Addis Abeba — Lt. Gen. Tadesse Werede has been named the new interim president of the Tigray region, replacing Getachew Reda. Lt. Gen. Tadesse was the deputy president of Tigray's interim administration and head of the cabinet secretariat for peace and security.
"Today marks the peaceful and formal implementation of a leadership transition program--an important step toward cultivating a new political culture," said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. "General Tadesse Worede, who has served as Ato Getachew's deputy over the past two years, is now entrusted with this responsibility. With his insight into the previous administration's strengths and challenges, many see him as well-prepared to steer Tigray through this pivotal moment."
The announcement of the appointment came a day after the Prime Minister officially bid farewell to former President Getachew Reda, stating that the federal government "recognizes" the interim administration that has been in place for the past two years and appreciates the "great caution and leadership" demonstrated by the outgoing President in maintaining peace following the Pretoria Peace Agreement.
On Tuesday 01 April federal lawmakers amended a proclamation allowing regional interim administrations to be extended twice, each for up to one year. This amendment enables the Tigray Interim Administration to be extended for an additional year.
Although Getachew was first elected by the Central Committee of Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), to lead the interim administration of the regional state, he assumed the position after being "appointed" by PM Abiy Ahmed two years ago in March 2023.
The latest leadership shake-up that saw Lt. Gen. Tadesse take the position follows months of internal disagreements within the Tigray People's Liebration Front (TPLF) after the party's 14th Congress in August 2024, which lead to the emergence of two splinter groups led by Debretsion Gebremichael, TPLF's chairman, and Getachew Reda.
Subsequently, in October Debretsion's group announced the removal of Getachew and others from their roles, leading to the interim administration under Getachew to counter-accuse Debretsion's faction of attempting to "destabilize" the region through a "coup d'état."
Despite these tensions, Lt. Gen. Tadesse repeatedly sought to reassure the public that concerted efforts were underway to prevent the political disagreements from escalating into security threats within the Tigray region.
However, neither Tadesse's reassurance nor several attempts by religious institutions and civil society organization in the region produced tangible results to narrow the differences between the two groups, eventually leading to the departure from Tigray of Getachew and some of his key cabinet members.
Getachew has since requested "necessary assistance" from the federal government but the first official comment from the later came on 20 March, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told lawmakers that the Tigray Interim Administration's mandate has recently expired and will be extended for another year, indicating that "there may be changes" in its leadership.
In a subsequent, but unexpected move, PM Abiy issued a statement calling for the people of Tigray to nominate candidates using e-mail. However, the call was rejected by Debretsion's faction of the TPLF on grounds that the unilateral move by the PM to appoint a leader violates the Pretoria Agreement.
Establishing an Interim Regional Administration (IRA), which will replace the Tigray regional state government that was established after a local election for regional council held on 02 September 2020, was mentioned as one of the key parts of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed in Pretoria, South Africa between the federal government and the TPLF. Article 10 of the CoHA stated "the establishment of in inclusive interim regional administration will be settled through political dialogue between the parties."
Furthermore, the TPLF also said that "discussions were held with the Ethiopian government to determine a replacement. An evaluation of the Interim Administration's performance revealed its shortcomings, leading to a consensus that the president should be replaced. Consequently, the TPLF's Central Committee proposed General Tadesse Werede for the position, which was accepted by the Ethiopian government."
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But it is not clear if the appointment of Tadesse came as a result of the agreement that the TPLF said it has reached with the federal government "to determine a replacement."
A decorated military leader, Lt. Gen. Tadesse played a key role in leading the Tigrayan forces during the two-year brutal war in the Tigray region and was instrumental in negotiating the Pretoria and Nairobi peace agreements.
Previously, he was the head of the Joint Training Department at the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) before moving to serve as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in 2011. Lt. Gen. Tadesse was also an appointee of formed United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to implement the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei, a contested oil-producing region along the disputed border between Sudan and South Sudan, where Ethiopian peacekeeping forces were the only forces trusted for deployment by both sides.
