Who will be
the next mayor?
By Tedla Yeneakal
Along with Kuma Demeksa, Minister of Defence, Aster Mamo, Minister
of Youth and Sports, Melaku Fenta, Minister of Revenue, the EPRDF
has delegated 2,970 representatives, while other opposition and
private contestants jointly have less than 90 delegates. Observers
predict the imbalance of numbers as an indication that the EPRDF
will probably win to administer the city for the coming five years.
Candidates for the next mayor of Addis Ababa have started emerging,
with the upcoming election in April, even before it is known the
party that will dominate the majority seats in the Addis Ababa city
council with three Ministers of the current incumbent party included
to run for the replacement seats elections, that was boycotted by
the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) after winning
a landslide in the May, 2005 elections.
Including the three ministers, Kuma Demeksa, Minister of Defence,
Aster Mamo, Minister of Youth and Sports, Melaku Fenta, Minister
of Revenue, the EPRDF has delegated 2,970 representatives, while
other oppositions and private contestants jointly have less than
90 delegates. Observers predict the imbalance of the number as an
indication that the EPRDF will probably win to administer the city
for the coming five years.
Critics point out that the top spot to oversee the cabinet that
comprises eight members, will be lead by Kuma Demekesa, the current
Defence Minister, based on his long experience of serving the government
in high positions including his familiarity of being a president
of the Oromia regional state, before his predecessor Junedi Sedo,
(the current Minister of Transport and Communication).
According to the Addis Ababa City charter, the city has the status
of both a city and state. The Mayor has responsibilities that are
much broader than those of most of his counterparts elsewhere: primary
and secondary education, as well as college education, for example;
primary health care and health centers, as well as hospitals. Policing,
water supply and infrastructure also all fall within his mandate.
If the prediction of the next mayor of Addis is 100 percent correct,
the policies that will be put in place will be similar to the former
administration of Arkebe Equbai, who attained office in early 2003
and administered to May 2005.
A decentralization of political power will be put in place and the
service delivery system down to the lower tiers of government by
the empowerment of communities and efficient delivery of public
and municipal services, aimed at ensuring accountability, transparency
and efficiency of the urban governance system.
According to the official website of the city government during
Arkebe’s reign, the previous four-tier government system was
reduced to three (these are the City-level Administration, Sub-City
Administration and Kebele Administration) with the lower tiers entrusted
with significant power to decide on matters regarding urban development
and governance of their localities, while the city-level executive
mainly focused on policy-making, capacity building and regulatory
tasks.
Currently the city comprises 10 municipalities, each representing
around 400,000 inhabitants; 90 per cent of services are provided
at municipality level or lower. These municipalities are autonomous
to the extent of setting their own budgets. Governance, however,
primarily focuses on the kebele, or neighborhood, of which there
are 10 in each municipality, each consisting of roughly 40 to 50,000
inhabitants.
For the past one year, the city was run by a provisional takeover
administration appointed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, endorsed
by the House of Peoples’ Representatives. About 54 oppositions
of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP), walked out
of the parliament protesting the appointment saying that it was
inappropriate to pass such a resolution while the elected mayor
of the city (Dr. Berhanu Nega) was in custody and that the best
solution was to talk and negotiate instead of appointing a care
taker administration.
According to official statistics from the federal government, Addis
Ababa has a population of around four million, and an eight per
cent annual growth rate. The economic activities in Addis Ababa
are diverse some 119,197 people in the city are engaged in trade
and commerce; 113,977 in manufacturing and industry; 80,391 homemakers
of different variety; 71,186 in civil administration; 50,538 in
transport and communication; 42,514 in education, health and social
services; 32,685 in hotel and catering services; and 16,602 in agriculture.
In addition to the residents of rural parts of Addis Ababa, the
city dwellers also participate in animal husbandry and cultivation
of gardens. Currently 677 hectares of land is irrigated annually,
on which 129,880 quintals of vegetables are cultivated
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