Plagiarism Allegations Surround Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Ph.D.: Credibility of Addis Ababa University at Stake

A recent article by the World Peace Foundation raises concerns over the legitimacy of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Ph.D. degree, awarded by Addis Ababa University in 2017.

Authors Alex de Waal, Jan Nyssen, Gebrekirstos Gebreselassie, Boud Roukema, and Rundassa Eshete present evidence of plagiarism in Abiy’s thesis, titled “Social Capital and its Role in Traditional Conflict Resolution: The Case of Inter-religious Conflict in Jimma Zone of the Oromia Regional State in Ethiopia.”

Plagiarism detection software Turnitin revealed a 62% similarity score for Chapter 2, which constitutes the literature review. In some cases, entire pages were copied from earlier works.

The authors argue that Addis Ababa University should re-examine Abiy’s thesis and either suspend or revoke his Ph.D. degree.

They also highlight similar concerns regarding the theses of other Ethiopian politicians, including Minister of Defense Abraham Belay, Takele Uma, and Dagmawit Moges.

This issue raises questions about the credibility of Addis Ababa University and other Ethiopian institutions and the value of their degrees.