Azeb Mesfin: Meles had neither an ID card nor a bank account

PM Meles Zenawi with his wife Azeb Mesfin durng the official opening of the African Union, AU, Summit in Ababa on January 29, 2012. (Photo credit TONY KARUMBA/AFP/GettyImages)

Posted by Awramba Times admin on March 29, 2013 

Delegates of the ninth convention of the ruling EPRDF party have shown their dissatisfaction over a eulogy written for their late leader, Meles Zenawi, while some were critical of the quality of its writing and completeness of the content.

Translated from Tigrigna, the eulogy was first presented to the congress of the TPLF, held in Meqelle two weeks ago, before it was presented to over 1,000 delegates at the conclusion of the ruling coalition’s convention on Tuesday, held in Bahir Dar.

The first to voice such disappointment over the organization of the eulogy and its content structure was Meles’s widow. Elected to the political bureau of the TPLF for the second time and to the all too powerful Executive Committee of the EPRDF, Azeb Mesfin was displeased to see the eulogy incomplete.
Some of the points she argued as missed are Meles’s place, role and the contributions he made as an Editor-in-Chief of the party’s ideological organ, Addis Ra’ey. Azeb feels that the contributions Meles had made in originating the idea of forming a training facility for the rank and file, now directed by Addisu Legesse, and the manual he develop ought to be forcefully underlined.

 

 

Azeb defended her late husband’s legacy in relations to how he had handled the conflict and the subsequent war with Eritrea. Despite condemnations from his political opponents due to his heritage, Azeb told delegates that Meles had never negotiated on the national interests of Ethiopia.

“Not even for a second,” Azeb told delegates rather emphatically.

Azeb described Meles’s conduct during the war with Eritrea in the late 1990s as “extraordinary” in not showing what he had felt of the accusations, but focused on defending his beliefs and political positions regardless.
 She recalled her late husband as perhaps the only leader who had earned a little over 4,000 Br a month in net salary, but fought poverty with courage and resolve, while remaining selfless.

“Meles didn’t have a bank account,” Azeb said. “He had neither an ID card nor a driving licence.”
 These parts, Azeb argued, were not given their proper place in the eulogy, which was read by Hailemariam Desalegn, re-elected to chair the EPRDF twice since the death of Meles in August 2012. Read More from Addis Fortune

 

Azeb Mesfin ''Meles didn't have a bank account''