Public Purpose During Land Expropriation In Oromia The Law And The Practice

Displacement in Ethiopia in general and in Oomia in particular due to land expropriation isrncommon where the existence of public purpose for which the land expropriated is determined byrngovernment decision as the expropriation is the premium option to get land held by smallrnlandholders under the guise of public purpose. Thus, this Thesis examines mainly the right ofrnsmall landholders whose landholdings are compulsorily taken for public purpose throughrnexpropriation scheme.rnExpropriation of landholding presupposes two competing interests such as the public need forrnland and property protection for landholders. The expropriation policy of the country in generalrnis expected to balance these conflicting interests. Thus, the Thesis considers how theserncompeting interests can be balanced in expropriation proceeding. To bring about and maintain arnbalance between these two interests, genuine public purpose must exist in a way that protects thernconstitutionally guaranteed land rights of the rural masses. Thus, the Thesis seeks examine thernlegislative gap in determining existence of public purpose during land expropriation in light ofrnthe FDRE and Oromia constitutions.rnTo undertake this Thesis research the Empirical Doctrinal legal research Methodology has beenrnused to understand the theoretical and conceptual frameworks as guideline direction, andrnenabling to generate empirical evidences to answer the research problems. Thus, the empiricalrnfindings indicate that there is a great difference between the objective for which the land isrnexpropriated and practical implementation caused by vague and ambiguous definition of thernterm ‘public purpose’ for which the land has been taken. Absence of clear lists of public purposerncomponents in the expropriation law of the country and unchecked discretion of administrativernauthority by independent courts of law are the main reasons for abusing and arbitrary decisionrnmaking regarding the existence of public purpose. Thus, the Thesis recommends that legislativernreform which empowers affected population to appeal to independent courts of law on the basisrnof existence of public purpose in expropriation proceeding.rnFurthermore, the expansive and unclear treatment of public purpose by expropriation law of therncountry causes adverse social, economical, cultural, environmental and political effects in thernRegion. Above the researcher recommends both Federal and Oromia state governments tornrethink about the expansive and unclear public purpose definition provided by current landrnexpropriation law of the country which has opened the door for abuse and arbitrary decisionrnmaking by administrative authority that highly affects the tenure rights of poor landholders. Thusrnthe government should conduct the expropriation of landholding for limited, clear and genuinernpublic purpose in order to save the life of small landholders and also to curb the observablyrngrowing incidents of informal land transitions.

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