Fasika Kebede, former vice president of Finance at the state owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), has joined the oldest humanitarian organization in the country, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS), as its 14th secretary-general, after the position was left for the acting secretary general, pretty much of EPRDF rule.

Established on July 8, 1935, the Society had Onni Niskannen as its first secretary-general, a Swedish national also known for coaching the athletics legend Abebe Bikila. Three nationals - Teserawork Shemeles, Bekele Geleta and Costantinos Berhe Tesfu (PhD) - ran the show until 1992, when Dr. Costantinos and his President, Dr. Dawit Zewdie, then a lecturer at the Addis Abeba University, were dismissed.

"Political interference from the government has left the organization troubled not to have a long staying secretary-general since then," a knowledgeable source and a former official of the Society told Fortune.  

Fasika joined the ERCS in the last week of October 2006, following a major restructuring at the CBE where she had served for 24 years. She joined the Bank after receiving her first degree in Economics from the Addis Abeba University in 1981. She did her second degree in business administration at the University of Wales, United Kingdom, graduating in 2000.

Fassika was appointed to the position of CBE vice president under Gezahegn Yilma, the former president of CBE who later committed suicide. Fasika left CBE last year after the government undertook a series of restructuring measures, replacing the top management with what senior ministers often call "new blood".

Fasika, however, is now new to the humanitarian world. She has been a volunteer at the ERCS Addis Abeba Branch, one of 38 regional and zone offices, before she was promoted as member and treasurer of the National Chapter. Beginning is November 2005, she served as a member of the Finance Commission and represented the organization at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.
 

Knowledgeable sources see that the way ERCS has been managed lately as a major challenge to her. They wonder how much space the board of directors, chaired by Shemeles Adugna, will grant Fasika "to run the show".

"The inability to make a distinction between governance and management will remain a major issue," a former senior official of the Society told Fortune. "She is there to manage and she should be left alone to do that. Governance should be there to help her and guide her to the job, linking the secretariat by soliciting political support to the organization. The Board and the President are there to facilitate and ensure accountability of her office."

But, Fasika also faces an immediate priority: She will have to accomplish what is on top of the Society's agenda, ensuring that the 73-million Br planned multipurpose building ERCS has been dreaming for too long gets completed during her reign.
 

The Society, in a bid to create a sustainable source of income, wants to build a 12-storey complex on a 4,936sqm plot, located adjacent to Ras Desta Damtew Avenue and Yohannes Street (in front of Ghandi Hospital) in Kirkos Sub District. Granted for free during the previous regime, the plot has been left idle for over 20 years, largely attributed to lack of resources due to a need to divert it to address subsequent natural disasters over the past two decades.

The Society appealed to the Addis Abeba City Administration for the extention of its hold on the plot that city authorities estimate is worth 17.5 million Br at current market rate. In 1989, the City Administration granted a lease-free right to the Society for 50 years, according to Mesele Mekuria, Lease Implementation Team Leader at the Kirkos District.

An architectural firm, National Consult, has been hired to design the building, whose construction will have two phases: the first four-storeys will be launched soon, a source at the ERCS disclosed to Fortune.

The muddy-ness of the area, however, required the employment of new technology: a independent consultant has been brought from The Netherlands last week to comment on the viability of the construction and determine whether it is within cost and environmental friendly. Sources at the ERCS disclosed that he is expected to deliver his report on November 25, 2006.