In a City Hall adorned with the theme of the New Year, Adanech Abiebie, 48, walked to a raised podium to take her oath for the highest executive office of the Addis Abeba City Council. She is the first female mayor of the 31 who had served the capital since its foundation over a century ago. Ironically, the diplomatic capital of Africa owes its founding to another female, Empress Taitu.
The only thing that could have taken away from the historical moment last Tuesday was that Adanech has been serving the capital as de facto mayor, but technically Deputy Mayor, for over a year. Like her predecessor, Takele Uma, now minister of Mines & Petroleum, Adanech held the highest office a municipal official not elected to the City Council could attain by law. After winning a landslide vote from the Nefas Silk District in the elections in June, the road was paved for her mayorship.
Mayor Adanech and her Council members, who want to see a "New Chapter" for Addis Abeba, will be in charge of a city at a significant juncture in its over a century-long existence. It is by far the most thriving part of the country, no less because it is undergoing an urban renewal in the form of the Beautifying Sheger Project and its attraction for Ethiopia's young and aspiring. The city has also been spared from the vicious, large-scale destruction and violence the rest of the country is beholding.
But there are also several short- and long-term challenges. The rising cost of living, wildly escalating property and food prices are the most glaring in the immediate future. It will be the most significant cause of urban poverty for quite some time to come. The long-term impediments to growth that would consume Madam Mayor’s attention will be housing shortages, poor public utility services provision, rapid migration from rural areas, unregulated urban sprawl, and Addis Ababa’s complex relationship with the surrounding Oromia Regional State. She has the job cut out for her.
PUBLISHED ON
Oct 02,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1118]
Editorial | May 23,2021
Agenda | Jun 05,2021
Fortune News | May 15,2021
Films Review | Sep 14,2019
Fortune News | Feb 29,2020
Fortune News | Sep 18,2021
Fortune News | Jul 11,2021
Fortune News | Feb 19,2022
Delicate Number | Nov 20,2021
Year In Review | Sep 10,2021
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transportin...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
The cracks in Ethiopia's higher education system were laid bare during a synthesis re...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Construction authorities have unveiled a price adjustment implementation manual for s...
Nov 30 , 2024
In the corridors of government offices worldwide, the question of how much to pay mem...
Nov 23 , 2024
The fiscal puzzle deepens as the Council of Ministers approved a supplementary budget...
Nov 16 , 2024
In the realm of public finance, balance sheets speak louder than rhetoric. In such do...
Nov 9 , 2024
Ethiopia's foreign exchange debacle resembles a tangled web of contradictions and con...
Loading your updates...