Head of State

H.E. Girma Woldegiorgis. 
President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

President Girma was born in December 1924 in Addis Ababa and first attended an Ethiopian Orthodox Church school before joining the Teferi Mekonnen School in Addis Ababa, where he was a student until the Italian invasion. During 1950 and 1952, he received certificates in Management in Holland, Air Traffic Management in Sweden and Air Traffic Control in Canada. He was one of the first Ethiopians in the Ethiopian air force dominated by American technicians. He had actively participated at the Inter Parliamentary Summit in Yugoslavia, and recognized for openly condemning the apartheid regime in South Africa.[3] Girma Wolde-giorgis speaks Afan Oromo (Oromiffa), Amharic, Tigrinya, English, Italian and French.

 

Government Services 

  • In 1941 he was enlisted at the Ethiopian Military Radio Communication set up by the British, 
  • In 1944 graduated from the Genet Military School as a Sub-Lieutenant,  
  • Joined the Air Force in 1946 and took various Air Management courses,  
  • Became assistant teacher in air navigation and flight control in 1948,  
  • Worked as head of Civil Aviation of the Eritrea Region in 1955,  
  • Assumed the post of Director General of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority in 1957 and was a Board member of the Ethiopian Airlines during the same period, 
  • Became member of parliament in 1961, was elected speaker of the parliament for three consecutive years,  
  • Became Director General of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Planning at the time of establishment in 1951,  
  • Helped win a seat for the Ethiopian Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union and attended conferences of the IPU in Switzerland, Denmark and former Yugoslavia, served as Vice President of the 52nd Meeting of the International Parliamentary Union,  
  • Served as Manager of the Ethiopian 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) for a peaceful settlement of the Eritrean problem,  
  • Became member of the House of Peoples' Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) by an independent candidacy during the second round elections in 2000,  
  • President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since October 2001. 

 

Non governmental Services 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: 

  • Served as President of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society-Eritrea Branch (Asmara),  
  • Board President of the Cheshire Home and  
  • 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 then established an environment protection association named Lem Ethiopia (Green Ethiopia) in March 1992 and served as Vice President of the Board of the Association, as well as a patron.