History
The woreda has had a number of boundary disputes with adjacent administrative units. According to Sarah Vaughan, the "most serious of these concerns Teltele district, claimed since 1992 by Borana zone of Oromia" which has been ongoing since 1992. Another dispute was over Gato and Bayde Fuchucha kebeles with Derashe special woreda administrations, with a further claim for Ale, which after mediation between the two woredas was referred to the SNNPR parliament for action.
The 1996 UNDP-EUE report quotes an earlier report prepared in 1993, which had stated that "one peculiarity of the Konso area is its frequent earthquakes. A recent strong tremor sent panic around the villages. Some hillside villages (one nicknamed New York) have slid as a result. Another danger is fire, in the crowded, stockaded villages full of wooden structures." The 1996 report however concludes, "No earthquakes occurred after 1993."
Local government officials in Konso denied elected officials of the opposition Konso People's Democratic Union (KPDU) the offices to which they had been elected in 2001 for several months. Over the next few years, the KPDU was subjected to a campaign of harassment. After opening a branch office in Fasha on 29 December 2002, pro-government supporters severely beat several KPDU members and seriously damaged the newly opened office; the landlord who rented the office space to the KPDU was reportedly arrested. In July of the following year, ruling party supporters, backed by local militia, closed the KPDU branch office in Karati and imprisoned party leaders Tesfaye Korra and Adane Fulayta for one week. Activists of the ruling party then looted the offices and damaged the roof. Then on 12 October, government militias acting on the authority of local officials arrested the chairman of the KPDU, Shako Otto Kora, in Karati and detained him for six days. The local officials accused him of "disturbing development activities" for visiting one of his party's branch offices that had been closed.
The Sudan Times reported that on 14 May 2008 continuing conflict between the Konso and Borena Oromo left 36 people dead and forced more than 5,000 inhabitants to flee their homes. "Among the dead, 35 of them belong to Konso tribes" Areke Geyto, the administrator of the special woreda told local reporters. The refugees were sheltered in the Aba-Roba, Kashale, Nalaya Segen and Gesergo kebeles.
Read more about this topic: Konso Special Woreda
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