The U.S. Ambassador’s fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) funded the 347,000 dollars for the restoration of the Jimma Abajifar palace. The restoration will also support a team of timber craftsmen who will be trained and empowered to design and implement a maintenance plan. The crafts men are expected to care for the palace, and eventually other historical sites in Ethiopia, well into the future.
The restoration project supports a broader vision of creating a new cultural destination in the region that links the heritage of coffee, Aba Jiffar Palace, and Jimma into a broader context that reflects the extraordinary history, culture, and potential of this extraordinary part of Ethiopia.
At the launching of the program the Us Ambassador Mike Raynor remarked that as much as the rock-hewn churches of Gheralta and Lalibela, the walled city of Harar, the fortified settlements and terraces in Konso, and the castles of Gondar, the Aba Jiffar palace represents a history that made Ethiopia a country of incredible cultural diversity, and it reminds us that such diversity should be cherished as a source of shared pride.
“Together, these funds will make it possible to undertake the most comprehensive conservation project ever at Aba Jiffar Palace, including not only urgent timber conservation, but also significant work on masonry elements, drainage, roofing, fixtures, and fitting,” he added.
On the signing ceremony the newly appointed Culture and Tourism Minister Hirut Kassaw (PhD) and other government officials took part.
Restoring Jimma Abajifar Palace
Revealing the beauty of Ethiopia
The Italian Cultural Institute, the University ‘L’Orientale’ of Naples, together with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies organized a multidisciplinary exhibition composed of photos, paintings and scripts representing the every region.
Collected by photographer Carlo Franchini, and painter Francesca Borro and the scientific projects of the maps of Orientale University the exhibition will stay on in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies for three months, from 5th November to 31st January.
In addition, the exhibition will interact with the collections of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, thus focusing on the strong relationship between the ethnographic peculiarities of the wonderful Ethiopian regions and their landscapes and people.
This is the third leg of the exhibition, after being showcased in Naples and Rome, under the patronage of the Ethiopian Embassy in Italy. Having presented the beauty of Ethiopia to the wider Italian public, the exhibition is ready now to introduce such beauty to the many tourists who start their tour of Ethiopia from Addis Ababa and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
The doors of the exhibition will be opened on 3:30 pm on this Monday.
Mulualem Regassa joins newly promoted Debub Police
More than two decades orchestrating the mid field play, Mulualem Regassa is still going strong in Ethiopian Premier League football signing a new contract deal with newly promoted side Debu Police. Late in to the new season transfer market, Debub Police under newly appointed Head Coach Zelalem Shiferaw faces a huge task to stay at the upper tier.
The veteran midfielder who had had the best of his footballing carrier with Saint George as well as the national team has now became the most traveling senior footballer joining his fifth team in twenty plus years in a one year contract worth unofficial 400,000 Birr.
CECAFA Championship title and six Premier League titles with Saint George out of which four under his captaincy, Mulualem had been in the top league football for the past twenty three years yet still stands as one of the most versioned play maker who could deliver an inch perfect long passes.
Desperate to build a a squad that at least battles out survival in its first season at the upper tier, Head Coach Zelalem signed the veteran mid fielder over the week end. Though he is past forty years old with 23 years action packed experience with five different clubs many believe Mulualem could be an important helping hand to Zelalem if the squad members are willing to listen to him. Past forty he is not expected to run after balls but his expertise is on what to do with the ball in his possession.
In addition to his heyday with Saint George he has played significant roles in steering Sebeta Ketema and Ethiopia Medin promote to the Premier League as well contributed much in helping Hawassa Ketema stay at the upper league last season.
“Right decision, wrong timing” St George sacks Pinto
After a two month preparation and signing number of new footballers including five foreign players, Saint George head coach Carlos Vas Pinto parted ways with the club last week. “A shocking wrong timing to sack a coach and the worst situation for whoever comes in to the hot seat,” Coach Mesay Assefa remarked about the unexpected departure of Pinto. “The coming coach would have a readymade excuse not to deliver what is expected of him,” Mesay added.
Most soccer fans agree the sacking of the Portuguese Head Coach although he was genuinely struggling to change the usual kick and run football the trade mark of Saint George. But failure to bring any silverware at the end of the season and denying the club a place in international football for the first time in half a dozen years, Saint George could do nothing except sacking him even before the end of his two years contract. The least Pinto should have won was the knock-out trophy but lost it to humble side Mekelakya and that was the last straw his adversaries were waiting.
Why the club’s officials let him stay all through the preseason and signed players who are suitable for his style is what makes the situation a bit bizarre. Above all Saint George opens the new season without a Head Coach and this could have its negative implication at the end of the season. Well it is common experience for the club could easily collect local championship titles. But what about the big picture of building a strong Saint George that could do something at international level appeared to be no one’s concern.
Carlos Pinto is the ninth foreign Head Coach to reign at Saint George since the club decided to turn backs on local Head Coaches since 2003. Saint George won the Premier League for a record fourteen times since the new format introduced in 1998. The rumor is that of an English Coach to come to the hot seat.
