Ethiopia Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Resigns

FRIDAY JANUARY 26 2024

Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen

By AGGREY MUTAMBO

Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen on Friday left his position, the ruling Prosperity Party indicated.

At a special meeting of the Party’s Central Committee, officials also bade Demeke farewell as the party’s  third Vice President, the state-allied Fana Broadcasting service reported on Friday.

The party said the committee had unanimously agreed to appoint Mr Temesgen Tiruneh as the new Vice-President of the Prosperity Party. He has been the Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

Demeke had been Deputy Prime Minister since 2012 but became the country’s top diplomat from November 2020 when he took over the docket of Foreign Affairs.

No reasons were given for his departure yet but a source told The EastAfrican he had previously requested to leave politics but was asked to stay on for a while longer to steer some of the country’s recent diplomatic engagements.

He has been representing the affairs of Amhara region in the party. The region is now at loggerheads with the government after militias that supported government forces in the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) refused to disarm following the November 2022 peace deal.