allAfrica.com: Ethiopia: A Leader Who is Living History (Page 1 of 3)

Ethiopia is better known for recurring droughts and famines, a protracted civil conflict, and a border war with Eritrea. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and a large percentage of the population lives in absolute poverty.

But there is of course more to this Eastern African state. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the world's oldest continuous civilisations dating back at least 2,000 years. It was one of the 51 original members of the United Nations.

Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa hosts the headquarters of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and of the African Union -- formerly the Organisation of African Unity, of which Ethiopia was the principal founder.

The country's present head is a man fondly known as Lieutenant Girma who has survived working under three opposing regimes.

Woldegiorgis Girma served as one of the first officers in the Ethiopian air force and as director-general of the civil aviation authority under Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled 1930-1974, except during five years of occupation by Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator during World War II. Also under the emperor, Girma became a Member of Parliament in 1961, and was elected president of the lower chamber for three years.

President Girma recalls that in this role, he helped win a seat for the Ethiopian Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), and attended IPU conferences in Switzerland, Denmark and former Yugoslavia. He was elected vice-president of the IPU's 52nd meeting.

Years later, the pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist provisional military government 'Derg' led by Mengistu Haile Mariam -- that deposed Haile Selassie in 1974 -- appointed Lt. Girma as the Deputy Commissioner of the Peace Programme for Eritrea. He also served as president of the Red Cross in Eritrea during the military regime.

Lt. Girma returned to Ethiopia shortly before the 30-year-long struggle for independence ended in 1991with Eritrean rebels defeating Ethiopian government forces.

When the military dictatorship was overthrown in 1991 by the present-day ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Lt. Girma embarked on several private business ventures. Before his first election as president, he was a stakeholder in several banks and an independent MP for a constituency in the western Shoa region.

Woldegiorgis Girma was relatively unknown abroad when the national parliament elected him by a unanimous vote as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in October 2001. He was re-elected for another six-year term last October.

"Instead of going in for a young man, they decided to elect me -- an old man -- again, obviously convinced that I do not do any harm to anyone," the Ethiopian president, now 84, told IPS.

That the President does "no harm" is ensured by the country's Constitution. The Ethiopian presidency is largely a symbolic office with little power. The president is not affiliated with any political party.

But inevitably, his long tenure means he has been associated also with all perceived harm done by the governments he worked in, not least the Ethiopian presence in Eritrea, where he was directly responsible.

And that continues up to the present day. It was only last week that the Ethiopian government released two anti-poverty campaigners Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, both members of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). They had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, and were released just a month ahead of the due release date in May of this year.

Daniel and Netsanet were the last two remaining detained in the high profile treason trial that originally charged 131 journalists, politicians and civil society leaders on a range of charges from genocide to treason. They were among thousands who were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the May 15, 2005 parliamentary elections.

But some of the perceived harm and good done in Ethiopia arises also from ethnic perceptions. Woldegiorgis Girma belongs to the majority Oromo ethnic group which comprises more than 32 percent of Ethiopia's nearly 80 million people. Many believe that by electing him president the ethnic Tigrayan-led government appeased the Oromo population.

Whatever the veracity of that view, President Girma does not believe in the domination of one ethnic group by another. "It is important that each ethnic group has a genuine feeling of participation in governance issues," he told IPS in an interview during an official visit to Berlin.

The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has indeed been promoting a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities.

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