
Editorial | May 23,2020
Jun 1 , 2019
They say old habits die hard. The interagency turf war in the government over jurisdictional matters may have survived successive administrations. It appears that it has continued in the reign of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed too, judging by the grumbling among some of the administration’s senior officials in the foreign office, gossip observed. Agreements get signed, visits made and reports filed to Lorenzo Te`azaz Road on matters of international relations, but they bypass Menelik II Avenue, gossip disclosed.
For observers in the gossip corridors, this brings back a memory of the later years of Meles Zenawi, who was involved in the ambassadorial appointment of Samuel Assefa (PhD) as his envoy to the United States.
Moved from his role as Vice President of Addis Abeba University, Samuel was dispatched to Washington, DC without the prior consent of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Seyoum Mesfin, gossip recalled. For three years, the Ambassador’s reports were dispatched directly to the Prime Minister’s Office, causing frustration by the longest-serving Foreign Minister at the time, claims gossip.
History appears bound to repeat itself. The appointment of Fitsum Arega as Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the United States was the personal choice of Prime Minister Abiy, according to gossip. For a man who was in his service as chief of staff during the most critical months of his ascendancy to power, Abiy might have felt that he needed someone he trusts to serve as his emissary in a capital where his powerful allies and greatest admirers are concentrated, claims gossip.
Ambassador Fitsum now reports directly to the Prime Minister’s Office to the disgruntlement of the senior diplomats at the home office who are in charge of the Americas, gossip disclosed. Only a few weeks ago, the United States Department of State had hosted a two-day forum in Washington DC dubbed the Ethiopia Partnerships Forum. The participants invited revealed in more ways than one the stature people on Menelik II Avenue have in the nation’s foreign affairs business, claims gossip.
No one from the home office was in attendance at this forum organised for the first time in many years, with a declared faith of raising awareness of Ethiopia’s “bold new efforts to transform its economy and create attractive business opportunities”. Indeed, there was Arkebe Oqubay (PhD), senior industrial advisor to the Prime Minister under the rank of a minister; Ambassador Fitsum; and a team of three led by Mamo Mihretu, policy reform advisor to the Prime Minister and Ethiopia’s chief trade negotiator. He took along with him Yared Sied (PhD) and Nemera Mamo (PhD), both Londoners who recently joined the Prime Minister’s Office as advisors.
Ironically, those at the foreign office were left in the dark while such an important event was taking place, gossip claims. Neither the Ambassador’s address to the forum nor the attendance of the team from Addis Abeba was a matter communicated in advance to the senior diplomat in charge of the Americas, reveals gossip. Indeed, the foreign office was in transition between ministers following the departure of Worqneh Gebeyehu (PhD) and the arrival of Gedu Andargachew; there were a couple of months in between when the Ministry was left without a shepherd for the first time in its history of over a century.
Nonetheless, twisting the foreign office in the wind is not something new, claims gossip. In March this year, Ethiopia joined many countries in Kigali, Rwanda, in signing an agreement to establish the African Continental Free Trade Area. Again, the Ministrys officials were ditched, for the agreement was signed by Mamo, causing alarm that the institutional relationship between the offices of the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs continue to suffer from the absence of engagement, if not relevance, gossip claims.
PUBLISHED ON
Jun 01,2019 [ VOL
20 , NO
996]
Editorial | May 23,2020
Fortune News | Nov 02,2019
Radar | Apr 27,2025
Editorial | Jan 07,2023
Radar | Apr 06,2019
Agenda | Apr 27,2025
Featured | May 24,2025
Commentaries | Sep 02,2023
Radar | Jun 08,2019
Fineline | Dec 07,2019
My Opinion | 129935 Views | Aug 14,2021
My Opinion | 126240 Views | Aug 21,2021
My Opinion | 124256 Views | Sep 10,2021
My Opinion | 122030 Views | Aug 07,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
May 24 , 2025
Public hospitals have fallen eerily quiet lately. Corridors once crowded with patient...
May 17 , 2025
Ethiopia pours more than three billion Birr a year into academic research, yet too mu...
May 10 , 2025
Federal legislators recently summoned Shiferaw Teklemariam (PhD), head of the Disaste...
May 3 , 2025
Pensioners have learned, rather painfully, the gulf between a figure on a passbook an...
May 24 , 2025
First came the trickle, then the torrent. On a humid night in late March, a low-lying neighbourhood on Addis Abeba's southeastern fringe wat...
May 24 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
When Moses Akuei received his geology degree from Wolaita Sodo University, the 27-year-old from South Sud...
May 24 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
The Central Bank is launching a sweeping initiative to overhaul the agricultural finance system, targetin...
Federal legislators are considering a bill that would allow foreign nationals to lease land and own resid...