Born in 1917 in Addis Ababa, Girma Wolde Giorgis attended the church school and later joined the Teferi Mekonnen School in Addis Ababa in 1926 where he followed his education until the Italian invasion. Between 1930-1933, he studied at an Italian school "The scuola Principe Piemonte" in Addis Ababa.

Between 1942 and 1944, he received certificates in Management (in Holland), in Air Traffic Management (in Sweden) and Air Traffic Control (in Canada) under a training program sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The Ethiopian presidency is largely a symbolic office with little power. Presidents serve six-year terms. President Girma's term ended on Monday, October 8, 2007.

As a result of which the Parliament of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia held a joint assembly of both houses (Parliament and Federation) on October 9, 2007 to elect a new President of the Federal Republic.

Girma Wolde-Giorgis is from the Oromo ethnic. He is a married and is a father of five. Girma Wolde-Giorgis has been recognized for various humanitarian contributions and initiatives. In October 2004, he was awarded a UNAIDS' Medal for his outstanding contributione children.

Launched an environmental protection association called 'Lem Ethiopia' in 1983 to date he has been serving as Vice President of the Board of the Association.

The President of Ethiopia speaks Oromiffa, Amharic, Tigrigna, Italian, English and French.

Politics of Ethiopia takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is more or less independent of the executive and the legislature.

He once said that after he leaves office, he plans to continue helping organizations like ORBIS International continue their efforts in Ethiopia.  ORBIS is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing avoidable blindness, which affects about one million people in Ethiopia.


Keywords:  ethiopia society