Thanks to the Grace of God, during the years that We have been entrusted the leadership of Our people, Our efforts, expended to assure progress in the area of administrative, economic, social and political groweth, in eduction and social services, have yielded rewarding fruits.

   Our people have long enjoyed the tradition and experience of inderpendence. Nonetheless, in recognition of the conditions which then existed, aware of the long term benefits to be realised, We granted to our people the nations first written Constitution in 1931. The difficulties which We encountered in accomplishing this radical departure from custom, the trials to which we were put to overcome and eliminate survivinig feudal traditions in achieving this notable step along the path of progress, were heavy indeed, even wearisome. Even surviving eyewitnesses could have but a vague recollection of those difficult times. How much less can those far removed from that period be expected to appreciate the troubles to which We were put in those days.

   When We re-established the Ministries of the Government in 1943, We issued an Order defining the duties and responsibilities if the Prime Minister and other Ministers so that all Government officials would understand their obligations and discharge their duties properly. The Order established the legal basis on which the various Government departments would function and gave clear directives to Government officials. On the whole, the system then laid down has worked reasonably well to the present. Because of the progress made in the country generally, and the high standard of living achieved by the people thereby, We granted the Revised Constitution in 1955, in order to consolidate gains already won and to guaratee continued and accelerated progress.

   Since We assumed leadership, Our most cherished wish and desire for measures pertaining to social welfare have been enacted and put into practice. These include a pension scheme for government employers and employees; civil service legislation to ensure that civil servants are chosen impartially, and that they properly render their services to the government and to the people; laws regulating relations between employers and employees which, by guaranteeing their respective rights, ensure both groups can work together of the interests of the general welfare of the nation, and co-operate in the attainment of greater national development and self-sufficiency.

   Alongside the progress made on the domestic front in the political, economic, social welfare and administrative fields, Ethiopia's international obligations and duties have grown and have become more complex than at any other time in the history of the nation. As a member of the United Nations Organisation and its various agencies, Ethiopia has been called upon to participate in numerous conferences.

   By playing host to the summit Conference of African Heads of State and Government three years ago, and by helping bring about the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity, Ethiopia has together with her African brothers, assumed greater responsibilities not only in Africa but in the world at large. As the headquarters of the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the number of African and international conferences held in Addis Ababa is growing. And so also does our responsibility become greater. As Ethiopia's socio-economic development has become increasingly complex, the nation's administrative framework, staffed by responsible officials, has expanded to ensure a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness in the conduct of public affairs. In addition to Our ministers, an increased number of Vice Ministers, Assistant Ministers and Deputy Governors have been appointed to cope with the ever-expanding volume of work which has been the consequence of the progress of the nation.

   In 1943, We promulgated an Order which defined the powers, duties and responsibilities of Our Ministers. In doing so, We empowered them to issue the rules and regulations requisite to the proper functioning of the department confined to their care. Now, nearly a quater century later, We have reached the stage where each Minister must assume full respondsibility for the discharge of his duties, including the measure of responsibility to Parliament which was foreshadowed in Our Revised Constitution of 1955. If Our aims and objectives are to be realized, each one of must labour and assume his share of responsibility for the progress and prosperity of the nation. If we do so, We are satisfied that acceptable results will follow. We are Encouraged to see Our people each day participating more actively in the affairs of the nation, for it is in this way that the imperative acceleration of the nation's progress shall be attained.