After serving as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Planning and Development for a year, Ato Sandokan Debebe was named Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Special Office. Ato Sandokan was named by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to lead his special office as Minister of State level.
The Prime Minister’s Office is comprised of six structures, including the Special Office. The National Security Council, the Office of the First Lady, the Press Secretariat, the Policy and Performance Monitoring Unit, and the Guardian of the Republic are other organisations housed inside the Prime Minister’s Office.
After being selected to lead the special office, Ato Sandokan travelled to China for the first time with Prime Minister Abiy, according to sources who spoke with “Ethiopia Insider”.
Upon assuming office, Abiy Ahmed immediately chose First Arega, the Ethiopian ambassador to Canada, to head his special office. In his place, Ato Shimelis Abdisa, who now serves as the head of the administration of the Oromia region, has assumed leadership of the special office.
April 2018 saw Shimelis. He spent seven months in the Prime Minister’s Special Office before to being appointed to take over as the Oromia region’s leader in lieu of Ato Lema Megersa.
who, since May 2018, have held the position of special office head for eight months; Dr. Shumate Gizaw, the former minister of state in the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. Mesfen Melaku succeeded Dr. Shumate as the Director General of the Information Network Security Administration (INSA) in January 2019.