Lt. Gen. Tadesse Werede has been sworn in as the interim president of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, replacing embattled former leader Getachew Reda amid deepening political rifts and growing fears of renewed conflict.
The appointment was announced Tuesday during a formal ceremony attended by senior government officials and the newly elected African Union Chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. Tadesse, who previously served as deputy president of the Tigray interim administration and head of the cabinet secretariat for peace and security, now assumes leadership at a critical juncture in the region’s fragile peace process.
According to a mandate he signed upon taking office, Tadesse is tasked with overseeing the full return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their original homes and facilitating the disarmament and reintegration of former combatants in line with the terms of the 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement, which ended a two-year civil war in the region.
His appointment comes as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling political party in the region, battles internal divisions that many fear could reignite conflict. The party has long called for Reda’s dismissal, accusing him and several cabinet members of diverging from party principles. Tensions peaked in March when armed factions loyal to the party seized control of key towns, including Adigrat — Tigray’s second-largest city in what Reda described as a “coup.”
Following the escalation, Reda fled to Addis Ababa, leaving a leadership vacuum and raising alarm over the stability of the Pretoria accord. The installation of Lt. Gen. Tadesse is seen as a strategic move to restore order and prevent a slide back into violence.
Observers say the new interim president faces significant challenges ahead, particularly in uniting a fractured administration and delivering on promises of peace, reconciliation, and resettlement.
