In May 2019 Ethiopia Observer reported that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, speaking to about 1,500 agriculture transformation leaders in Adama, challenged the patriotism of professionals who asked for higher pay, bonuses, and education benefits.
He was quoted asking whether people who demanded raises while knowing public coffers were low were really Ethiopian, or somehow Kenyan or Eritrean, and he said people should think what they could give the country rather than what they could take.
The Amharic Reporter called the remark sour, and social media users described it as upsetting, especially after earlier comments that angered health workers.
Kept as labor and politics archive, the Adama speech is a dated record of how Abiy Ahmed framed wage demands during fiscal stress.
Sources: Ethiopia Observer