Girma Wolde-Giorgis, whose long and successful life has been marked by an active development in civic venture and government service, including serving as president of Ethiopia from 2001 to2013, has died at age 94. He has had his share of health problems in recent years, including hospitalizations for chronic bronchitis and used a wheelchair for several years.

In a political career that spanned more than five decades, the man fondly known as Lieutenant Girma has been fortunate enough to live through and witness many momentous and significant period of the nation. Starting his career as head of civil aviation in Eritrea in 1955, he was appointed as director-general of Ethiopian civil aviation in 1958.  He would assume the position of director-general of Ethiopia’s ministry of trade, industry for two years and later elected as member of chamber of deputies of the imperial Ethiopian Parliament. After the collapse of the imperial government and amid a nationalist revolt by the Eritreans, he became a member of a peace commission created by the military government to address Eritrean land and sovereignty disputes. With the fall of the Derg, he was invited by the government for “a meeting as to how the government was to be formed and the constitution could be formed”. He crowned his long time career by taking up the largely ceremonialpost of president, while the late premier Meles Zenawi exercised the real power whom Girma described as “very intelligent, who shifted his personality as gallant warrior to a seasoned statesman quickly.” Girma was 77 when he became President in 2001. His open manner and common touch and advocacy for environmental conservation made him one of the country’s beloved politicians.

As a rule, Ethiopian presidents exercise little of the power at their disposal, and Ato Girma was no exception. Nevertheless, he was engaged in a personal crusade for environment campaign for afforestation and preventing desertification. He formed an environmental protection association Lem Ethiopia in 1991, which heled until his retirement years. He also carried out his duties with ease, wit and a touch that contrasted sharply with the stilted manner of many Ethiopian politicians.

Girma was born on 28 December 1924 during the reign of Zewditu. His father was the governor of Gurgahe and later Debre Berhan.  Girma was a second child and his father’s favourite son. Thus Wolde Giorgis, who was an expert horse rider, was a role model for his son who aspired to emulate him and “his exceptional style in handling horses and majestic horse rides.”

When Girma enrolled at Teferi Mekonen School, he was to meet another figure who was to significantly influence him in his future life. This was the teacher at Teferi Mekonen, the displianiarin and later to be the well-known Ethiopian athletic coach, Wolde Meskel Costre.

Girma soon became “an ardent disciple to Costre who would carry young minds to worlds of diverse knowledge” and instilled in the minds of his pupils “the belief that the world is open for anyone who wants to develop,” as he later reflected in one of his interviews with Indian Sivakumar K.P who published a biographical sketches, Under the Shade of Gashe.

Witness to War

The proximity of the school to the site of the then airport at Jan Meda was to leave an indelible imprint on the impressionable minds of the little Girma. Girma would spend long time, keenly watching the flights taking off and landing, a nearly harbinger of his later life as an airman.

 However, the Italian invasion disrupted his schooling and was taken by his father from the bustling capital to a tranquil village in Guraghe land, where airplane gazing was replaced by cattle herding. Girma’s father took part the war at Mecho against the fascist and had an untimely death at the age of 48, when Grima was 12 years old.

As the invasion was over, a fateful incident happened which was to bring young Grima back to the capital, when Ethiopian soldiers camping near Bantu were celebrating the victory, with merry making and celebratory shooting, a stray bullet hit the 15-year-old boy’s left leg and he was taken to a military hospital at Tulu Bolo.

Girma would move away from there toward the Addis Ababa city, the capital which kindled his dream of flying. He first joined the army with the British militarymission for Ethiopia and became a sergeant at an age of twenty enrolling at Holeta Military School for a period of eight months, involving rigorous military training.

When a Swedish colonel Captain Magnuson visited Ethiopia in connection with tasks with air force, he requested emergency communication assistance, he was directed to Girma and the captain impressed.

Punished for being illegally wedded

While at the air force, he met and decided to marry Salem Paulos Manamano, daughter of Ethiopia’s Consul General in Jerusalem during the reign of Empress Zewditu. However, marriage was seen as breach the rule of the air force, Girma could not continue working there and he had to find another job. It was at this occasion that his fluency in English came in handy. He was employed as translator for the British council in Asmara. Yet he has still to face severe punishment in the form of court martial for being illegally wedded and for desertion of duty. It was only the mercy of the emperor that allowed him to return back to his job. Eventually he was promoted to head of navigation and civil aviation, a post whereby he was to go overseas for training first in Holland and Canada. When Taffara Deguefe left the post of Director General of Civil Aviation, Girma took over and he found himself faced with a case that required a decision of what to do with the airport project to be financed by the World Bank. Impatient with the procrastination of the council of ministers who were foot dragging the project, he decided to go all by himself. He ordered his officers to go to different towns to conduct the field studies seeking possibilities for establishing airports. “This provoked many conservative superior officers. It was a bullet directly hit at their hegemony.

Their reciprocation to Girma was immediate. At least for that they did not procrastinate, he later recalled. The provoked officers reported to the emperor that Girma was working against the government. Though the emperor came in his defence, Girma all the same decided to leave the post.

Elected to lower house of parliament

Always looking for new ventures was not content to be bureaucratic functionary, Girma decided to make a foray into the world of politics into parliament. He began contest from Lideta Kernaio constituency in Addis Ababa and eventually become president of the parliament of the four year term of which he completed three years. In the final years, he was demoted to being a member. He explains the reason for the demoting with disarming frankness. “Later my arrogance must have displeased many.”

After leaving parliament, Girma returned to his agricultural venture with three like-minded people, cultivating Virginia Tobacco, maize and banana. With the coming of the Derg, Girma was assigned to Eritrea as deputy Commissioner for the Peace Making Delegation, which was a fitting task for a man with long attachment with Eritrea.  Yet the five member delegations chaired by an Eritrean named Dr. Yakob, who could not nurture unity among them members, failed to achieve the desired results.

With the fall of the Derg, Girma was invited by the government for “a meeting as to how the government was to be formed and the constitution could be formed”. In 2000 he was elected to the parliament and in October 2001 unanimously elected to the post of president. He was re-elected in October 2007, until he was succeeded by Mulatu Teshome in October 2013.

His wife, Salem passed away a year ago. In their younger days, the couple enjoyed a glittering social life and had taste for parties. Girma’s dancing talents were well known in the emperor’s palace. “Dad could enjoy the rare credit of dancing in the royal palace. Mom refused to dance with him. Instead Mom’s sister paired with him in front of the emperor and the royal crowd. I also loved to dance with dad. He loved slow movement ‘Waltz’ Latin ‘Cha Cha’ and ‘Mergne,’ his second daughter, Mana told the biographer. Girma and Salem had five children, including Ghennet Girma, an opposition member of EPRP and a long time exile in Paris.