Ethiopia

Ethiopia: PM Abiy reshuffles Cabinet, Aisha Mohammed back as Defence minister

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as pictured during the Italy-Afria Summit that took place on January 28-29, 2024. (Photo: X/ Abiy Ahmed)

By Hanifa Adan | Monday, May 20, 2024

Aisha's appointment was part of PM Abiy's bold initiative to ensure gender parity in his cabinet, which has 50 per cent women ministers.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reshuffled his cabinet, returning Aisha Mohammed to the role of Defence minister and reassigning the previous officeholder, Abraham Belay, to the Ministry of Irrigation and Lowlands.

The appointments are effective May 21, 2024, according to the Office of the Prime Minister, as reported by the Addis Standard. The reasons for the reshuffle were not given.

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Aisha's career is marked by several groundbreaking roles.

She was first appointed Ethiopia's Defence minister in October 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

This appointment was part of Abiy's bold initiative to ensure gender parity in his cabinet, which has 50 per cent women ministers.

In his speech to Parliament at the time, explaining the reshuffle and gender parity, the premier highlighted his belief that women are "less corrupt than men."

Aisha held the defence portfolio for a little over a year and a half before transitioning back to the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction in April 2019.

She has also served as the Minister of Tourism and Culture during the tenure of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, a period marked by widespread protests against the government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Her political influence extended beyond ministerial roles, as she was elected chairperson of the Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) in 2018. The ANDP merged into the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) in 2019.

Aisha hails from the Afar Region in northeastern Ethiopia and is one of the country's prominent Muslim political figures. She holds a degree in civil engineering and a master's in transformational leadership and change.

Abraham, the only Tigrayan native in Abiy's cabinet, served as the federally appointed interim president of the Tigray Regional State between May and June 2021, when the interim administration he led was forced to flee following Tigrayan forces' recapture of the capital, Mekelle. It was then that he was appointed Defence minister.

Abiy also appointed Mohammad Indris as Minister of State at the Coordination Centre for Democracy Building. The PhD holder had served as the director general of Ethiopian Diaspora Services since August 2022.