Who Owns Meskel Square? Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church and Addis Ababa Clash Over a Renovated Public Space

• The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Addis Ababa’s city administration disputed ownership of Meskel Square
• Orthodox followers said the square is church property after a Protestant fund-raiser there
• The city had recently renovated the square and built underground car parks
• A meeting between the synod and the mayor was cancelled over the venue

A dispute over who owns Meskel Square, one of Addis Ababa’s best-known public spaces, flared between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the city administration, New Business Ethiopia reported on February 2, 2022.

The row began when Protestant church followers held a fund-raising event in the square. Ethiopian Orthodox Church followers who opposed the gathering were confronted by security forces. They said “Meskel Square is the property of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.”

The Addis Ababa City Administration had recently renovated the square with significant investment and built underground car parks. A meeting between the church’s synod and Mayor Adanech Abiebie was cancelled because the two sides could not agree on a venue. The synod wanted to meet at its office, and the mayor’s office proposed the Sheraton Addis hotel. The church said the meeting “will take place in the future”. Independent observers said the issue should not be politicised or sensationalised.

The dispute pitted a church’s historic claim against a city’s recent investment in the same land.

Jamaican churches may not claim a national square, but many use public spaces, parks and town squares for crusades, processions and outreach, and some sit beside public land they have long treated as their own. When a municipality invests in that land, questions of ownership and use quickly follow. Churches should know exactly where their boundaries lie and put any shared-use arrangements in writing.

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