According to the leadership of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition, 667 of their members in the Hadiya Zone were arrested prior to the 2000 general elections, all of whom were charged with the same four counts: incitement against the government; incitement not to pay taxes and fertilizer loans; cutting government-owned forest; and illegal use of grazing lands. At year's end, 104 members remained in zonal prisons in Hosana and Durame; government officials reported a lower number. Due to widespread protests over the handling of the election in Hadiya, elections in seven constituencies were re-run on 25 June of that year, which involved several teams of diplomatic observers, and polling stations were staffed by National Election Board of Ethiopia coordinators from the capital, which resulted with the opposition party winning six of seven of the races. However, in a press conference held by Dr. Beyene Petros in the following month, he accused local cadres of the ruling party of avenging their electoral losses, telling drought victims in Hadiya, who asked for assistance, to go "ask Beyene". Hadiya informants reported intimidation and harassment of HNDO members by cadres of the ruling party in the aftermath of the election, to show that they were still in control of the kebele and woreda structures.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 1,231,196, of whom 612,026 are men and 619,170 women; with an area of 3,593.31 square kilometers, Hadiya has a population density of 342.64. While 134,041 or 10.89% are urban inhabitants, a further 157 individuals are pastoralists. A total of 231,846 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 5.31 persons to a household, and 223,403 housing units. The largest ethnic groups reported in Hadiya zone were the Hadiya, the Danta,the Kambaata, the Gurage 1.1%, 2.24% spoke Amharic, and 1.94% spoke Kambaata; the remaining 4.88% spoke all other primary languages reported. 75.35% of the population said they were Protestants, 11.13% were Muslim, 8.45% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 4.31% Catholic. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 1,050,151, of whom 521,807 were men and 528,344 women; 67,705 or 6.45% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The five largest ethnic groups reported in Hadiya were the Hadiya, the Silte, the Kambaata, the Soddo Gurage, and the Amhara ; all other ethnic groups made up 6.06% of the population. Hadiya is spoken as a first language by 79.6%, 10.13% Silte, 3.2% spoke Kambaata, 2.65% spoke Amharic, and 1% spoke Soddo Gurage; the remaining 3.42% spoke all other primary languages reported. 46.81% of the population said they were Protestants, 22.23% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, 22.14% were Muslim, 5.38% Catholic, and 1.46% observed traditional religions. According to a May 24, 2004World Bank memorandum, 6% of the inhabitants of Hadiya have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 104.1 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers, the average rural household has 0.6 hectare of land the equivalent of 0.6 heads of livestock. 22.8% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 32%. 74% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 21% in secondary schools. 43% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and 59% to Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 318.
