Converting Old Possessions into Lease System in Ethiopia: Decades of Unsuccessful Endeavors

Abstract

Dual urban land tenure arrangements have continued to exist in urban centers of the Ethiopia since the beginning of 1990‟s. However, despite the fact that the lease system began to be implemented for more than a decade ago, we are still witnessing the existence of urban land lease holdings and old possessions side by side. The attempt to have a unified tenure arrangement began with the current government following the enactment of the first urban land lease proclamation in 1993. However, this attempt has turned out to be unsuccessful so far, due to various reasons. Similarly, an unsuccessful effort was witnessed during the implementation period of the 2002 subsequent urban land lease proclamation. However, like its preceding urban land lease laws, even if the law aims to achieve otherwise, no feasible change has been observed in unifying the urban land tenure system after the coming into force of the existing Urban Lands Lease law in 2011. Using a doctrinal approach, this article aims to examine why the government is unable to start the process of implementing the law in unifying the urban land tenure system. More specifically, the major possible challenges the government may encounter in converting old possessions into lease holdings and the corresponding benefits that can be accrued to the lease holders, as well as the government, will also be addressed. Moreover, in order to substantiate the argument forwarded in this article, interviews were also conducted with relevant experts in the field from the two concerned authorities of Amhara region. Based on the primary data and analysis of various legal documents, the authors argue that if there is a need to have a unified tenure arrangement in urban areas of the country through converting old possession into lease holdings and if there is a need to rectify previous failures, especially after the enactment of an unambiguous and unequivocal regulation by the Council of Ministers, then a different approaches and strategies must be adopted.