Tamrat Layne Admassu (; born 1955) is an Ethiopian former politician who served as the

Prime Minister of Ethiopia The prime minister of Ethiopia is the head of government and chief executive of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a parliamentary republic with a prime minister as head of the government and the commander-in-chief of the Ethiopian Armed Forces. The pri ...

during the

Transitional Government of Ethiopia The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. ...

after the end of 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. Previously during the 1980s, he was a leader of the

Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement The Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) (), formerly known as the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), was a political party in Ethiopia. The party was one of four members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that r ...

(the forerunner of the

Amhara National Democratic Movement The Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) (), formerly known as the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), was a political party in Ethiopia. The party was one of four members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that r ...

), one of the groups that fought against Ethiopian dictator

Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam (, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian former politician, revolutionary, and military officer who served as the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. He was General Secretary of the Workers' Party o ...

in the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

Biography

Tamrat Layne was born in 1955 and raised by a single mother in

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 ...

. He led the Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement during the 1980s, fighting against

in the

. In an interview in 1988, he acknowledged that the goals of his movement were similar to that of the

Tigrayan People's Liberation Front The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ), also known as the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. It was classified as a terrorist organization ...

, such as its approach to national

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

and foreign affairs. A self-proclaimed atheist, he believed that "freedom comes out of the barrel of the gun." When Mengistu was overthrown in 1991, Tamrat Layne became one of the three-man

EPRDF The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...

TPLF The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ), also known as the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. It was classified as a terrorist organization ...

ruling the country and then in the democratically elected government, the other members being

Meles Zenawi Meles Zenawi Asres ( Tigringa and ; ), born Legesse Zenawi Asres (8 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 19 ...

(President) and

Siye Abraha Siye Abraha Hagos (also Seeye Abraha Hagos) (, ''siyә abräha''; born 12 June 1955) is an Ethiopian politician who served as Ethiopian Minister of Defense from 1991 to 1995. He was a top official of Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and E ...

(Minister of Defence). His position was Prime Minister of the

Transitional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

, in which capacity he served from 6 June 1991 until 22 August 1995, when President Meles Zenawi succeeded him as Prime Minister. While in power, he realized that his communist-socialist ideology was mistaken. He staffed important government posts with friends. Tamrat became deputy prime minister until October 1996. He also served as deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. On 16 March 2000 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 ...

sentenced Tamrat to 18 years in prison after being convicted of corruption and embezzlement charges. He was accused of being involved in an illegal 16 million-dollar deal with a business to export Ethiopian textiles and 1,000 tons of state-owned coffee through a fake company. He claimed to be innocent of all charges against him. Kept in solitary confinement, he studied Buddhism, Islam, and eventually Christianity after a nurse slipped him Christian literature. He reported that while in prison, over the course of three consecutive nights he encountered a figure that he identified as Jesus Christ. After serving 12 years of his 18-year sentence, Tamrat was released from prison in December 2008. He is currently an active member of Christian churches across the United States with his teachings of self understanding and life's purpose Since then, he has shared his faith experience with others. He has made appearances at several churches and universities.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamrat Layne 1955 births Living people 20th-century Ethiopian politicians 21st-century evangelicals Amhara Democratic Party politicians Converts to evangelical Christianity Defence ministers of Ethiopia Ethiopian evangelicals People from Addis Ababa Prime ministers of Ethiopia