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Ethiopia
Index
In July 1975, the Derg issued Proclamation No. 47, which
established kebeles, or urban dwellers' associations, in
Addis Ababa and five other urban centers. Organized
similarly to peasant associations, Addis Ababa's 291 kebeles
possessed neighborhood constituencies ranging from 3,000 to
12,000 residents each. Like the peasant associations in the
countryside, the kebeles were initially responsible only for
the collection of rent, the establishment of local judicial
tribunals, and the provision of basic health, education, and
other social services in their neighborhoods. Kebele powers
were expanded in late 1976 to include the collection of
local taxes and the registration of houses, residents,
births, deaths, and marriages.
During the height of the
Red
Terror (see Glossary), kebeles
were responsible for ensuring neighborhood defense.
Neighborhood defense squads patrolled their communities day
and night and sometimes operated outside the control of the
central authorities. Many brutal excesses were attributed to
kebele defense squads between 1976 and 1978, but they were
more closely monitored thereafter (see
Political Struggles
Within the Government, ch. 1;
People's Protection Brigades,
ch. 5).
In April 1981, the Derg issued Proclamation No. 25, which
provided kebeles with extended powers and a more elaborate
administrative structure. According to this new structure,
the general assembly, composed of all kebele residents, was
empowered to elect a policy committee, which in turn was
authorized to appoint the executive committee, the
revolution defense committee, and the judicial tribunal. At
the time of this proclamation, there were 1,260 kebeles in
315 towns.
The government estimated national kebele membership in the
late 1980s at 4.4 million. The All-Ethiopia Urban Dwellers'
Association (AEUDA) linked kebeles throughout the country.
This organization's bureaucracy extended, in layers that
paralleled the central bureaucracy, down to the neighborhood
level. However, as in the countryside, the WPE had become
the most important political institution, capable of
overriding decisions taken by kebeles as well as by peasant
associations.
Data as of 1991
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