Berhanu Nega

Berhanu Nega (born 1958) was elected mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the Ethiopian general elections, 2005. He is a founding chairman of the Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice and an Deputy Chairman of Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), for whom he served as chief election campaign strategist.

Life

Born in Debre Zeyit, Berhanu attended Addis Ababa University where he participated in the student movement against the ruling Derg government in his frehsman year. When the government acted against political dissidents in 1977, Berhanu with other radical student activists fled to Mount Asimba in northern Ethiopia. After a division within the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party, he was detained for openly criticizing killings within EPRP. After a few months, he was released by his captors and crossed into the Sudan where he lived for two years until he was granted political asylum in the United States.

He did his undergraduate degree in economics at the State University of New York and got his PhD in economics from the New School for Social Research, in New York City. During that time, he became one of the organizers of an annual conference on the "Horn of Africa" that debated and analyzed the political, social and economic conditions in the sub-region. For over five years, it served as a forum for intellectual dialogue among political leaders, policy analysts and researchers interested in developments in that part of Africa.

Having completed his PhD studies, he joined the faculty of economics at Bucknell University, where he became a lecturer in economics for three years. Later he founded Imbilta, a bi-monthly magazine focusing on economic, political, social and current affairs in Ethiopia. In 1989, Berhanu married Dr. Nardos Minasse.

Intending to contribute to the betterment of their homeland, Dr Berhanu, with his wife and his two children, returned to Ethiopia in 1994. Berhanu became an entrepreneur and founded the Ethiopian Agro-Maize, a fertilizer producing company, and Addis Village Family Home Builders. Berhanu has also served as a lecturer at the Addis Ababa University, Department of Economics. From 1996 to 2000, he served as the president of the Ethiopian Economic Association.

He has also served as the head of the Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute, a non-profit organization that he helped to establish. He also works as a consultant including for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Berhanu has lectured and published several articles and reviews on Ethiopian socio-political, economic and human right issues. As a result of his participation in a 2001 public forum where human rights and academic freedom issues were discussed, he was arrested and imprisoned.¹

The 2005 general election

During the 2005 elections, Dr Berhanu contributed to the opposition movement against Meles Zenawi with remarkable performances at the pre-election debates with the ruling party. ²

Despite the post-election political impasse, CUD met on 20 August and elected Dr Berhanu mayor of Addis Ababa. Dr. Admasu Gebeyehu and Assefa Habtewold were elected Deputy Mayor and Speaker of the city assembly respectively at the same meeting. If the CUD decides in favour of taking over the task of running the city, these people would be the first elected public administration in Ethiopia.

However, the October riots led to the imprisonment of Dr Berhanu, along with CUD chairman Hailu Shawul and Professor Mesfin Woldemariam.

Notes

1. www.acas.prairienet.org
2. www.mediaethiopia.com