Pawe special woreda
Pawe | |
---|---|
Woreda | |
Coordinates: 11°20′N 36°20′E / 11.333°N 36.333°E | |
Country | Ethiopia |
Regional state | Benishangul-Gumuz Region |
Population (2005) | |
• Total | 45,552 |
Pawe is one of the 20
History
Pawe acquired a sinister connotation amongst many Ethiopians, for it was the location of the largest of the
Derg operatives soon resorted to drastic methods, e.g. surrounding busy market places and loading people onto trucks. Families were divided. The resettlement sites were poorly prepared. Destitute "settlers" found themselves dumped in unfamiliar, malarial terrain. Tens of thousands died.[2]
How Pawe came to be selected as a suitable site for resettlement is no longer known; no adequate investigation of the area had been carried out before the choice was made, nor were the indigenous peoples consulted. Nevertheless, in October 1984 the area was presented by local officials to their superiors, and after a local visit President Mengistu Haile Mariam endorsed the choice, pointing out that Pawe was endowed with large tracts of "unused" land, virgin soil, adequate rainfall, sufficient forest and mineral resources and a good climate.[3] At its peak, around 1987/1988 (1980 E.C.), the resettlement population had a total population of 82,106 people (21,994 heads of households and 60,112 dependent family members) living in 48 villages.[4]
According to Henze "many died and the site became a target of harassment by EPRP remnants operating in the area. In spite of heavy investment of Italian [humanitarian] money and manpower over several years, it remained an unsuccessful experiment."[2] Wolde-Selassie Abbute's statistics show that the population declined as time went on (most dramatically between 1990 and 1993 when the total population fell by over half), to stabilize around 1995 with the arrival of voluntary resettlers from the Amhara Region who took over abandoned land, to rise to a total number of 41,691 by 1995.[5]
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the
Based on figures from the
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 30,741 in 10,050 households, of whom 15,284 were males and 15,457 were females; 3,253 or 10.58% of its population were urban dwellers. The five largest ethnic groups reported in Pawe were the
Wolde-Selassie provides a further dimension to the woreda demographics. He has produced a table showing in 1995 75.3% of the inhabitants were individuals who were part of the resettlement project, 10.7% were voluntary or displaced migrants, and 14% were town dwellers.[5]
Notes
- ^ "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 6 September 2007)
- ^ a b Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 309. Henze argues that the resettlement projects were used as a weapon to deprive the insurgents in northern Ethiopia of a supportive population; however Bahru Zewde points out that none of the "volunteers" for resettlement were taken from areas known to support these rebels.
- ^ Wolde-Selassie Abbute, "The dynamics of socio-economic differentiation and change in the Beles-Valley/Pawe/resettlement area, north western Ethiopia" (Addis Ababa University: School of Graduate Studies, 1997), p. 36
- ^ Wolde-Selassie Abbute, "Dynamics", p. 53
- ^ a b Wolde-Selassie Abbute, "Dynamics", p. 66
- ^ Census 2007 Tables: Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4.
- ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.3
- ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Vol. 1, Tables 2.1, 2.4 2.7, 2.12, 2.15, 2.19, 3.5, 3.7, 6.11, 6.13 (accessed 30 December 2008)