Something is shifting in Tigray, and it doesn’t look particularly steady. Word reached us via Misryoum that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) reportedly decided to dissolve the Pretoria Agreement this past Thursday. It’s a heavy move—one that follows a central committee gathering in Axum. The air in the city must be thick right now, or maybe that’s just how it feels when these reports start trickling out of the north.
They’ve also moved to back Debretsion Gebremicael as the lead for the regional administration. This directly bucks the extension granted to Tadesse Worede by the federal government just a day earlier. It’s a mess of conflicting authority, really. Tadesse Worede isn’t backing down easily either, though honestly, his actual sway over the military at this point is a bit of a mystery. Is he still the commander people listen to? Or has that ship sailed?
I remember hearing the distant clatter of coffee cups earlier—the smell of strong, dark roast usually helps clear the head, but news like this just adds a layer of static. The TPLF isn’t even a legally registered party anymore, at least according to the National Electoral Board. Yet, here they are, acting like the final word. It’s strange, the way organizations just continue to operate despite the shifting legal sands, or maybe it’s not strange at all—just predictable.
There’s also the Tigray Peace Force (TPF) to consider, a splinter group that has already voiced major concerns. They’re claiming the TPLF is aligning with Eritrea and pushing the region toward another cycle of violence. It feels like we are watching a slow-motion car crash, or maybe it’s already happening and we’re just waiting for the sound. The federal government has been quiet on this so far. They haven’t officially reacted, which is perhaps more unsettling than if they had.
It’s worth remembering that the 2022 deal involved heavy hitters like Uhuru Kenyatta and Olesegun Obasanjio. They put a lot of work into the African Union-led process. Seeing it seemingly discarded in a room in Axum makes you wonder what, if anything, those agreements were actually worth in the long run.
Anyway, the TPLF hasn’t even made a public announcement about this yet. Or maybe they did, and it’s buried under the noise? It’s hard to tell. Everyone seems to be holding their breath, waiting to see if this is just posturing or the start of something much darker for the region. My gut says to keep watching, but that’s all anyone can really do right now—watch and wait for the next shoe to drop.