Woyanne ambassador to Canada since 2005, Ato Getachew Hamusa, who had been sick with liver and pancreatic cancer, died after returned to Ethiopia and on death bed.
The ambassador left Canada on August 7 having told by Canadian doctors that he would live only two weeks. He was taken to Washington DC by air ambulance to fly back home on board Ethiopian Airlines on the same day.
Getachew Hamusa is from southern kilil and belongs to Gamo ethnic group in Gamo Gofa Zone (kifle hager)
since 1987 (1996Gc) to 2005. He had been Finance Bureau head for South Ethiopia Nations Nationalities and People’s regional government, Awassa until his appointment as ambassador to Canada.
The following is from Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website:
The burial of the late Ambassador to Canada, Ambassador Getachew Hamusa took place at St. Gabriel Church, Hawasa, yesterday.
Ambassador Getachew was born in Gumguma town in Arsi in 1951. Educated at the Teacher Training Institute in Harar, he worked as a teacher in Gamu Goffa for ten years, before taking a degree in management and public administration at Addis Ababa University. He later took a masters in international relations at London University.
After graduating from Addis Ababa he became administrator of the Bahr Dar Teacher’s College, a post he held for several years. He subsequently held a number of posts in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region administration including head of administration and finance in the Education Bureau, and later becoming Head of the Regional Bureau of Finance and Economic Development. He contributed significantly to the implementation of reform of financial management in the regional administration.
Apart from his administrative positions, Ambassador Getachew also served as a member of the Regional State Council, and the Regional Council for Administration. He was a board member and chairman of various educational institutions and public development enterprises in the SNNPR. Ambassador Getachew was appointed Ethiopia’s ambassador to Canada in January 2006
He passed away on September 3, 2008 after a long illness. He was brought home some weeks ago when his health began to deteriorate.