Ethiopia – Addis Ababa City Administration to regain control of Police Commission

Addis Ababa City Police Commission looks set to return to the control of the city administration now led by the national ruling party, the EPRDF. The commission was transferred to the control of the Federal Police by the EPRDF in the aftermath of the disputed 2005 general election.

This move came about after the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, who strongly disputed the ruling party’s overall election victory, refused to take charge of the Addis Ababa City Administration despite winning the majority of the capital’s seats. The dispute also prompted the CUD to refuse to join the federal parliament and finally led to the arrest of its leaders.

This political scuffle resulted in a power vacuum in Addis Ababa, leading Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to propose the politically neutral caretaker administration and the transfer of responsibility for the police commission.

Now, the new EPRDF led city government, who won last year’s re-election, felt that the restructuring is no longer necessary and the city police should go back under the auspices of the city government.
“It is a politically powered city government and should deal on security issues itself, so that it can achieve its socio-economic and political targets,” a member of the city council told Capital.

To effect the change, the Legal and Administrative Affairs Standing Committee of the existing city council has proposed an amendment to the city charter. The committee discussed the amendment last week.
The police commission was not the only institute taken following the election; the city also lost administrative control of the Transport Authority. Mayor Kuma Demeksa’s administration has also been contemplating bringing it back under the control of the City Transport Authority from the Federal Transport Authority.

“Though in line with its charter, the metropolis’ transport falls under the city government’s authority, it was transferred to the Federal Transport Authority in 2006. This restructuring prevents the current administration from closely controlling the city’s transport system,” reads the draft strategic plan of the city, which is currently under discussion among the cabinet members.

The draft document says the transport authority should be restructured in a way that will help the city ease the transport shortage.

The city has also been negotiating with the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency (PPESA) in order to put Anbessa City Bus Enterprise under its administrative control, according to top city official.
Even though Anbessa City Bus was established as a commercial entity, it did not prosper partly due to federal government intervention on its ticket tariff. To serve Addis Ababa’s poorer citizens it has been forced to run with minimum tariffs.

Indeed, Addis Ababa city has been subsidizing 21 per cent of the ticket cost this year so that the enterprise can survive. However, it has been still losing 50 million birr every year due to the ever increasing costs of transport.

Meanwhile, the public relations manager of PPESA said it did not know about the negotiations.

Capital Ethiopia

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