The newly elected president of Tigray's interim administration, Getachew Reda, has unveiled a cabinet that will lead the region's political transition after two years of conflict. The 27-member team is composed of former rebels from the Tigray People's Liberation Front who fought Ethiopian government forces in the war.
The establishment of an interim adminstration is part of the Pretoria peace accord implemented to end two years (2020–2022) of conflict opposing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Armed Forces.
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that Ethiopia’s peace process is "one of the rare bits of good news that we have in the world".
The announcement comes two weeks after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed Reda Getachew as leader of Tigray's interim administration.
The new cabinet is dominated by TPLF members but also includes two members of a Tigrayan opposition party, the National Congress of Great Tigray (Baytona).
We had a productive dinner meeting with H.E. Rémi Maréchaux, Ambassador of #France to #Ethiopia, and his team. We discussed important development agendas, including post-war reconstruction and recovery in #Tigray. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/bcBHIsaXXm
— Hagos G, PhD (@hgodefay) April 4, 2023
Former military
Two leading TPLF military commanders, General Tsadkan Gebretensae and Lieutnant General Tadesse Werede, will join Getachew as the two vice presidents of the Tigray region.
General Tsadkan, the former chief of staff of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces and a mastermind of the Tigray rebellion, will serve in the cabinet secretariat for decentralisation and democratisation, with the rank of vice president.
Lieutenant General Tadesse will head the secretariat for peace and security, also with the rank of vice president.
In a ceremony held on Wednesday 5 April, the administration of the region, which was headed by Debretsion Gebremichael, handed over power to the new interim administration headed by Getachew Reda.
The peace agreement signed in South Africa on 2 November 2022 ended a two-year conflict which claimed the lives of at least 600,000 people and displaced millions of others, according to the African Union. The two parties agreed that an interim administration is to be established to rule Tigray until elections are held.
United Nations investigators have warned there is evidence of crimes against humanity committed by both sides.
In March, following the appointment of Getachew Reda as head of the interim government, the Ethiopian parliament voted to remove the TPLF from a terrorist blacklist.
EU, US, France
The European Union and the United States said they will "continue working hand-in-hand" to support the agreement and restore normal ties with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.
"The message to both the government of Ethiopia and the Tigrayans is to make them understand that we are watching the settling of the conflict and will only normalise our relations in a gradual way, step-by-step," the EU’s Joseph Borrell said on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, on 7 February, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was received at the Elysées Palace in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron. The visit was part of Abiy's diplomatic and economic tour in Europe in a bid to renew ties that were severed because of the Tigray conflict.
Always good to meet my friend @EmmanuelMacron.Thank you for the warm welcome to Paris. As the relations b/n our two countries’ progress,I’m very confident that it will translate into strengthened economic outcomes. We very much welcome investments by French companies in Ethiopia. pic.twitter.com/jUCnyGpKto
— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli) February 8, 2023
Olusegun Obasanjo, special envoy to the African Union for the Horn of Africa, estimates the total cost of rebuilding northern Ethiopia at 25 billion euros.
During a visit to Addis Ababa in January, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna spoke of a "gradual re-engagement", announcing investments of 28 million euros by France in Ethiopia for projects to rebuild electrical infrastructure and ensure food security.
