The new faces of the Ethiopian cabinet.
On Thursday 8th of February 2024, Ethiopian Parliament approved the appointment of intelligence service chief Temesgen Tiruneh as deputy prime minister, of which replacing Demeke Mekonnen, who has served the state as deputy PM for 11 years.
On the same day PM Abiy Ahmed nominated two more candidates, accepted Ambassadors Taye Atske Selassie, a former ambassador to the United Nations, as foreign minister. A void position which was shadowed by the deputy PM Demeke since 2020.
The other candidate who has been nominated by PM Abiy Ahmed, was Mekdes Daba, a former World Health Organization official, who has now replaced Dr Lia Tadesse as health minister. No reason was given by the government officials why it necessitate to replace Dr Lia Tadesse.
Ethiopia’s national security adviser Redwan Hussein was also assigned to replace the void left by Temesgen as head of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) – Ethiopia’s top spy agency.