Is Girma Wake appointed as CEO of Ethiopian Airlines?

On Mar 23, 2022, a tweet appeared on a Twitter page that claim to belong to a local weekly English newspaper reporting that Girma Wake is appointed as CEO and Board Chairman of Ethiopian Airlines.

At the time this article was published, the tweet was shared 15 times and got 71 reactions.

However, HaqCheck looked into the claim and confirmed that the claim is PARTLY FALSE.

The long-serving Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde GebreMariam announced his resignation due to health issues on Mar 23, 2022. The Board of Ethiopian Airlines held an ordinary meeting on the same day and accepted Tewolde GebreMariam’s resignation.

Instantly, the Board of the Airlines announced the appointment of Girma Wake, former CEO as Board Chairman.

In this context, the Twitter account with over 28 thousand followers came up with a tweet claiming that Girma Wake is appointed as the CEO and Board Chairman of Ethiopian Airlines which was established in 1945 as a joint venture with the American Trans World Airlines.

According to the 2019/20 annual report of Ethiopian Airlines, it has eleven board members including Arkebe Okubay (Ph.D.) and Dagmawit Moges, Minister of Transport and Logistics.

HaqCHeck looked into the claim and counter-checked the statement issued by Ethiopian Airlines regarding the acceptance of the resignation of the former CEO and the appointment of Girma Wake as Board Chairman. Girma Wake who previously was CEO of the airline for seven years replaced the formed Board Chairman Abadula Gemeda.

Thus, HaqCheck found the claim to be partly false.

The statement released by the Board of Ethiopian Airlines on Mar 23, 2022, stated that the Management Board would shortly announce the new Group CEO and successor to Tewolde GebreMariam.

Thereafter on Mar 24, 2022, it was reported that Mesfin Tasew, former Chief Operating Officer was appointed as the new CEO of the airline.