Ethiopia: Arkebe, Shiferaw Return as Ministers without Portfolio

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi appointed Arkebe Equbay, Shiferaw Jarso, Neway Gebreab to be his Advisors as Ministers without Portfolio and Tekalegn Mamo as an advisor to Minister of Agriculture with the rank of a State Minister, on Wednesday, Oct 27/2010.

Accordingly, the newly appointed Advisors to the PM and Ministers without Portfolio are:

Arkebe Equbay …….. Advisor Minister to the Prime Minister.

Shiferaw Jarso …….. Basin Affairs Advisor Minister to the Prime Minister.

Newaye-Christos Gebreab …….. Economic Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister.

Arkebe is a veteran member of TPLF/EPRDF. He became popular when he served as Mayor of Addis Ababa from 2003-05. He has been State Minister of Ministry of Works & Urban Development since 2005.

Shiferaw Jarso is a prominent member of OPDO/EPRDF. He has been Minister of Water Resources for about a decade. He was appointed as Government Chief Whip in 2005 and served until 2007. He has no publicly visible function since 2007, though he heads a Board or two.

Both Arkebe Equbay and Shiferaw Jarso had been members of the Executive Committees of EPRDF and their respective parties until last September. They currently serve as members of the Council of EPRDF and their respective parties. The two leaders are  perceived by the local media as having their own political weight in their respective parties.

The third appointee, Newaye-Christos Gebreab, has been in the same post for most of Meles Zenawi’s tenure, though he has never been member of the Cabinet. Neway is known more as a technocrat, rather than a politician. His political affiliation is not known. Though he is a Tigrayan by origin, he didn’t take part in the armed struggle, nor has he been member of TPLF/EPRDF leadership.

The other appointee is Prof. Tekalegn Mammo, who has been Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2005-2010. He is appointed as Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture with the rank of a State Minister as of Oct.27, 2010.

Though there is no press statement about Abaye Tsehaye’s appointment or re-appointment to date, he continued in his post as Minister without Portfolio, National Security Advisor of the Prime Minister. It appears the Office of the Prime Minister deemed no re-appointment is needed, since Abaye is to serving in a post he held for a couple of years.

It is to be recalled that Muktar Kedir and Redwan Hussein are appointed as Chief of Staff and Public Mobilization & Participation Advisor to the Prime Minister, respectively, on Oct. 7/2010.

Related Materials(in this blog):

Who’s Who in the New Cabinet.

Ethiopia: 48 State Ministers Appointed

Ethiopia: PM Appoints 36 Ambassadors, inc. 7 Former Ministers

Correction: Shiferaw Jarso had been Advisor to the PM of Water and Basin Affairs, Minister without Portfolio, since 2008. [This Correction is written on March 9/2011]