Ethiopia: Top Gov't officials receive degrees
Saturday, 16 August 2008
Ethiopian Reporter | By Yelibenwork Ayele
The International Leadership Institute (ILI) and the Azuza Pacific University (APU) on Thursday awarded Master's degrees in organizational leadership to 100 and Bachelor's degrees in organizational management to 60 government officials at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Addis.
Among the graduates were Kuma Demeksa, mayor of Addis Ababa, Degfe Bula, Speaker of the House of Federation, Aster Mamo, Minister of Youth and Sport, Junedin Sado, minister of Transport and Communication and some army generals.
The officials were all sponsored by federal and regional governments. The majority were from the Oromia Regional State this year, whereas last year they were from the Southern Nations Nationalists and Peoples Region.
Classes were held every weekend in the ILI building at Amist Kilo and the Management Institute at Kotebe. The professors were coming regularly from the United States while some of them were from the Addis Ababa University. Therefore, the Ethiopian government has saved 75 percent of the expense it would incur if it had sent the officials to America.
The ILI was founded by Dr Badeg Bekele in 2003 and has been working in cooperation with the APU. Currently, it is constructing two buildings worth 50 million birr to expand the institute. In September, it will start offering other courses besides management and leadership in cooperation with the University of Greenwich and the University of London.