A soldier at 17 — meet Ethiopia’s young prime minister

After three years of violent anti-government protests and a six-month state of emergency in Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn resigned as prime minister and chairman of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRDF).

Hailemariam said his decision to step down was to allow reforms to be pursued. He was replaced with Abiy Ahmed, who briefly served as science and technology minister under Hailemariam. The new prime minister will be sworn into office on Monday, April 2, 2018.

Here are few facts you need to know about the 41-year-old man. The young reformer is projected to lead Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

A SOLDIER AT 17

He was born on August 15, 1976, at Agaro, Jimma Zone, Oromia region of Ethiopia, to a multireligious family of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. Abir joined the armed struggle against the Derg Socialist Regime and became a soldier at the age of 17.

AN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

He joined the Ethiopian army in 1993, where he first worked in the intelligence service and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the Rwandan genocide of 1994, he was deployed as a member of the United Nations peace mission and later served in the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

He later became the founder and director of the country’s information network and security agency, which is responsible for cyber-security in a country where the government exercises tight control over the internet.

He started his political career as a member of OPDO (Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation). The OPDO is the ruling party in Oromia Region since 1991 and also one of four coalition parties of the ruling coalition in Ethiopia, the EPRDF. He became a member of the central committee of OPDO from 2010 – 2012 and congress member of the executive committee of the EPRDF.

HAILS FROM THE TROUBLED ZONE

The multilingual Abiy will become the country’s first leader from Oromia – the ethnic group at the centre of nearly three years of anti-government protests. The grievance is that they have been politically, economically and culturally marginalised for years – despite being the country’s largest group.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVOCATE

The father of three daughters and fitness enthusiast established Science and Technology Information Centre (STIC) in 2014, with the intention of creating a science, technology and innovation excellence centre.

Abiy holds a master’s degree in transformational leadership and change and a PhD in conflict mediation.

In an interview in late 2017, he said he was convinced he would be able to win the support of Ethiopian citizens, but that they expect a “different rhetoric from us”.

According to Abiy, if there is to be political progress in Ethiopia, “then we have to debate the issues openly and respectfully. It’s easier to win people over to democracy than push them towards democracy. This can only succeed peacefully and through political participation.”