Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sacks army chief
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Parliament, July 2019. REUTERS / Tiksa Negeri
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In Ethiopia, when the federal government launched an offensive against the Tigray region on November 4, accused of secessionist tendencies, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the replacement of the head of his military forces.
The same goes for the intelligence services and the federal police.
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General Adem Mohammed was thanked.
This former head of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) was appointed head of the army a little less than a year and a half ago in June 2019. He did not. has no new assignment for the time being but he is replaced by his deputy, General Birhanu Jula Gelalcha, who therefore becomes the new chief of staff.
A graduate in particular from the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom, it is a well-known name.
In the 2000s, Birhanu Jula Gelalcha served as sector commander in Liberia for the UN peacekeeping operation, Minul, which has since dissolved.
From 2014 to 2016, Birhanu Jula Gelalcha also commanded
the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abiyé
(Fisnua), a city disputed by Sudan and South Sudan.
For specialists, Birhanu Jula Gelalcha was already the de facto leader of the Ethiopian army before this promotion.
Oromo war cabinet
This is not the only change made by Abiy Ahmed.
Temesgen Tiruneh, who has just resigned as president of the Amhara regional state, is taking over the leadership of the intelligence and security services.
He thus replaces Demelash G. Michael who for his part takes the head of the federal police.
No official reason has been given for these changes, but they are "
unprecedented
" under the Abiy Ahmed era, according to Ethiopia scholars.
For one of them, the Prime Minister thus constitutes his “
war cabinet
” by surrounding himself with men of confidence, particularly Oromos, the same ethnic group as him.
► To read also: Ethiopia: Abiy Ahmed seals the war with the secessionists
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Ethiopia
Defense
Abiy Ahmed
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