Lt. Gen. Tadesse Werede was appointed interim president of Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Tuesday, replacing Getachew Reda amid growing political tensions within the region’s ruling party.
Tadesse previously served as deputy president of the Tigray interim administration and head of the cabinet secretariat for peace and security. His appointment comes with a mandate to oversee the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes and to accelerate the disarmament and reintegration of former combatants in accordance with the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by government officials and the new chairperson of the African Union, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
Tadesse’s elevation follows a power struggle within the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant political party in the region. Party leaders had been pushing for the removal of Reda and other officials, revoking their party membership and attempting to install loyalists in key posts.
In March, armed forces aligned with the TPLF seized control of several towns, including Adigrat, the region’s second-largest city. Reda, who described the takeover as a “coup,” fled to the capital, Addis Ababa, amid the escalating tensions.
Observers fear that the deepening political divisions could reignite conflict in the region, which is still recovering from a devastating two-year civil war that ended with the Pretoria Agreement.