Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Resigns 

Demeke Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s long-serving Deputy Prime Minister, who also doubles as Minister of Foreign Affairs since November 2020, is departing from both positions, officials said. 

The Central Committee of Prosperity Party, during its wrapping up session, based on party’s leadership succession principle and working system also formally bid farewell to Demeke unanimously on Friday January 26.

In replacement of Demeke, the Party unanimously elected Temesgen Tiruneh as Deputy President of Prosperity Party who was a member of the party’s executive committee. Tiruneh is also the Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

Demeke was the third vice president of the ruling Prosperity Party representing the Amhara wing of the party.

This was announced at the ongoing meeting of the PP Central Committee members.

Although Demeke has served as deputy prime minister since 2012, his elevation as the Minister of Foreign Affairs came during an unprecedented reshuffle by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the wake of the war in the Tigray region in November 2020.

He replaced the then Foreign Affairs minister Gedu Andargachew while maintaining his position the deputy Prime Minister.

Demeke’s career at the federal level began in 2008 when he became the Minister of Education when the late Meles Zenawi was Ethiopia’s Prime Minister. Prior to his appointment as the Minister of Education in 2008, Demeke was the Commissioner of Ethics & Anti-Corruption Commission in Amhara Region. He was also the head of the region’s Administrative & Security Affairs Bureau. Between 2005 – 2008, he served as the Vice President and Head of Capacity Building Bureau of the Region.

But his biggest career leap within the then ruling party Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) would arrive when he was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the party and subsequently as Deputy Prime Minister when former Prime Minister Hailemriam Desalegn took the premiership following the death of Meles Zenawi.

In 2015, Demeke became an important focal point among the international community after the failed rains and the advent of El Nino left a staggering 8.2 million Ethiopians in need of emergency food assistance. As Deputy Prime Minister, he was put in charge of organizing the much needed humanitarian response between the government and humanitarian partners. His coordination works were credited for effectively responding to the crisis before it claimed lives and livelihoods of millions.

Demeke became a prominent figure within the Amhara regional state politics following his appointment as Chairman of the then Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) in September 2010 during the 9th regular session of the party, replacing party stalwart Addisu Legese.

Demeke would go on serving as Chairman of the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), the rebranded name for ANDM, and Deputy Chairman of the EPRDF until the dissolution of both in December 2019 and the establishment of the Prosperity Party (PP).

During PP’s first convention held in March 2022, Demeke was elected as the Second Vice President of the party after Abiy Ahmed and Adem Farah, President and Vice President, respectively.

By Agencies