Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Land Rights in Ethiopia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Land Rights and Expropriation in Ethiopia

Part of the book series: Springer Theses ((Springer Theses))

Abstract

Land is the source of all material wealth; it provides us with all our needs to sustain on. It is also a major economic asset from which people and nations get significant profit.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Aubry & Rau 1966. Droit Civil Francis-Property-, Translated by the Louisiana State Law Institute West Publishing Co. Vol. II, p. 1.

  2. 2.

    Merrill, T. W. & Smith, H. E. 2010. The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Property, New York, Oxford University Press, p. 3.

  3. 3.

    Aubry and Rau, supra note 1, p. 182.

  4. 4.

    1960. The Civil Code of Ethiopia. Negarit Gazeta: Gazette Extraordinary. Proclamation No. 165/1960. Hereinafter Civil Code.

  5. 5.

    Johnston, D. 1999. Roman Law in Context, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 22.

  6. 6.

    Munteanu, C. 2005. Historical Remarks on the Legal Notion of Property. Acta Universitatis Lucian Blaga, 54, p. 58.

  7. 7.

    See for example Honoré, A. M. 1961. Ownership. In: A.G. Guest (ed.) Oxford Essays in Jurisprudence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. He provides list eleven attributes (property rights) found in any advanced legal system which may also be called bundle of rights: the right to the possess; the right to use; the right to manage; the right to the income; the right to the capital; the right to security; the right to transmitting; the absence of any term on possession; a duty to prevent harm; and the liability to execution, p. 165–179.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., p. 108.

  9. 9.

    Stevenson, G. G. 1991. Common Property Economics: A General Theory and Land Use Applications, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 4.

  10. 10.

    Scott, A. D. 1955. The Fishery: The Objectives of Sole Ownership. Journal of Political Economy 63, 116–124, p. 116.

  11. 11.

    Snare, F. 1972. The Concept of Property. American Philosophical Quarterly, 9.

  12. 12.

    FDRE Rural Land Administration and Land Use Proclamation, Proclamation No. 456/2005. Negarit Gazeta. Year 11, No. 44. (hereinafter FDRE RLAUP) Article 2(4) defines “holding right” as “the right of any peasant farmer, semi-pastoralist and pastoralist… to use rural land for purpose of agriculture and natural resource development, lease and bequeath to members of his family or other lawful heirs, and includes the right to acquire property produced on his land… by his labour or capital and to sale, exchange and bequeath same”.

  13. 13.

    Clarke, A. & Kohler, P. 2005. Property Law: Commentary and Materials, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 36.

  14. 14.

    Waldron, J. 1988. The Right to Private Property, Oxford, clarendon press, p. 41.

  15. 15.

    Demsetz, H. 1967. Toward a Theory of Property Rights. The American Economic Review, 57, 347–359, p. 348.

  16. 16.

    Hardin, G. 1968. The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162, 1243–1248. The concept has further been used to explain overexploitation in fisheries, overgrazing, air and water pollution, abuse of public lands, population problems, extinction of species, fuel-wood depletion, misallocation in oil and natural gas extraction, groundwater depletion, wildlife decline, and other problems of resource misallocation.

  17. 17.

    For a better understanding on the nature of a well functioning communal property see generally Ostrom, E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

  18. 18.

    For example in the past 2 years the government has been transferring holding right of hills and small mountains to the local people in order the hills to be forested and protected.

  19. 19.

    For instance Philip Kivell, in his writing on the English and other European countries land ownership by central or municipal governments, uses the term “public ownership” of land to replace “state ownership” of land (see generally Kivell, P. 1993. Land and the City: Patterns and processes of urban change, London, Routledge.; Kivell, P. & McKay 1988. Public Ownership of Urban Land. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 13, 165–178.). Similarly Jeremy Waldron, fuses both “collective ownership” and “state ownership” as giving the same meaning when he comments: “sometimes, collective property is presented as special type of private ownership with the state as the equivalent of a private owner” (Waldron, supra note 14, p. 40.). Further in her critical work on Property, Margaret Davies, employed “government” and “public ownership” equivalently (Davies, M. 2007. Property: meanings, histories, theories, New York, Routledge-Cavendish, p. 64).

  20. 20.

    Ho, P. 2005. Institutions in Transition: Land Ownership, Property Rights, and Social Conflict in China, New York, Oxford University Press, p. 28.

  21. 21.

    See generally Kivell: 1988, 1992, supra note 19; Bourassa, S. C. & Hong, Y.-H. 2003. Leasing Public Land: International experiences, Cambridge, Massachusetts Lincoln Institute of Public policy. The writers raise many European, Asian and Australian cities where in urban land is owned by the city municipalities or local governments.

  22. 22.

    See generally Wegren, S. K. (ed.)1998. Land Reform in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, London, Routledge. For example it is said that in Ukraine, like any other place in the then Soviet Union, in theory, land farmed by agricultural collectives was owned by the collective. In reality, because Ukrainian farms were subject to the USSR land code and the Model Charter for collective farms, land was state-owned and workers on these farms assumed the same role as wage labor in industrial enterprises, p. 49.

  23. 23.

    See Civil Code, Articles 1444–1459.

  24. 24.

    Clawson, M. 1968. Land. In: Sills, D. L. (ed.) International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. USA: The Macmillan Company & The Free Press. Id., p. 562.

  25. 25.

    FAO 2002. Land Tenure and Rural Development, Rome, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, p. 7.

  26. 26.

    Ibid.

  27. 27.

    Arko-Adjei, A. 2011. Adapting Land Administration to the Institutional Framework of Customary Tenure: The case of Peri-urban Ghana, Amsterdam, TUDelft, p. 20.

  28. 28.

    See generally, Kabtamu-Niguse. 2012. Land Tenure and Tenure Security Among Somali Pastoralists: Within the Context of Dual Tenure System. LL.M thesis, Bahir Dar University, School of Law. As quoted in Kabtamu’s thesis, the government land policy of the Somalie Regional State confirms the complete control of land by traditional chiefs rather than by government organs: “Because of the fact that all rural land in the region is administered by clan leaders under the traditional land administration system, government institutions, investors and others who are in need of rural land should negotiate with clan leaders who determine the amount of compensation. Thus, the willingness of clan leaders are necessary as both the access to land and the amounts of compensations are determined by the clan leaders and not by government agency,” p. 128.

  29. 29.

    Pankhurst, R. 1966. State and Land in Ethiopian History, Addis Ababa, The Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the Faculty of Law, Haile Sellasie I University, p. 1.

  30. 30.

    During his stay in Ethiopia in the 16th century, the Portuguese priest, Francisco Alvarez, testifies that the power of the king was absolute (Alvarez, F. 1970 (Originally translated by John Stanley in 1881). Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia During the Years 1520–1527, London, The Hakluyt Society.). A 100 years latter Almeida (a Jesuit priest) said “the Emperor confiscates and grants all the lands as and to whom he chooses.” (See Pankhurst: 1966 (Ibid), p. 121.) James Bruce a 17th century Scottish traveler to Ethiopia has also declared that “all the land is the king’s; he gives to whom he pleases during pleasure and resumes it when it is his will; but the crown makes no violent use of its power in that respect” (Paul, J. C. N. & Clapham, C. 1972. Ethiopian Constitutional Development I, a Source Book, Addis Ababa, Haile Sellassie I University and Oxford University Press, p. 290.). An Ethiopian writer and Minister during the Imperial period also noted: “the Ethiopian Emperor has an uncontested and boundless power over the territories he rules. He is both the temporal and spiritual ruler” (Id., p. 58).

  31. 31.

    Ras Alula and Ras Gugissa, two famous governors of different part of the country, have once said to be declared that “Man is free, land tributary”.

  32. 32.

    Generally see Pankhurst: 1996, supra note 29.

  33. 33.

    Taddesse-Tamrat 1972. Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270–1527, Oxford, Clarendon Press, p. 98.

  34. 34.

    Ibid.

  35. 35.

    See for example Huntingford, G. W. B. 1965. The Land Charters of Northern Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the Faculty of Law, Haile Sellassie I University.; Crummey, D. 2000. Land and Society in the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: From the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century, USA, University of illinois Press.

  36. 36.

    See for example Marcus, H. G. 1994. A History of Ethiopia, Los Angeles, University of California Press, pp. 10–11, it is said that the drive southward was characterized by the implantation of military colonies followed by feudal like social order, and priests and monks acted as instrument of pacification and acculturation.

  37. 37.

    Hoben, A. 1973. Land Tenure Among the Amhara of Ethiopia: The Dynamics of Cognatic Descent Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

  38. 38.

    Id., p. 5.

  39. 39.

    See for example Markakis, J. 2006. Ethiopia: Anatomy of a Traditional Polity, Addis Ababa, Shama Books.; and Crummey: 2000, supra note 35.

  40. 40.

    Taddesse-Tamrat, supra note 33, p. 98.

  41. 41.

    Shiferaw-Bekele 1995. The Evolution of Land Tenure in the Imperial Era. In: Shiferaw, B. (ed.) An Economic History of Ethiopia: The Imperial Era 1941–1974. Dakar: CODESRIA, p. 97.

  42. 42.

    See generally Crummey: 2000, supra note 35.

  43. 43.

    Hoben, supra note 37, p. 5.

  44. 44.

    Clapham, C. 1988. Transformation and Continuity in Revolutionary Ethiopia, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

  45. 45.

    Ministry-of-Information 1968. Yemeret Yizota be Hibretesebawit Ethiopia (Land Possession in the Republic of Ethiopia), Addis Ababa, p. 51.

  46. 46.

    Hoben, supra note 37, p. 77.

  47. 47.

    For instance Gebre-Wold-Ingida work, infra note 52, p. 306, listed down 24 types of duties paid or carried out by the peasant to the state or local authorities. Some of those duties had been abolished during the early 21st century.

  48. 48.

    Bahru-Zewde 1991. A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855–1974, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa University Press, p. 14.

  49. 49.

    Id., p. 15.

  50. 50.

    Shiferaw-Bekele, supra note 41, p. 94.

  51. 51.

    Id., p. 94–96.

  52. 52.

    Gebre-Wold-Ingida, W. 1962. Ethiopia's Traditional System of Land Tenure and Taxation. Ethiopia Observer, 5, pp. 302–339.

  53. 53.

    Shiferaw, supra note 41.

  54. 54.

    Gebre Wold Engida, W., supra note 52.

  55. 55.

    Mahteme-Selassie, W. M. 1957. The Land System of Ethiopia. Ethiopia Observer, 1.; Mahteme-Sellassie, W. M. 1970. Zekre Neger, Addis Ababa, 2nd ed., pp. 107–119.

  56. 56.

    Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, p. 22.

  57. 57.

    Ibid.

  58. 58.

    The Fitha Negest (Law of the Kings) is a sophisticated compilation of legal prescriptions concerning both religious and secular matters written in approximately the 13th century in Egypt as a guide to Christian population living within the Moslem society. Originally written in Arabic, and incorporating laws from Old and New testament, Roman law, and some Moslem principles and the proceedings of the early councils of Nicaea and Antioch, it is believed that it was translated to Geez (official state and church language of ancient Ethiopia) in the 15th century, during the reign of Emperor Zera Yaqob (1434–1468).

  59. 59.

    Fitha Negest (Amharic and Geez Version). Addis Ababa: Tesfa-Gebre-Sellassie Printing Press. 44: 1540–1541, p. 380.

  60. 60.

    Of course, this right was revoked in 1942 by Decree for the Administration of all Church Lands (Decree No. 2 of 1942), which ordered that church lands should pay tax (to the government) at the same rate as secular lands. See the full text in Mahteme-Sellassie: 1957, supra note 55, pp. 300, 301.

  61. 61.

    See for example, Crummey, D. & Shumet-Sishagne 1991. Land Tenure and the Social Accumulation of Wealth in Eighteenth-Century Ethiopia: Evidence from the Qwesqwam Land Register. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 24, 241–258, p. 247, where it is mentioned that Emperor Iyasu II (1730–1755) and Etege Mentewab, the dowager empress, granted to the Quesquam church in Gonder a sum of 755 gashas (1 gasha is 40 ha) of land to be distributed among 260 debteras (church scribes).

  62. 62.

    Alvarez, supra note 30, p. 57.

  63. 63.

    Markakis, supra note 39, p. 123.

  64. 64.

    Shiferaw, supra note 41, pp. 93, 94.

  65. 65.

    Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, p. 136. These territories were, of course, under Ethiopian rule up to the 15th century. Then after, because of civil war and expansion of the Oromo people from the south, the emperors were pulling back to north and established their permanent city at Gonder.

  66. 66.

    The Ethiopian method for dealing with their enemies were based on the guidance offered in the Fitha Negest: “When you reach a city or a land to fight against its inhabitants, offer them terms of peace. If they accept you and open their gates, the men who are there shall become subjects and shall give you tributes, but if they refuse the terms of peace and offer battle, go forward to assault and oppress them, since the Lord your God will make you master of them.” (Markakis, supra note 39, p. 131); Fitha Negest, supra note 59, 44:1552–1555, p. 383.

  67. 67.

    Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, p. 136.

  68. 68.

    Shiferaw, supra note 41, p. 151.

  69. 69.

    Ibid.

  70. 70.

    Id., p. 104.

  71. 71.

    Crummey: 2000, supra note 35, p. 223.

  72. 72.

    Ibid.

  73. 73.

    Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, p. 137.

  74. 74.

    Markakis, supra note 39, pp. 162, 163.

  75. 75.

    See as reproduced in Mahteme-Selassie: 1970, supra note 55, p. 109.

  76. 76.

    Pausewang, S. 1982. Peasants, Land and Society: a Social History of Land Reform in Ethiopia, Munchen, Weltforum-Varlag, p. 36.

  77. 77.

    Gebre-Wold-Ingida, supra note 52, p. 302, 303.

  78. 78.

    See for example Gilkes, P. 1975. The Dying Lion: Feudalism and Modernization in Ethiopia, London, Julian Friedman Publishers.; Also see Crummey: 2000, supra note 89, p. 239.

  79. 79.

    Hoben, supra note 37, p. 209.

  80. 80.

    Id., pp. 205–209.

  81. 81.

    These are the law of September 1930 that deals with tax concerning excess land, and the law of May 1935 that established single land tax. Both are reproduced in Gebre-Wold-Ingida, supra note 52, p. 295–298.

  82. 82.

    Mahteme-Selassie: 1957, supra note 55, p. 297.

  83. 83.

    As reproduced in Gebre-Wold-Ingida, supra note 52, p. 325.

  84. 84.

    For example an Order passed by the Emperor after a year or two reads: “The Ministry of Finance has submitted that the Asrat and trade or marketing tax which has hitherto been collected by rist-gult holders shall in future be collected by officers of the Ministry of Finance, and that the rist-gult holders shall give to the Ministry of Finance any money they hold at present. These rist-gult holders must also submit in writing the amount left in their hands.” Gebre-Wold-Ingida, supra note 52, p. 331.

  85. 85.

    Full text is reproduced in Gebre-Wold-Ingida, supra note 52, p. 327.

  86. 86.

    Land Tax Proclamation, Proclamation No. 70/1944. Negarit Gazeta. Year 4, No. 2. Also available in Ewing, W. H. (ed.) 1972. Consolidated Laws of Ethiopia, V. I, Addis Ababa: The Law Faculty of Haile Sellassie I University, pp. 538–543.

  87. 87.

    Both are reproduced in Ewing, W. H. (ed.) 1972. Consolidated Laws of Ethiopia, V. I, Addis Ababa: The Law Faculty of Haile Sellassie I University, pp. 473 and 477 respectively.

  88. 88.

    Crummey: 2000, supra note 35, p. 241.

  89. 89.

    1966. A Proclamation to Amend the Land Tax Proclamation of 1944. Proclamation No. 230/1966. Negarit Gazeta: Year 25, No. 9. Article 2(a).

  90. 90.

    Id., Article 2(b).

  91. 91.

    For more discussion on the subject, see Gebru-Tareke 1991. Ethiopia: Power and Protest: Peasant Revolts in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

  92. 92.

    Bahru-Zewde: 1991, supra note 48, p. 191.

  93. 93.

    Dessalegn-Rahmato 2006. From Hetrogeneity to Homogeneity: Agrarian Class Structure in Ethiopia since the 1950s. In: Dessalegn-Rahmato & Taye-Assefa (eds.) Land and the Challenge of Sustainable Development in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Forum for Social Studies, p. 9. During the 1960s land was transferred by sale to civil servants, small scale traders and the like who anticipate profit from export of agricultural products.

  94. 94.

    For example, according to different studies, the tenancy rate was 75 % in Hararge, 67 % in Showa, 62 % in Kaffa, all from the south. On the contrary, in the north was 15 % in Begemder, 20 % in Gojam and 25 % in Tigre.

  95. 95.

    Dessalegn-Rahmato: 2006, supra note 93, p. 8.

  96. 96.

    Andargachew-Tiruneh 1993. The Ethiopian Revolution, 1974–1987: A Transformation From an Aristocratic to aTotalitarian Autocracy, New York, Cambridge University Press, p. 97.

  97. 97.

    Ibid., p. 98.

  98. 98.

    Ibid.

  99. 99.

    Marcus, H., supra note 36, p. 173.

  100. 100.

    Dunning, H. C. 1970. Land Reform in Ethiopia: A Case Study in Non-Development. UCLA L. Rev, 18, p. 306.

  101. 101.

    See Shiferaw, supra note 41, p. 128, who told us that bills concerning land reform tabled to parliament in 1963, 1970 and 1972 were rejected by both parliaments.

  102. 102.

    Dunning, supra note 100, at foot note 152, for example says: “Three draft proclamations had been submitted to the Council of Ministers by July 1, 1969: a Proclamation to provide for the Registration of Immovable Property; a Proclamation to provide for the Regulation of Agricultural Tenancy Relationships; and a Proclamation to provide for a Tax on Unutilized Land. As of October 1, 1970, none of these drafts had been submitted to Parliament”.

  103. 103.

    Dessalegn-Rahmato 1970. Condition of the Ethiopian Peasantry. Challenger, X. Quoted in Shiferaw, supra note 41, p. 124.

  104. 104.

    With the highest rank of a Major, the army representatives were delegated from the air force, police force, navy, and ground forces. The would be president (Mengistu Haile Mariam) himself was a Major, representing ground forces from the city of Harar.

  105. 105.

    For detail see Andargachew, supra note 96.

  106. 106.

    It was on 20 December 1974 that the Derg’s first fundamental political and economic programme, ‘Ethiopian Socialism’, was issued. (Andargachew, Ibid, p. 86). The reforms were dealing with nationalizations of urban and rural land, financial institutions and heavy and light industries.

  107. 107.

    Andargachew, supra note 96, p. 99.

  108. 108.

    Clapham, supra note 44, p. 45.

  109. 109.

    Public Ownership of Rural Lands, Proclamation No. 31/1975. Negarit Gazeta. Year 34, No. 26. (Hereinafter cited as Proc. No. 31/1975).

  110. 110.

    According to the Ethiopian Civil Code (Articles 3041 ff and 3117 ff), antichresis is like a mortgage except that the former is created by contract. The main difference is that in case of antichresis the immovable (land or building) shall be temporarily delivered/transferred to the creditor, while in case of mortgage it has to stay in the hand of the debtor.

  111. 111.

    Cohen, J. M. 1977. Rural and Urban Land Reform in Ethiopia. Afri. L. Stud., 14, p. 14.

  112. 112.

    Clapham, supra note 44, p. 47.

  113. 113.

    Ibid.

  114. 114.

    See generally for example Young, J. 1997. Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, 1975–1991,New York, Cambridge University Press.; Aregawi-Berhe 2008. A Political History of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (1975–1991): Revolt, Ideology and Mobilisation in Ethiopia, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University, p. 71.

  115. 115.

    See Dessalegn-Rahmato 2009a-a. Land and Agrarian Unrest in Wollo: From the Imperial Regime to the Derg. In: Dessalegn-Rahmato (ed.) The Peasant and the State: Studies in Agrarian Change in Ethiopia 1950s–2000s (collection of articles by same author). Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa university Press, pp. 111–182.

  116. 116.

    Article 8 of Proc. 31/1975.

  117. 117.

    See the detail under Article 10 of Proc. No. 31/1975.

  118. 118.

    See for example, Ho, P., supra note 20, pp. 5–10.

  119. 119.

    Dessalegn-Rahmato 1993. Agrarian Change and Agrarian Crisis: State and Peasantry in Post-Revolution Ethiopia. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 63, 36–55, p. 36.

  120. 120.

    See for example Yeraswork-Admassie 2000. Twenty Years to Nowhere: Property Rights, Land Management and Conservation in Ethiopia Asmara, The Red Sea Press, Inc.

  121. 121.

    Dessalegn: 1993, supra note 119, pp. 36–40.

  122. 122.

    Government Ownership of Urban Land and Extra Houses, Proclamation No. 47/1975. Negarit Gazeta, Year 34, No. 41. (Hereinafter cited as Proc. 47/1975).

  123. 123.

    Markakis, supra note 39, p. 197.

  124. 124.

    Bahru-Zewde 2008a. The City Center: A Shifting Concept in the History of Addis Ababa. In: Bahru-Zewde (ed.) Society, State and History: Selected Essays. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, p. 486.

  125. 125.

    Pankhurst, R. 1990. A Social History of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, p. 275.

  126. 126.

    Ibid.

  127. 127.

    Molla-Mengistu 2009. The Ethiopian Urban Landholding System: An Assessment of the Governing Legal Regime. In: Muradu-Abdo (ed.) Land Law and Policy in Ethiopia since 1991: Continuities and Changes. Addis Ababa: Law Faculty, Addis Ababa University.

  128. 128.

    See the full edict in Amharic in Mahteme-Selassie: 1970, supra note 55, pp. 166–171; or an English version in Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, pp. 156–158.

  129. 129.

    Bahru-Zewde: 2008a, supra note 124, p. 490.

  130. 130.

    For good explanation see Crummey: 2000, supra note 35.

  131. 131.

    Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, p. 154.

  132. 132.

    Lapiso-G-Delebo 1983 EC. Ye Ethiopia Ye Gebar Sireat-na Jimir Capitalism: 1900–1966 (Ethiopian Gabar System and the Begining of Capitalism: 1908–1974), Addis Ababa, p. 267.

  133. 133.

    Markakis, supra note 39, pp. 198, 199. This was based on the second census of the city.

  134. 134.

    Pankhurst: 1966, supra note 29, p. 154.

  135. 135.

    Mesfin-Wolde-Mariam. Year. Problems of Urbanization. In: Proceeding of the Third International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, 1970 Addis Ababa. Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Haile Sellassie I University, supra note 111, p. 25.

  136. 136.

    For example, during the late 1960s, 60 % of the occupied houses in Addis Ababa were rental ones. (Cohen, supra note 111, p. 25).

  137. 137.

    Clapham, supra note 44, p. 50.

  138. 138.

    1978. Urban Land and Extra House: From Yesterday to Today (Amharic). Addis Ababa: Committee established for the Fourth Anniversary of the Revolution.

  139. 139.

    Preamble of Proc. 47/1975.

  140. 140.

    According to Andargachew, supra note 96, pp. 94, 95, the government had paid compensation only to foreign investors who lost their assets to the government. The assets were mainly factories, large-scale farms, banks and insurances.

  141. 141.

    UN-HABITAT 2010. The Ethiopia Case of Condominium Housing: The Integrated Housing Development Programme. Nairobi: United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

  142. 142.

    UN-HABITAT 2008. Ethiopia:Addis Ababa Urban Profile. Nairobi: United Nations Human Settlements Programme, p. 12.

  143. 143.

    Feyera-Abdissa & Terefe-Degefa 2011. Urbanization and Changing Livelihoods: The Case of Farmers’ Displacement in the Expansion of Addis Ababa. In: Teller, C. & Hailemariam, A. (eds.) The Demographic Transition and Development in Africa: The Unique Case of Ethiopia. London: Springer, p. 217.

  144. 144.

    For full discussion see Aregawi-Berhe, supra note 114, pp. 285–290; Young, supra note 114.

  145. 145.

    Tamirat-Layne 1991. Ethiopian Transitional Period Economic Policy. Addis Ababa: Office of Prime Minister.

  146. 146.

    Constitution of the Federal Demecratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 1/1995. Negarit Gazeta. Year 1 No. 1. Article 40(3) (hereinafter FDRE Constitution.).

  147. 147.

    Samuel-Gebreselassie 2006. Land, Land Policy and Smallholder Agriculture in Ethiopia: Options and Scenarios. Future Agricultures Consortium meeting. the Institute of Development Studies, p. 4.

  148. 148.

    Dessalegn-Rahmato 2009b. An Assessment on the Ethiopian Agricultural Policy. In: Taye-Assefa (ed.) Digest of Ethiopian National Policies, Strategies and Programmes (Amharic). Addis Ababa: Forum for Social Studies and The European Union, p. 149.

  149. 149.

    MOIPAD 2001. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Rural Development Policies, Strategies and Instruments (Amharic). Addis Ababa: Ministry of Information, Press and Audiovisual Department, pp. 67–90.

  150. 150.

    Ibid.

  151. 151.

    See EEA/EEPRI 2002. A Research Report on Land Tenure and Agricultural Development in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Economic Association/Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute.

  152. 152.

    Deininger, K. & Binswanger, H. 1999. The evolution of the World Bank’s Land Policy: Principles, Experience, and Future Challenges. In Research Observer, Vol. 14. No. 2. Washington DC, World Bank. Cited Ibid.

  153. 153.

    Tesfaye-Olika 2006. Ethiopia: Politics of Land Tenure Policies Under the Three Regimes, a Carrot and Stick Rulling Strategy in Ethiopian Politics. In: Tesfaye-Olika (ed.) Ethiopia: Politics, Policy Making and Rural Development. Addis Ababa: Department of Political & International Relations, Addis Ababa University, pp. 1–25.

  154. 154.

    Dessalegn Rahmato: 2006, supra note 93, p. 3; EEA/EEPRI, supra note 151, p. 29.

  155. 155.

    See Deininger, K., Daniel-Ayalew, Holden, S. & Zevenbergen, J. 2007. Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Process, Initial Impact, and Implications for Other African Countries. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4218. World Bank, p. 14; Palm, L. 2010. Quick and Cheap Mass Land Registration and computerisation in Ethiopia. Facing the Challenges—Building the Capacity. Sydney, Australia: FIG Congress, p. 10.

  156. 156.

    Deininger, K., Ayalew, D. & Alemu, T. 2009. Impacts of Land Certification on Tenure Security, Investment, and Land Markets: Evidence from Ethiopia. Environment for Development, Discussion Paper Series, EfD DP 09-11 [Online]. Available: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/land_eegistration_in_ethiopia.pdf, p. 29.

  157. 157.

    See Dessalegn-Rahmato 2009a–b. Land Registration and Tenure Security: A Critical Assessment. In: Dessalegn-Rahmato (ed.) The Peasant and the State: Studies in Agrarian Change in Ethiopia 1950s–2000s. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa Univrsity Press.

  158. 158.

    FDRE Constitution, Article 51(5).

  159. 159.

    Id., Article 52(2)(d).

  160. 160.

    Federal RLAUP, 456/2005, Article 17.

  161. 161.

    FDRE Constitution, Article 40(7).

  162. 162.

    Id., Article 40(8).

  163. 163.

    This line of argument was supported by the claims of government officials who argued that the source of urban land law is Article 40(6) of the Constitution. This was said by officials of the Addis Ababa Municipality and the ministers of the Urban Construction and Development following the passage of the controversial lease proclamation in October 2011.

  164. 164.

    FDRE Constitution, Article 40(6).

  165. 165.

    Federal RLAUP. Proc. 456/2005, Article 5(1).

  166. 166.

    Id., Article 5(2), (3); See also Article 5(1) of Oromia Rural Land Law that says “Any resident of the region, aged 18 years and above, whose livelihood depends on agriculture and/or wants to live on, have the right to get rural land free of charge.”

  167. 167.

    See The Revised Tigray National Regional State Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation, Proclamation No. 136/2007. Tigray Negarit Gazeta. Year 16 No. 1. Article 5(1) (hereinafter Tigray RLAUP); The Revised Amhara National Regional State Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation, Proclamation No. 133/2006. Zikre Hig. Year 11, No. 18. Article 5(2) (hereinafter Amhara RLAUP); Oromia Rural Land Use and Administration, Proclamation 130/2007. Article 5(1) (hereinafter Oromia RLAUP); The Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State Rural Land Administration and Utilization Proclamation, Proclamation 110/2007. Debub Negarit Gazeta. Year No. Article 5(1) (hereinafter SNNRS RLAUP).

  168. 168.

    See for example, the Amhara RLAUP that uses the phrase “any person residing in the region…” as a condition to get agricultural land (Articles 5(2), 6(1), 7(1)); The Tigray RLAUP uses similar words like “any resident of the region” (Article 5(1)).

  169. 169.

    The Federal RLAUP simply says that upon the wish of the people land may be redistributed (Article 9); the Amhara RLAUP says, if 80 % of the people agree (Article 8); the Oromia RLAUP completely prohibits redistribution (Article 14).

  170. 170.

    Daniel W. Ambaye, Ethiopia Yemanat (Whose land is the Land [Ethiopia]), News Paper, Reporter Amharic, March 28, 2012.

  171. 171.

    Federal RLAUP, Article 7(1); Amhara RLAUP, Article 5(3); Tigray RLAUP, Article 5(1), (b).

  172. 172.

    See Federal RLAUP, Articles 5(2), (3) and 9(1); Amhara RLAUP, Article 7.

  173. 173.

    See Article 16(1) of ANRS RLAUP. Whether or not this contravenes with the Federal Rural Land Law is debatable.

  174. 174.

    Dessalegn-Rahmato 2011. Land to Investors: Large-Scale Land Transfer in Ethiopia. FSS Policy Debate Series. Addis Ababa: Forum for Social Studies, p. 5.; Daniel W. Ambaye Author. 2004 E.C. Sefafi ye Gibrina Investment le Ethiopia min Yifeyidal? (What is the Benefit of Large Scale Agricultural Investment for Ethiopia?). Reporter. Accessible at http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/old_ver/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4934:2012-01-21-08-27-41&catid=303:commentary; See also an article published on Fortune News paper, http://www.addisfortune.com/Published%20On.htm.

  175. 175.

    Interview with Ato Essayas Kebede, Director of the Agricultural Investment Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture, 2011.

  176. 176.

    See for example, Horne, F. 2011. Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa: Country Report Ethiopia. Oakland, USA: The Oakland Institute.

  177. 177.

    For example in the Amhara and Oromia RLAUPs “rent” is understood as “transfer of land to fellow farmers for shorter period of time”, while “lease” is defined as “transfer of land from farmers to investors or from government to investors for longer period of time.”.

  178. 178.

    Ethiopian Reporter, Amharic bi weekly, October 28, 2012.

  179. 179.

    See for example Kabtamu, supra note 28, p. 128, 129. Kabtamu claims that government agencies, investors and others who want land in Somalie Region have to request to and negotiate with clan chiefs. Clan chiefs are also the ones who determine the amount of compensation and receive it in the name of the community.

  180. 180.

    Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation, Proclamation No. 80/1993. Negarit Gazeta. Year 53, No. 40.

  181. 181.

    The Preamble of Proclamation 80/1993.

  182. 182.

    Re-enactment of Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation, Proclamation No. 272/2002. Negarit Gazeta. Year 8, No. 19.

  183. 183.

    Mesganaw-Kifelew 2009. The Current Urban Land Tenure System in Ethiopia. In: Muradu-Abdo (ed.) Land Law and Policy in Ethiopia Since 1991: Continuities and Changes. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Business Law Series, Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, p. 171; Also, see Preamble of Proc. 272/2002.

  184. 184.

    Ibid., p. 173.

  185. 185.

    FDRE Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation, Proclamation No. 721/2011. Negarit Gazeta. Year 18, No. 4.

  186. 186.

    Addis Ababa City Administration 2004, Land Delivery Service Manual, No. 12/2004 E.C, Article 18.2.4.

  187. 187.

    See for example the news as published in a weekly news paper, Capital, of June 2012. Available: http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=&id=1225:new-lease-tariff-for-addis&catid=35:capital&Itemid=27.

  188. 188.

    See details under Article 6 of Urban Land Lease Regulation No. 49/2004 E.C of Addis Ababa City Administration; Article 7 of Model Urban Land Regulation of Ministry of Urban Development and Construction.

  189. 189.

    This piece of news was published in the English weekly, Capital, Year 14, No. 726 of Nov 4, 2012.

  190. 190.

    See the weekly Capital, Sunday, 4, October 2012, Year 14, No. 726. The paper expresses its worry that the poor would be excluded from future dealings of such nature because of this unheard type of prices offered.

  191. 191.

    See for example a report made by the weekly English The Reporter, Saturday August 18, 2012.

  192. 192.

    An official press explanation given by Ato Getachew Ambaye, City manager of Addis Ababa City, December, 2012. See details Addis Fortune, Sunday Dec 2, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 657. Available: http://addisfortune.net/s/an-unsettling-time-for-addis-abebas-newly-homeless/; Ethiopian Reporter (Amharic), Wednesday Dec 5, 2012, available: http://ethiopianreporter.com/news/293-news/8747-2012-12-05-06-21-18.html.

  193. 193.

    Addis Fortune, weekly news paper, Vol. 11, No. 539.

  194. 194.

    Look to this type of argument in Mekasha-Abera 2012. Ye Eethiopia Meseretawi ye Lease Hig Hasabochna Yemiasketlachew Chigroch (Fundamentals of the Ethiopian Lease Law and its Problems), Addis Ababa, Far East Trading, p. 79. The writer say that “If the lease sales value is more than the lease price paid at the beginning by the seller, then the seller will be entitled to 5 % of the difference and the rest of it will go to government.”

  195. 195.

    Ibid. Articles 41 and 44 respectively.

  196. 196.

    See for example Daniel-Weldegebriel-Ambaye 2009a. Land Valuation for Expropriation in Ethiopia: Valuation Methods and Adequacy of Compensation 7th FIG Regional Conference. Hanoi, Vietnam, 19–22 October 2009 FIG (http://www.fig.net/pub/vietnam/papers/ts04c/ts04c_ambaye_3753.pdf). It is said that before the coming of this lease legislations, banks used to give location value in the capital up to 4,000 birr per m2.

  197. 197.

    See details for example Ibid., p. 30.

  198. 198.

    See Article 59.3 of the Addis Ababa Lease Directive.

  199. 199.

    One may also further study the contents of the FDRE Building Proclamation No. 624/2009 and FDRE Urban Planning Proclamation No. 574/2008 to see the land use regulations included.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Land Administration (ILA), Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Daniel W. Ambaye

Authors
  1. Daniel W. Ambaye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel W. Ambaye .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ambaye, D.W. (2015). Land Rights in Ethiopia. In: Land Rights and Expropriation in Ethiopia. Springer Theses. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14639-3_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation