Girma Wolde-Giorgis
Encyclopedia
Girma Wolde-Giorgis is the current President of Ethiopia
.
. The Ethiopian presidency is largely a symbolic office with little power. Most of the power is vested in the hands of the Prime Minister. Presidents serve six-year terms
. Girma was re-elected
as President on 9 October 2007.
. He first attended an Ethiopian Orthodox Church school and later joined the Teferi Mekonnen School in Addis Ababa
where he followed his education until the Italian invasion. The school was then renamed "Scuola Principe di Piemonte" (Prince of Piedmonte School) for the Crown Prince of Italy, in Addis Ababa.
Between 1950 and 1952, he received certificates in Management
(from Holland
), in Air Traffic Management (in Sweden) and Air Traffic Control
(in Canada) under a training programme sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization
. He was one of the first Ethiopians in the Ethiopian airforce dominated by American technicians. Girma tried to motivate Ethiopians to join the airlines and wrote a book on fundamentals. He was an activist and in the Inter Parliamentary Summit in Yugoslavia, he condemned the apartheid system in South Africa. Wolde-Giorgis speaks many languages fluently. They are: Afan Oromo (Oromiffa), Amharic, Tigrinya
, Italian
, English
, and French
.
ethnic group. He is married and has five children. Girma is a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
.
While in Eritrea before 1990:
Upon returning from Eritrea in 1990, he served as Board Member of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and Head of its International Logistics Department.
He launched an environmental protection association called Lem Ethiopia in March 1992 to date serving as Vice President of the Board of the Association.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
Political career
He was elected President on 8 October 2001, as a relative unknown and a surprise choice, by a unanimous vote of the Ethiopian ParliamentHouse of People's Representatives
The Federal Parliamentary Assembly of Ethiopia has two chambers. The lower house is the House of Peoples' Representatives with 547 members , elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies.-Speakers of the House of Peoples'...
. The Ethiopian presidency is largely a symbolic office with little power. Most of the power is vested in the hands of the Prime Minister. Presidents serve six-year terms
Term of office
Term of office or term in office refers to the length of time a person serves in a particular office.-Prime Minister:In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has no term limits...
. Girma was re-elected
Ethiopian presidential election, 2007
A presidential election was held in Ethiopia on October 9, 2007, in which the Ethiopian Parliament re-elected Girma Wolde-Giorgis for a second six-year term. He was first elected by the upper house, the House of Federation, before being elected by the lower house, the House of People's...
as President on 9 October 2007.
Background
Girma was born in December 1924 in Addis AbabaAddis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
. He first attended an Ethiopian Orthodox Church school and later joined the Teferi Mekonnen School in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
where he followed his education until the Italian invasion. The school was then renamed "Scuola Principe di Piemonte" (Prince of Piedmonte School) for the Crown Prince of Italy, in Addis Ababa.
Between 1950 and 1952, he received certificates in Management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
(from Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
), in Air Traffic Management (in Sweden) and Air Traffic Control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
(in Canada) under a training programme sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
. He was one of the first Ethiopians in the Ethiopian airforce dominated by American technicians. Girma tried to motivate Ethiopians to join the airlines and wrote a book on fundamentals. He was an activist and in the Inter Parliamentary Summit in Yugoslavia, he condemned the apartheid system in South Africa. Wolde-Giorgis speaks many languages fluently. They are: Afan Oromo (Oromiffa), Amharic, Tigrinya
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
Personal life
Girma Wolde-Giorgis is from the OromoOromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
ethnic group. He is married and has five children. Girma is a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the predominant Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church was administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All...
.
Government Services
- in 1941 he was enlisted at the Ethiopian Military Radio Communication set up by U.K.
- in 1944 he graduated from the Oletta Military Academy as a Sub-LieutenantSub-LieutenantSub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
- joined the Air ForceEthiopian Air ForceThe Ethiopian Air Force is the air arm of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and is tasked with protecting the air space, providing support to the ground forces as well as assisting during national emergencies.- Early years :...
in 1946 and took various Air Management courses - became assistant teacher in air navigationAir navigationThe basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another....
and flight control in 1948 - became head of Civil Aviation of EritreaEritreaEritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
in 1955 (Eritrea, at the time, was federated) - assumed the post of Director General of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority in 1957 and was Board member of the Ethiopian AirlinesEthiopian AirlinesEthiopian Airlines , formerly Ethiopian Air Lines, often referred to as simply Ethiopian, is an airline headquartered on the grounds of Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It serves as the country's flag carrier, and is wholly owned by the Government of Ethiopia...
during the same period. - became Director General of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Planning at the time of establishment in 1951
- became member of parliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in 1961 - was elected speaker of the parliament for three consecutive years.
- helped win a seat for the Ethiopian Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union and attended conferences of the IPU in Switzerland, Denmark and former YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and was elected as Vice President of the 52nd Meeting of the International Parliamentary Union. - served as Manager of the Import and Export Enterprise (IMPEX).
- served as deputy Commissioner of the Peace Programme drawn up in 1977 by the provisional military government of Ethiopia (Derg) to settle the Eritrean problem peacefully.
- became member of the House of Peoples' Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) after winning in the BechoBechoBecho is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mirab Shewa Zone, Becho is bordered on the south by Kokir, on the west by Walisona Goro, on the northwest by Dawo, on the north by Elu, and on the east by Tole...
woredaWoredaWoreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
constituency, Mirab Shewa ZoneMirab Shewa ZoneMirab Shewa is one of the 12 zones of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia. This zone takes its name from the kingdom or former province of Shewa...
of the Oromia RegionOromia RegionOromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
, as an independent candidate in the second round elections in 2000.
Experience in non-governmental offices
Between 1965 and 1974:- Board member of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce
- Representative for Australian Trade Mission in Ethiopia
- Founder and Director of the Ghibe Agricultural Association
- Founder and Director of the Keffa and Illubabor Timber Processing Industry
While in Eritrea before 1990:
- President of the Ethiopian Red Cross SocietyEthiopian Red Cross SocietyThe Ethiopian Red Cross Society was founded and recognized by the ICRC in 1935. In 2002, it had 725,827 paying adult members and about 90,000 youth volunteers....
- Eritrea Branch (Asmara) - Board President of Cheshire Home
- Managing Director of Leprosy Control Organization
Upon returning from Eritrea in 1990, he served as Board Member of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and Head of its International Logistics Department.
He launched an environmental protection association called Lem Ethiopia in March 1992 to date serving as Vice President of the Board of the Association.