Is there any good news in the world? Maybe in Ethiopia …
All that most people in the world know about the African state of Ethoipia is that it had a famine in 1984. But profound political changes are currently taking place in the country. As the “Guardian” newspaper reports today:
“Ethiopia’s prime minister has appointed women to half the posts in his cabinet and created a new ministry of peace in a sweeping reshuffle that will reinforce the momentum of his radical reform programme in the vast, strategically significant African country.
Abiy Ahmed has turned the region’s politics on its head with a string of reforms since being appointed in April, earning comparisons to Nelson Mandela, Justin Trudeau, Barack Obama and Mikhail Gorbachev.
On Tuesday, he named the former construction minister, Aisha Mohammed, as defence minister – the first woman to hold that position in the country – and announced the creation of a new peace ministry led by Muferiat Kamil, former parliament speaker.
Kamil’s office will oversee the intelligence and security agencies, a move that reinforces the downgrading of the traditionally powerful security establishment in the authoritarian state.”
You can read a little more on this story here.
I visited Ethiopia in 2015 and you can read the account of my trip here.