Shimelis Abdisa ( Oromo: ''Shimallis Abdiisaa'';

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: ሽመልስ አብዲሳ) is an Ethiopian politician serving as the president of the

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

since 18 April 2019. He is also Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister since 2018. According to

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, he is the leader of Koree Nageenyaa, a

secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

that commits unlawful detentions and extrajudicial killings in

. In August 2020, an audio of Shimelis was leaked by Zemedkun Bekele an Ethiopian YouTuber and activist living in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The audio was recorded in the secret meeting in which Shimelis Abdisa talked his belief of the prosperity party's goal is Oromizing Ethiopians.

Life and political career

Shimelis Abdisa was born near Ambo, West Shewa Zone,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Before appointed as President of Oromia Region, he has served in various roles including chief of staff of Prime Minister

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali (; ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Networ ...

. For instance, he served as Head of the Office of the Prime Minister replacing Fitsum Arega in November 2018, who had served as Ambassador of Ethiopia to US. On 18 April 2019, the Oromia Regional State Council appointed Shimelis as the president of the Oromia Region, preceded by Lemma Megersa. The Oromia Broadcasting Network called the election to replace Lemma Megersa. Since Shimelis took office, the Irrechaa celebrations, returned to Addis Ababa for the first time in 150 years on 4 October 2019. During emergency meeting by Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church on 5 September 2019, Shimelis vowed to protect the Church. The Ireecha was held on 4 October 2019 through towns in Oromia Region as well as

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. Shimelis made controversial speech which recalled the oppression of Oromo people by neftegna system during

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

rule. Many people in social media criticized Shemelis speech whereas the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice stated that the

Oromo Democratic Party The Oromo Democratic Party (, ODP), formerly known as the Oromo People's Democratic Organization, was a political party in Ethiopia, and part of the alliance with the Amhara National Democratic Movement, the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democrati ...

(ODP) used the festival for politically motivated agenda. In 2022, the head of Amhara Association of America call Shemelis to resign from office as a result of growing

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

Amhara people Amharas (; ) are a Ethiopian Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Ethiopian Highlands, Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly the Amhara Reg ...

in Wollega.

References

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{Ethiopia-politician-stub

Life and political career

See also

References