Meles zenawi wife azeb mesfin biography

f By Abebe Gellaw, ESAT – 6 December 2011 | Little is known about Azeb Mesfin Haile’s journey to the heart of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and by extension the pinnacle of power in Ethiopia. She rarely gives interviews unless it is about scripted matters such as her “humanitarian” work. I have had a chance recently to chat with a couple of people that know Azeb very well. The first one, who wants to remain anonymous, is a close relative of Azeb. The second one is called Mekonen Zelelew, former TPLF combatant and cadre. Mekonen is the man, whom she trusted and followed from Gadarif to TPLF hinterland. The bond between the two practically changed the course of Azeb Mesfin’s life journey. Fifty-one year old Azeb is today one of the most vilified and demonized figures in Ethiopian history. That is quite obviously the burden of being a wife of a brutal dictator who oppresses, divides, abuses, tortures and kills his subjects. It is also a fact that she is not just Meles Zenawi’s wife, but practically second-in-command of her husband’s tyranny. In fact, those who know her well say that she is very mean and more dictatorial than her husband. The only woman Azeb is currently the only woman member of the most important shakers and movers of Ethiopia, the nine-member executive committee of the TPLF. She is also the mafia-style group’s central committee member. She is the only woman member of the executive committee of TPLF-controlled EPRDF and member of its council. Not only is she a member of the TPLF-dominated parliament and chairwoman of the social affairs standing subcommittee, but also patron of Ethiopia’s National Initiative for Mental Health and Chairwoman of Ethiopian Coalition of Women against HIV/AIDS. Azeb is everywhere but very mean to people around her. Most importantly, she is the ultimate controller of TPLF’s business conglomerates. The state-run media respectfully call her the First Lady of Ethiopia. H

2nd First Lady of Ethiopia

In this Ethiopian name, the name Mesfin Haile is a patronymic, and the person should be referred by the given name, Azeb.

Azeb Mesfin Haile (Amharic and Tigrinya: አዜብ መስፍን ኃይሌ; born 21 December 1966) is an Ethiopian politician who was the second First Lady of Ethiopia from 2001 to 2012. Azeb is the widow of Ethiopian Prime MinisterMeles Zenawi. She is the founder and patron of National Initiative for Mental Health of Ethiopia. In early 2009, she was appointed CEO of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray by its head Abadi Zemu.

Early life

Azeb was born in Welkait in the Tigray region, and was raised in Gadarif, Eastern Sudan. She is the daughter of an Amhara peasant farmer father Mesfin Haile and a Tigrayan mother Konjit Gola. Her maternal grandfather, Gola Goshu was as an Italian Askari during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936). Due his action in the country, Gola was killed by Ethiopian patriots. From an early age, Azeb was raised by her aunt Maniahlosh Gola who is the daughter of this "Fitawrari" a title given to Goshu by Italian invaders meaning Commander of the vanguard; a feudal era military title.

Azeb was married to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi until his death in 2012. Together they had three children: Semhal, Marda and Senay Meles.

Career

She was elected in 2005 to the House of Peoples' Representatives (the lower House of the Ethiopian Parliament) representing her home woreda of Welkait and Humera, and serves as chair of its Social Affairs Standing Committee. Her role has at times been controversial, with some members of Ethiopian diaspora alleging that, during the period in which she was an executive at the parastatal Mega Corporation, she was involved in "the impropriety of mingling public, private and party-owned businesses."

However Azeb is also known for her wor

Azeb Mesfin

Azeb Mesfin Haile is the widow of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. She is the founder and patron of Ethiopia's National Initiative for Mental Health. In early 2009, she was appointed CEO of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray by its head Abadi Zemu.Azeb, born in Wolqayt, was married to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi until his death in 2012. Together they had three children: Semhal, Marda and Senay Meles. She was elected in 2005 to the House of Peoples' Representatives (the lower House of the Ethiopian Parliament) representing her home woreda of Wolqayt and Humera, and serves as chair of its Social Affairs Standing Committee. Her role has at times been controversial, with some members of Ethiopia's diaspora alleging that, during the period in which she was an executive at the parastatal Mega Corporation, she was involved in "the impropriety of mingling public, private and party-owned businesses." Wikipedia

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Meles Zenawi, who died in hospital at the age of 57, was the cleverest politician to emerge from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), one of the armed movements which spear-headed the struggle against Ethiopia's military regime in the 1970s and 1980s.

Born into a middle-class family in Adawa, Tigray, in Ethiopia's northern highlands, he dropped out of university to join the insurrection.

After the military council (Derg) led by Mengistu Haile Mariam was finally overthrown in 1991, Mr Meles first became president in a transitional government and then, in 1995, prime minister. He went on to dominate Ethiopian public life until his death.

There were some challenges to his leadership, notably after the secession of Ethiopia's most northerly region, Eritrea, when he was blamed for letting it go too easily, and after the subsequent border war.

Ethiopia won that war at a huge cost but the prime minister outmanoeuvred or sidelined his critics within the party, and emerged more powerful than before.