In such a dramatic time, a subjective opinion that one can accept or reject is not the expression of an objective truth.
The recent press release titled Aide-Mémoire: Clarifying the Necessity of Enforcement of Rule of Law and Constitutional Order in Tigray. Dated: 21/03/2025, From: Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), To: Diplomatic Missions and International Partners.
Two years after the Pretoria Agreement, fear and division have affected the victims of genocide, leaving a negative impression of Tigray’s journey to get justice. TPLF and foes have advanced various arguments regarding the Pretoria Agreement. The fact that we have been witnessing the TPLF’s attempt to rewrite the Pretoria Agreement and reinterpret its spirit, which suits their personal, parochial views and interests, is akin to telling stories to children.
Does the TPLF splinter faction led by Dr Debretsion think that the diplomats are so stupid as to buy their lies and incoherent propaganda when they warned them in Mekelle that their unofficial meeting with Shaebia, collaborating with the brutal and violent government of Eritrea, which has been singled out repeatedly by international human rights organisations, the UN Human Rights Council, and western governments for committing atrocity crimes and human rights violations against the people of Tigray, will derail the Pretoria Agreement? This clearly shows that the TPLF leadership has tried to feed on its usual lies and deceptions. The TPLF can never present any political, legal, or ethical arguments as to why the Pretoria Agreement failed to be implemented.
Firstly, the Pretoria Agreement stated that TPLF was illegally elected and replaced by an interim administration appointed by the federal government until a new election. TPLF willingly signed and agreed to nullify its election in defiance of the Tigrayan people democratic rights, invoking the Tigray Constitution (Proclamation 45/2001), which is not a valid argument.
Secondly, the TPLF failed to establish the interim administration within the stated timeline and carried on undermining the interim administration from doing its work to derail the peace agreement using concerted campaigns of political slander and witch-hunt against the TIRA President, Getachew Reda, and the Vice President, General Tsadkan Gebretensae.
Thirdly, the TPLF leadership has not left a stone unturned in making the future of Tigray a prisoner of their repressive political ideology and parochial interpretation of the Pretoria Agreement at the expense of the Tigrayan people’s democracy, peace and security. The TPLF faction, led by Dr Debretsion, made a coup against the TIRA and installed its own officials in the provincial administrative offices. It took over the mayor’s office and the main FM radio station in Mekele. The TIRA President Getachew Reda was forced to flee to Addis Ababa. As a result of the TPLF violent coup, four people were killed and a few other people were bitten in Saharti and Adi Gudem by the TPLF armed group.
It is challenging for Tigray to move forward with such an entrenched repressive communist party, which promotes divisive ideas and political witch-hunt without any evidence to stay in power by any means. Our unity is necessary if we are to survive in this challenging time. The beneficiaries are our internal and external enemies of Tigray. We are aware that political reconciliation between Tigray elites is an absolute prerequisite for Tigray’s political and economic renaissance.
To examine the arguments that the TPLF put forward, let us analyse one by one about the TPLF’s assertion what it called ‘misleading allegations and media narratives’. The TPLF is trying to con the diplomatic missions and international partners by stating “the following allegations are false and detract from the true obstacles to the peace and the full implementation of the Pretoria Agreement:”
- The TPLF is obstructing the Pretoria CoHA’s implementation: From the outset of the peace agreement, there have been widespread and legitimate concerns about TPLF’s tactics and flip-flop positions. We need to examine their credibility and motives with scepticism. TPLF has expressed its commitment to fully cooperating with all legal proceedings related to the Pretoria Agreement in principle; however, the facts on the ground suggest a different political reality. All top officials have repeatedly promised to respect the Pretoria Agreement. Still, at the same time, they have made setbacks for the interim administration in exercising its authority in areas where it has influence. A sharp contrast exists between an organisation representing societal interests and a political party focused on maintaining its position in office. The interim government and the TPLF have lost sight of their objectives and are caught in a vicious cycle. The rogue generals and the splinter TPLF faction led by Dr Debretsion Gebremichael have worked hard to suspend the Pretoria Agreement and use the political apparatus by placing obstacles to its full implementation. Senior military commanders denounced and declared the interim administration in late January, calling for its removal.
- The TPLF is forcefully seizing control of towns and dismantling the Tigray Interim Regional Administration (TIRA): The TPLF splinter faction, rogue generals, conspirators, opportunists, thieves, and those driven by personal ambition and a hunger for power seek to stay in power at any cost, without accountability, and succeed in dismantling the interim administration. They have arrested and bitten supporters of the interim administration, forcing them to hand over official seals. We can now see evidence of how the interim administration collapsed and is now entirely controlled by the TPLF splinter faction.
- The TPLF is colluding with Eritrea to initiate war against the federal government: The rogue generals and the splinter TPLF faction have dismantled TIRA undemocratically with deceit and fraud, engaging against democratic political reforms in Tigray and collaborating with the brutal and violent government of Eritrea and Ethiopia, which have been condemned repeatedly by international human rights organisations, the UN Human Rights Council, and western governments for committing atrocity crimes and human rights violations against the people of Tigray.
- Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have not returned to their homes due to Tigrayan leadership’s failure to act: Supporters and foes have advanced various arguments regarding the Pretoria peace agreement as the most ambitious peace agreement of the century. Many countries have managed to contain damage and build peace, but the deal stalled; IDPs are still facing hardships in cities and streets of major towns, and Tigrai territories are under occupation by Amhara PP forces and Eritrean Army. The power struggle between the TPLF and the TIRA weakened the spirit of the Pretoria peace agreement to the point of full realisation. Disguised agendas hatched by the TPLF splinter faction and a few generals from the illicit gold mining industry are exacerbating the crisis and sliding into a division of cancerous polarisation, resulting in more wasted lives and resources. Dr Debretsion’s remarks are noteworthy, as he emphasised that the priority is to save the TPLF as a party rather than the return of the IDPs in one of his speeches. Forty percent of Tigrai territories is under occupation by the hostile forces of Eritrea and Amhara PP forces. In such a political game, why are the generals siding with the TPLF and plunging the region into political chaos?
From the outset of the agreement, there have been widespread and legitimate concerns about the TPLF’s tactics and shifting positions. The TPLF expressed its commitment to fully cooperating with all legal proceedings related to the Pretoria peace agreement in principle; however, the facts on the ground suggest a different reality. All top officials have repeatedly promised to respect the Pretoria peace agreement, but they undermine and sabotage it.
The problem with the TPLF’s press statement does not align with the legal and actual realities on the ground but it demonstrates an ethical crisis in which the TPLF splinter faction seized power to endanger the peace and security in the wider Horn of Africa. The TPLF’s press statement attempts to manage damage control, but its adverse effect backfires on the TPLF’s credibility, and it can’t be trusted to make lasting peace.
Please Read the Full TPLF’s Statement to the Diplomatic Missions and International Partners: Clarifying the Necessity of Enforcement of Rule of Law and Constitutional Order in Tigray.