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It had not been designed and prepared for as a
government in anticipation of certain
responsibilities. It is just a composition of
individuals from different walks of life. Once it
was formed, its specific missions, except for
political administration and security matters, were
set out. Its works in the socio- economic realm were
mandated and it was tasked with continuing the
development works already started by its immediate
predecessor.
On taking over, the Caretaker Administration had not
set out its own priorities. It did not say that
education was a priority, or that health was the
number one priority, or that constructing roads was
a top priority. Its authorization was to continue
with development programs already begun. It can be
recalled that the government machinery had ground to
a halt, and the aim was to restart it and to
continue with the civil services that had been
interrupted. This job was set for one year, but at
the end of the one-year period, Parliament extended
our term by yet another year.
Those programmes that the administration took over
include the building of houses, the continuation of
the micro and small-scale business schemes, the
construction of schools, as well as various
youth-centered local development programmes. These
were some of the activities that we were involved
in. And they were many. For example, in the
construction of houses, those that had already been
started were finished off and handed over by us to
residents. On top of this, there are a further
33,000 condos that have been started in the 1999
budget year.
Our biggest achievement has to have been the
resurrection of the government machinery. There had
been a strike; most workers had stopped work
completely. We see the success of getting workers
to go back to their jobs as a big achievement.
Q: Do you consider yourself successful in that
regard?
Our biggest mission has been to set up a stable
government bureaucracy for whoever is elected in the
future. And we have achieved this. There had been
many unfilled jobs. Many of those have been filled
and many government services are being rendered. We
have carried out significant works in rebuilding the
government’s confidence.
Q: Can we say the new administration is taking over
in convenient situations?
In relative terms, there are convenient situations
in terms of them entering into a stable bureaucracy.
Compared to what it was like when we took over,
which was an almost strike induced standstill in
most parts of the city’s government machinery that
resulted in deepened illegal practices like land
grabbing, yes we have succeeded.
Q: What exactly did you do to bring the workers back
to their jobs, and to make them concentrate on their
work?
Firstly, we, at Cabinet level, held discourse with
the workers while the Mayor talked to their
representatives. Advancement for workers had been
suspended. We have released restrictions on this. It
was agreed that the regulations that govern the
workers, the Civil Service Codes, be put into force.
All these developments have motivated the workers
and given them confidence in the government. And
that is why we feel that we can say the bureaucracy
we inherited, as compared to the present one is
different and that we have created stable government
machinery.
Q: Are there any projects you initiated, other than
what you have described as continuing from what the
previous administration had started but had not
finished?
As I said earlier, the mandate of the Caretaker
Administration was to execute government policies
and programmes that had already been running but had
stopped. We did not initiate new policies.
Q: Other than policy related issues, were there
programmes, such as the construction of buildings or
the building of roads that you were able to
initiate, something brand new?
As I’ve said before, programmes are derived from
policies and strategies. There are new projects: an
example is the Gotera Road as well as many other new
road projects. There is, as we all know, a shortage
of water in Addis Abeba and this is a challenge.
Drilling of wells has been started. This is a
temporary measure so as to allay some of the
shortage on a local level. This drilling is being
done in conjunction with the upgrading work underway
on the Gefersa and Dire Dams.
There has also been the construction of many
elementary and high schools. We have eliminated
shift systems in schooling altogether. Our second
term in office, as extended by Parliament, has
resulted in the betterment of our output.
Q: You were tasked with continuing all the works
started by your predecessor, except security and
political matters. Are there any programmes from
within your mandates that you were not able to
undertake when you were supposed to? If yes, what
were the reasons?
As has frequently been attributed as failure, we
could not prepare land for the industrial zones. The
main reason for this is the dissolution of the
specific body under the Land Development and
Administration Agency of the Provisional Government.
That body was responsible for preparing and
distributing land. But it had been disbanded when
the provisional government left office.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean we have not done
anything towards providing land to the people.
Though we failed to develop such land with essential
infrastructure facilities being put in place, we,
however, managed to provide many plots of land both
in the city center and expansion areas for
government institutes, NGOs and individuals who
demanded to be allowed to construct hotels,
multi-purpose buildings and schools. We have also
been criticized for not being quick enough and
failing to decide on as many as 30 or 40 requests a
day. That is true.
Q: Especially compared to the pace at which your
immediate predecessor used to decide on same
matters.
That is right. But most of the documents presented
to us were very startling. There were cases where
documents that described as unclaimed plots of land
that had already been granted. So we have been
trying to go in to the nitty-gritty of each case.
Besides this, the administration is not politically
charged. We were expected to make balanced decisions
that suited both the public and the (Federal)
government. We were not rushed. Stakeholders,
including District officials as well as individuals
who had requested to be given land and who had
interests in such land, have a say in the process of
making decisions. As much as possible, we have been
trying to make informed decisions and we have
succeeded.
Q: Isn’t what you have just told me over
carefulness, which actually caused your unhurried
decisions, resulting in a snail’s pace progress?
I don’t think so.
Q: So you are saying you couldn’t have performed any
faster?
We couldn’t; given the documents we received and the
thoroughly scrutinizing mechanism we have adopted.
Q: Another point of criticism about your
administration is the escalation of corruption. What
is your reaction to that?
The information that corruption has intensified
during the Caretaker Administration’s time is
wrong. The bureaucracy is not the result of this
administration. It has been there for quite a long
time.
Q: But it’s during your administration that
individuals managed to get authentic land documents
in their name from the municipality for the plots
they don’t actually own.
This has to be very clear. Such things have not
happened under this administration. Instead, we have
worked in closer cooperation with Ethics and
Anti-Corruption Commission. We know such things
happened during the end of the Provisional
Administration and the subsequent time till we took
over. But I don’t think it is helpful to say they
happened under this administration or that
administration.
Q: So you inherited them?
Yes.
Q: But the popular view is that they happened under
this administration. A typical example is the
infamous land grabbing issue in the name of more
than 100 artificial housing cooperatives, as has
been announced by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission. Have you done anything to let the public
know of your claim that they are inherited problems?
Yes we have. We have officially announced that on
media. Moreover, not a single housing cooperative
got land from the Caretaker Administration.
Q: What were the main challenges your administration
faced?
There were some challenges, as I’ve said earlier.
The low level of motivation among workers was one.
There were many vacant posts, most of which were
crucial. We had to fill those posts and it was no
easy task. It was essential that they were filled to
get work started soon after.
The other challenge was the city’s deteriorating
rubbish cleanup service. Following the elections,
rubbish had been allowed to accumulate everywhere
due to the absence of strict follow-up. Besides, for
over forty years now, the city has had no planned
landfill site where rubbish could be dumped. There
has simply been a damping site, Repi. Schools in the
dumping area had to be closed by the Caretaker
Administration because the dumping site had filled
up. The people in affected areas had voiced
concerns for their health.
Consequently, the Repi dumping site has been
upgraded at a cost of 28 million Br in a way that it
could continue to be used until a designated
landfill site is readied for total waste management.
Alongside this, we have been working on preparing a
site around Bole Aramsa area for a future designated
landfill.
Q: I’m interested about the landfill site you said
you are working on. I have learnt that you have
already chosen a site to construct a 30hct landfill
in the area you mentioned and the French
government’s development agency pledged to grant 5.4
million Euros. Tell me more about it.
Where are you in that process currently?
In the Repi dumpsite, rubbish is just left
unmanaged. The rubbish transporting trucks simply
unload the wastes they collect from across the city.
Neither the recyclable nor the toxic parts are
managed properly because there is no such facility
at Repi. The Bole Aramsa landfill site will have
such a facility. The plan is to undertake detailed
study on the site in collaboration with the French
government. We have already completed the design
work for the landfill. We also have allocated about
40 million Br for the construction of a road to the
site, whose design work has already begun.
The site is located at a farther part of the city,
close to the border with Oromia. Thus we have been
engaged in a series of discussions with the Oromia
Regional State Government and we got positive
replies from them to work in cooperation.
That is the situation, but in general, the problems
of waste disposal in Addis Abeba have reached
critical stages.
The other serious problem we inherited was the acute
shortage of water due to construction works. We have
prepared short-term plans to address this problem
and worked accordingly.
Q: But have you managed to address the problem?
The problem was very chronic, particularly in
expansion sites. As is well known, our city has not
expanded on a master plan. It grew sideways, and no
previous administrations had set plans for growth.
Roads and infrastructures were allocated after
people had settled. Utilities were expanded after
settlements had established themselves. Development
has not been keeping pace with the expansion of the
city. That trend has to change.
Q: Let me raise a specific question about the
landfill. When do you anticipate starting the
construction?
We expect the new administration to start on it. We
have already taken the initial steps.
Q: You mentioned discussions with Oromia Regional
Government. All the expansion areas of Addis Abeba
border the State of Oromia. There are concerns from
Oromia’s on issues surrounding this. There was a
case where the Burrayu Town Administration banned
the ongoing construction of houses, claiming that
the Addis Abeba City Administration had granted land
that lay within Oromia’s territory. Are there any
developments concerning this?
We have established a working committee with the
administrations involved -Addis Abeba, Burayo and
Sebeta. Though we have started working on this
issue, it will remain work-in-progress for the new
administration.
Q: Due to the administrative vacuum created
following the turmoil in the aftermath of the May
2005 elections, the Federal Government has taken
some of the agencies previously under the City
Administration’s authority. Are there any problems
that have been caused by this?
The Addis Abeba Police, the Addis Abeba Branch
Transport Authority and the Addis Abeba Public
Notary Office are the institutes brought under the
Federal Government. These institutes are kept to
serve the city. Operationally, they have been doing
what they would have been doing under the City
Administration. Besides, the revenue generated by
the transport authority and the public notary office
kept flowing to the City Administration’s coffers.
On top of that, we are mandated to execute the
Federal Government’s policies. As long as we managed
executing the policies, we have not seen any jumble
of roles and authorities. And there haven’t been any
problems caused by this either.
Q: What is the future of the institutions you
mentioned? Will they be returned to the City
Administration?
I don’t have any information about that.
Q: Finally, what do you think would be the major
challenges for the new Administration and what
should be its priorities?
The new Administration has better opportunities than
we had. First, it is an elected body with political
muscle. That would help it to convey its plans to
the lower levels. Speaking of priorities, there are
none in Addis Abeba. The problems the new
Administration has to work on are horizontal not
vertical. Thus, it is expected to work on good
governance issues, housing and water supply
problems, inflation and price hikes, as well as the
sanitation of the city altogether.
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