Sahle-Work Zewde appointed Ethiopia's first female president

World
Europe

00:28

The Ethiopian parliament's two houses on Thursday appointed Sahle-Work Zewde as Ethiopia's first female president.

Zewde was appointed as the east African country's incoming president following the official resignation of former President Mulatu Teshome on Thursday.

The newly elected president has been sworn in before members of the lower and upper houses, the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives (HOPR) and the Ethiopian House of Federation.

In her acceptance speech before the parliament's two houses, Zewde, vowed to serve her country and its people with her utmost efforts.

Newly elected President Zewde takes an oath of office at the House of Peoples' Representatives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on October 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

She also stressed the need to maintain the longstanding unity among Ethiopians as well as sustain the ongoing reform of the Ethiopian government and the governance structure.

Prior to her appointment as Ethiopian president, Zewde was Ethiopia's permanent envoy at the African Union (AU).

Zewde, who is a well-regarded diplomat representing Ethiopia at global, continental and regional organizations including the UN and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), had also served as Ethiopia's ambassador to various countries.

The appointment of Zewde, 68, came shortly after the approval of Teshome's resignation request by the two houses' joint extraordinary session.

Teshome was unanimously appointed as Ethiopia's president on October 7, 2013, while he was serving as Ethiopia's ambassador to Turkey.

Teshome, 63, had served in various high-level Ethiopian government offices and ministries as deputy minister of Economic Development and Cooperation, minister of agriculture, and spokesperson of the House of Federation.

He had also served in various diplomatic missions representing the East African country to China, Turkey, Japan, Thailand and Azerbaijan.

Teshome's resignation, and the eventual appointment of Zewde, followed the recent Ethiopian government's cabinet reshuffle.

The HoPR last week approved the appointment of 16 new cabinet members upon the endorsement of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in which only four of the previous cabinet's members remained in their positions.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency