Abstract:
"This paper relies on the belief that amelioratoin of the ethnic porblem requires the recognition and entrenchment of ethnic claims as part of a constitutional settlement in Africa not only as a matter of practical expediency but also a human rights necessity. It is expected that institutionalising group rights in a way to allow political participation and self-administraton by the sub-state groups contains ethnic conflict and necessitates collaboration and national cohesion. It is, thus, submitted that self-determination as a human right is an overriding norm and institution in the contemporary African situation. It vindicates group rights and captures some of the fundamental tensions in the politico-legal set-ups of states in Africa. As such, the potential of the right to self-determination in the realization of such objectives is closely considered. The focus of this study is, therefore, to wrestle with the query of whether institutionalising the right to self-determinaton would address inter-ethnic tension in the context of Africa. Such questions as how the right to self-determinaton is related to ethnicity and group rights and what institutional and normative solutions are present in the right to self-determination are also examined. This is done by way of examining the elements and various institutional dimensions of the right to self-determination and the experience of Ethiopia and South Africa. ... The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one outlines the context of the study, objectives and significance of the study as well as the hypothesis and literature review. It is sought in the second chapter to explore the ethnicity problem and the right to self-determination in Africa. Chapter three deals with analysing the elements of the right to self-determination, its potentials to address the ethnicity dilemma of African and the modalities of institutionalising it. Chapter four examines the recognition of the right to self-determination under the Federal Constitution of Ethiopia and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the manner in which it is entrenched and institutionalised in the set-ups of the two states and the lessons, good or ill, to be drawn from their experience. Finally, the study seeks to draw some conclusions that involve recommended suggestions." -- Chapter 1.
