Ethiopian Catholic Church remembers Zenawi

Ethiopia's former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died on August 20th after a long illness, was scheduled to be buried during a State Funeral. Several African leaders were expected to attend the funeral to pay tribute to Zenawi, who took a leading role in regional politics since he took power in 1991.

The Catholic Archbishop of Addis Abeba, Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, told us that Zenawi changed the country for the better.

“He has tried his best to help Ethiopia come out of the traditional picture of Ethiopia as a country of drought, and famine, and civil war, and conflicts,” said Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Abeba. “His struggle has been first with the past regime and now second with poverty. I must say he has shown the way how to fight poverty, and he has given the Ethiopian people a change of mentality; Ethiopians can come out of poverty by working hard, and he was a hard worker himself.”

The archbishop told Vatican Radio Zenawi also improved the infrastructure of the country, as well as fulfilling the Millennium Development Goal of providing all children with an education.

Listen to the interview by Teclezghi Gebre Eyesus with Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel: