Hailu Gemeda was born and raised in Liben Chukala Woreda, East Shoa Zone. He completed his primary education at Koka Primary School and his secondary education at Mojo High School. Up on completing high school, he went straight into the private business. He was one of the people who joined the struggle after the 1991 change of state in Ethiopia. In the process, he had become the mayor of the city where he first lived. He then served as Lume district administrator. He was elected as a member of the Oromia State Council.
After serving as a member of the State Council, he then became a member of the Regional Executive Committee. He also served as head of the Legal and Security Sector in the Executive Committee of OPDO until the end of the Transitional Government in 1996. But then things changed. As a result of the TPLF's long-running conspiracy at the time, he was not only removed from office, but also arrested and abused; his wife was also imprisoned.
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