Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that he has donated 110 million Birr from sale of his acclaimed book 'Medemer' to a local foundation led by his wife First Lady Zinash Tayachew to help build schools across Ethiopia. (Photo: @AbiyAhmedAli/Twitter)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: August 7th, 2020
New York (TADIAS) — Politics aside, how often do you hear of a nation’s leader donating millions in personal income to help build schools across their country? That’s precisely what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did this week in Ethiopia when he announced that he has given 110 million Birr from the sale of his acclaimed book Medemer to a local foundation led by his wife, First Lady Zinash Tayachew.
“We have kept our promise to use the proceeds of the Medemer book towards building schools,” Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister announced via Twitter. “Today I handed over the first installment of over 110mil Birr to the First Lady Zinash Tayachew, who has been constructing schools nationwide through her office.”
(Photo: @AbiyAhmedAli/Twitter)
The book Medemer, which was released last October “aims at inclusivity and consensus in a country with scores of ethnic groups and a rising problem of ethnic unrest,” the Associated Press reported at the time of its publication. “The book was launched as the country faces a national election next year that Abiy has pledged will be free and fair.”
A man reads Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed’s new book on MEDEMER (synergy), which was released on Saturday Oct. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
The 43-year old leader of Ethiopia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, last year “for making peace with neighboring Eritrea and ending one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts, and for his political reforms.”
—
Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
