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CONSTITUTIONALITY SUSPECT PROVISIONS IN SUB-NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS AND LEGISLATION DEALING WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT [Abstract ID: 0704-05]
The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, which formally established the Ethiopian federal system, puts local government under the exclusive competence of the states. The states are hence empowered to legislatively determine the number of tiers and units of local government, define its powers and functions, and define its internal and external sources of revenue and the like. The legislative and executive powers of the states on local government is not however without constraints since they are required to create autonomous, democratically constituted, and adequately empowered and resourced local level of government. Hence state constitutions and pieces of legislation regulating local government can be constitutionally challenged if they fail to meet the aforementioned and other constitutional requirements. The paper argues that some provisions in state constitutions and other pieces of legislation that regulate local governments are constitutionally suspect since they undermine local democracy and seek to excessively intrude into the political autonomy of local government.