NewsAlert: President appoints 27 new ambassadors; list includes two senior army generals, veteran GERD negotiator

From Left: General Bacha and General Hassen

Addis Abeba – President Sahle-Work Zewde has today appointed a total of 16 ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and 11 ambassadors to represent Ethiopia to various countries, the President’s Office said in a statement to state media.

Among the list of appointees are General Bacha Debele and General Hassen Ibrahim, two senior army generals of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), who have become familiar faces following the war in Tigray which started in Nov. 2020.

General Bacha, then Lt. Gen, was reinstated to the army on November 04, the same day the war started, along with then Lt. Gen. Yohannes G/Meskel, & Lt. Gen. Abebaw Tadesse; the later who is now a full General, was subsequently appointed as deputy chief of staff.

As well as the two generals, today’s appointment also included Dr. Seleshi Bekele, former Minister of Water and Irrigation and currently the Chief Negotiator and Advisor on Transboundary Rivers and GERD to the federal republic of Ethiopia. The letter from the Presidents’ said she has appointed the ambassadors to various positions in accordance with Article 71, Sub-Article 3 of the FDRE Constitution.

Accordingly, the following is the full list:

Ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary

1. Tefera Deribew

2. Dessie Dalke

3. Sileshi Bekele (PhD)

4. General Bacha Debelle

5. General Hassen Ibrahim

6. Shitiye Minale (Ms.)

7. Professor Fikadu Beyene

8. Rashad Mohamed

9. Ambassador Jemal Kedir

10. Feysal Aliye