A New Face of Interdependence

Most rural people come to do business in their nearest urban centres at least twice a week. The women carry bundles of fuel wood or dry cakes of cow dung. Many of them carry dairy products like milk or cheese.

Men drive pack animals loaded with twigs and dry eucalyptus leaves or straw and hay. Some drive herds of sheep or goats during festivities.

They carry rope cages and nests stuffed with chickens and poultry. All these impoverished sub urban people bring the mentioned supplies to the city dwellers and exchange than for almost peanut prices not commensurate with their efforts like walking distances on foot carrying bundles on their back.

This interaction between the urban people and those living in the periphery results in the supply dependency and growth of the capital at the expense of the impoverishment of the people around the capital.

Addis Abeba, for instance, expands in all directions pushing the farmers further away until the original settlers are evicted away. This state of affair has not only made the impoverished farmers venerable for more plight and flight, but has also created a windfall for corruption and land grapping by members of who are in respective power.

The redevelopment schemes that involve the demolishing of slums located in the urban centres also forces settlers to move away squats for want of alternative temporary shelters. The pretext for chasing away the settlers from the shanty houses and cottages being want for building new sky high apartments some of which remain vacant even after completing or still lingering for one reason or other.

The situation had created the opportunity for land grabbing under the pretext of property acquisition using the leverage of executive powers and pseudo names.

These socio-economic dependency theory is well elucidated by scholars the likes of the well known Egyptians economist and writer Samir Amin, Andre Gunder Frank and Max Weber, to mention but a few, who were proponents of the dependency theory that followed the Marxian analysis.

I mentioned these scholars, not without a reason. Recently, the Oromia Regional state seems to be committed to modify this uneven development and change the “dependency” theory to an “interdependence” coexistence and harmonious urban development.

In a rare and very interesting press release which he gave to the media, Mayor Diriba Kuma of Addis Abeba said that a proposal for the master plan that incorporates five suburban satellite towns had been discussed at a development conference held in Adama. The five suburban towns include Burayou, Gelan, Lega Tafo, Sebetta and Alem Gena.

The master plan which is strategic is expected to outline the framework of long-term interdependence growth plan which could be developed in due course financial sources permitting to accommodate the growing demands of urbanites. Supposedly, these suburban towns or satellite villages are expected to grow independently within the Oromia domain administratively free from the impacts of the capital.

This will not only avoid unnecessary conflict between City Hall and Oromia on demarcation of administrative borderlines but will also restrain undesired expansion of the capital beyond its carrying capacity.

The master plan, however, should involve experts from all disciplines like town planning, sanitary and civil engineers, environmentalists, sociologists and other relevant fields. These satellite towns should by no means be dry waste dumping grounds abattoirs or sewerage treatment sites.

These suburbs could develop into suppliers of vegetable demands, which can be supplied by irrigation agriculture, dairy products, poultry and products of craftsmen. Traders could shuttle by pick up trucks and bring the agricultural supplies to the capital instead of poor women and herdsmen carrying bundles on their back walking long distances to and from the capital.

The five small towns and more others are said to be interconnected by roads to facilitate easy access. These interconnecting roads, however, are not “ring roads” per se. Ring roads, though they are connecting roads by function, will not be ring roads unless they are branching out from highways to serve as alternate routes to connect sideline towns or cities and link again with the highway.

A good example of a ring road will be the Addis-Debreziet road and its branching line to Kaliti town at one end and exiting at another end without affecting the main highway. Incidentally, the ring road that has been constructed around the capital has already lost its virtue of being a ring road because the city has expanded far and beyond the circumference of the original design.

Before the master plan is developed into an achievable breakdown setting out priorities based on potentials is essentials. Priorities like potable water and sewerage system, access roads and other infra structure.

Implementing the master plan stage by stage would not only be an ensuring fast and comprehensive growth but a litmus test of proving the democratic right of self rule.

As Oromia is not only the richest regional state in terms of natural resources but also the most populated regional state that deservedly ought to practice its share of power. Towns like Debreziet and Adama have all the potentials in terms of transportation facilities, power proximity for market and growing into a resort area that could easily attract both domestic as well as external tourists.


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