Lomi Meda Extra-Legal Settlement

Lomi Meda is a sefer bounded by a river to the south, separating it from the Mickey Leland condominium and Tero (a sefer named after a mosque) to the south and southeast. The history of Lomi Meda is intertwined with Mickey Leland, which is situated on the opposite side of the riverbank. In the late 1980s, Mickey Leland was originally an orphanage established to honour the memory of the Texan congressman George Thomas Mickey Leland, aimed at caring for children who had become orphaned during the Ethiopian famine from 1983 to 1985.

The Caregivers at the orphanage utilised the land across the riverbank, now known as Lomi Meda, as a vegetable garden, sourcing water from the nearby stream. In 1998, they began constructing smaller structures, often referred to as “moon-houses”(in Amharic) to claim sections of the land. Studies on these informal settlements in Addis Ababa suggest that some are driven by poverty, while others result from land speculators who seize land, squat on it, and build temporary structures. These speculators subsequently divide and sell the land parcels to low-income individuals or families who are desperate for housing and await potential “Regularisation” (legalisation) by government directives. Regularisation depends on the presence of the dwelling on satellite images.[1]

The City Administration has carried out multiple demolition campaigns against such settlements, including one in Lomi Meda in 2002, which sparked a violent protest from the residents. Tragically, several residents and police officers lost their lives during the ensuing unrest. There have been no further efforts to carry out eviction and demolition campaigns. However, the residents of Lomi Meda continue to reside in a precarious state, facing not only the anxiety of potential government interventions but also the threat of natural forces such as flooding.

[1] see Tadashi Matsumoto and Jonathan Crook, “Sustainable and Inclusive Housing in Ethiopia: A Policy Assesment” (Coalition of Urban Transitions, 2021), 43, https://urbantransitions.global/publications.