Ethiopia Premier Drops Tigray-Born Abraham as Defense Minister
Fasika Tadesse, Bloomberg News
Abiy Ahmed , Photographer: Jemal Countess/Getty Images
(Bloomberg) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has made changes to his cabinet, which included the removal of Abraham Belay as defense minister, the state broadcaster EBC reported.
Abraham switched roles with Aisha Mohammed, who was head of the irrigation and lowlands ministry. She served as defense minister briefly in 2018.
Abraham was appointed defense minister in 2021 during a war between the federal government and rebel forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, where he is from. Tigrayans, though comprising just 6% of the population, dominated national politics for decades.
Abiy has struggled to contain ethnic tensions in Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara regions, where government soldiers and regional militias clash frequently.
Read More: The Two-Year Conflict That’s Torn Ethiopia Apart: QuickTake
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