Venerated Institutions Get New, Younger Chiefs

Jan 21 , 2023.

Two federal offices of the highest stature saw newly appointed young leaders installed last week. Parliament has approved in two-thirds of the votes the appointment of a chief and deputy justices for the Supreme Court, while Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) appointed a Governor for the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE).

Tewodros Mihret, former assistant professor at the Law Department of Addis Abeba University, replaced Meaza Ashenafi as chief justice. Abeba Embialen, a former judge at the Federal High Court, was voted to serve as a deputy chief justice. Tewodros replaced Meaza Ashenafi, the first woman to claim the office beginning in 2018. Abeba took the vice president’s office over from Solomon Areda.

The Federal Supreme Court is the highest judicial body with administrative power over lowers courts. The Chief Justice chairs the Constitutional Inquiry Council, a vital federal institution that vets and recommends constitutional disputes to the House of Federation.

Tewodros is the sixth chief justice - since the constitution was ratified in the mid-1990s – of the Supreme Court, which exercises the power of cassation through a panel of five justices, rulings over litigations, including those within the states’ jurisdictions. The panel’s ruling creates a precedent that is binding for lower courts.

Last week also saw the appointments of a series of senior officials for various executive branches, including Mamo Mihretu as the governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). He replaced Yinager Dessie (PhD), serving since 2018.

Mamo worked for the World Bank before joining Abiy’s Administration as a senior adviser on policy reforms and chief trade negotiator. He has been a chief executive officer of Ethiopia’s Investment Holdings, the country’s first-ever sovereign fund management firm.

A lawyer by training, Mamo has more than 16 years of experience in logistics sector reforms. He studied leadership and economic development at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States. He attained his post-graduate studies in law at the universities of Pretoria and Amsterdam.

PUBLISHED ON Jan 21,2023 [ VOL 23 , NO 1186]