Sahle-Work Zewde Named First Woman President of Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The Ethiopian Parliament on Thursday approved the country's first female president, East Africa, Sahle-Work Zewde, a veteran of the United Nations and the diplomatic corps.

The president's post is ceremonial in Ethiopia, with executive power vested in the Prime Minister's office. But the appointment is deeply symbolic and follows the cabinet reshuffle last week. Half of the ministers are now women in the second most populous country in Africa.

"In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a woman at the head of the state is not only the norm for the future, but it also normalizes women as decision-makers of the state. public life, "tweeted Fitsum Arega, the Prime Minister's chief of staff. de facto government spokesperson.

Parliament has accepted the resignation of Mulatu Teshome, president since 2013.

In a speech to Parliament after taking the oath, Sahle-Work emphasized the importance of respect for women and the need to build a "society that rejects the oppression of women". She also promised to work for peace and unity in the country.

The new Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in April, launched a wave of reforms, releasing political prisoners, inviting exiles and making peace with the country's main opponent, Eritrea, after two decades of violence. 39; war.

Abiy also publicly declared the need to promote women in a largely patriarchal conservative society.

A woman now heads one of the most powerful ministries in the country, the Ministry of Peace, which controls intelligence and security forces. Muferiat Kamil, the former speaker of parliament, heads the ministry, which aims to combat the widespread ethnic unrest that has erupted in the country since easing authoritarian control.

In the midst of these progressive measures and reforms, the government was criticized for its inability to contain ethnic unrest in the countryside and for the arrest of thousands of people in Addis Ababa, some of whom later spent time in Rehabilitation camps.

Sahle-Work becomes the first woman to lead modern Ethiopia, although in the history of the country empresses have exercised great power.

Sahle-Work, 68, was previously Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the African Union. Previously, she headed the Nairobi office with the rank of Under-Secretary-General.

She began her diplomatic career as an ambassador to Senegal in 1989 with responsibilities in neighboring African countries. She then went to Djibouti before becoming an ambassador to France, where she had studied before.

Among her many roles at the United Nations, she led until 2011 the Integrated Office for Peacebuilding in the United States in the Central African Republic.

According to the Ethiopian constitution, the president is the head of state, but his powers are ceremonial and include the opening of Parliament, the appointment of ambassadors on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the receipt of credentials of foreign emissaries.

The president is limited to two six-year terms.

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