Arba Minch was founded in the early 1960s by then Fitawrari Aemeroselasie Abebe and the city succeeded Chencha as the provincial capital of Gamo Gofa. The oral tradition has it that Fitawrari Aemiro Selassie Abebe had to fight with prominent figures of Chencha (Aba Gaga) to move the capital from Chencha to Arbaminch. One of the reasons for Aemiroselassie Abebe to move the provincial centre from Chencha to Arbaminch was for travelers from Gidole to Chencha to take a break after a long, hot crossing of the arid Rift Valley. Roads were built linking the new town to Soddo and making Arba Minch only a day's journey by road to the capital, Addis Ababa. A telephone line connecting the town to the capital, costing E$ 250,000, was turned up on 15 July 1967.