ADDIS ABABA: South Africa's President Jacob Zuma paid tribute to late Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, saying Africa has “lost one of its greatest sons.” Speaking at the funeral of the late leader in Addis Ababa on Sunday, Zuma praised Zenawi's legacy, which “was defined by the sprawling city that Addis Ababa has become, the stability that Ethiopia enjoys and its new-found ability to provide food for its people. “With Prime Minister Zenawi at the helm, a generation of Ethiopians has seen their country emerge from hunger and destitution to be a fast-growing economy. The policies of his party and government have delivered a sustained double-digit economic growth rate. If this continues, his beloved Ethiopia will become a middle-income country.” He said Zenawi's ideas were framed around the need to achieve social justice for his people and conquer poverty not just in Ethiopia but in all parts of Africa. “As African leaders, we are proud of Prime Minister Zenawi and the leadership he provided on issues affecting the continent, around the globe. He took a leading role on Africa's negotiations on climate change, in peacemaking in Sudan and in the fight to bring stability back to Somalia,” Zuma added. Dozens of African leaders and other foreign dignitaries on Sunday paid tribute to Ethiopia's late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the country's first state funeral in 80 years. Many of the African leaders praised the Prime Minister, who passed away late on August 20, with some calling him a “hero." “The prime minister was a beacon of hope in Africa and he should be remembered as a hero for all the outstanding work that he has achieved in his lifetime," said Malawi's Deputy Prime Minister Khumbo Kachali. Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi said the death of Meles was “a great loss" not just for Ethiopia but for the African continent because of his vision and his support of Pan-Africanism. Zenawi was born on May 8, 1955 and came to power in the early 1990s as prime minister, holding this position until Tuesday. He ruled the country with an iron grip, and the past few months has shown his strength over the country was not one that all Ethiopians enjoyed. According to Opride.com, “the former rebel-leader dropped out of Addis Ababa University's Medical School, where he studied for two years, to join the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front in 1974. He has been the chairman of both the TPLF and the ruling coalition, Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, since 1989." Hailemariam Desalegn, who was appointed deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in 2010, is now in charge of the Cabinet, state TV said. There is a tentative hope that democracy and human rights can be part of the transition away from authoritarian rule. Still, many experts have pointed to the reality that Ethiopia is unlikely to see democracy or a change in the status quo, despite the two decades rule of Zenawi coming to an end. The International Crisis Group has reported that in recent years, Zenawi “had relied ever more on repression to quell growing dissent." In the aftermath of this passing on August 20, the ICG says that it “expects his successor to lead a weaker regime that struggles to manage increasing unrest unless it truly implements ethnic federalism and institutes fundamental governance reform."
