Federal Police Commission sees another reshuffle in three months with Zeynu Jemal as its new Commissioner General, replacing Yared Zerihun.
Yared, the short serving commissioner, has resigned recently stating personal reasons. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) accepted his resignation and assigned Zeynu as the new Commissioner General last week. Yared was assigned to head the Federal Police last April when Prime Minister Abiy formed his cabinet.
The outgoing commissioner, Yared, was moved to the Federal Police Commission from the National Intelligence & Security Service (NISS), which he had been serving as deputy head under the long-serving director general Getachew Assefa, who was replaced by Adem Mohammed (Gen.) on June 7, 2018. Yared was in charge of interior intelligence department of the intelligence body. When he came to the Federal Police, he replaced Assefa Abyou.
Before assuming his current post, Zeynu was head of the Administration for Refugee & Returnee Affairs (ARRA), formed to receive and assist refugees from Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia with a budget from the United Nations. In his mid-40s and the father of two, Zeynu graduated from Addis Abeba University (AAU) in physics, in the early 1990s. While working for a decade as Minister Consular in Nairobi mandated to handle political, economic and security issues, he studied business administration for his post-graduate studies at the University of Nairobi.
Zeynu is currently pursuing his doctoral thesis on the prospects of democratic developmental state under ethnic federal system citing Ethiopia as a case. When completed, he will be honoured by the SMC University of Switzerland.
A month ago, Prime Minister Abiy had reshuffled three deputy commissioners of the Federal Police Commission. Girmay Kebede, the longest-serving deputy commissioner general in charge of the Crime Prevention Sector since 2009, was replaced by Melaku Fenta, former head of the Police Commission of the Oromia Regional State. Reta Tesfaye (Com), deputy Commissioner and head of the Federal Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB) was replaced by Tekola Ayfokiru, while Yehidego Seyoum replaced Sisay Shikur, who was deputy commissioner for Human Resources.
The latter two new deputy commissioners were transferred from the police commissions of Amhara and Tigray regional states, respectively.
Restructured in 2004 with a new proclamation, Federal Police was initially established in 1913, during the reign of Emperor Menelik the II as Yeketema Zebegna. Until it got its current shapes, it had gone through various restructurings.
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