From Amhara Regional President to Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser—what his life after power says about integrity, dignity, and the true meaning of public service
By Caleb Ta (Dr.)
Independent Researcher in African Political Affairs; Human Rights Advocate
When political power becomes an avenue to wealth, the real test of leadership is whether a person can leave office with his dignity, conscience, and hands clean
The recent social-media discussion surrounding former Amhara Regional President and former Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew has generated an important conversation—one that should go far beyond a viral video or the question of what kind of work a former senior official may be doing in the United States.
The deeper question is this:
What should Ethiopians expect from a public servant after leaving power?
Should a former president be ashamed of performing ordinary work? Should a former minister be expected to maintain a lifestyle associated with political privilege after leaving office? Or should the measure of a leader be whether he can walk away from power without having converted public office into private wealth?
For me, the answer is clear.
There is dignity in honest work. There is dignity in leaving office without unexplained wealth. And there is dignity in being able to survive through one’s own labor after political power has disappeared.
That is why the story of Gedu Andargachew deserves to be examined through a much broader lens: integrity, public service, personal responsibility, and the meaning of a clean hand in Ethiopian politics.
At the same time, one distinction must be maintained from the beginning. It is not possible to prove from the absence of public corruption charges alone that any individual is categorically “uncorrupted.” Such a conclusion requires a comprehensive examination of financial records, audits, procurement decisions, asset declarations, and other evidence. What can responsibly be said is that I have not identified credible evidence establishing that Gedu personally enriched himself through corruption, and his public career and post-office conduct provide a legitimate basis for discussing the values of integrity and honest labor.
A country searching for clean leadership
The importance of this discussion becomes much clearer when viewed against the Ethiopian public’s own perception of corruption.
Afrobarometer’s May 2024 findings for Ethiopia are striking. Sixty-four percent of Ethiopians surveyed said corruption had increased “somewhat” or “a lot” during the preceding year. Even more revealing, 38% said that most or all civil servants were involved in corruption. Significant proportions expressed similar concerns about business executives, local councilors, tax officials, and judges and magistrates. By contrast, only 7% perceived widespread corruption among religious leaders and 8% among traditional leaders.
The trust figures are equally important.
Afrobarometer found that 90% of Ethiopians said they trusted religious leaders somewhat or a lot, while 75% expressed trust in traditional leaders. Trust was considerably lower for major political institutions: 49% for the Prime Minister’s Office and 44% for Parliament.
This is not simply a statistical curiosity.
It reveals a profound crisis of confidence.
When citizens increasingly associate political institutions with corruption while placing greater trust in community and religious leaders, they are sending a message about what they expect from leadership:
They want integrity.
They want leaders whose personal conduct is consistent with the public responsibilities entrusted to them.
They want people who can leave the office without leaving behind questions about unexplained wealth.
And that is where Gedu Andargachew’s story becomes particularly relevant.
Gedu Andargachew: Five years at the helm of the Amhara Region
Gedu was not a minor political official who briefly passed through government.
He occupied one of Ethiopia’s most consequential regional leadership positions.
He served as President of the Amhara Regional State for approximately five years, from 2013 until his resignation in March 2019. His tenure placed him at the center of political, administrative, and economic decision-making in a region with enormous demographic, historical, and political importance.
Leaving such a position without becoming permanently dependent on the privileges of office is itself significant.
Political power creates opportunities.
It creates networks.
It creates access.
It creates information.
It creates relationships with businessmen, contractors, diplomats, government institutions, and other officials.
And precisely because of those opportunities, public officials must be judged not only by what they say but also by what they accumulate.
The question is not whether Gedu made every political decision correctly.
The question is whether there is credible evidence that he used the office to build a private fortune.
That is where the clean-hand argument matters.
From regional president to Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister
Gedu’s political career did not end with Amhara.
On April 18, 2019, Ethiopia’s House of Peoples’ Representatives approved his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Ethiopian News Agency reported his appointment following his service as chief administrator of the Amhara Region.
This was an extraordinary transition.
He moved from leading a major regional state to representing Ethiopia on the international stage.
As Foreign Minister, he oversaw diplomatic relations, international negotiations, foreign governments, multilateral institutions, and Ethiopia’s external interests.
Such a position comes with substantial influence and prestige.
It also comes with enormous responsibility.
A foreign minister represents the country—not himself.
The office is not a personal asset.
The diplomatic privileges attached to the position are not personal property.
And the public resources associated with the position are ultimately entrusted by Ethiopian citizens.
This is precisely why the question of what happens after someone leaves office is so important.
National Security Adviser: another position at the center of power
Gedu’s career subsequently moved even closer to the center of national decision-making.
In November 2020, appointed National Security Adviser. The appointment was part of a broader reshuffling of senior government officials.
This was not a ceremonial position.
National security sits at the heart of state power.
A person serving as national security adviser is entrusted with highly sensitive matters concerning national security, political affairs, foreign relations, and the state’s strategic interests.
Gedu, therefore, had access to some of the most powerful offices available to an Ethiopian public official.
That makes the broader question of personal integrity even more consequential.
The true test of a politician begins after the title disappears
While a person is in office, it is difficult to know whether people respect the individual or merely the position.
When a minister enters a room, everyone knows who he is.
When a regional president arrives, people stand.
When a national security adviser calls, officials answer.
When the official vehicle arrives, the doors open.
But eventually the appointment ends.
And then something important happens.
The office disappears, and the individual remains.
This is the moment when character becomes visible.
A person who built his entire identity around political power may struggle when the power disappears.
But a person who understands that public office is temporary can return to ordinary life without shame.
That is why honest labor should not be interpreted as a fall from grace.
It can be evidence of independence from political privilege.
The Story Did Not End with the Office
Gedu Andargachew’s political career is only one part of his story. Whatever judgment one may make about his political decisions, his years in public office, or the broader political circumstances surrounding his departure from government, there is another question that deserves attention: What remains of a public servant when the office, title, influence, and privileges of power are gone?
For Gedu, that question would eventually be answered far from the offices where he once exercised political authority.
A video that recently circulated on social media reportedly showed the former regional president and senior federal official working in a parking lot in the United States. For some, the image became an opportunity for ridicule. For others, it raised a very different question about dignity, honest work, and a person’s life after political power.
Is working in a parking lot after serving at the highest levels of government a humiliation—or could it represent something much more powerful?
The answer may depend on what we believe confers dignity on a person: a political title, material wealth, or the ability to live and work without surrendering one’s conscience.
That is where Gedu Andargachew’s story takes its next turn.
Part II: From the Highest Offices to the Parking Lot
The parking-lot controversy: humiliation or dignity?
Continue to Part II →
Editor’s Note: Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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