Ketema Yifru

Ketema Yifru was born on December 11, 1929, in Gara Muleta, Harar. Graduating in political science from Boston University, Ketema was appointed Foreign Minister by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1961 at age thirty-one.

Confronting deep ideological divisions between the radical Casablanca bloc (Nkrumah, Touré) and the conservative Monrovia bloc, Ketema traveled tirelessly across the continent, formulating the compromise charter that enabled thirty-two African heads of state to convene in Addis Ababa on May 25, 1963, to establish the OAU. He later served as World Food Programme coordinator during times of drought.