Meles Zenawi

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Meles Zenawi

1st Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Incumbent
Assumed office 1995
Preceded by	Mengistu Hailemariam (as head of the ECP)
Succeeded by	Incumbent
President	Girma Woldegiorgis

Born	May 8, 1955 Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia
Political party	EPRDF
Spouse	Azeb Mesfin
Religion	Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Meles Zenawi (Legesse Zenawi Asres) (Ge'ez መለስ ዜናዊ meles zēnāwī) (b. May 8, 1955) is an Ethiopian politician, and the Prime Minister of the country since 1995.

[edit] Background

Meles Zenawi was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia. He received elementary education at the Queen of Sheba School and completed secondary school in 1972 at the General Wingate School in Addis Ababa. He joined the Medical Faculty at the Addis Ababa University (formerly known as Haile Selassie University) where he studied for two years before interrupting his studies in 1974 to join the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF).

[edit] Rise to power

The TPLF was one of many armed groups struggling against the dictator, Colonel Lieutenant Mengistu Hailemariam.Zenawi was elected Leader of the Leadership Committee in 1979 and Leader of the Executive Committee in 1983. He is the chairperson of both the TPLF and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since the Derg regime was overthrough in 1989. EPRDF is an alliance of the county's four main political parties coming from the Amhara State, Oromo State, Southern Nations Nationalities & Peoples State and Tigray State.

[edit] Support for EPRDF

EPRDF's victory was the triumph for the thousands of Ethiopians who were killed, for the millions of Ethiopians who were systematically held & hidden in poverty by the Derg regime and for the general population. Accordingly the big support it received from peasants and rural areas helped EPRDF maintain peace. The other important help it received was from OLF and many liberation fronts which ended up holding a conference to create the new united government. Foreign support was also unusually diverse since Westerners supported EPRDF as much as the Arab league.

[edit] Opposition to EPRDF

Eventhough EPRDF's success was praised by most of the fronts, ethnicities or Ethiopians who suffered under the Mengistu dictatorship, there was a brief anti-EPRDF mood in Addis Ababa and in Washington D.C. by those who sympathized with DERG regime or held high positions under the previous regime. After the accusations and the demonstrations by Pro-Derg Ethiopians in Washington D.C. in 1991, a U.S. spokesman, Paul B. Henz, made this statement under the auspices of U.S. House of Representatives' Africa Select Committee on Hunger:

"It is depressing to read of the denounciations of the United States by Ethiopians living in exile in Washington, some of whom served Mengistu in high positions for as long as ten years before departing. The attitude of the American government and people toward Mengistu was consistent. We never liked him and believed he was doing great harm to his country. But we also respected those who tried to serve him and gave them asylum. Their emotional outbursts leave the impression that vocal groups in Washington, see this as a disaster. They sometimes leave the impression they would have preferred to see Mengistu remain in power. They profess rage at U.S. endorsement of EPRDF forces. Also some of the statement we have been hearing from exiles in Washington this week give the impression that Tigreans are not Ethiopians. Pecular, for Tigre and highland Eritrea were the place where Ethiopian civilization first developed 3,000 years ago."^[1]

[edit] Interim to PM

Upon the defeat of the Military Regime known as Derg of Mengistu Hailemariam, the July Convention of Nationalities was held. It was the first Ethiopian multinational convention where delegates of various nations and organizations were given fair and equal representation and observed by various international organizations including U.N., OAU, EEC, US and Great Britain. Out of the 24 groups, the ones with the most number of mandates in the council were EPRDF (32), OLF(12), IFLO (3) and OILF(3.) Near the end of the year, Meles Zenawi became the Interim President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995. Meles Zenawi was then elected as Prime Minister and Dr. Negasso Gidada as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995; following the first elections, that was heavily boycotted by opposition parties. International Election Observers concluded that had opposition parties contested, they could have won seats. In 2000 Meles was elected Prime Minister as well as 2005.

However, in 2005 the Ethiopian elections have been the most contested and the most controversial in Ethiopia's short democratic history. But it was the first multi-party Ethiopian election in the country's near 3000 years of history. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was elected into office again after the heavily contested elections, the top favorites being the EPRDF and CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy). ^[2] More than 30 other political parties participated in the election.

Although the aftermath of the election led to small violence initiated by the opposition party, it received an enormously unproportional & chaotic response by the police forces. Some opposition parties blamed the government for the violence. At the end of the demonstration, six police officers & 193 protestors were dead showing both the violent nature of the protestors as well as the irresponsible action & illiterate nature of the police force.^[3] This led to many rounds of accusations between the government and the protestors where the Information Minister Berhan Hailu said the government was "sorry and sad", but blamed the violence on the CUD.^[4] The opposition parties have continuously accused the government of a massacre. EU election observers concluded the election failed to meet international standards for a free and fair elections while the Carter Center concluded the election was fair but with many irregularities and a lot of intimidation by both sides especially the government.^[5]^[6] An inquiry on the violence claimed the property damage caused by the rioters and protestors in Addis Ababa & other cities totaled to 4.45 Million Ethiopian Birr, including 190 damaged Buses and 44 cars as police officers tried to restrain the rioters. Some EU observers have also shown their discontent at the post election violence and suggested that the police response was unproportional.

In a rare response, Meles Zenawi said that he was disappointed that "some people have misunderstood the nature of the problem and misinterpreted it." And on the final report, the independent commission concluded that the aggressive steps taken by the police force was to "avoid large scale violence and to protect the constitution" & that the reason behind the riotings might have been the protestors' unfamiliarity with the "process of democratization" e.g. respecting election results. However the commission also acknowledged that there were serious errors that needed to be addressed regarding the capabilities of the Ethiopian Security forces to control riots.^[7]

[edit] Domestic policy

[edit] Structural reforms

The state can’t misuse or unlawfully use private lands, but the government has a “custodian” like policy where it guards the rural farm lands from randomly being sold by its owning farmers. Generally in circumstances of natural disasters such as drought or bad weather, farmers might have no choice but to sell their land. To solve this problem, the government believes it should not allow the random buying and selling of land. The government states that some parts of its agriculture sector are where Ethiopia has comparative advantage from other countries and Ethiopia can not afford the dropping of output from that sector and the sector needs monitoring & support.^[8]

Accordingly, the government believes it should focus on its agriculture sector while it is developing its industrial sector simultaneously, so that it can balance everything once the other sectors are developed and increase productivity. Thus it believes privatization would be employed in the future but not presently.

Since this approach to land ownership is unconventional (especially to western nations) and very controversial, opposition political parties have used this to their advantage during elections. Yet the government seems unfaltering and states that flexibility is needed to address the lack of industrial development in the country.^[9]

Even though Meles's administration inherited one of the worst, if not the lowest, economies in the world, its economy has been growing steadily since he took office. Just during the last three years, Ethiopia's GDP has shown a rate of growth of about 9 percent a year. The country was also in the top category for “policies of social inclusion and equity”, in the domain of “economic management” and Ethiopia did exceptionally well in the domain of “structural policies” & “public sector management and institutions. Gross primary enrollment rates, a standard indicator of investment in the poor, went up to 93 percent in 2004 from 72 percent in 1990, contributing to a rise in literacy rates from 50 percent in 1997 to 65 percent in 2002.^[10]

[edit] On autonomy

The constitution allows substantial regional autonomy and any region has the right to secede from the country. This area of the constitution was originally amended by the current government to satisfy the interests of ethnic based states in Ethiopia especially Oromia and one of its historical leaders, OLF, as well as to give free will to TPLF and other liberation fronts in the country. After centuries of centralization, the TPLF-led government used this policy to unite all Ethiopian states voluntarily instead of by force. This procedure has already resulted in the succession of the former Ethiopian state, Eritrea.

This policy of self-determination has been opposed by some political parties, particularly CUD, which wants to limit regional autonomy and outlaw the rights of states to secede. However this CUD policy is casually opposed by the TPLF and largely against the interests of by OPDO, SEPDF, and OFDM political parties and historically opposed by OLF & ONLF rebel groups.^[11]

[edit] Education policies

[edit] Teaching history

Meles Zenawi’s TPLF sub-party shares common interest with the rest of liberation fronts in the way history is taught in Ethiopian schools. Very similar to how African-American history is taught in the United States, the government have allowed schools to teach the atrocities caused by elite groups that used monarcial system to exploit the majority Ethiopians for decades and treat them as second class citizens. Thus the general reasoning for adopting this type of curriculum is so as to not repeat history.

Indeed, many have accused Meles Zenawi of provoking anti-Amhara teaching in schools but most allies of the government oppose this accusation and favor the introduction of the real & at times dark history of 19th century Ethiopia where slavery & oppression subsisted. Before multi-party election was held, OFDM, an opposition party representing the ethnic Oromos declared several years ago that,

“OFDM believes that there will be better harmony among the country’s diverse peoples and cultures, if young Ethiopians were taught the true and genuine history of the country in general and that of the Southern regions and peoples in particular, which is a history of conquests, subjugation and grinding poverty”

Accordingly, most educated Ethiopians both from the southern states and the northern states hold the common knowledge that both southerners and northern people (including Amharas) “were cut off from the world” and exploited by the Emperors and their close Shoan relatives & friends who were the only beneficiaries and lived in the central, near Addis Ababa city area. Consequently, this progressive form of curriculum is carried out in some colleges. ^[12]

[edit] School expansion

Since the 1990's Ethiopia has experienced more increase of schools and colleges despite still not covering all regions.^[13]Millions of money (ETB) continue to be spent on building educational institutions and many new schools have been constructed since Meles Zenawi took office. However the government's focus on the agricultural sector has slowed the growth of jobs in the urban areas of Ethiopia which is also reflected by the anger of the urban population and its students as well as the landslide victory of opposition parties in these areas during the recent national election.^[14] The stats showed that in 1991 only 27 percent of Ethiopian children attended school, but in 2004 gross enrollement rate was up to 77 percent and it reached 85 percent in Novermber 2006.^[15]

[edit] Women equal rights

In a reflection of the gender equal rights valued since TPLF's battle days where northern states Tigrean & some Amhara women soldiers faught together with men against the Derg dictatorship, Meles Zenawi's administration, along with First Lady Azeb Mesfin, have sternly advocated for more equal rights & opportunities for women in Ethiopia. Despite the country having a rich history of respected queens, rulers & empresses, Meles inherited another unfavorable national conditions were Ethiopian women did not have equality or basic rights. In contrast, since his administration began, there have been a steady growth of women's organizations, women activists, employment opportunities and a forum where women discuss backward cultural issues on national television. ^[16] In their long fight against destructive traditional practices, HIV transmision, early marriage, women legal rights, unfair public policies, job opportunity and other issues, various organizations continue to work with the government including The Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers Association(EWLA); Network of Ethiopian Women's Associations; the Ethiopia Media Women’s Association(MWA); The young Women Christian Association(YWCA);Young Women Christian Association; Women in self employment (WISE);Ethiopian Medical Women's Association (EMWA); The women’s Association of Tigray(WAT); Kembatti Mentti Gezzima-tope (KMG); Ethiopian Nurse Midwives Association(ENA)and many others.^[17]

[edit] Foreign policies

[edit] Egypt

Meles Zenawi, just like previous Ethiopian governments wants Ethiopia to have a larger share of the Nile River. In order to end its decade long dependency on foreign aid Ethiopia needs to develop its irrigation system. The country has already lost millions of people to poverty due to its inability to use the Nile water which 85% of its water runs through Ethiopia.

With the exception of Eritrea, all East African nations have developed their economies enough to finance a greater use of the Nile River. However due to the 1929 Blue Nile accords between Egypt and England as well as other agreements, Ethiopia is not allowed such use of its Nile river water. But in contrast to his predecessor, Meles Zenawi and his political party favors diplomatic solutions and accommodating ways to solve this stalemate since Egypt will also fall into poverty without the Nile resources.^[18]

[edit] Eritrea

Just like Emperor Haile Selassie and Mengistu Haile Mariam, Meles Zenawi and his administration prefered a united but federal nation that included the Eritrean state. However, since Zenawi's TPLF fought together with EPLF, Zenawi originally left the decision of independence to the Eritrean citizens. Also according to TIME magazine's 1991 analyzes, Zenawi and the TPLF -

"endorsed the right of the Eritreans to their referendum but wants a unified Ethiopia and so hoped that the vote, if held, goes against secession."^[19]

However after the EPLF secured their borders when Mengistu's regime fell and after the majority of Eritreans voted for independence on May 24 1993, Isaias Afewerki Isaias became the new leader of the youngest nation in Africa after Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia.

But despite working together against the Derg regime, Zenawi and Afewerki's positive relationship turned bad after Afewerki abandoned his original promise to create a transitional government in the early 1990s.^[20] After TPLF submitted to the wishes of Eritrean citizens for independence, EPLF again broke its promise to Zenawi's administration for Ethiopia's use of Massawa and Assab ports. So after EPLF abandoned multi-party elections and invaded the Ethiopian territory of Badme, the Eritrean-Ethiopian War began in May 1998.^[21] Ethiopian troops took western and a quarter of Eritrea's territory and Ethiopian President Negaso Gidada gave a victory speech, but again they submitted to American and UN demands for a pullout and diplomatic solutions in May 2000.^[22] The stance of the EPRDF-led Ethiopian government to pull out its troops and let go of the Assab port and eastern Eritrea led to one of the many reasons for EPRDF's unpopularity in Ethiopian cities. The two countries went forward and signed the "Algiers agreement" to end the war. However since the Ethiopian government accepted the border ruling "in principle", tensions between these two nations still exist.

After expelling UN employees, in 2006, the Eritrean government moved its troops into the buffer zone (near Badme area) in a major ceasefire violation. Afewerki, who always says his aggression is "not a matter of boundaries but of national pride and territorial integrity" ironically seems to exploit Ethiopia's region, Badme, dispute for his personal dislike of the Ethiopian leadership, particularly Meles Zenawi. Currently, the Eritrean government supports the two main rebels OLF and ONLF. ^[23] The Eritrean government is also accused of supporting the alleged jihadist, Islamic Courts Union and United States accuses Eritrea of trying to spark another war front against Ethiopia.^[24]

[edit] Somalia

Meles Zenawi and his government have a strong relationship with the internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G) of Somalia. Two of the main reasons are regarding state borders and secular values. In contrast, the vastly growing and powerful Islamic Courts Union (I.C.C) brings religious extremism as well as strict law & order by intimidation (using Sharia law sternly) where Somali citizens are hung or executed if disobeyed Sharia law.

Both the T.F.G and Ethiopia respect the current Ethiopia-Somalia border while the I.C.C. rejects it and considers the Ogaden region (~1/5 of Ethiopian land) part of “Greater Somalia.” Secondly, both T.F.G. and Ethiopia share secular values where church and state stay separate. Lastly, the United States accuses the leadership of I.C.U. of harboring the suspects of 9/11 attacks, while Ethiopia also labels I.C.C. as “Jihadists” due to the assistant I.C.U. receives from terrorist groups (Al-Itihaad) mainly crossing the border to Africa from Arab nations of the middle east. ^[25]

[edit] Criticism & scandals

[edit] Anuak genocide

On December 13, 2003 (in Gambella, Ethiopia) an ethnic conflict led to the death of 61 Anuaks in one day and hundreds more over the coming months. It is alleged that the highlanders were also being helped by the Ethiopian Defense forces. According to Amnesty International, federal soldiers participated in the killings and regional authorities did not take necessary preventative measures against the violence.^[26]

The highlanders are light skinned Ethiopians mostly from the northern regions of Amhara and Tigrai (but also Oromia) which populated the Gambella region after they were forced to move southwest from north in the mid-1980s. When the Marxist & dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was ruling in the 1980s, more than 1.5 million Ethiopians were forced to relocate which led to more than 200,000 Ethiopians dead and many more sick in what is described as one of the worst humanitarian crisis of that decade. Since those old days some of the northern highlanders have been living in Gambella, and added a fuel to the already existing conflict between the Nuar and Anuaks.

In December 2003, some of the highlanders who worked for Ethiopian refugee agency, were looking for new camps to shelter the thousands of Sudanese fleeing from their country's internal battles. In that early December a group of armed Anuak killed many highlanders.^[27] Anuak rebels have also attacked civilians many times including killing eight people after attacking a United Nations vehicle as well as killing traditional gold miners.^[28]But these incidents triggered a tragic & new wave of ethnic violence in which the ethnic highlanders have the power & financial edge since they owned most of the businesses in Gambella. Highlighting this disaster which was labeled a "genocide" by some Anuaks and anti-Ethiopian government diaspora Ethiopians was that Barnabas Gebre-Ab,who was the Ethiopia’s Minister of Federal Affairs for the State of Gambella, was never charged of any wrongdoing after the court hearings.

A lot of ethnic conflicts occur also since the region is rich with oil and minerals. It is said that the Anuak (Anyuak) people feel they have been gradually displaced from their traditional lands.^[29] Despite 5,000 Ethiopian troops being deployed to keep peace in the area, tensions are still high. Anuak tribesmen interviewed by BBC correspondents said they appreciated the government's effort to keep peace against Anuak rebel's, yet ordinary Anuaks still fear for their lives.^[30] In October 2005, Anuak rebels attacked a catholic church and a police station.^[31]

The Ethiopian government, including PM Meles Zenawi, stated that both the Anuak insurgents and the highlander militias were responsible for the conflict. And "without the intervention of the army, the killings would have continued indefinitely." Even though the regional security forces made an effort to restrain the tension between the ethnic groups which are historically enemies, after an independent investigation, four town soldiers have been put in prison for favoring one ethnicity over another during the ethnic conflicts. Also many regional government officials say the number dead was not 400 in that day but claim that around 200 both armed Anuaks and 'highlanders' were tragically killed after the ethnic violence. ^[32] They also claim that making a conclusion based on the accusations of some Anuaks who fled after the ethnic conflicts or foreign organizations using the testimony of only these same Anuak people who obviously don't like the other two ethnic groups in Gambella (Nuar and 'highlander' Amharas & Tigeans) is an unprofessional and dishonest observation.

[edit] "Protesters Massacred" in a leak

On October 18, 2006 an independent report said Ethiopian police massacred 193 protesters, mostly in the capital Addis Ababa, in the violence of June and November following the May 2005 elections. The information was leaked before the official independent report was handed to the parliament. The leak made by Ethiopian judge Wolde-Michael Meshesha found that that the government had concealed the true extent of deaths at the hands of the police. ^[33] This leak also brought more accusations that the opposition party which provoked the riots was trying to damage the reputation of the government by leaking the inquiry unlawfully. Gemechu Megerssa, a member of the independent Inquiry commission, which Mr.Meshesha once worked with, said Mr. Meshesha taking the report "out of context and presenting it to the public to sensationalise the situation for his political end is highly unethical." ^[34]

The judge in Europe described the deaths as a massacre and said the toll could well have been higher. However the judge was filing for a Asylum and is currently living in Europe, bringing a speculation that he was bias to begin with in support of the opposition party. But he claimed that he had to leave the country because he thought he would be "harassed" by the government. He speculated that Zenawi ordered troops to shoot at protesters.

The official report described by the parliament and the government gave the exact same details as the leaked inquiry. It said that 193 people had been killed, including 40 teenagers. Six policemen were also killed and some 763 people injured. Police records showed 20,000 people were initially arrested during the anti-government protests.^[35] However various witnesses from the Kinijit (CUD) opposition party members have testified that CUD leaders assured them of a demise of Zenawi's party & government in order to start an armed rebellion. The witnesses stated that CUD leaders encouraged them to start military training and planing to overthrow the government.^[36] The commission members living in Addis Ababa also criticised the government saying;

"We are not saying the government was totally clean. The government has a lot to be accountable for. The mentality of the police needs to be changed, and then we will be able to minimize those kinds of casualties in the future. Building of [democratic] institutions is required, but that is going to take time. [So] The government was not prepared to tackle violence like that which took place last year. They could have brought an alternative way of dispersing rioting crowds."^[37] ^[38]

But the independent Inquiry commission members added Mr.Meshesha going to Europe and reporting out of context information was "dishonest", ugly politics as well as insensitive to the process of developing Ethiopia's young democracy. Then the commission said Ethiopians need to solve their problems themselves so that these kinds of violences won't occur again. It said respecting authority & eachother and working together is important as well as changing the mentality of the police is what the "government has to think about seriously." ^[39]

Despite all these post-election issues & complications, in addition to the Carter Center and the US government, British MPs continued to praise the democratic process in Ethiopia. After meeting with some opposition parties, the British MPs also stated that the Ethiopian government should always stand firmly against those who try to use "undemocratic and unconstitutional means" to change government. ^[40]

Presently, all except 20 of the elected opposition members have joined the Ethiopian parliament along with the EPRDF party members. The other top opposition parties,UEDF and UEPD-Medhin, are peacefully working with the government for negotiations on the democratic process.^[41] Yet many opposition parties are still represented in the Ethiopia Parliament where representatives from Oromia state hold the most positions and representatives from the Amhara State hold the second most position, in correlation with the population order of the corresponding states.^[42] Various opposition parties including UEDF, UEPD-Medhin, Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP),EDL, Gambella People's Democratic Movement (GPDM), All Ethiopian Unity Organization (AEUO),Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)and Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front (BGPDUF)hold positions in the parliament.^[43]

[edit] Prisoners

Currently, some of the main opposition party's (CUD) leaders are in jail for an alleged attempt to overthrow the government and initiating the post election violence. All of these charges are denied by CUD leadership both in Ethiopia & international, and the European Union continues to plea for the political prisoners to be released after a speedy trial. Some of these elected CUD officials endure very harsh conditions inside Ethiopia's poorly maintained prisons and they are at risk of various medical complications. As a result of the violence after the elections, many thousands were arrested and imprisoned, even though some have been freed few still remain in prison. Upto the end of 2005, around 8,000 Ethiopian rioters were freed. ^[44]

[edit] Political offices

Currently, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is serving as co-chairman of the Global Coalition for Africa. He has also been involved to end the civil wars in Sudan and Somalia, with talks with Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Somalia‘s Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

[edit] International Accolades

[edit] Awards

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, despite running a 3rd world country, has received various international awards for setting up a good foundation for the development of Ethiopia.

The World Peace Prize for PM Meles Zenawi's contributions for global peace and his effort to stabilize the Horn of Africa through cooperation with Inter-Governmental Authority for Development(IGAD).^[45]

Tabor 100, an African American entrepreneur’s organization, honored PM. Meles Zenawi for his big contribution toward economic and social transformation in Africa with its prestigious Crystal Eagle International Leadership Award in April 2005.^[46] Tabor 100, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization, calling Meles Zenawi “International leader of the year 2005”, also honored the efforts of the Ethiopian government in general for war on poverty and backwardness.^[47]

PM Meles Zenawi was also awarded the “Good Governance Award of the Global coalition for Africa” in respect for leading Ethiopia in a democratic path during the challenging period of transition.^[48]

PM Meles Zenawi received the 2005 Yara Prize for Green Revolution for initiating a good foundation for economic progress in Ethiopia, particularly on the agricultural sector for the poor country that has doubled its food production. During the award ceremony held in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on September 3, the director of the UN project for Africa said, "With our support, Ethiopia can lift itself from poverty and hunger. Under Prime Minister Meles the country has created the grass roots structure to enable this to happen.”^[49]

[edit] Positions

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is also a Co-Chairperson of the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA.)^[50] The Global Coailition for Africa brings together senior African policy makers and their partners to deepen dialogue and build consensus on Africa's priority development issues.

The Prime Minister was the co-chairperson of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Nov.2006) Ethiopia is the Forum's co-chair country. ^[51] It led to the adoption of the Beijing Action Plan (2007-2009) for partenership for economic progress and cultural exchanges. It also stated to support Africa's "development [of] international political, economic, trade and financial systems."

In 2004, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom appointed Prime Minister Meles Zenawi as one of the Commissioners taking part in the Commission for Africa.^[52]

Prime Minister Zenawi served as the Chairman of the Organization for African Unity (OAU, now the African Union - AU) from June 1995 to June 1996.

[edit] Education and personal life

Prime Minister Meles acquired a First Class M.A. (Masters of Arts) in Business Administration from the Open University of the United Kingdom in 1995 and a MSc. (Masters of Science) in Economics from the Erasmus University of the Netherlands in 2004.^[53] He received an Honorary doctorate degree from Open University which he was a top graduate in its OBS MBA programme. It recognized Meles for bringing a workable social democracy, a successful structural adjustment programme and leading peace-making efforts in Sudan & Somalia.^[54] In July 2002, Meles has also received an honorary doctoral degree in political science from the Hannam University in South Korea. ^[55] Meles Zenawi is married to Azeb Mesfin and is the father of three children. Azeb Mesfin is now the chair of the Social Affairs Standing Committee. Zenawi's hobbies are reportedly reading, swimming and playing tennis.