248 Scarcity and Surfeit
l~yalties.'~ The geopolitical landscape changed dramatically after the military
assumed power in Ethiopia. When Somalia claimed the Ogaden region as
part of 'Greater Somalia' and war ensued in 1977, the Soviet Union sided
with Ethiopia, increasing military aid significantly to enable the Ethiopians
to defeat Somalia. Arms proliferated throughout the Horn during the Cold
War, intensifying conflicts both before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Other regional powers also play a role in the Horn of Africa. For example,
Egypt's interests in securing control of the Nile waters appears to have played
a role in its support of the Eritrean struggle for independence.19
One of the main actions of the Dergue was to dismantle the feudal land
tenure system and redistribute rural land to peasants. It was assumed that
land redistribution to the peasants would redress the basic source of poverty
and ultimately conflict between different classes in Ethiopia. Although the
land reform initially found favour with the rural poor, peasants later opposed
the government's forced policy of establishing cooperatives and villages.
Opposition movements were also violently repressed, including the Ethiopian
Peoples Revolutionary Party (EPRP). The war with the Eritrean liberation
movements escalated and other movements emerged, including the Tigrean
Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) that later became the Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). After a series of debilitating wars,
the EPRDF, led mainly by the TPLF, toppled the Dergue and took power in
1991.
A number of factors led to the downfall of the Dergue. The policy of cen-
tralisation in both political and economic terms and the armed suppression
of political and ethnically based opposition forces had led to popular discon-
tent. The regional movements, increasingly established along ethnic lines,
became stronger and finally succeeded in gaining popular support, under-
mining the legitimacy of the Dergue, and leading eventually to its collapse.
With the EPRDF assuming political power, a federal system of government
decentralised many administrative functions to regional units, delineated
mainly along ethnic lines. The EPLF (Eritrean People's Liberation Front) took
control of Eritrea at the same time and formally gained independence in a ref-
erendum held in 1993. Article 39 of the Constitution promulgated in 1995
gives "Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia an unconditional
right to self-determination, including the right to secession".
This policy of ethnic federalism and decentralisation is meant to prevent
conflicts caused by centralisation and the consequent ethnic tensions that
prevailed prior to 1991. Furthermore, decentralisation under a federal system
of government is intended to encourage local and regional participation in
decision making, thereby improving accountability and legitimacy of the gov-
ernment at the regional and federal level and, in the end, reducing underly-
ing tensions and minimising conflict. It is also intended as a means to widen
access to resources in the regions and to ensure political stability.20