• Abiy praises residents for not demanding compensation

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, along with his wife and government ministers, visited ongoing renovation works in Jimma town, located west of Addis Ababa in the Oromia region, yesterday.

As part of the redevelopment project, 15,000 residential homes have been demolished to make way for modern infrastructure, he said.

The prime minister announced that a mosque and cemeteries in the town had been relocated from their original sites. He praised residents for not “demanding compensation” after “their houses were demolished” and for handing over land for the redevelopment project.

Instead of seeking compensation, residents of Jimma town—near Beshasha, the prime minister’s hometown—responded with a simple request: “Come up with your proposals, and let us see,” he claimed.

Abiy stated, “The role of the Jimma community as the originator of these dreams and ideas should serve as a lesson for all Ethiopians.”

Located approximately 335 kilometers west of Addis Ababa, Jimma is Ethiopia’s eighth-largest town.