Siraj Fegessa
Siraj Fegessa [aka Siraj Fegisa] is the incumbent Minister of Defense of Ethiopia. He is a Muslim, a member of the Silte people, as well as a member of the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front [SEPDF], which is part of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front [EPDRF]. From 2006 until his appointment as Defense Minister on 30 October 2008, Siraj was Minister of Federal Affairs and a Member of Population Census Commission.
Siraj graduated with his first degree in Forestry at Alemaya University in 1995 and has two master's degrees; an MA from Azusa Pacific University in Leadership in the United States and an MSC in Security Sector Management from Cranfield University in London, United Kingdom. He is the first Silte minister to be appointed in Ethiopia as well as the first to be from his party.
By 2006 Ethiopia was strengthening cooperation with Somaliland to enhance border security, following December 12 talks between GOE Federal Affairs Minister Siraj Fegessa and a delegation led by Somaliland Interior Affairs Minister Abdullahi Ismael Ali. Ethiopia and Somaliland engaged in intelligence-sharing, and cooperated to control activities of Ethiopian insurgents in the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
In the far west, the Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front (BGPDUF) had enjoyed broad discretion in administering its region. The outbreak of brutal ethnic conflict, apparently orchestrated by some Benishangul-Gumuz (B-G) regional officials against the Oromos outside of Nekempt town in May 2008, however, embarrassed the central government. The arrest of the regional vice president in response to the clash presented a tolerable response by federal authorities. Gilkes, however, argues that the GoE's 22 October 2008 dispatch of National Security Advisor Abay Tsehaye, Hailemariam Desalegn, and then Federal Affairs Minister Siraj Fegessa to the B-G capital to force the resignation of regional President Yaregal Ayisheshum over the incident has sparked antagonism among the BGPDUF who resent the encroachment on their loyal autonomy.
Minister of Defense (MoD), Siraj Fegessa, said 04 May 2015 the country’s military front on the border with Eritrea remains impenetrable to respond to any possible aggression. The minister made the remark while presenting his ministry’s nine months’ performance report to the House of Peoples’ Representatives. “Our army is always psychologically and materially alert to promptly and adequately respond to potential aggressions at any time,” Siraj told parliamentarians. The minister added that all the necessary steps to make the Ethio-Eritrea border front inviolable has been undertaken with maximum preparedness at every strategic operations level. The same level of preparedness in air defense is also in place with better quality and quantity of personnel as well as air defense armaments, Siraj added.
Defence Minister Siraj Fegessa and speaker of the House of Peoples’ Representatives, Abadula Gemeda, address legislators during an emergency meeting to lift the state of emergency, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, August 4, 2017.
The Ethiopian Minister of Defense, Siraj Fegessa, said on 17 February 2018 that a state of emergency imposed on the country after the prime minister resigned would last six months. “Ethiopia bans protests and publications that incite violence during emergency rule. There are still pockets of areas where violence is prevalent. The (ruling EPRDF coalition‘s) council were unanimous in their decision,” Reuters quoted Fegessa as saying to journalists at a press briefing. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced his surprise resignation in a televised speech on 15 February 2018, saying he wanted to smooth the way for further reforms.
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