Soon after, his captors gave him the option of continuing to be their POW or becoming a founding member of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO); he chose the latter.

[4] Alemayehu, an "obscure figure with little connection to the OPDO’s rank and file" became president of the Oromia Region on 6 September 2010, succeeding former General Abadula Gemeda, who was elected to the Federal Parliamentary Assembly and became the Speaker of the House of Peoples' Representatives.

[5] Alemayehu died of food poisoning on 6 March 2014 at the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, at 1AM, having received treatment for the five weeks prior.

[2][5] Some opposition sources have suggested that foul play was at hand in his death, as his anti-corruption campaign threatened existing political figures.

[7] At a memorial service at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said that Alemayehu had been "a fighter and a comrade who worked tirelessly till the end for the people of Oromia and Ethiopia."