Welega Province

Welega (also spelled Wollega; Oromo: Wallagga; Amharic: ወለጋ) was a province in western Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Wollega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries.

Welega was bordered on the west by Sudan, on the north by the Abbay River which separated it from Gojjam, on the east by Shewa, on the southeast by Kaffa, and on the south by Illubabor.

History

The region was governed by Gasa Umar of Adal in the sixteenth century.^[1]

Following the Italian defeat of the Emperor in 1936, the Western Galla Confederation tried to apply to the League of Nations to break away for Ethiopia and become a British Protectorate. Oromo chiefs asked “to be placed under a British mandate … until we achieve self government”.^[2] This was supported by the British Consul at Gore, Captain Esme Nourse Erskine, but the move was rejected by the British Government.^[3]

Following the liberation of Ethiopia in 1941, the following provinces were added to Welega to simplify administration: the semi-autonomous areas of Asosa, Beni Shangul, Leqa Naqamte, and Leqa Qellam, and the province of Sibu.^[4]

The boundaries of Welega remained unchanged until the adoption of new constitution in 1995, when Welega was divided, with part of its territory becoming the Asosa and Kamashi Zones of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, and the rest becoming part of the Mirab Welega, Misraq Welega and Illubabor Zones of the Oromia Region.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Chekroun, Amélie. Le” Futuh al-Habasa” : écriture de l’histoire, guerre et société dans le Bar Sa’ad ad-din (Ethiopie, XVIe siècle). l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. p. 336.
^ Morton, C. (2020). The Anthropological Lens: Rethinking EE Evans-Pritchard. Oxford University Press, USA. DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198812913.003.0006. p.149/150. Photographs of the applications, dated 25 May 1936, are in the National Archives, FO 371/20206.
^ Birara, D (2024), From Defeating Colonialism to Facing Genocide: the Misfortune of Amhara People in Ethiopia, Borkena.com. https://borkena.com/2024/08/05/amhara-from-defeating-colonialism-to-facing-genocide-the-misfortune-of-amhara-people-in-ethiopia/ (accessed 16 September 2024).
^ Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time (New York: Palgrave, 2000), pp. 237f.