Restructuring of Oromia’s Zonal, District, and Kebele Structures Underway:

The Oromia National Regional Government is conducting research and discussions to restructure the zonal organization and potentially change its name. As part of this reform, changes in the organization of districts and kebeles are expected to be completed and implemented starting next week.

Reliable sources have indicated that the Oromia National Regional Government has reduced the number of district-level offices from 28 to 15 and established a new Kebele organizational structure. According to these sources, the previously separate offices for agriculture and pastoralism, land administration, association organization, and environmental protection will now be managed under the deputy administrator and the head of the agriculture office.

In addition, the separate offices for security and militia will be merged under one structure. Similarly, the separate offices for water, energy, and mining will be combined into a single office. The previously distinct offices for transport and the roads authority will now operate under one office, as will the offices for trade, investment, and job creation.

It has also been decided that the offices for women and children, culture and tourism, labor and social affairs, and youth and sports will be managed under a new office named Public Organization Affairs. Additionally, the Public Service and Human Resource Development, and Government Communication Offices will be overseen by the head of the Administration Office under the new structure.

Under the new structure, Kebele operations, which were previously managed by the Kebele chairman, vice chairman, and the security sector, will now be organized into seven cabinets, including the offices for the party, social affairs, economy, and militia. These four additional structures at the Kebele level are newly constituted, with three of them—the Kebele chairman, vice chairman, and head of the party office—serving as the executive members of the Kebele.

Previously, the government did not pay salaries to Kebele workers, offering only certain benefits. However, under the new arrangement, the seven Kebele leadership cabinets mentioned above will receive a net salary of not less than 10,000 birr.