A crackling Premier League season closing evening ceremony at Sheraton Addis, Ethiopia Bunna goal machine Abubaker Naser swept three of the four gongs including the Young Player of the season crown. Champion Seyoum Kebede won Best Coach of the season while Malian Mickel Samake collected the Best Goalie of the Year award.
Young Abubaker’s displays have been very impressive this season indeed thus it took no one by surprise when he swept all three accolades. In addition to his Leading Ethiopia Bunna to runner-up spot single handedly, he broke the five year old top scorers’ record scoring 29 goals. Being young and considered by many the miracle doer teenager, he added The Young Player of the Year to his collection. What made Abubaker’s evening special is that of collecting 510000 Birr money prize, the highest amount of the evening. Abubaker became the first player in recent time Ethiopian Football history to win all three awards within the same season.
Seyoum Kebede has won the BetKing Premier League Best Coach of the Year award after guiding Fasil Ketema to its first ever top flight championship title. Helping the side to stay at the top throughout the season and winning by a margin of 13 points, Seyoum received a 200000 Birr prize.
Fasil Ketema’s Malian shot stopper Mickel Samake won Best Goalie of The Year Award that go along with 150000 Birr prize money while the upcoming Player of the Year award goes to Hawassa Ketema’s Wondemagne Hailu who collected 105 Birr prize money for his season long hard work. Each pocketing 105000 Birr, Tmesegen Samuel and Belay Tadese took Referee and Line man of the Year gongs respectively.
Abubaker receives half a million birr prize money
Ethiopia’s long distance legendary athlete slammed U.S. decision on Ethiopia
Haile Gebreselassie whose career spans 25 years as a long distance runner feels sad with the U.S. intervention in Ethiopian politics. Haile one of the legendary long distance athletes in history, slammed the U.S. over its recent decision to impose sanctions on Ethiopia. He called it “unjust.”
Haile, who said that it is not for the first time for Ethiopia to experience undue foreign pressure and intervention, said the recent one is different because it got to a point where Ethiopia’s sovereignty is challenged.
Noting that Ethiopia is one of the few countries with stellar achievement in athletics, he said “they are doing it [he is referring to the sanction and intervention in the internal affairs of Ethiopia] out of the thinking that we cannot do anything about it. It’s painful.”
However, he expressed hope that Ethiopia will overcome the challenge. And then he lamented about the U.S. decision saying “I feel so sad. I wish American did not do that. Because “it will pass,” he said.
The U.S. visa restriction on Ethiopia is based on an unjust decision. However, he said, “We should not blame anyone. We should blame ourselves. Because we have not done what we were supposed to do. We are still in poverty. They want us not to get out of poverty too.”
Furthermore, he added that Ethiopia’s struggle is double aged ; a struggle to get out of poverty and a struggle against those who do not want us to get out of poverty. “They will need us more than we need them when we overcome that,” he added.
Haile Grebresselassie, currently one of the few successful businessmen in Ethiopia, said there are influential Ethiopians outside the country who could make a significant difference in our struggle and stressed the need to mobilize them.
He also warned about those Ethiopians who are collaborating with the forces that are exerting pressure on Ethiopia saying that they will regret it in the future as Ethiopia will usher in victory at the end of the day.
“It is time to stand together.” Once the challenge is over, we could return to bickering over differences, he added.
Moreover, Haile added that the Ethiopian government may have shortcomings but now is the time to support government efforts.
The U.S. intervention in Ethiopia, which many seem to have understood as an effort to rescue Tigray People’s Liberation Front as a client political force in the country, is noticeably giving momentum to an anti-American sentiment in Ethiopia.
Yitbarek Zergalign
Name: Yitbarek Zergalign
Education: BSC in Computer Science
Company name: EZY Printing and Advertising
Title: General Manager
Founded in: 2016
What it does: Design and Print
HQ: Addis Ababa, around Hayahulet
Number of employees: 7
Startup Capital: 100,000 birr
Current capital: 2,00,000 birr
Reasons for starting the business: Financial freedom
Biggest perk of ownership: Taking risk
Biggest strength: Quality
Biggest challenging: Shortage of materials and price fluctuation
Plan: Increase capital to 20,000,000 birr within the next five years
First career: Government employee
Most interested in meeting: People from different sectors
Most admired person: Successful business owners
Stress reducer: Listening to music
Favorite past time: Learning new things
Favorite book: Dertogada
Favorite destination: Turkey
Favorite automobile: All new cars
Funtezya
A cartoon exhibition by Alemayehu Tefera was opened on Friday June 4 to the public, which he called Funtezya.
The cartoonist is an Ethiopian artist living in the United Kingdom and his works usually shine light on the political and social happenings in Ethiopia.
His sketches, in a mere glance, are simple comic sketches formed by critical observations and a sense of humor. Working mostly with an ink and a pencil, he has managed to use satires to mock local politicians, poke fun at dictators from polarized ethnic politics to social blemishes, and historical events to geopolitical threats.
Alemayehu, 43, is born in Addis Ababa. He earned his first degree from Addis Ababa University Art School in 1988 and then went to London where he studied for his Master’s degree and lived for over two decades.
Currently living in London, he has had the chance to showcase his artworks in many exhibitions abroad, and at French embassy in Addis Ababa, with other African illustrators. His story so far has featured on a number of TV shows, newspapers, and magazines.
