Pawe special woreda

Pawe is one of the 20 woredas in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. Because it is not part of any Zone in Benishangul-Gumuz, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area. Pawe is bordered on the south and west by Metekel, and on the east and north by the Amhara Region. The largest town in Pawe is Almu; other towns include Felege Selam and Ketema.

Pawe acquired a sinister connotation amongst many Ethiopians, for it was the location of the largest of the resettlement projects under the Derg in the years 1984-6. According to the governmental Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, 16,425 individuals had been moved from Gojjam to Pawe in that period. More settlers were recruited from the chronically land-hungry Kambaata and Hadiya regions, as well Welo in the north. While the goals of the resettlement plans—moving people from the overcrowded and famine-afflicted northern districts into underpopulated and more fertile ones in the south of the country—were justifiable, the actual resettlement was done in an arbitrary and disastrous manner, according to Paul B. Henze:

Derg operatives soon resorted to drastic methods, e.g. surrounding busy market places and loading people onto trucks. Families were divided. The resettlement sites were poorly prepared. Destitute "settlers" found themselves dumped in unfamiliar, malarial terrain. Tens of thousands died.

How Pawe came to be selected as a suitable site for resettlement is no longer known; no adequate investigation of the area had been carried out before the choice was made, nor were the indigenous peoples consulted. Nevertheless, in October 1984 the area was presented by local officials to their superiors, and after a local visit President Mengistu Haile Mariam endorsed the choice, pointing out that Pawe was endowed with large tracts of "unused" land, virgin soil, adequate rainfall, sufficient forest and mineral resources and a good climate. At its peak, around 1987/1988 (1980 E.C.), the resettlement population had a total population of 82,106 people (21,994 heads of households and 60,112 dependent family members) living in 48 villages.

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