Almost three generations after Addis Abeba was founded, the elegant landmark of the capital, the City Hall, took 15 years to finish and a budget of eight million Birr when it was inaugurated in 1964, during the Imperial Era. In over a century, Addis Abeba has seen more than 30 mayors, all but a woman.

Last week, this changed when Adanech Abiebie Desa was elected to serve as the first-ever female Mayor of Addis Abeba, a city whose foundation it owes to another woman, Empress Taitu.

Adanech had a debut with the city as a deputy mayor for over a year. However, her induction on September 30, 2021, was nothing but glowing, embodying the season clad with the yellow flowers of Adey Abeba, which marks the end of the rainy season and the dawn of the spring. Written in bold yellow letters, the banner spread across the wall screamed, "Addis M'eraf". It heralded the leadership's enthusiasm for a new beginning. Her lieutenants, all wearing navy blue attire embroidered with the characteristic yellow, represent this sense of optimism.

The orchestra band was also dressed to impress, synchronised with the event.

On a carpet decorated with yellow flowers and green, Adanech walked alongside her lieutenants, tall and gratified. As she entered the newly refurbished municipality hall, which sits on 75,000sqm of land, she did so knowing she had won a unanimous vote from the city council. Mayor Adanech pledged to bring inclusive growth and work for dialogue and reconciliation. She called for Addis Abeba's residents to help her make the capital an African beacon of prosperity. A standing ovation followed from councillors.

The limelight in Addis Abeba is a pinnacle of office for Adanech, who once served as a mayor of Adama, a town 100Km east of Addis Abeba. But she has held office in several regional and federal institutions during her tenure as a politician.

Born in the Arsi Zone of Oromia Regional State, Adanech, 48, is the only daughter of six children. She has a humble beginning as an elementary school teacher. Adanech kickstarted her political career in 1993 in Arsi Arbagogo, as she battled to defend residents facing material and human loss at the time. Joining the OPDO, one of the four coalition members of the ruling EPRDF, she climbed from there to a junior attorney after completing her undergraduate studies in law from the Civil Service University in 2001. She married Teshome Abebe, an accountant, around the same time she secured work as an attorney in the Oromia Justice Bureau.

She was head of Abadulla Gemeda's cabinet in the Oromia Regional State before he appointed her to lead the Oromia Development Association (ODA), a non-governmental organisation that improves livelihoods through community-based programmes. She had served the Association as a director for five years, beginning in 2010. That same year, she completed a graduate programme in leadership from the Greenwich University in the UK. She was elected to parliament during this decade, where she served two terms.

Adanech's time as a mayor of Adama, the first woman to hold the office, was a turbulent period of youth uprisings in the regional state. The Qerro movement, as it came to be known, was a prelude to the change that brought Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) to political power. Adanech was one of the staunch allies the Prime Minister had within the rank and file of the OPDO under Muktar Kedir, subsequently Lemma Megerssa, and before Abiy took the helm in 2018.

Her fast ascendance on the political ladder of the federal structure began with her appointment as a Minister of Revenues, the office formerly known as the Revenues & Customs Authority, in October 2018. Less than two years later, the mother of two would make another watershed moment as the country's first female Attorney General, replacing Birhanu Tsegaye, appointed ambassador to Djibouti. She stayed there for less than six months before becoming Deputy Mayor of Addis Abeba, replacing Takele Uma.

From her time in Adama to leading the Ministry of Revenues, Adanech is notable for her firmness against maladministration and determination to fight misconduct. A devout person of faith, those who worked with her praise Adanech for her probity.

Umi Abajemal, a communications director at the Revenues Ministry, has a long history of working with Mayor Adanech. They were comrades working in the OPDO Office, for over three years.

“She's very strict and expects her standards from everyone she works with,” said Umi.

Others who have worked with Adanech share similar stories.

Dejene Enticha, head of the Oromia Development Association, is one of them. He lauds Adanech as being the reason for the Association's success in recent years. The Association had an annual income of around one million Birr when she took office, during which time Dejene worked as one of her aides. By the time she stepped down, the budget grew to over 100 million Br. During her stay, Adanech oversaw the construction of two boarding schools in Adama and Bishoftu and witnessed membership increased 10-fold to five million.

"She reanimated the association," said Dejene. "I've learned more from working with her than I did at school."