ኤርሚያስ ለገሰ፣ አሁን የከዳ የመንግሥት ባለሥልጣን ነበር፣ “አዲስ አባባ፤ ባለቤት የሌላት ከተማ” ባለው መጽሐፉ ውስጥ፣ የኦሮሞ ተማሪዎች ተቃውሞን 15 ዓመት ወደኋላ ጀምሮ ያስታውሳል፡፡
Ermias Legesse, a high profile government defector, traces the cause of the Oromo student protest to events that took place 15 years ago. In his book, "Addis Ababa: The Abandoned City", Ermias notes that since 2000 the Addis Ababa city municipality, with the support of the federal government, enacted five different pieces of legislation to “legalize” the informal settlements, and then sold the “legalized” lands to private property developers.