Alem Katema has a new mayor

Our Ethiopian twin town has a new mayor: Atilabachew Fekele, who has already served two terms in this office, has been the mayor of our African partner municipality since the beginning of March. The new mayor was also the first mayor of Alem Kaetmea after the Ethiopian municipality became an independent county in November 2010, having separated from the Merhabete district.

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

To further his education, Fekele went to university after his first term in office and, after earning his MBA, became head of the Job Creation Office and deputy mayor of Alem Ketema. At the beginning of 2023, his predecessor, Birkabirk Teshome, who had visited us in Vaterstetten for the second time last autumn, moved to the city of Debre Birhan. There, Teshome took over the position of head of the Department of Urban Development for the North Shoah Plain, and Atilabachew Fekele was re-elected as mayor of Alem Ketema.

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

We congratulate both gentlemen most sincerely on their new roles 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 colleague from the Delligation, on a trip to the Bavarian Alps in 2014