In Memoriam: Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopian Peacemaker, and Patriot

Seyoum Mesfin, who was murdered in Tigray this week at 71 years old, was Ethiopia’s longest-serving unfamiliar clergyman. 

Under different conditions we would anticipate a public day of grieving and a state memorial service, including public and global acknowledgment of Seyoum’s remarkable commitment to the standards, standards and practices of harmony in Africa. 

In a similar soul, Foreign Minister Seyoum was a main impetus behind the setting up of the International Panel of Eminent Personalities to research the annihilation in Rwanda in 1994. The IPEP report was the main definition of the regulation of ‘non-impassion’: the obligation of nations to mediate to forestall destruction. 

In 1993-94, when the north-east African provincial gathering the InterGovernmental Authority on Development was commanded with taking forward the intervention of Sudan’s war, Seyoum met the IGAD unfamiliar clergymen and presented the defense that their endeavors should have been guided by rules that would guarantee a fair and enduring harmony. 

Surely, during his nineteen years in office, Seyoum directed the restoration of Ethiopia’s global standing. From being an outsider under the Dergue, Ethiopia turned out to be broadly regarded. 

Somely, Seyoum restored Ethiopia’s international strategy to the conventions of Emperor Haile Selassie: looking to be on acceptable footing with everything except reliant on none, utilizing delicate ability to fabricate coalitions that permitted the nation to outline a way the entirety of its own. 

Like Aklilu presenting Ethiopia’s international strategy abilities as a powerful influence for building the OAU, Seyoum was a prudent however persuasive designer of the making of the African Union. 

As the EPRDF started the cycle of advancement in Ethiopia three years back, prompting the choice of Abiy Ahmed as PM, Seyoum was conspicuous among a little gathering of Tigrayans who remained on inside the most significant levels of government, attempting to guide the change towards agreement.