Tegbar League Held Its Annual General Assembly Meeting
Sep 3, 2001
The Ethiopian Democratic Action League’s
General Assembly meeting was held on
Saturday, September 1, 2001, in
Washington DC.
The League’s Spokesperson, Dr Gashu
Habte, opened the General Assembly at
11 AM with a silent prayer and brief
remarks. Next, the League’s Secretary,
Ato Elias Kifle, delivered the annual
Executive Committee report. The Executive Committee report indicated that the League has doubled its membership and quadrupled its registered supporters in the past twelve months which enabled it to carry out more and stronger activities than the previous year to help advance the struggle for human rights, democratic governance, and socioeconomic developments in Ethiopia.
The Executive Committee report pointed out the League’s relentless pursuit of cooperation with other Ethiopian organizations, particularly civic groups, often at the cost of lack of recognition for the League’s intensely committed efforts. The report explained that the League initiates and carries out most of its activities through the United Ethiopian Civic Organizations.
At the conclusion of the report, the Secretary read letters of support from members who were unable to participate in the meeting due to distance. One of the letters was from a Tegbar representative in Australia, Ato Gashaw Kasse, whose letter appreciated the efforts of Tegbarawians in the Washington DC area and expressed solidarity with the meeting participants.
A question and answer session with members of the Executive Committee took place following the Executive Committee report. A number of issues were raised at the Q & A session, which was chaired by the League’s representative in Michigan, Dr Imru Assefa. Most prominent among them was the League’s association with other civic groups and its relations with political parties.
The afternoon session started with evaluation of the League’s strategies, projects and accomplishments in the past twelve months. This session, chaired by Dr Mankelklot Haileselassie, also discussed future plans. The Assembly reaffirmed the need to help strengthen the civic coalitionthe United Ethiopian Civic Organizationsand assigned its Spokesperson, Dr Gashu Habte, to spearhead this effort.
The Assembly has also decided to streamline the League’s activities to focus on demanding the immediate resignation of the Meles Regime and calling for the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government of national unity.
Ato Fikreyesus Seyoum from Atlanta chaired the next session which reviewed the League’s bylaws. The Assembly made minor adjustments to the bylaws. At the conclusion of the meeting, a three-member election committee was formed to handle the election of the League’s 21-member council. The election will be conducted by mail.
The Spokesperson made concluding remarks and adjourned Tegbar League’s annual General Assembly meeting at 7 PM.
The following day, Sunday, September 2, Tegbar League held a dinner reception for its supporters and invited guests, including representatives of civic and political groups.
Guests of Honor included Prof. Merera Gudina, Chairman of Oromo National Congress; Dr Hailu Araya, Vice Chairman of Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP); Ato Isaac Kifle, Chairman of EDP’s Foreign Relations Committee; and Ato Kifle Abate, Chairman of EDP’s Addis Abeba Region Committee.
In addition to the guests of honor, speakers at the dinner program included Tegbar League representatives, Dr Guenet Seyoum from Europe and Dr Imru Assefa from Michigan, USA; Tegbar League Secretary Ato Elias Kifle; representatives of Young Tegbarawians, Ato Beyene Debalke and Ato Fisseha Tadesse; Chairman of Friends of Ethiopian Free Press, Dr Takele Argaw; and Ato Tesfaye Mengistu from Chicago.
The guests of honor gave short speeches at the dinner. Prof. Merera Gudina stressed the need for united effort among Ethiopian organizations. EDP Vice Chairman, Dr Hailu Araya, briefly talked about EDP’s activities inside Ethiopia, and appealed for assistance from Ethiopians abroad. Dr Hailu and the other EDP leaders thanked Tegbar League for facilitating their 10-city USA tour. Ato Isaac Kifle talked about the need for cooperation among Ethiopian groups abroad. Ato Kifle Abate said that he and his colleague were able to form several support groups throughout the USA. He also talked about EDP’s plan to establish hundreds of branch offices through out Ethiopia, and appealed to Ethiopians in the USA to help out.
Representing the Friends of Ethiopian Free Press, Dr Takele Argaw expressed appreciation for Tegbar League’s effort on behalf the independent journalists in Ethiopia.
Tegbar League’s Spokesperson Dr Gashu Habte and Secretary Ato Elias Kifle made closing remarks. Ato Elias talked about the League’s plan to launch a new campaign this month demanding the immediate resignation of the Meles regime and calling for an all-inclusive transitional government. He called on all Ethiopian organizations and Ethiopians around the world to join the League in this campaign. Dr Gashu Habte thanked the invited guests and supporters of Tegbar League for coming to the dinner and closed the program after making an appeal to all Ethiopians to support the struggle at home. 
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