On 18 April 2019, Ethiopia’s House of Peoples’ Representatives endorsed Abiy Ahmed’s latest cabinet shuffle, sending former Oromia president Lemma Megerssa to Defense and former Amhara president Gedu Andargachew to Foreign Affairs.
The Reporter Ethiopia reported that Gedu filled the vacancy left by Workneh Gebeyehu, who had gone to a UN Africa post in Nairobi. Former Defense Minister Ayisha Mohammed returned to Urban Development and Construction, keeping Abiy’s much-advertised gender-balanced cabinet at ten men and ten women on paper.
Observers read the appointments as a federal power grab after months of criticism that regions were outrunning the center. Lemma’s Defense posting sparked immediate public argument: some saw ODP consolidation, others hoped for security-sector reform.
The regional-to-federal pipeline remains a core archive of Abiy Ahmed’s first year. Pulling regional bosses to Addis looked like coordination. It also drained regional political capital into the center while wars and displacement were already gathering force.
Sources: The Reporter Ethiopia
