Former Ethiopian national Women’s team and the first ever Women Premier League Head Coach in Africa Meseret Mani was appointed the boss at newly promoted women first division side Addis Ababa. Daniel G/Mariam took over as technical director of the club.
Diredawa born and raised Meseret’s sport life is full of adventure not only as a player and later a coach, but also at the international level winning the Bronze medal at CECAFA Championship. Above all she wrote history as head coach of Diredawa leading it to promotion to the Ethiopian Premier League thus becoming the first woman in Africa to boss a club to the top tier.
Though she was engaged in Youth Projects, the newly promoted Addis Ababa Women’s side brought her to the limelight as she signed a two year contract to help build a strong team in the coming season.
Seeing off Head Coach Asrat Abate and assistant Ismael Abubaker, Super league side Addis Ababa Men’s side appointed a Technical Director. The new Technical head who was working with Adama last season signed a two year contract. Critics applauded the appointment of a Technical Director ahead of signing a Head Coach who is to replace Asrat Abate. Rumored to spend a huge amount of money in the last season transfer window, Addis Ababa finished fifth in Group “A” thus the officials sacked Asrat who was also working in the Women’s side at division one. Addis Ababa the sport capital of Ethiopia is in need of a flag bearer at the upper tier.
Meseret Mani becomes Addis Ababa Head Coach
NegedBank, Medin and Muger never returned. Will Ethio-Electric come back?
With former two time Ethiopian champion Ethio-Electric relegated there are no more government institution affiliated clubs except the Army side Mekelakya in the Premier League. Muger Cement, Ethiopia Medin, Ethiopia NegedBank are of the few to mention that not only lost their grip in the top tier but two of them Muger and NegedBank are nonexistent following their drop down. Could Electric survive in the woods to burst back in to the Premier League? Many are in doubt of its return in the near future.
Though it was all about government sponsored clubs some two decades back, this time the Premier League is about three non-government teams Saint George, Ethiopia Bunna and Dedebit FC, 12 City administration clubs and The Army side Mekelakya. Though the reason for the rise of City Administration teams is unclear the teams are notorious for commanding millions of tax payers’ money that entails no accountability and lack of professionals.
The slippery way down appeared to be the easier option rather than staying afloat at the top tier for number of big teams including Ethiopia NegedBak, Ethiopia Medin and Muger never returned once relegated. Medin is struggling in the woods for the past five seasons changing coaches every season but in regular decline. Big spending NegedBank got frustrated after years of poor results and finally disbanded the team considering a good riddance. Both sides were spending millions in the name of social obligation but to the wrong cause for there appeared no accountability in whatever the end result is.
Struggling for survival for five seasons in a row yet the budget increasing in tens of millions every year, critics suggest Electric’s return to the top tier is unlikely at least not in near future. A new official took command and distributing responsibilities that go along good money. But the critiques turned pessimists for they are in fear of past experiences that showed no come back of government institution led clubs. Football fans are waiting cross handed for the return fifty plus year old Ethio-Electric.
Kofi Annan was the United Nations
Since the shock of former United Nations’ Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s death, I have been reflecting on what made him so special.
To my mind, it is simply this: Kofi Annan was both one-of-a-kind and one of us.
He was an exceptional global leader — and he was also someone virtually anyone in the world could see themselves in: those on the far reaches of poverty, conflict and despair who found in him an ally; the junior UN staffer following in his footsteps; the young person to whom he said until his dying breath “always remember, you are never too young to lead — and we are never too old to learn.”
Like few in our time, Kofi Annan could bring people together, put them at ease, and unite them towards a common goal for our common humanity.
There is an old joke: The art of diplomacy is to say nothing especially when you are speaking!
Kofi Annan could say everything, sometimes without uttering a word. It came from the dignity and the moral conviction and the humanity that was so deep in him.
He had that gentle voice, that lilt that made people smile and think of music. But his words were tough and wise. And sometimes the graver a situation, the lower that voice would get.
We would lean in to listen. And the world would lean in. And we were rewarded by his wisdom.
Kofi Annan was courageous, speaking truth to power while subjecting himself to intense self-scrutiny. And like his predecessor as UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjold, he had an almost mystical sense of the role of the United Nations as a force for good in a world of ills.
All of this added up to a remarkable record of achievement.
He pioneered new ideas and initiatives, including the Millennium Development Goals and the landmark reforms in his report, “In Larger Freedom”.
He opened the doors of the United Nations, bringing the Organization closer to the world’s people and engaging new partners in protecting the environment, defending human rights and combating HIV/AIDS and other killer diseases.
Kofi Annan was the United Nations and the United Nations was him.
He was also my good friend. We marched through life together in many ways.
When the people of Timor-Leste were seeking self-determination, we worked together — he from the United Nations, and I as Prime Minister of Portugal — to support the peaceful resolution of their plight
When the UN Refugee Agency needed new leadership, Kofi blessed me with his trust in asking me to fill that role – and then provided unwavering support to protect and shelter the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.
Now that I occupy the office Kofi once held, I am continually inspired by his integrity, dynamism and dedication.
To him, indifference was the world’s worst poison.
Even after finishing his term as Secretary-General, he never stopped battling on the front-lines of diplomacy.
He helped to ease post-election tensions in Kenya, gave his all to find a political solution to the brutal war in Syria and set out a path for ensuring justice and rights for the Rohingya people of Myanmar.
Kofi straddled many worlds, North and South, East and West. But he found his surest anchor in his African roots and identity.
The great Nelson Mandela, accustomed to being called Madiba, had his own nickname for Kofi, and called him “my leader”. This was no jest. Kofi was our leader, too.
When I last saw him not long ago at the UN, his bearing was how I will always remember him: calm yet determined, ready to laugh but always filled with the gravity of the work we do.
He is gone now and we will miss him immensely. But I am sure of this — if we continue to lean in and listen hard, we will still hear the words and wise counsel of Kofi Annan.
“Please carry on,” I hear him saying. “You know what to do: Take care of each other. Take care of our planet. Recognize the humanity in all people. And support the United Nations — the place where we can all come together to solve problems and build a better future for all”.
Let us continue to heed that voice of grace and reason – that voice of morality and solidarity.
Our world needs it now more than ever.
As we face the headwinds of our troubled and turbulent times, let us always be inspired by the legacy of Kofi Annan — and guided by the knowledge that he will continue speaking to us, urging us on towards the goals to which he dedicated his life and truly moved our world
António Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations. Remarks delivered at the funeral of Kofi Annan in Accra, Ghana on September 13, 2018.
Mutual Identity, Dawit Abebe’s first solo exhibition at Addis Fine Art’s Gallery
Addis Fine Art announced that it will be hosting Dawit Abebe’s first solo exhibition from 18 September – 10 November 2018.
According to the Addis Fine Art, Mutual Identity is a body of work following Dawit Abebe’s X-Privacy series from 2012 in which he critically examines the themes of power and individual and collective freedom. Experiments in composition and form, explore the collective human experience. A growing sense of responsibility in the face of social and cultural shifts, questions of national and global urgency and their implication on the social fabric, are explored in this exhibition.
Collages carefully constructed in Dawit’s signature style, confront the viewer with questions of personal ego and its impact on society. The ego removes contact with nature as humans more divided and isolated.
Magazine cut-outs of famous figures are juxtaposed against each other, taken out of their usual context. Vladimir Putin occupies the same space as Tony Blair, Kim Jong Un, Mulatu Teshome, Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr., a fashion model and a lone, armed soldier.
The giant figures seem to represent these individuals’ combined egos. These giant nude male figures explore the ego under difficult social conditions. Stripped of clothes, knowledge and identity, these figures flagrantly present themselves for view.
The small collage city below is oblivious to the behemoth above. At times this dominant figure seems to be carrying the weight of the world like Atlas or Sisyphus and at times cowered, shamed by his nakedness, like Adam banished from Eden. Nonetheless, the giant’s masculinity is unquestionable. The cityscape filled with tiny celebrity figures questions civilization and modernity.
The god-like role of camera surveillance asks the viewer to question socially constructed ideals of proper behavior. The imagery of the cage explores systems that encourage power imbalance. These collages ask what our contribution is to the world. They question national identity in the face of privilege and global systems of power. Are we ignoring our surroundings, entranced by our own selfhood and distracted by the personal shadow we cast?
Dawit Abebe is an Addis Ababa based artist whose practice is representative of the complexities of the social fabric of Ethiopia, weaving together layers of history with reflective commentary on social and technological change.
Born in 1978, he graduated from the Alle School of Fine Arts and Design at Addis Ababa University with a diploma in painting, sculpture, graphics, photography and industrial design. Having founded the Habesha Art Studio in 2001 with four other contemporary Ethiopian artists, he continues to practice from Habesha studio as a full-time artist in residence.
Dawit has participated in several group shows and has had numerous solo shows in Ethiopia as well as other parts of the world including the Emirates, France, Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, South Africa, Tanzania, UK, and the USA. In Europe, it is represented by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London. His works are in the collections of Barjeel Art Foundation, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Saatchi Gallery, Frank Cohen, Carole Server and Oliver Frankel.
Founded by Rakeb Sile and Mesai Haileleul, Addis Fine Art is the very first local space and international platform based in Ethiopia. The gallery focuses on highlighting fine art from the Horn of Africa region and its diaspora. In January 2016, Addis Fine Art opened its main gallery space in the heart of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia launching an innovative programme of exhibitions, talks and events, showing a diverse set of modern and contemporary artists from Ethiopia and the diaspora. In October 2016, the AFA Project Space was opened in London, to provide an additional international platform to the gallery’s programme. Addis Fine Art is quickly becoming the leading gallery in the region, and continues to strengthen its cross-continental presence at prominent art-fairs, supporting its artists in exhibitions around the globe.
