BY MENGESHA AMARE
Being the political, commercial, social and cultural hub of all people, the epicenter of the nation’s economy possessing a number of indispensible breakthroughs, treasures, among others, little Ethiopia easy to say-Addis Ababa-is recurrently changing.
The new administration following the national reform introduced since close to three years ago has been laboriously working to lessen capital’s mountainous problems backlogged for years though a lot remains to be journeyed.
For instance, after a trying and time-consuming investigation, an inviting, telling and frank preliminary report on land grabbing and public houses plundering in Addis Ababa is presented. The report follows the myriads of queries and preservations forwarded by some political parties, too.
In clear terms, the previous system has caused a range of economic imbalance and inequality among citizens. As part of narrowing the gaps down and coming up with an alluring capital, the Addis Ababa city administration has prepared the report.
It is an excellent step, indeed. It must be accompanied by stringent measures to hunt culprits and get them appear court. The perpetrators who were government officials of course working with brokers and self-centered individuals out of the call of their responsibility have to be liable for all the mishaps.
Justice must be prevailed. Actions taken upon these government officials should be influential and capable of schooling others. Further investigation should also be carried out and reform actors need to be encouraged as they are relentlessly endeavoring to rescue the capital.
Undeniably, Ethiopia has enjoyed the fruits of the reform. The reform actors have been in a serious fight against problems rampant in the city especially emanating from system maladministration such as corruption and other related menace as lack of good governance and malpractice as they have been well heaped up.
Here, the significance of taking legal and political measures has been an incomparable boulevard to push the nation steps forward. Besides, the city administration has to live up to its words and be ready to translate oaths into practical actions.
Yes, the right person should be assigned on the right place. Serving the general public should be merit based as it is not a matter of prolonging the party or government stay in power; rather it needs to be a means of helping citizenry get a sigh of relief alleviating the shackles of a number of perplexities.
The city administration, the federal government, development partners and the public at large should move in unison to devise lasting solutions to the problems challenging Addis Ababa.
The rampant land grabbing move has to be reined so as to help the public especially urban dwellers have a stable life enjoying fairness and equitable resource utilization.
In the presence of many people continue saving in banks since 2005 to be house owners, how on earth over 21,000 houses have been confidently possessed by insurgents and brazen individuals.
No one argues that Addis Ababa has to live up to its status, image given, and the name it holds, New Flower!
In the contemporary world where capitalizing on the sociopolitical dynamics has become call of the day, transforming urban areas especially strategic capitals like Addis Ababa is a must.
Needless to state, Addis Ababa is heterogeneously organized, hub of a number of national and international organizations and a center of national, regional and international diplomacy.
The capital has also been, continue to be as well, home to every nation and nationality living in a harmonious manner. As urbanization is correlated with income growth, employment opportunities, infrastructure development and prevalence of coexistence, among others, making the capital citizens’ heaven should not be left only to the city administration, the government and other concerned bodies; rather it requires the combined effort of all.
“Taking corrective measures so as to get activities well tracked, getting fairness prevailed as well as getting sources of unlawful enrichment dried are the prioritized goings-on embarked on by the city administration,” said Adanech Abebie, Addis Ababa City Administration Deputy Mayor.
Yes, the biggest urban problem, in almost every area can be rooted out well if the city administration’s effort keeps at the same rate. There is a need for significant national support towards this end though the capital has come up with remarkable steps and readied to take inflexible actions against illicit act culprits.
We also need to better understand the downsides of the rise of unlawful enrichment unknowingly or calculatingly.
What interventions can help address the daunting housing challenges in the midst of the presence of irresponsible officials working with brokers setting public serving concern aside?
What societal interventions can effectively improve the longevity of the active engagement of the city administration to dodge the long time piled up problems right now?
The incumbent city administration has emphasized the role that corrupt-free officials can play in fomenting political change. It has also highlighted the primary channels through which urbanization might promote democracy and good governance.
It is also necessary to better understand the widespread effects of the change registered so far though accompanied with many bottlenecks layered for more than two decades at least.
It is undeniable fact that Addis Ababa city has been in a steady progress and change seeing administrators off chapter after chapter since its inception. The good thing is the new administration following the national reform has seriously eyed at the capital to provide it with the status it deserves, and to make it a metropolitan city as its name bespeaks.
Though Addis Ababa has so far faced a range of ups and downs, it is now advancing towards modernization penetrating all the hurdles that potentially retard its growth and change. A number of factors can be cited in this regard.
It is enough to acknowledge what has recently been presented by Deputy Mayor of the capital with regard to the houses possessed by illegal owners. These bodies are neither known by the housing administration office of the municipality nor have they had documents depicting from whom they have taken the houses.
From this one can easily deduce that what a gang segment has been administered the city since 2005.
The capital has now focused on a number of projects providing it with a majestic look and numerous job opportunities for citizens.
The city administration is being active enough to sort out the very challenges that have hindered the city from growing well and get prospered as much as possible.
Yes, Addis Ababa has brought about impressive reforms especially after the reform. Since all the problems especially related to land grabbing have been massed so long, it is hard to think of rooting out the handcuffs overnight.
“Despite the hugeness and complicated nature of the problems particularly regarding the housing aspect, the city administration is aggressively working to properly address them centering two objectives: to enforce rule of law, as many including government officials working on the area have been indulged in the land grabbing to declare unlawful enrichment, and to ensure a fair and just wealth distribution in the country in general and in the city in particular,” said Adanech.
According to the Deputy Mayor, “Conditions have to be conducive to citizens with a view to helping them contribute their share to the growth and development of their city with a view to enabling the capital to be a metropolitan city of which everyone proud!”
The relationship between metropolitan change and meeting urbanite’s multifarious demand can be viewed as a significant component of strategies and ways to come up with a well-standardized and classic municipal city.
That is why the city administration is relentlessly endeavoring towards doing away with all the problems, step by step in fact.
The Ethiopian Herald January 29/2021
