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Prime minister Abiy apologizes for his speech at the Prosperity Party fundraiser on Sunday, in which he said economists and political scientists get doctorates by writing stories about ‘rich people and uneducated political leaders.’
In a press release on Friday, Abiy said that ‘causing disappointment’ was not his intention, after the speech caused an uproar on social media.
“I apologize for causing disappointment to professionals who have converted their knowledge to wisdom to solve problems of the community, ” he said.
Speaking during the fundraiser event at Millennium Hall, Addis Ababa, Abiy said, most African political scientists “have never administered a single neighborhood. ” He added that they got their Ph.D. by merely “writing and narrating the stories of uneducated prime ministers.”
Additionally, the prime minister said that, it’s hard to find a single economics doctor from the lists of people who have donated millions of money to his Prosperity Party during the event. They got their economics doctorate writing the story ‘how you (business people in attendance) became rich?’ “they don’t even own a car, ” he said.
Mentioning billionaires in the world by name, Abiy said: “the world teaches us that the title of ‘economist doctor’ that couldn’t buy a car or ‘political scientist’ that couldn’t administer a single neighborhood, has no value.”
Shortly after the prime minister’s speech, social media had been busy with comments. Some scholars called his statement ‘reckless’ and have ignored the value of human capacity.
The prime minister, during a press release about the Coronavirus situation, said that he was not addressing educated professionals who are serving their country kindly, and he apologized “for not specifying” who he was addressing.
“More than just acquiring knowledge and getting certified, educated people should implement their knowledge to ease the challenges of the community, and I would like to say sorry for my unclear remark, ” he said.
