What does it take to be an Ethiopian ambassador?
By Mikias Sebsibe Five months after the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced the result of the fourth general elections; former President Girma Woldegiorgis appointed 36 ambassadors and special envoys to various diplomatic missions on October 2010. Nominated by the late Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, the list included former ministers, state ministers and speakers of the House of Peoples’ Representatives. Veteran politicians like Seyoum Mesfin and Girma Birru, who were appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China and the US, respectively, were among them. Prior to their foreign service missions, Seyoum served as the country’s Foreign Minister while Girma was Minister of Trade and Industry. The pair only had to wait for a month to secure ambassadorial appointments after leaving their ministerial posts in favour of their party comrades, when the then leader of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) established its