Our Ethiopian twin town has a new mayor: Since the beginning of March, the mayor of our African twin community is Atilabachew Fekele, who has already held this office twice. The new mayor was also the first mayor of alem Katmea after the Ethiopian municipality became county-free in November 2010, when it split off from Merhabete County.

Atilabachew Fekele was born on October 23, 1969, is married and has two children. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the twinning association, in 2014, he also visited our community (on the photo on the far left).

To further his education, Fekele went to university after his first term and, after graduating with an MBA, became head of the Department of Employment Creation as well as deputy mayor of Alem Ketema. Then, in early 2023, his predecessor Birkabirk Teshome, who visited us in Vaterstetten for the second time last autumn, moved to the city of Debre Birhan. There, Teshome took over the post of Head of Department for Urban Development at the North Shoa level and Atilabachew Feleke was re-elected as the first mayor of Alem Ketema.

Unlike in Germany, mayors in Ethiopia are not directly elected by the citizenry, but by members of the city parliament who belong to the ruling party. The mayor of Alem Ketrma is then also the chairman of the city cabinet and head of the administration.

We, the board and the members of the Partnership Association with Alem Katema e.V., congratulate both gentlemen warmly on their new tasks and wish them every success.

Pictured: Atilabachew Feleke (far left), with Partnership Secretary Desalegn Wondimneh (second from left), Endalkachew Getahun (second from right) and another Delligation colleague, on an excursion in the Bavarian Alps in 2014.