In a rare vibrant reaction, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi responded in kind to an exhilarated crowd gathered inside Dire Dawa Stadium on January 5, 2008. The Prime Minister had to get up from his seat after arriving in the morning to celebrate the 105th Anniversary of Dire Dawa, 515Km from Addis Abeba, for the excitement persisted for couple of minutes. His wife, Azeb Mesfin, and Deputy Prime Minister Addisu Legesse were seated behind him.

After more than a century, the once vibrant commercial town in the east of the country, Dire Dawa has lost its past glory largely due to the slow death of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Company that has its largest workshop there, and the significant reduction of contraband trade. Its leaders are lobbying federal authorities to finance construction of a 313Km tarmac road to Djibouti. Meles promised the residents of the town that the federal government, to whom the town is accountable to, is by their side.