Shiferaw Shigute, the departing Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, is likely to become Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Canada, according to diplomatic sources.
Shiferaw would replace Aster Mamo, who was appointed in August. Aster reportedly left her position after she has named her husband as a diplomat there. Shiferaw recently resigned from heading the southern wing of the ruling coalition and was a candidate to become chairperson of the 4-party front in March.
Diriba Kuma, the departing mayor of Addis Ababa, will be dispatched to South Korea to replace Shiferaw Jarso who has been in that post since 2015, according to sources. Shiferaw Jarso will move to Khartoum to replace Mulugeta Zewde who has been recalled to the country. Diriba was Minister of Transport and Communication until 2013 before serving as mayor for five years.
Taye Atske-Selassie, the Ambassador to Egypt, is also set to replace Takeda Alemu at the United Nations. Ethiopia’s two-year term on the 15-member Security Council runs until the end of this year.
Veteran diplomat from the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front Berhane Gebre-Christos’ term as Ambassador to China is to end after he was appointed in August, a source said.
Aster, ex-deputy leader of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization, was Civil Service Minister and Good Governance and Reform Cluster Coordinator with the rank of Deputy Prime Minister from 2014 to 2016.
Former Minister of Water and Energy, Alemayehu Tegenu, will be assigned as ambassador to Russia. He would replace Girum Abay, who was transferred in May to Belgium to be the new representative to the EU, Benelux countries and the Baltic States. Alemayehu, another senior OPDO politician, served as Cabinet Affairs Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office from January 2016 to April 2018. He has served as the co-chair of Ethio-Russia Commission for number of years and speaks fluent Russian. He completed his postgraduate degree in Russia.
Ambassador to Ireland Redwan Hussien will become Ambassador to Eritrea as diplomatic relations resume between the neighbours. Eritrea officially reopened its embassy in Addis Ababa on July 16.
Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome appointed eight ambassadors two days ago. The others were Eshetu Dessie, Azanaw Tadesse, Yonas Yousef, Yalew Abate, Abdulfatah Abdullahi, all of them politicians, except Azanaw Tadesse, a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official with over two decades service. Azanaw is set to become ambassador to Egypt, according to credible sources.
In another likely appointment, Abdulfatah Abdullahi would go to Kuwait, a position made vacant by the transfer of Abdulaziz Ahmed to Saudi Arabia.
(Article updated 04:24 GMT, July 27)
(Main photo: Shiferaw Shigute. Credit: The Ethiopian Herald.)
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