Borena Zone Conflict - Ethiopia Peace Observatory

Last updated: 29/09/2023

Moyale is a border town in Borena zone that marks a point of convergence between Ethiopia’s Somali and Oromia regions, as well as Ethiopia’s international border with Kenya. Moyale is administered by both Somali and Oromia regional states, and it is strategically important to Ethiopia and Kenya as it provides a road linking Nairobi to Addis Ababa. The Borana and Gabra clans of the Oromo ethnic group, the Garri clan of the Somali ethnic group, and a small number of traders from other ethnic groups from Ethiopia all live in the town. The traditional lands of the Borana, Gabra, and Garri clans span the border with Kenya. All three clans are predominantly pastoralists.¹

Conflict in this area is multilayered and involves numerous competing actors, including the Gabra, Borana, and Garri clan groups. The main causes of conflict between the three clans are competition over access to land resources and livestock raids.² After the implementation of ethno-federalism in the 1990s, a border conflict along Oromia and Somali regions erupted. The Borana clan claimed that based on the new ethnic-based regional formation, its land was recognized under the Liban zone of Somali region rather than Oromia region. Meanwhile, the Gabra clan has wanted to establish its own special woreda within the Borena zone in Oromia region.³ The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)’s splinter group, the OLF-Shane, is also active in the area.

At a meeting with the Kenyan president during the inauguration of the Moyale One-Stop Border Post on 9 December 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed requested Kenya’s assistance in combating OLF-Shane militants along the border in a bid for increased regional security cooperation.⁴ The prime minister has also attempted to sway the Oromo population away from the OLF-Shane by appeasing traditional Oromo leaders (known as Abbaa Gadaa) in the area. Notably, in December 2021, a traditional leader in Borena zone denounced the OLF-Shane as the “enemy of the people.”⁵

Borena zone’s history of violent confrontations and its location as a junction for multiple ethnicities make it susceptible to heightened violence in times of rising ethno-nationalist tensions and perceived state fragility.

Recent Developments

On 6 March 2023, residents of Borena zone together with residents of Guji and Bale zones protested the new administration arrangement of Negele town and the newly established East Borena zone announced by the Oromia regional government. They stated the new arrangement is not based on the will of the public, and it only benefits the regional government. On the weekend of 4 and 5 March 2023, they held a stay-at-home protest.
Reportedly around 3 January 2023, the ENDF and allied forces – assumed to be Oromia regional special forces – clashed with OLF-Shane in unspecified areas in Borena zone as well as in East Guji and West Guji zones, taking control of over seven kebeles from the group. It is known if casualties were sustained.