Abstract:
This study is a historical survey of land tenure system in Laalo Qilee District from 1941-
2002. The purpose of the study is to reconstruct the socio-economic and political history of
Laalo Qilee District of Qellem Wallaga Zone, focusing on the periods between 1941 and
2002. The year 1941, was a turning point in the history of the district because of the
restoration of imperial regime with land redistribution policy in large scale for soldiers,
nobility, church, gabbars and the like in Laalo Qilee District while the year 2002 is a
landmark when the Regional Government of Oromia (RGO), enacted a policy related to land
under the supervision of EPRDF. In Laalo Qilee district, the peasants of the district faced
socio-economic and political problems and loss of their indigeneous rights over their land
starting from the conquest of Emperor Menelik II up to the period under study. This thesis
reconstructed the history of land tenure systems in Laalo Qilee District based on relevant
archival, primary, secondary and oral sources. Appropriate data from different sources like
archival materials, government published reports, manuscripts, theses and dissertations,
books and oral informations are gathered and organized. The collected data with oral
information carefully arranged and crosschecked then the data are analyzed, interpreted and
narrated chronologically. It is in this way that the history of land tenure of the district under
study from the restoration of Emperor Hayiläselassé to the first decade of 21st century is
constructed. The thesis offered background knowledge related to the pre-1941 period. In
short, the main objective of the thesis is to show the local changes observed in Laalo Qilee
District in the context of change in policy and government at national level. The restoration
of the imperial rule and the subsequent reforms that imperial government introduced,
especially in relation to administration, land and the subsequent reactions of the people of the
district to and against the policy are the main themes of analysis for the period between 1941
and 1974. Thus, this thesis argues that the socio-economic and administrative changes made
by Emperor Hayiläselasé‟s government in the post-1941 period brought little improvement in
the living conditions of most of the local people of the district. The study also tries to
examine developments that Laalo Qilee District witnessed during the Därg regime (1974-
1991). The military regime‟s attempts to place its power on a better position by introducing
several measures at a national level had their own negative and positive effects in socioeconomic and political life of the people of district. The thesis also examines the land tenure
policy since the fall of Därg in 1991 and its subsequent development under EPRDF
