Ethiopian PM loses father - State media

Ethiopia

State media in Ethiopia have reported the death of Ahmed Ali, father of the country’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali on Monday.

The Fana Broadcasting Corporate, FBC, report quoted a local government office as confirming the death. Ahmed Ali is expected to be buried tomorrow in line with Islamic norms.

PM Abiy is a Christian despite growing up in an Islamic setting. His father was Muslim whiles his mother was a Christian, the Reporter portal said in a March 2018 article chronicling his rise to power.

The report describes his father, Ahmed Ali, also known as Aba Dabes, Aba Fita; as being a respected elder in his small town where he lived with his family – Beshasha in Jimma Zone in Oromia Regional State.

“I remember when he was a child; he was very good at studying the Quran,’‘ Ahmed Ali told The Reporter. “He has always been interested to learn, study, and spend most of his time with elders,” he told the portal.

He is credited with significant contribution to the community by giving his own plot of land so that services giving centers such as clinics and telecom offices would be built.

Abiy is the 13th child for his father, who had four wives. His is a well-known and extended family in the area.

Abiy’s mother, Tezeta Wolde, a converted Christian from Burayu, Finfine Special Zone, Oromia Regional State, was the fourth wife for Ahmed. Together they have six children with Abiy being the youngest.

#Ethiopia: PM #AbiyAhmed's father, Ahmed Ali, has passed away today, FBC quoted Agaro Wereda communication bureau as saying. Agaro wereda is located, in #Jimma Zone, #Oromia regional state in south-western Ethiopia. Ahmed Ali will be laid to rest tomorrow, FBC added. R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/BLLdK3Zsal

— Addis Standard (@addisstandard) June 17, 2019

Profile: Abiy Ahmed Ali (PhD) Prime Minister, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

H.E. Abiy Ahmed Ali (PhD) is the fourth Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. He was born on August 15, 1976 in the small town of Beshasha, located near Agaro, Oromia. Raised by a Muslim father and a Christian mother, the values of tolerance and understanding across divides were instilled in him at an early age.

H.E. Abiy Ahmed was sworn in as the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on April 2, 2018. Inheriting a divided society, in all his speeches and actions Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has made national unity, peaceful co-existence, shared growth and regional integration a central theme of his administration. His inaugural speech inspired hope and renewed collective sense of purpose in Ethiopia.

He has rich and wide-ranging experiences serving government in different roles, offering a unique blend of leadership, vision and knowledge in professional and organization skills. Determined to resist the oppression of the Ethiopian people, as a young man, H.E. Abiy Ahmed first joined the armed struggle against the Dergue Socialist regime.

While serving at the Ethiopian National Defense Force, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Among his various roles in government, he has served as the Head of the OPDO Secretariat; Vice President of the Oromia Regional Government; Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology; founding Director of the Information Network Security Agency and founder and Head of the government research institute, Science and Technology Information Center.

Since being sworn into office as Prime Minister, he broke with tradition – launching deeper political and economic reforms that swept across the country. An original change agent and a blunt reformer, breaking the walls of division and building bridges of reconciliation and peace constituted the defining themes of his reform efforts.

Under his leadership, thousands of prisoners were released; open discussions and consultations held with opposition political parties – some of whom were previously dubbed as “terrorists”; a historic rapprochement and peace agreement was concluded with neighboring Eritrea; a transformational agenda for legal and justice sector reform has been set in motion; and some of the largest public enterprises are to be partially privatized as part of a broader market liberalization and economic reform agenda.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed holds an MA in Transformational Leadership, a Master’s in Business Administration and a PhD from the Institute for Peace and Security Studies of Addis Ababa University. He and his wife—First Lady Zinash Tayachew—are proud parents of three daughters and a recently adopted son.

Ethiopia’s First Lady Zinash Tayachew

Full name / age: Zinash Tayachew Bere/ 41 years old
Mandate: First Lady since 2 April, 2018
Advocacy: Committed to supporting children’s needs in education. Has initiatives to enhance nutrition, mental health, women’s economic empowerment and protection of the most vulnerable.
Family: Has three daughters with prime minister Abiy Ahmed, and in August 2018, the couple adopted a son.

ALSO READ: Ethiopia PM cheered for publicly showing affection to first ladyZinash told her fellow first ladies at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa in February that she was planning to build 20 high schools, 15 of which are under construction.

‘‘I have planned to construct boarding schools for the blind and the disabled. I also support institutions for the elderly and work on similar issues,’‘ Zinash said.

The Office of the First Lady says through her charity work that includes providing support to the ‘disabled and special needs communities’, Zinash has become ‘a hope for so many’.

Prior to taking up her role as First Lady, Zinash lived with her three daughters, in the United States.