Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is set to receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Tuesday. Here are ten things you should know about him:
– August 15, 1976: He was born into a poor mixed Christian-Muslim family in the rural town of Beshasha.
– Early 1990s: He started a nearly 20-year career in the military as a radio operator, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
– 2008: He established the government’s cyber-spying Information Network Security Agency (INSA).
– 2010: He was elected to parliament with the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation, which is part of the ruling coalition.
– 2016: After a brief stint as federal minister of science and technology, he was appointed the vice president of the Oromia regional government.
– March 2018: He was elected to lead the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition.
– April 2018: He became prime minister, being the first ethnic Oromo in the post, after his predecessor resigned.
– June 2018: He announced Ethiopia would abide by a 2002 ruling by a UN-backed commission requiring it to cede territory to Eritrea. This launched a peace process that ended a 20-year-old stalemate.
– October 11, 2019: He was announced winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the conflict.
– October 23, 2019: Protests broke out denouncing Abiy after an activist claimed to be the target of a security force attack plot. They turned into ethnic and religious clashes in which more than 80 people were killed
