Ethiopia’s metropolitan city administration on Tuesday said it has recovered more than 1300 hectares of the land in Addis Ababa that have been held illegally by land grabbers.
Unveiling a report, Deputy Mayor of the City Adanech Abeibei said the practice of land grabbing in Addis Ababa has been rampant including during the most recent administration under the leadership of deputy mayor Takele Uma.
According to the deputy mayor, the city government has identified 322 buildings across the city that do not have ownership titles.
She said 21, 695 condominium houses, constituting more than 75 percent of the total condominium houses built in the capital since 2005, also have been held illegally.
The deputy mayor said owners of 15, 891 condominium houses in the city are not known
The claim is that the land grab for the recovered size of the land had been going on for fifteen years between 2005 and 2020.
The implication of the announcement, however, may mean that thousands could lose their homes – as was the case in areas in the outskirts of the city that are under Oromo regional state administration.
The Baladera Party for Genuine Democracy has been struggling for the rights of residents in the city whose homes were demolished by the administration under the guise of reversing “land grabbing.”
At the same time, it was struggling against politically motivated land grabs with an objective to change the demography in the city, and the process was said to have the backing of Takele Uma’s administration.
Leader of the party, Eskinder Nega, is in prison over alleged participation in protest in the city following the assassination of singer Hachalu Hundessa.
The party has not yet reacted to the latest report from the city administration.
MG/as/APA