomy; and a persistent bureaucratic system that consistently undermines the service delivery of local governments in Ethiopia. The study suggests that granting meaningful administrative autonomy for local governments improves service delivery to the community, particularly creating a convenient environment for them to exercise constitutional mandates and revising different local government-related legal issues, such as enhancing responsiveness to local needs. To conclude, the study’s practical policy recommendation is to strengthen local governance effectiveness in southern Ethiopia.

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