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Ethiopia appoints first female president in its modern history in latest reform

ADDIS ABABA, Ethi­o­pia — Ethiopia’s Parliament on Thursday approved the East African country’s first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde, a veteran of the United Nations and the diplomatic corps. She was appointed to the ceremonial position on Thursday after Mulatu Teshome Wirtu, the former president, tendered his resignation. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reshuffled his cabinet prior to Sahle-Work’s presidency, cutting the number of ministerial jobs from 28 to 20 and appointing women to 10 of those positions, BBC News reported last week. According to Reuters, his resignation was due to him wanting to be part of “change and reforms.”

Though the presidential position is considered ceremonial, as the prime minister holds most of the country’s political power, it is still seen as a huge win for gender equality in the country and has been welcomed by many Ethiopians on social media, who are calling her appointment “historic.”

“In a historic move, the two Houses has elected Ambassador Shalework Zewde as the President of #Ethiopia,” the prime minister’s chief of staff Fitsum Arega tweeted. She has been described as Ethiopia's first female head of state of the modern era, with some remembering Empress Zewditu who governed the country in the early part of the 20th Century. Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Fitsum Arega said, “In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalises women as decision-makers in public life.”

The cabinet reshuffle last week made Ethiopia only the third country in Africa, after Rwanda and Seychelles, to achieve gender equality in their cabinets, Reuters reported. Previously, she also held a number of other high level positions including as Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and as Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. Image copyright AFP Image caption President Sahle-Work (left) is the ceremonial head of state and Prime Minsiter Abiy Ahmed (right) holds the political power

President Sahle-Work has served as an ambassador for Ethiopia in Senegal and Djibouti.
United Nations diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde becomes the first female President of Ethiopia in its history after the resignation of Mulatu Teshome.