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Land Sector Corruption in Ethiopia 307
• The reliance on ever-changing municipal directives in urban areas without
a strong policy framework and clear oversight arrangements creates
uncertainty among users and opportunities for abuse by decision makers,
particularly given that the directives are generally not published
• The lack of a clear policy to address the issue of informal holdings in
urban areas encourages informality and creates opportunities for officials
to profit from abuse of their positions, particularly in an environment
where there are high levels of informality and few adverse
consequences to informal development.
Institutions and Capacity
In the relevant laws, the mandate or responsibility for the implementation
of rural land policies and laws is given mainly to land administration
authorities in each regional state, while the mandate to administer and
manage urban land is given to land administration authorities or departments
of municipalities or city governments. However, there are gaps in
the laws, and the land policies are typically implemented through unpublished
directives. These directives include serious rights issues; even fees
are delegated to directives.
In addition to variations among localities, the directives are often
changed. In rural areas, a federal proclamation provides some framework,
although this proclamation was implemented after some regions had
developed land administration policy and legislation, and this late engagement
has resulted in some inconsistencies. There is no similar model
proclamation for urban land, and the broad delegation has resulted in
regional inconsistencies. There is also confusion about the role of the
administration, which has both executive and adjudicatory powers. There
are serious confusions between the mandate of the administration and
the courts in resolving land conflicts. Another concern is the simultaneous
membership of land administration committee and board members in
municipal and regional councils.
Although urban centers and cities do not have registry offices, about
25 percent of the existing, individually held urban properties have
been recorded in one way or another. The record keeping in urban
areas lacks many of the essential elements of formal registration (such
as accessibility, accuracy, and currency). In contrast, approximately
70 percent of rural households in the most populous regions with significant
agrarian holdings have been registered and certified in an ongoing
rural registration process, albeit with little emphasis on keeping
these records up-to-date.