Arduous tasks ahead

The city of Addis Ababa is laced with numerous multifaceted problems including, but not limited to infrastructure, administrative and governance issues. These have put the capital of the second populous country on the continent into a situation where waste disposal and water supply are a rarity. Every corner of the city has become a waste disposal and a week-long dry pipe is not a surprise. This, coupled with the unattained ambitious condominium housing construction and administrative irritations, is a major task which subsequent city administrators failed to succeed at. The Friday’s, August 10, 2018 cabinet named by the newly sworn in de facto mayor of Addis Ababa, Takele Uma (Eng.) (pictured right), and his deputy Dagmawit Moges (pictured center) are faced with these multiple tasks ahead, which they need to give due attention to if they are not doomed to repeat the failures of past administrations. Takele’s starting point looks promising and he looks to have the privilege of working harmoniously with the Oromia Regional State, where he hails from. Takele is expected to collaborate closely with the region that surrounds Addids Ababa to solve the city’s growing bottlenecks. As one of his achievements, salvaging the USD 146 million loan for the Gerbi drinking water dam from expiration shows his commitment for the task he is entrusted with. Bringing his team into traction and accelerating their movement will be another difficult task. The Sandafa landfill, which suspended service years ago because of a protest from farmers in the area, might come into life if he manages to effectively negotiate with the regional and zonal administrations. His new 18-member administration is set to face a wall which it needs to demolish so as to solve the city’s intertwined and multifaceted problems.