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Ethiopia appoints first female president

Agence France-Presse
Ethiopia appoints first female president
In this file photo taken on August 28, 2014 Director-General of the United Nations Office Sahle-Work Zewde attending a session at the French employers' association Medef summer conference on August 28, 2014 in Jouy-en-Josas, near Paris. Ethiopian lawmakers on October 25, 2018, appointed a woman to the largely ceremonial position of president for the first time. Career diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde was chosen in a unanimous vote to replace Mulatu Teshome who resigned. Sahle-Work, has served as ambassador to France, Djibouti, Senegal and the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
AFP / Eric Piermont

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia on Thursday appointed a woman to the largely ceremonial position of president for the first time.

In a unanimous vote, Ethiopian lawmakers picked career diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde to replace Mulatu Teshome who resigned.

Sahle-Work, who is in her late 60s, has been Ethiopia's ambassador to France, Djibouti, Senegal and the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Just prior to her appointment as president she was the UN's top official at the African Union. She is fluent in English and French as well as Amharic.

As president, she is expected to serve two six-year terms.

Political power in Ethiopia is wielded by the prime minister with the president's role is restricted to attending ceremonies and functions.

Ethiopia's reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week appointed a slimline 20-person cabinet in which half the posts are held by women.

They include defence minister Aisha Mohammed and Muferiat Kamil who leads the newly-created Ministry of Peace, responsible for police and domestic intelligence agencies.

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