By Shanko Dache
Who is taking the city’s public properties, and who is getting displaced? There is a story that deserves wider public attention.
For years, residents have witnessed changes that go beyond the usual upgrades and developments that a city undergoes.
Public spaces, government properties, residential compounds, and other assets that many Ethiopians recall as public property have been demolished, repurposed, transferred, or put under new control. Who owns these properties? Who transferred them? Under what authority? Who received them? Who benefits? These are public property issues.
A city developed by Ethiopians
To appreciate the issues raised by Awassa’s residents, we need to look at how the city developed. The modern city of Awassa was established during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and developed into an important Ethiopian commercial, administrative, and cultural center over subsequent decades.
Awassa later became the capital of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), a multi-ethnic regional state.
As the seat of the regional government, Awassa became an important center for people from many parts of Ethiopia. Ethiopians from all walks of life came to Awassa to live, work, and invest. They established businesses, built homes, worked in government institutions, constructed commercial buildings, paid taxes, and raised families.
They contributed to the development of schools, roads, businesses, hotels, government buildings, residential neighborhoods, and other infrastructure. Awassa became the city it is today through decades of development and investment by Ethiopians from many different communities. That history should not be forgotten.
When public property changes, the public has a right to know. The concern is not simply that Awassa is changing. Cities must change. They must modernize. They must develop. The concern is how that change is taking place and whether public property is being transferred without enough transparency.
Residents have pointed to properties whose ownership and use have undergone significant changes over the years. The public therefore has a right to ask whether the property was legally transferred, who authorized the transfer, whether it was sold, leased, or reassigned, what its market value was, if there was competitive bidding process, who received it, was compensation paid to people with legitimate property or tenancy rights, and most importantly, where are the records? If every transaction was lawful, the authorities should be able to provide documentation to demonstrate this.
The properties residents remember
Residents have pointed to several properties whose histories should be investigated. One example is a large area and hall that used to be a cinema. Another is the sizeable area in front of the former cinema, which used to be a residential area occupied by numerous people.
According to accounts by people familiar with the area, the character and use of these properties later underwent significant change, the latter associated with one ethnic constituency and used as a restaurant. There is also the old cinema building associated with Kebele 1-04. Residents say that this property used to be a public asset but was used as an office of the Sidama Regional Government. If these accounts are accurate, the public should get a clear explanation of whether the property was transferred legally, whether it was purchased, whether it was leased, whether it was reassigned, who approved the transaction, what was the property’s assessed value, were there competing bidders, and were people with legitimate claims properly compensated? The answer should not depend on political connections or ethnicity. The documents should provide the answer.
The Derg-era properties
Some of the properties now being discussed were constructed or administered during the Derg period. But the fact that a property was built under an earlier government does not mean that it can then be treated as nobody’s property or be transferred without accountability. Governments change. Political administrations change. Regional structures change. But public assets remain public assets unless there is a lawful process changing their ownership or status.
A cinema-built decades ago does not become the private property of today’s officials. A government residential compound does not automatically become the property of an ethnic constituency. A public building does not cease to be a public asset because a new administration occupies it. If ownership has changed, the government should be able to show the public the legal basis for that change.
These concerns are not new
Concerns about government housing, public properties, and unequal treatment in Awassa have been raised publicly for years. One Ethiopian writer in an article published several years ago documented allegations regarding government housing and public properties in Awassa and questioned whether some properties regarded as government or public assets were being converted or used in ways that benefited particular interests.
Whether every allegation made in the article was accurate is something that should be determined by evidence. But the fact that similar concerns continue to arise today should not be dismissed. The proper response is investigation and transparency.
Open the records. Let the public see what happened. Development must not become displacement. No reasonable person should oppose the development of Awassa.
The city needs better roads, infrastructure, transportation, public spaces, and modern services.But development must not become the pretext for taking people’s homes and property without legal procedures and fair compensation.
Residents have raised serious concerns about displacement associated with corridor and urban development, in particular people losing homes, businesses, and access to properties that they have been occupied for years.
Thousands of people living in government housing have also reportedly faced displacement. These are not minor matters. Behind every demolished home is a family. Behind every displaced business is someone’s livelihood. Behind every expropriated property is a person who deserves to know why the property was taken and what compensation is available. It is evidently clear that in the illegal displacement of people’s homes and dislocation of people from their property, one ethnic group has been given the properties, and when public homes are destroyed, the materials that were used to build the houses have been taken by a single ethnic group.
Development should improve people’s lives. It should not simply change the appearance of the city while leaving displaced residents to bear the cost.
The bribery and abuse allegations must be investigated
Residents have also raised allegations of abuse of administrative power and corruption. Claims that people cannot accomplish ordinary administrative tasks without paying bribes should neither be exaggerated nor ignored.
They should be investigated. If officials are acting properly, they should welcome an investigation that clears their names. If corruption exists, those responsible should be held accountable. No resident should have to pay a bribe to exercise an ordinary civic right.
The larger political issue
There is also a broader political issue that deserves attention. Ethiopia’s politics have increasingly been influenced by the use of ethnic claims over territory, cities, and political power.
The political movement associated with OPEDO has played an important role in the development of Oromo political nationalism and in political demands with regard to Addis Ababa.
The concern is not about Oromo people. It is about ethnic political groups using ethnic politics to enrich a few and advance bogus territorial and political objectives that can have consequences for other Ethiopian citizens. What is happening in Awassa must therefore be examined with this broader political environment in mind.
A wicked political relationship that deserves scrutiny
There is also a political relationship between Oromo and Sidama ethnic political leaders that deserves public scrutiny. Sidama politicians are subservient to OPEDO as long as they stay in power and plunder citizens. While innocent Sidama people have been dying in droves by the hands of Oromo expansionists, the Sidama so-called leaders have chosen to see the other way to please the OPEDO. After witnessing the butchering of the people of Gedo, a Sidama by Guji Oromo’s farmer said “We sleep with one eye open.”
Critics have questioned whether political support between political establishments and ethnically baptized groups are exchanged in a manner that advances respective political objectives.
One issue of particular importance is the recent support expressed by Sidama political leaders for the Oromo political position with regard to Addis Ababa. The recent speech by the president of the Sidama Regional State in support of the political direction associated with OPEDO has therefore attracted attention. Political alliances are legitimate. But political alliances should never come at the expense of ordinary citizens. No political agreement should empower any political authority to disregard residents’ property rights, silence criticism, or treat public assets as political spoils.
A city should not become the property of one ethnic group
What has been done in Addis Ababa is repeated in Awassa. Urban redevelopment can bring improvements, but it can also lead to displacement and loss of livelihoods when residents are not adequately protected.
Awassa should not repeat the mistakes that have resulted in controversy elsewhere. Modernization is not the problem. Unaccountable modernization is the problem. A new road does not make an old resident disposable. A new building does not erase someone’s property rights.
A beautiful corridor does not justify ignoring the people whose homes or businesses were removed to create it. Development should serve the people who live in the city.
The public deserves the records
The most important question now is what has happened to Awassa’s land and public properties over the past years. Residents and people familiar with the city describe major changes involving land, buildings, government housing, and displacement.
Some allegations may turn out to be exaggerated. Others may prove accurate. That is why an independent investigation is necessary. The authorities should make available: Ownership histories of major public properties. Documents authorizing transfers. Sale, lease, and reassignment agreements. Property valuations. Tender and bidding records. Compensation records.
The institutions or entities that received transferred properties. The legal basis for each transfer. Records concerning displaced residents.
Records concerning government housing that has been cleared or reassigned. If everything was done legally, transparency will demonstrate that. If mistakes were made, transparency will identify them.
If corruption occurred, transparency will help expose it. In every case, the public benefits from knowing the truth. Awassa belongs to its residents.
Awassa should develop. It should modernize. It should become more prosperous. But development must respect the people who live there and the history of those who helped build the city.
For generations, Ethiopians from many different communities have lived in Awassa, built businesses, invested their resources, worked in its institutions, and contributed to its growth.
Their contributions cannot simply be erased. Awassa belongs to its residents. That means residents have a legitimate right to know what is happening to the land, buildings, and public properties around them.
Public property cannot simply disappear from public hands without explanation. Residents cannot be displaced without due process and fair compensation. And valuable properties cannot be transferred without the public determining who authorized the transfer, who received the property, and under what legal authority.
This is not a demand against development. It is a demand that development be lawful and transparent. The people are not asking for a favor. They are asking for the records. Who owned these properties? Who transferred them? Who received them? Under what law? How much were they worth? Who was compensated? And who ultimately benefited? Those questions deserve answers.
What Abiy and his OPEDO are doing is criminal and empowers a few ethnic groups at the expense of eighty other ethnic groups in the country. Abiy gave carte blanche to a single ethnic group to do whatever it wants with impunity.
A political blunder that has been perpetrated on the majority of Ethiopians for the benefit of a few ethically baptized narrow and selfish groups that came to power eight years by a mere accident and political unrest. The old and original name, Awassa has been changed for no apparent reason and different districts have been named to reflect the culture of a single ethnic group with the intent of erasing history, and without any regard for residents who established the city. Awassa belongs to its residents, and its residents deserve to know what is being done in their city.
Editor’s Note: Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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