The appointment of Ethiopia’s first supreme court president took social media by storm. Before the euphoria with the newly elected President fades PM Abiy added another appointment that surely affirmed his commitment to empower women. His appointment was welcomed as a good news by authors,politicians,activists and celebrities around the world.
Former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power took to twitter to highlight the competence of Meaza Ashenafi for her job by listing her achievements over the years.
How’s this for qualifications? Meaza Ashenafi, the first woman president of Ethiopia’s Supreme Court, won a landmark case that protected girls from forced marriage, helped write the country’s constitution, & founded the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association https://t.co/PiN0uhvNBn— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) November 1, 2018
World Bank Director for Ethiopia, Sudan & South Sudan. Carrie Turk hailed Ethiopia’s government commitment in bringing more women to leadership positions. This comes one day after World Bank historic commitment of 1.2 billion dollar to support Ethiopia’s government reform.
The Ethiopian government goes from strength to strength in terms of women’s representation in leadership! https://t.co/gicMCISb6M— Carrie Turk (@CarrieTurk) November 1, 2018
Reno Omokri who is the author of bestselling books such as Facts Versus Fiction: True Story of the Jonathan Years, and other books symbolized Ethiopia as a nation making Africa proud. In his tweet Reno traveled back in time as far as the age of Kandake (title given for Queens of Africa Kindom of Kush during ancient time which believed to have ruled today’s Ethiopia,Sudan and Egypt)
Within one week, Ethiopia got her first female President and her first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. From Kandake, the biblical Queen of Ethiopia (Acts 8:27), to today, if there is one Black nation making Africa proud, that nation is definitely Ethiopia #RenosNuggets pic.twitter.com/2odURMShKl— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) November 1, 2018
A journalist for Washington Post Paul Schemm in his tweet mentioned Meaza Ashenafi work in creating awareness with regards to girls abduction for marriage.
#Ethiopia‘s new chief justice Meaza Ashenafi, in the latest gender equity reform for the country, among other achievements, she helped change the country’s attitudes on abducting children as brides. https://t.co/c3dH9vbCyA— Paul Schemm (@PaulSchemm) November 1, 2018
Speaking about girls abduction for marriage it is worth mentioning Meaza’s popular court case in which represented a young girl named Hirut who shot her would-be husband. Later on Hollywood superstar Angelina Jollie directed the movie Difret that depicts Hirut story. The movie has been nominated for several awards including at the famous Cannes festival.