Government ministries merged in major cabinet reshuffle

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu merged the Housing Ministry and Infrastructure Ministry and made other key changes on Thursday, in a major cabinet reshuffle.

President Muizzu’s administration has 22 ministries, but with the changes made on Thursday, the number will be reduced to 21.

The key changes:

• The merger of the Housing Ministry and the Infrastructure Ministry; this ministry will be headed by Infrastructure Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib.
• The transfer of Planning from the mandate of Housing Ministry to the Finance Ministry. With this change, it has been renamed the Finance and Planning Ministry.
• Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed changed from Housing Minister to Higher Education Minister.
• Dr. Mariyam Mariya changed from Higher Education Minister to Agriculture Minister.

Mariya had already been serving as acting Agriculture Minister since Dr. Aishath Rameela stepped down from the role as she battles cancer.

The changes mark the second cabinet reshuffle by President Muizzu since he took office in November 2023.

The first major reshuffle had been on September 30, when Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq resigned from his role as Finance Minister. Following the resignation, Moosa Zameer was changed from Foreign Minister to Finance Minister, Dr. Abdulla Khaleel was changed from Health Minister to Foreign Minister, and Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim was appointed as Health Minister.