BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
In one occasion, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) said that the first person who raised the slogan known as “land to the tiller” was Baro Tumsa the renowned political activist and establishing member of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Some also say that the slogan was promoted by the 1960s students’ movement.
According the historian Abebaw Ayalew, in 1966, in the first time of the Ethiopian history, students rallied against the land holding system introduced by the emperor Hilesilassie I and protested officially. But the statuesquo condemned and accused them as if they were backed by external elements who were dedicated to destabilize the country. Nevertheless, the students’ movement and demand was an instigator for radical change to bring down the thousand years long feudal system. Many agreed that, the students’ slogan can be said a turning point for radicalizing their movement.
According to Abebaw, due to anxiety of the students’ movement intention and their forwarded slogan, the imperial government was forced to establish one committee which was assumed to study the land issue under the auspicious of the then Ministry of Land Holding. The committee which had comprised Ministers with high profile studied the matter and proposed new land holding system reforming ideas.
Nevertheless, the imperial government had showed ambivalent to the matter and had become reluctant to the matter for 9 years. Though the issue had been forwarded to the parliament, the response was just a deaf ear.
According to the historian emeritus Professor Bahiru Zewdie, the quest to “land to the tiller” ultimately got responded by the 1974 popular revolution with radical proclamation introduced by the Derg which had abolished then law and dispossessed land lords.
As to Abebaw, in the Ethiopian political history, the radicalized land proclamation was introduced by the Derg because the members of the regime officers themselves involved in endorsing the law after intense and exhausting debate. Right after the introduction of the land proclamation, about 800 thousand residents of the Addis Ababa city rallied to demonstrate their support to the proclamation.
The proclamation also freed tenants from the landlords’ tax and made the production relation in favor of farmers. It also liberated from landlords’ exploitation.
The new land proclamation which had brought hope to the farmers was threatened by the new proclamation introduced in 1979 which referred to the establishment of cooperative associations. The new proclamation inhibited farmers not to grow crop as they wish. Joining the cooperative associations and sharing crops with members had been forcefully imposed.
Abebaw further said that in 1989 when mixed economy was introduced by the Derg, farmers faced uncertainty because claiming their share from the collective asset from the cooperative associations was very difficult. This clearly had indicated that despite the proclamation introduced in 1975 entitled farmers as if they were owners of the land, it was impractical and fully owned by the government.
After the downfall of the Derg, when EPRDF assumed the government power, the land ownership system which is still controversial continued as it was. As both the Derg and EPRDF officials were indoctrinated by Marxist philosophy, both believed that when the government controlled the economic power, perpetuating political power could be possible. Therefore, both sustained the government ownership of land under the guise of public property. The absence of the transaction value of land also continued.
The constitution introduced by EPRDF article 40 explains that land is owned by the public and the government. Sub article 3 further says that both the rural and urban lands and the natural resources are owned by the public and the government. Land would not be sold or transferred to other party and belongs to the Ethiopian nations, nationalities and peoples.
Sub article 4 also says that farmers have the right to obtain land and not to be evicted from their position. But in real terms farmers have only used rights on the land and the transaction value of land is totally denied.
The officials of EPRDF claimed that the land issues are not negotiable as long as they were in power and adamantly said that they would put for negotiation only at the grave yard of their system. In such rhetoric they governed the land for the past nearly 30 years. According to experts, the Derg land proclamation as compared to the EPRDF was more pro-farmers while the later has some ambiguity.
Though EPRDF had characterized by rigidity in its land policy, the quest for land policy reform is still on the table for further discussion. In the Ethiopian politics, the land issue has remained as a controversial issue. Particularly, during the election period the contested parties raised the land issues as their major agenda. For long, the government is known by its rigid stance with regard to land policy reform but now it seems it has changed its stance towards the policy and this is revealed by the government authorities’ comments.
While attending the parliament regular session recently, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) explained that the land policy issue has become worrisome particularly in urban areas. On the occasion, he unequivocally explained the reality on the ground with regard to land owning system. “Land is owned neither by the government nor by the public, rather, it is controlled by the corrupted government officials and brokers,” the PM said.
For long, intellectuals, opposition party members and observers claimed that the government made itself powerless regarding land ownership by its wrong policy and now the government transferred its decision making authority to what these segment of the society uttered. After long time of hibernation, however, the government recognized that the absence of transactional value of land inhibited citizens not to create wealth.
Though the government land policy states that, “land is not for sale”, in practice, it is illegally sold by brokers and corrupt officials and this reality is recognized by the government officials. Such a situation seems to have created a conducive environment to change the existing land policy.
For long, the land issue had been a motto which rallied the public for resentment. It also served as instrument to regime change.But still intellectuals have continued their debate in what way can the policy could be changed.
Demis Chanyalew (PhD) is an agricultural economist and said that when he heard the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s true explanation of the land holding system, he was so pleased.
He further said that if the government wants to reform the land policy; the policy must be integrated with strategy and the strategy with a program. As to his study paper known as “The three politicians and policy in economy”, the land issue was given special attention. It also evaluates the strength and weakness of the existing land policy.
“In many countries, land is possessed by various mechanisms and among others, it is owned privately, publicly and communally” Demis said. He also said that all have brought their own positive outcomes.
However, as to Demis, in the last 50 years, privatizing land is ignored and this can be seen as the policy weakness. The Prime Minister in the aforementioned occasion refuted that at least the urban land ownership could be revised. If so, this can be seen as a paradigm shift regarding land policy to this country. Three years ago, Anteneh Girma, (PhD) who worked as senior advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture reflected his view on the ten years perspective economic growth and said that the perspective plan prioritized agriculture. To that end, eight major problems of the sector were identified and improving mechanisms were set.
Among the problems, ill land administration and utilization, absence of coordination and modernity are leveled as the main ones. “Land that must be used for farm is used for other purposes, and land that must be used for other purposes is used for farm,” Anteneh said. As the result, it is misused.
As to Demis, plowing land in a fragmented manner does not help raising productivity, rather it poses land degradation. Hence, to boost production and to utilize the resource sustainably, shifting the old thinking with regard to land ownership and reforming the system is essential.
In line with this, establishing institutions helpful to utilize the resource economically is vital. Anteneh further said that regarding land usage and transfer, renting and transferring land in the form of inheritance law, the government has to forward mechanism to alleviate problems. Cultivating land in a fragmented manner will take farmers to nowhere. Therefore, to attract investment and technology there should be a policy shift in the part of the government.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD 18 DECEMBER 2022
