The House of Peoples Representatives recently approved a budget of 971 billion birr for the just started budget year (2024/25). Capital expenditure, as usual, saw a meager increase, while recurrent expenses, received the lion’s share. Support for achieving Sustainable Development Goals, appears stagnant from last year’s budget. The shift in priorities comes alongside a continued high military budget and a decline in education funding compared to the post Northern war times.
In this budget allocation, 5.2 billion birr has been allocated for renovating and beautifying existing government office buildings. This stands in stark contrast to the situation in some parts of the country, where teachers and healthcare professionals haven’t received their salaries for months.
In the heart of South Ethiopia’s Wolaita Zone, a simmering financial crisis has erupted into full-blown public unrest. In a concerted effort to address the protracted delay in salary payments, teachers, healthcare workers, and local government staff have taken to the streets in a desperate attempt to claim their long-overdue salaries.
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A teacher, speaking under the veil of anonymity, revealed a stark reality: the government has failed to pay employees’ salaries for three consecutive months. The frustration of these workers boiled over in April 2024, when they staged a significant demonstration in Sodo town, demanding their unpaid March wages.
The protest was a poignant tableau of desperation. Demonstrators confronted government officials, demanding answers and immediate payment. The protest yielded some success, as a fraction of employees in the Wolaita Zone received their March salaries shortly after.
Yet, many public employees, especially those stationed in remote woredas such as Boloso Bombe, Diguna Fango, Abala Abaya, and Hobicha Bada, remain unpaid for March, April, and May. These distant areas lack the leverage to effectively pressure the government. According to the anonymous teacher, local police even restricted employees from travelling to Sodo to air their grievances.
The government’s failure to disburse May salaries has further inflamed the situation. Frustrated and disillusioned, public employees in Wolaita Zone are now contemplating further strikes to force the local government to honor its salary commitments.
Repeated inquiries to the South Ethiopia regional state and WolaitaSodo zone governments have been met with a dishearteningly uniform response: a shortage of funds. This chronic financial instability has not only eroded the livelihoods of public servants but also severely undermined the quality of essential services they provide.
This financial debacle, now in its second year, is growing ever more dire. The anonymous teacher reported that public employees are resorting to selling household belongings to survive and support their families. Some have even abandoned their posts to join relatives in rural areas, turning to agricultural work to make ends meet.
Birhanu Kasa, a teacher in the South Ethiopia regional state, has been particularly hard-hit. For the past three years, his salary has been slashed by half. Birhanu, a father and husband, disclosed that employees like him are receiving only 40 to 60 percent of their expected salaries.
As of June 17, all employees in the Wolaita Zone have not been paid their May salaries. The government’s explanation remains the same: a budget shortfall.
Birhanu shared a harrowing reality where public employees are selling personal belongings—televisions, sofas, and even wedding rings—to survive. Some have turned to daily labor or migrated in search of work. “One public servant sold a wedding ring to support his family,” he said.
Birhanu and his wife, both public servants, are struggling to provide for their family. Their son, in kindergarten, faces the risk of dropping out because they cannot afford the school fees. The mounting pressure from the school has left Birhanu feeling desperate and helpless.
“The employees are now desperate, and they say it is better to die struggling for their rights than dying out of hunger,” Birhanu said. He also highlighted that health stations in rural areas of the zone are not functioning, exacerbating the crisis.
The failure to pay salaries in Wolaita Zone is symptomatic of a broader trend. Ethiopia’s social services are caught in a financial maelstrom, characterized by dwindling budgets. This financial strain is acutely felt in the education and health sectors, where budget cuts have severely compromised the ability to provide and maintain essential services.
Education: A sector in decline
The federal governments spending on education, for instance, has seen significant reductions despite appearing to increase nominally. From 2018 to 2022, Ethiopia’s nominal budget for education increased steadily, but rampant inflation eroded these nominal gains, resulting in much smaller real increases.
By 2022, the real budget for education stood at 126.31 billion birr. After 2022, the education budget experienced a dramatic decline. In 2023, the nominal budget plummeted to 64.7 billion birr. With persistent inflation, the real budget fell to 50.04 billion birr, marking a staggering 60.3 percent decline.
The downward trend continued into 2024, with the nominal budget further decreasing to 55.8 billion birr. The real budget, accounting for inflation, dropped to 43.76 billion Birr, a further 12.5 percent decline.
This downward spiral in the education budget underscores the critical financial challenges affecting the sector. Drastic reductions in the real budget mean that education is receiving far less funding in real terms, compromising the ability to maintain essential services.
Health Sector: Unprecedented Cuts
The health sector in Ethiopia is similarly reeling from unprecedented budget cuts. From 2018 to 2021, the nominal health budget saw substantial hikes. However, inflation significantly eroded the purchasing power of these budgetary allocations.
In 2022, the real budget declined slightly by 2.4 percent, indicating the beginning of financial strain despite a nominal increase. High inflation rates continued to erode the budget’s real value.
The most dramatic change occurred in 2023 when the nominal budget was slashed to 19.3 billion birr. Combined with high inflation, this led to a catastrophic 70.8 percent decline in the real budget, plummeting to 14.93 billion birr—a massive drop of 36.19 billion birr.
In 2024, the nominal budget saw a slight increase to 22.6 billion birr, resulting in a real budget of 17.72 billion birr. While this represents an 18.6 percent rise from 2023, it remains far below the real budget levels seen in earlier years.
Impact on Essential Services
The budget shortages have had a profound impact with the health and education sectors bearing the brunt of it. Last October, health officers and teachers in Shone town, Hadiya zone, stopped working because the government failed to pay their salaries for three months. This work stoppage underscored the severe financial crisis affecting these critical sectors.
In November, teachers in the In Tembaro Special Woreda of Central Ethiopia regional state also stopped working due to unpaid salaries. Government officials attribute this persistent problem to a lack of budget.
Budget shortages have also plagued universities and hospitals as well.
Institutions such as Paulos Hospital and universities like Bahir Dar have struggled to pay their employees on time due to insufficient funds. Last November, the South Regional Education Bureau stated that budget constraints prevented the publication of enough books for the new curriculum. The lack of access to these educational materials has hampered the teaching and learning process in the Walayata and Gurage zones. Students in these areas reported difficulties in preparing for regional and national exams due to the unavailability of necessary textbooks.
As Ethiopia grapples with these financial challenges, the voices of affected public servants, educators, even students resonate with a plea for immediate government intervention. The stark reality of budget cuts in education and health highlights the urgent need for sustainable financial solutions to ensure these critical sectors can continue to function effectively.
