The last 24 hours have been interesting times indeed! The president of Beneshangul-Gumuz for the last 14 years has just stood down in favour of a new appointee from Addis - a result of last week's visit by three senior ministers, including (I am told) one of the founding members of the TPLF, part of the ruling EPRDF party that are currently in power and overthrew the previous military Derg regime in the early 1990s. President Yaregal was a Gumuz, one of the largest ethnic groups of the region, and he has been replaced by a Berta, the ethnic group located around Assosa and the Assosa Zone and the largest group by population in the region. Unlike the States, Presidents are not voted for, they are the appointees of the ruling party so to have lasted
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