The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was subsequently revoked the prize awarded in 2019.
According to the chairman of the board of trustees of the Hessian Peace Prize, Karl Starzacher, there has been no reaction from the official Ethiopian side.
ሽልማቱ በዚያን ጊዜ አብይ አህመድ ላበረከቱት መልካም ተግባር ነበር:: ነገር ግን ከዚያ ቦሀላ ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ በተፈጠረው ጦርነት፣
የዘር ጭፍጨፋና የሰብአዊ መብት ጉድለት የተነሳ ሽልማቱ መታገዱን ኮሚሽኑ አስታወቀ:: ኮሚሽኑ ከኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ያገኘው ምንም መልስ የለም::
ሽልማቱ ሰርቲፊኬትና 25000 ዩሮ ነበር:: ሽልማቱን ለመቀበል አብይ አህመድ መምጣት ስላልቻሉ የሰላም ሚኒስትር ሙፈርያት ናቸው የተቀበሉት:: በጀርመን የኢትዮጵያ አምባሳደር ወይዘሮ ሙሉ ብዙነህ አብረው ነበሩ::
የኦነግ ሸኔው መሪ ዓብይ ከሄስያን የሰላም ሽልማቱ ጋር ያገኘውን የ 25 ሺህ ዩሮ ሽልማት ጠንካራ ጸረ ኦርቶዶክስ ዘመቻ ለከፈተው ፓስተር ዮናታን የመልካም ወጣት ማዕከል ግንባታ እንደለገሰው ይታወሳል።
TRANSLATION into ENGLISH
On September 23, 2019, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali received the Hessian Peace Prize for his outstanding commitment to a historic peace agreement with Eritrea. A 20-year conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and has flared up again and again in recent years appears to be coming to a peaceful end. A reconciliation process between the two states holds opportunities for the societies of both states and the East African region. These significant developments and the resulting opportunities for a peaceful future are worth recognizing. “Abiy Ahmed Ali is one of the great hopes on the African continent. We want to honor his commitment to peace with the Hessian Peace Prize and at the same time promote it further,” says Nicole Deitelhoff, Head of PRIF and member of the Board of Trustees.
The peace agreement and subsequent reconciliation between the two neighboring countries raise hopes of stabilization in the entire region. Domestically, too, the changes introduced by Abiy Ahmed Ali are remarkable: since Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974, there has not been a bloody change of government in the country. The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which has been in power since 1991, is closely linked to the Ethiopian state, controls all levels of the federal system and has repeatedly relied on repression. Abiy’s government is also supported by this coalition, but has made significant progress in the country’s political and economic liberalization over the past year and a half. The increased public attention following the awarding of the Hessian Peace Prize could act as a reminder not to pause now, but to continue to promote these domestic political reforms peacefully and in an integrative manner.
Abiy Ahmed Ali, born in 1976 in Beshasha, Ethiopia, was appointed Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018. He belongs to the Oromo ethnic group, who have long perceived themselves as marginalized in Ethiopia’s political system. He is the first Oromo to become Prime Minister. The former soldier in the Ethiopian army studied computer and communication technology, cryptography, transformational leadership and business administration and received his doctorate in management and leadership from the University of Addis Ababa in 2017. Among other things, he served in the Eritrean-Ethiopian border war from 1998 to 2000. From 2007 to 2010 he was deputy director of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), an intelligence agency that monitors telecommunications and the Internet in Ethiopia.
He has been a member of the Ethiopian Parliament since 2010 and was the country’s Science Minister from 2015 to 2016. He belongs to the political faction of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), which is part of the ruling EPRDF party. He has been Chairman of the EPRDF since March 2018. At 42, he is the youngest head of government in Africa.
Muferihat Kamil, the Ethiopian Minister of Peace, accepted the award in the Hessian state parliament in Wiesbaden on behalf of Abiy Ahmed. Volker Bouffier held the laudatory speech.
Reporting by the Hessischer Rundfunk on the award ceremony
All speeches at the award ceremony verbatim
GERMANY