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By Tedla Desta - Capital
28 August, 2007
The President of the Republic of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, has built a hotel in Dire Dawa town which is to be inaugurated next month, Iltireh Daher, Counselor at the Djibouti Embassy in Addis Ababa and Private Agent of the President told Capital.
The hotel, which cost around 40 million birr to build is located near the Dire Dawa Stadium.
"All necessary equipment required for the hotel has already been installed. The construction of the hotel is completed, the internal collections are ready and we are currently expecting the official inauguration next month in the presence of Ethiopian officials and the President himself," Iltireh said.
The five story building has taken eight years to complete though the construction had been put on hold at one time.
"The reason that the President built this hotel in Dire Dawa is because he personally wants to model positive thinking. I note that he wants to see good thinking converted into actions and he wants the development of Dire Dawa, which is his home town. That is why he built the hotel," he said.
When the hotel is fully operational it will provide jobs for 70 people. "The hotel has 36 guest houses, a multi purpose hall, a presidential suite and all amenities that a decent hotel requires," he added.
It was also learned that President Omar Ghelleh desires to diversify his business and invest more in Dire Dawa town.
President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was born in Dire Dawa in 1947 and is the second president of Djibouti, succeeding his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999.
In 1999, Djibouti's first multi-party presidential elections resulted in the election of Ismail Omar Guelleh; he was re-elected to a second and final term in 2005. Djibouti occupies a strategic geographic location at the mouth of the Red Sea and serves as an important transhipment point for goods entering and leaving the east African highlands.