Kemal Bedri is an Ethiopian judge. He served as the founding chairman of the

National Election Board of Ethiopia The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' Re ...

(NEBE) and later President of the

Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia The Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፌድራል ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት) is the highest court in Ethiopia. It was established by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia constitution in 1994 and is current ...

until 2009.

Early life

Kemal was born in the city of

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B.) from

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (; AAU) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about away. ...

in 1973. During the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

regime, he was appointed judge and was involved in various judiciary roles.

Career

Following the collapse of the Derg in 1991, the new transitional government of Ethiopia nominated him as the chairman of the National Election Board of Ethiopia. In 1996 he would leave his position as head of NEBE to become President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia. He was an adherent of the now defunct Harari National League.

References

Addis Ababa University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ethiopian judges People from Harari Region Ethiopian government officials Ethiopian politicians {{Ethiopia-politician-stub