Paulos Weldehaimanot Andemariam has been elected president of CECAFA, the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations, for a four-year term during an elective General Assembly held in Djibouti.
The opening session featured speeches from Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, and Djibouti FA president and FIFA Council member Souleiman Hassan Waberi.
FUFA President Hon. Moses Hassim Magogo pulled out of the presidential race just before voting started, clearing the path for Paulos Weldehaimanot Andemariam to be elected unopposed as the new CECAFA President.
The ceremony brought together several prominent African and international football figures, including Ahmed Yahya, Samuel Eto’o, Pele, Gelson Fernandes and Sarah Mukuna of FIFA and CAF, underlining the importance of the moment for regional football.
As president of the Eritrean Football Federation, Weldehaimanot now takes charge of a regional body that unites 12 countries from East and Central Africa, giving him a key role in shaping the game’s development across the zone.
Elected in Djibouti, he will be responsible for reviving CECAFA competitions and strengthening football governance in member nations.
Paulos Weldehaimanot Andemariam, after securing the new mandate, has pledged to use his term to tackle financial transparency, integrity, and structural development throughout the region.
CECAFA is made up of the national football associations of Sudan, Eritrea, South Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.
