Addis Ababa, 06 October, 2015(WIC) – To strengthen government’s good performance and abate drawbacks and successfully attain the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II) the government has reshuffled executive structure based on a research made for such a purpose, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said.
The Prime Minister stressed that implementation of the main principles of a given developmental state is the main reason behind the reshuffle. It is also aimed at further benefiting the country from the present globalized world, he added.
While briefing the first session of the new House of People’s Representatives (HPR), the Premier noted that as the Ministry of Agriculture has inculcated various wide ranging sub-sectors under a single umbrella, it has become vital to divide the former structure in to two and newly establish the Ministry of Animal and fish Resources and sustain the former one with the title, The Ministry Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The construction sector, which is booming in almost all levels of the country’s infrastructural development, needs to be separately executed and the challenges witnessed in the sector should be dealt with due emphasis to make the sector contribute more to the country’s development, the Prime Minister underscored. Hence, the Ministry of Construction is to be newly founded and the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction is to be re-established as The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, he noted.
Taking the 70 percent women and young age population in the country, establishing a separate entity to work on the interests of women and youth is mandatory, Hailemariam noted. As a result, The Ministry of Sport and Youth is to be newly established and the Ministry of Women and Children will be also founded separately, the PM added.
There is change in title of some of the former ministerial offices to create clarity in their missions and goals, the Premier said. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry is to be renamed as The Ministry of Environmental Development and Climate Change. Hence, the new Ministry is expected to work on national and international issues related to climate change in addition to environmental protection and development.
The Ministry of Federal Affairs is to be named as The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Pastoral Areas development. Hence the new Ministry is expected to work on development of pastoral areas of the country in addition to its former duties.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is to be newly named as The Ministry of Finance and Economic cooperation. Another Ministry, under which wide ranging powers were vested was, The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy. This Ministry is divided in to two Ministries based on interrelation between the issues to be dealt with in each of them. Accordingly, the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity is to be newly founded. Secondly, there shall be the Ministry of Mining, Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Hailemariam also added that The Ministry of Civil Service is to be renamed as The Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource development. This is aimed at strengthening human resource capacity in the public sector and the new Ministry is expected to work on various strategies of capacity building in the sector.
The Ministry of Public Development Enterprises is to be newly founded to enable the enterprises play a role in stabilizing the market and successfully fill the gaps faced in the private sector.
The other Ministries shall continue to serve as before, as the Premier noted briefing the House on the Draft Regulation set to reshuffle government’s executive structure in line with the GTP-II goals and other interests of the government.