GSTS Report
Executive Summary and Way Forward
On July 6, 2025, the Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) held a consultative meeting with General Tadesse Worede, President of the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA). Following a brief overview by the President on the current affairs of Tigray, GSTS proposed over thirteen priorities that need urgent attention and immediate action. In doing so, GSTS reaffirmed its steadfast support for the Interim Administration on the condition that the TIA commits to effectively implementing these strategic priorities, including the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), consolidating peace, and ensuring the region’s healing, recovery, and transition to an elected government, and above all, the prevention of a relapse to another war. Following an honest and in-depth discussion, the President welcomed the proposals and pledged to prioritize their implementation.
Since that meeting, GSTS has maintained close oversight of developments in Tigray and of the TIA’s fulfillment of its commitments. Most recently, GSTS conducted a comprehensive evaluation on the TIA’s eight-month performance since March 2025, with particular emphasis on the strategic priorities for Tigray that GSTS presented in July 2025, priorities which were appreciated and endorsed by the President for implementation.
It is with great dismay that the GSTS reports that the TIA, under the leadership of General Tadesse Worede, has not only failed to improve upon or even match that of the preceding Interim Administration in which he served as First Vice President, but also disregarded most of the strategic priorities jointly articulated and endorsed during the July consultation. More concerningly, TIA has gone to great lengths in ways that undermine the aspirations of the people of Tigray for sustainable peace, freedom of speech, constitutional democracy, healing and recovery, and accountability.
The administration has reversed several modest gains achieved by the prior interim administration in creating an enabling environment for press freedom, the right to assemble and protest, open public debates and conferences, decoupling of party politics from state institutions, ensuring equitable access to public mass media for diverse voices, maintaining the non-partisanship of the security forces, and reconstituting an inclusive cabinet. Confirming the doubts of many, the current administration has become subservient to a single political party and its associated partisan security apparatus.
Considering the persistent and ongoing failures of the TIA to fulfill its mandate and priority agendas; recognizing the perilous trajectory that now threatens further destabilization in Tigray, Ethiopia, and the broader region, including the real risk of renewed conflict; and acknowledging the limited prospects of steering Tigray toward a legitimately elected government, the GSTS firmly believes that the current TIA has failed the people of Tigray and has become an instrument of narrow interests that endanger the Pretoria Peace Agreement, Tigray’s recovery, and the path toward an elected government. The GSTS, therefore, calls for the immediate reconstitution of the TIA, with the new interim administration designed in a manner that departs significantly from the shortcomings of the past interim administrations and mandated with the responsibility of revitalizing and implementing the CoHA, delivering public services, and facilitating a transition to legitimate government through free, fair, and transparent elections.
In this regard, GSTS has already begun work on two instrumental documents: a comprehensive evaluation of the current administration in relation to its performance on strategic priorities, legitimacy in its current format and its capacity to steer the people of Tigray out of the current quagmire; and building on that evaluation, a revitalization proposal outlining how the interim administration could be newly reconstituted in a manner that departs significantly from previous formation models, with a focused mandate on revitalizing the CoHA, delivering public services, consolidating peace and recovery, and facilitating a transition to an elected government.
Based on these documents, the GSTS is launching large-scale and successive consultative engagements with all Tigrayan stakeholders, as well as national, regional, and international actors, to promote a shared vision, facilitate co-design arrangements and understanding, and garner a broad consensus.
Presented below are the key aspects of the strategic priorities submitted to the President on 6 July 2025, which he formally endorsed, along with GSTS’s assessment of their implementation status, highlighting critical gaps between the TIA’s commitments and the outcomes observed in practice, and underscoring the urgent need for change of course to prevent Tigray from descending further into severe internal divisions and, above all, from sliding back into another cycle of war.
In addition to GSTS’s key performance evaluation metrics—developed to assess the priorities agreed upon with the President of TIA on 6 July 2025, this report’s assessment is further supported by credible evidence presented for each priority area and its corresponding status.
Key Issues and Strategic Priorities Raised with the President: Status Assessment Report
1. On the Implementation of the CoHA
The Pretoria Agreement remains the only lawful and legitimate framework for sustainable peace in Tigray. However, GSTS’s assessment indicates that the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) is currently at a serious risk. Failure to fully implement the CoHA would pave the way for yet another cycle of war, a scenario that the people of Tigray decisively reject and do not want to see. Through multiple channels, including their representatives, public meetings, media, religious institutions, and appeals to international actors, the people of Tigray have consistently and unequivocally voiced their collective demand for peace. Yet, despite the President’s repeated assurances to prioritize the implementation of the CoHA and ensure the safe return of IDPs and refugees, the administration has yet to fulfill these commitments. IDPs and refugees continue to endure deplorable conditions. The challenge facing the Pretoria Agreement, however, is not limited to delayed or uneven implementation, but also reflects a lack of clarity over legitimate ownership on the Tigray side. The TPLF has disintegrated into competing factions and faces legal obstacles to re-establish itself as a registered political party in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, the current TIA is largely controlled by one of these TPLF factions, whose legality and representativeness are contested. This structural ambiguity complicates the faithful execution of the CoHA from the Tigray side and weakens the prospects for a unified Tigrayan commitment to its terms.
Rather than employing the necessary political, diplomatic, and operational efforts in collaboration with all stakeholders, the President and his administration have allowed hardline TPLF leaders and certain army commanders to dominate the process, effectively holding IDPs and refugees hostage to advance their own self-serving power and resource agenda. In multiple public and private gatherings, the TPLF leadership and allied commanders have openly declared that IDPs will not return to their homes until the TPLF, along with its political party and security apparatus, is reinstated to control Western Tigray.[2]Instead of translating the CoHA into tangible peace dividends for the people, the President and TIA have reduced it to a political façade, exploiting it for partisan gain.
2. On Sustaining Peace and Avoiding a Relapse to War
Despite persistent warnings and repeated appeals to take decisive measures for consolidating peace, such as avoiding inflammatory rhetoric, putting an end to the jeopardizing partnership with the Eritrean government, promoting inclusiveness, and rebuilding trust among political actors, the President and TIA have failed to act with autonomy to preserve peace and ensure spoilers are not allowed to make use of Tigray and its people as their battleground for the interest of individuals, groups or external forces.
Under his watch, political polarization and institutional partisanship have deepened, and social cohesion among Tigrayans has severely weakened. Instead of consolidating peace and responding to what the people of Tigray have consistently expressed, including their desire for a normal life, full recovery and healing, the safe and dignified return of displaced families, employment opportunities for youth, medical care for wounded fighters, sustained support for veterans and their families, and justice for victims, the TIA has allowed disgruntled elements within the TPLF faction and certain military commanders, who are determined to undermine the CoHA, to dominate the political and security landscape.
Rather than advancing peace, these dynamics and the inactions of the TIA have fueled mistrust, fractured internal unity, and dangerously heightened the likelihood of renewed conflict that could once bring further devastation to Tigray and the wider region.
3. On the Reconstitution of an All-Inclusive Cabinet
Despite the president’s public commitment to forming an inclusive and representative cabinet, his reshuffling has starkly contradicted that pledge. Key positions were disproportionately filled by members of a single TPLF faction, while capable officials outside the TPLF’s inner political circle were summarily dismissed.[3],[4] In addition to cabinet members, extensive coercive political cleansing has been carried out across zones, bureaus, districts, and public administrative posts. All these exclusionary measures and purges contravene Article 6 of the Pretoria Agreement,[5] which explicitly mandates an inclusive administration for Tigray and guarantees the right of Tigrayans to an inclusive and representative government. Such exclusionary practices have not only weakened the administration’s credibility and effectiveness but have also intensified political polarization and alienated broad segments of the Tigrayan public, further eroding confidence in the administration’s legitimacy and its capacity to govern in the collective interest. The monopolization of the TIA cabinet by a single political party under General Tadesse’s leadership has been met with immediate and unequivocal rejection from Tigray-based opposition parties[6] and civil society organizations, raising serious concerns about legitimacy, inclusiveness, and the prospects for long-lasting peace and stability in Tigray, while undermining efforts to facilitate the transition to a democratically elected government.
4. On Inclusive Dialogue and Reconciliation
The President, in the same meeting with GSTS, pledged to establish an all-inclusive platform for dialogue; and fact-finding and truth-telling-based reconciliation within Tigray, promising to conduct this process through transparent, public, and participatory mechanisms. These mechanisms were to include public vetting of individuals known for their high levels of integrity, independence, impartiality, and for enjoying the highest public confidence before their selection to serve on the dialogue and reconciliation commission.
Yet, in direct contradiction of this commitment, the commission was established in an opaque manner, contrary to the principles of transparency, inclusive, and participatory processes. It was not only the process that was flawed, but also the objective: instead of fostering genuine dialogue and reconciliation among various political actors, the platforms were dominated by members of a single political party seeking to consolidate their exclusionary power. There was no vetting or consultation with stakeholders – processes that serve as sources of legitimacy and public confidence. Reports suggest partisan meddling and indicate that the list was pre-approved. This procedural failure has rendered the commission illegitimate and unpopular in the eyes of the public from the outset.
While a few members, particularly the religious leaders, enjoy high confidence among the public, the selection of the remaining members remains entirely opaque, and it is unclear on what basis they were chosen. Credible reports reveal that some were handpicked by the TPLF faction and its security apparatus, while others were reportedly removed from the initial list in contravention of processes that would have ensured public confidence and representation.[7]In short, the opaque selection, lack of representativeness, deviation from established objectives, and apparent political manipulation seriously undermine the commission’s legitimacy and credibility.
5. On Media Freedom and Democratic Dispensation
For decades, a single political group maintained near-total control over the Tigrayan media landscape, suppressing alternative voices and manipulating public discourse to serve its political agenda. The establishment of the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA) under Ato Getachew Reda marked a significant departure from this monopoly. Public outlets such as Tigray-TV and Dimtsi Weyane (DW) were increasingly non-partisan, enabling balanced coverage of socio-political developments within Tigray and beyond, while the private press began to emerge as a credible platform for diverse opinions and independent reporting. This hard-won progress, however, has been sharply reversed under General Tadesse’s administration. Media professionals are openly threatened by TPLF faction leaders, and public media are once again dominated by a single political group, with censorship and political interference becoming pervasive. Independent journalists face intimidation, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and systematic exclusion from reporting on matters of public interest.[8],[9],[10]
Rather than expanding the political space and fostering inclusive dialogue, the current administration has taken a regressive path, eroding media freedom, silencing dissenting voices, and undermining public trust.
6. On De-politicization of Tigray’s Security Forces, and State and Party Separation
Despite repeated counsel to maintain the neutrality of Tigray’s security institutions and prevent the encroachment of partisan politics, the President has allowed a few of the military leaders to misuse and manipulate the Tigray security forces into serving a narrow interest of a political group rather than rendering public service of protecting the Tigray people, anchored on constitutional principles of non-partisanship. Under his direction, a few leaders of the security forces have totally disregarded these constitutional principles, hijacked the Tigray army, and are actively engaging in partisan politics and also human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and acts of violence, at the behest of political leadership. These few military commanders have not only crippled the transition toward an elected democratic government but have also imposed themselves on the people of Tigray outside the CoHA framework, leaving the Tigray population vulnerable, living under fear and intimidation, and increasingly uncertain about their future.
Moreover, despite the president’s promise to strengthen the institutional independence of public administration, fully separate the roles of political parties and state institutions, and ensure effective functioning with clear delineation of responsibilities to support state building, the TIA has failed under the sole control of a single political party.[11] This total politicization of the TIA and monopolization of power and resources has further shattered public trust, undermined the legitimacy of the interim administration, and eroded any remaining hope for a democratic transition. This systematic politicization of the security and securitisation of the politics in Tigray has shattered the fledgling democratic dispensation and public trust, undermined accountability, and turned security institutions meant to safeguard civilians into instruments of oppression and partisan control.
7. The So-Called “Tsimdo” Between TPLF and PFDJ
During the GSTS meeting with the president on 6 July 2025, serious concerns were raised regarding ongoing interactions between the factions of TPLF leadership and the PFDJ (Eritrea’s ruling party) under the so-called “Tsimdo,” highlighting their potentially dangerous political and security implications for Tigray and beyond, to the victims demand for justice and accountability for genocidal war wagged on Tigray, and its neutral stance on the tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Eritrean government openly opposes the Pretoria Agreement, viewing it as a barrier to its intent to annihilate the people of Tigray. Any engagement with such a regime not only carries grave legal, ethical, and political repercussions but also represents a profound betrayal, an outright dismissal of the immense suffering and existential threats confronting Tigrayans.
Despite acknowledging these warnings and accompanying consequences, the President has continued to disregard the risks, allowing these interactions to persist unchecked. This negligence not only threatens political stability and security-related issues within Tigray but also undermines the CoHA, national and regional security, heightens tensions, and significantly increases the likelihood of renewed war or war-like conditions.
8. On the Case of Tigray Security Forces in “Hara-Meret”
On January 23, 2025, certain Tigray generals made a partisan decision to align themselves with a faction of the TPLF political party, forcibly dismantling the former interim administration led by Getachew Reda. This move enabled one-party domination over TIA and was accompanied by successive gross human rights violations. Generals who opposed this move were suspended, intimidated, and ultimately forced to flee the region. These Generals subsequently formed the Tigray Peace Forces (TPF) along various border areas in Tigray.
Recognizing the potential for dangerous escalation, the GSTS urged the president to act prudently by facilitating dialogue, promoting fact-finding, and fostering reconciliation among Tigray security forces, who are now split into two. Unfortunately, the president’s actions and inactions have contributed to elevated tensions between these forces, culminating in recent skirmishes and loss of lives. This perilous standoff underscores the urgent need for mediation and dialogue, which could have been initiated by the President to prevent further conflict, but regrettably has not occurred.
9. On the Case of the Southern Tigray Crisis
During engagements with the president, GSTS repeatedly stressed the urgent need to avoid military action and to pursue genuine dialogue, carefully listening to the actual demands of communities across Southern Tigray. The demands centered on the principle of self-rule, whereby local communities sought to be administered by leaders they considered legitimate representatives. Elders and community representatives consistently communicated these aspirations to the President and the TIA, and GSTS likewise reiterated them during multiple meetings and press releases. However, in blatant disregard for these pleas, the President allowed TPLF faction leaders and allied military commanders to forcibly dislodge civilian and local administrators, resulting in multiple gross human rights violations being committed. These actions systematically dismantled the right of the people to self-rule and to freely select their own administrators.[12],[13] By prioritizing coercion and militarized suppression over dialogue and reconciliation, the administration (TIA) has not only entrenched instability and fear in the Southern Zone but has also fueled division and insecurity throughout Tigray as a whole, undermining any prospects for lasting peace and stability.
10. On Establishing the Commission of Inquiry
Following the military dislodging of Getachew Reda’s cabinet, widespread and systematic human rights violations have been perpetrated across Tigray against civilians. Those targeted include individuals accused of supporting political reform, advocating for democracy and good governance, calling for the rule of law and political pluralism, demanding justice and accountability, sympathizing with the former interim administration, holding dissenting political views, or simply exercising their fundamental rights, including the right to self-governance.
The president was called upon to establish an independent commission of inquiry to find out the truth of what happened and ensure that those responsible were held accountable. Despite these commitments, he reversed course, permitting further large-scale violations to occur, including in the Southern and Southeastern Zones, and across much of Tigray, thereby failing to uphold justice, accountability, and protect civilians.[14]
11. On Strengthening the Tigray Interim Council (TIC)
The President was urged to empower and strengthen the Tigray Interim Council (TIC), established by the former interim administration, under the leadership of Mr. Getachew Reda, a vital democratic council of representatives designed to oversee the executive and the transition to an elected government. In the absence of the true council of representatives (which was dissolved following the CoHA), the TIC was designed to oversee the executive (cabinet), state resources, institutions and public media; implementation of the Pretoria Agreement; facilitate relations with Federal institutions, and pave the way for a smooth transition to an elected government by fostering an environment conducive to free and fair elections. Instead of supporting and reinforcing this body, President Tadesse reduced it to irrelevance to fulfill the interests of the TPLF faction, who opposed its establishment from the inception, effectively narrowing political space and undermining the prospects for a peaceful and democratic transition. This was further evidenced by opposition parties withdrawing in protest, expressing their disappointment with the TIA.[15],[16]
12. On the Misappropriation of Public Resources, including EFFORT
Amid the catastrophic situation in Tigray, factions of the TPLF have prioritized power struggles and control over public resources to advance narrow party-political interests. A prominent example is the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT). Although EFFORT is officially declared to belong to the Tigray people, it has been exploited as a tool for unearned influence, perpetuating inequality, deepening political polarization, and enabling a small group to monopolize critical resources. The GSTS urged the president to place EFFORT under public supervision until a legitimately elected government is established. Despite assurances to depoliticize the fund and redirect it toward Tigray’s recovery, EFFORT remains mired in internal infighting, and the president’s indecisiveness in curbing partisan control has generated serious concern.[17]
Beyond EFFORT, there has been widespread illegal exploitation and redistribution of public assets, including large-scale theft of Tigray’s natural resources, including land and gold.[18] These resources have reportedly been misappropriated in partisan manners, to the detriment of poor farmers, residents, and the public at large. Artisanal and illegal gold mining continues unchecked, with the use of highly toxic chemicals posing long-term risks to public health and the environment. Despite repeated promises to halt these activities, the president has taken no effective action. The ongoing misappropriation of resources by the administration continues to harm local communities, undermine farmers’ livelihoods, and threaten the region’s economic sustainability, while contributing to human rights violations and lawlessness, including illicit trade, smuggling, human trafficking, and embezzlement of public funds, with the potential to further fuel regional instability.
13. On Creating an Enabling Environment for Democratic Election, Legitimate Governance, and Rule of Law
A key item on the priority agenda, which the President formally committed to implement, was creating the necessary conditions for an elected government that reflects the will of the people through free, fair, transparent, and credible elections. This included safeguarding the democratic gains achieved under the former TIA, such as freedom of the press, the right to peaceful assembly, and creating an enabling environment for all political and civil society organizations. Despite this formal commitment, no such preparation exists in the President’s agenda, and the political and civic environment has steadily deteriorated, making the prospect of genuinely free and fair elections and the transition to a truly elected and representative government under the current administration highly improbable and increasingly uncertain.
14. On Strengthening Tigrayan Unity and Collective Action for CoHA Implementation and Tigray’s Recovery GSTS underscored in its meeting with the President the urgent necessity of strengthening the unity of all Tigrayans, including those in the diaspora, and rallying collective commitment toward the full implementation of the CoHA, and Tigray’s recovery agenda. Although this was verbally acknowledged as a priority, developments on the ground have instead been widely permitted to slide back into the familiar and damaging tactics of coercion, intimidation, extortion, character assassination, smear campaign, libelling, blacklisting, silencing, blackmailing, naming and shaming and other forms of attackes; and the entrenched “if you are not with me, you are my enemy” culture that seeks to silence those who advocate for reform or change or who do not align with the TPLF’s rigid, parochial, and intransigent political posture. This climate has dangerously eroded cohesion, trust, and unity among Tigrayans both at home and across the diaspora at a moment when collective purpose is indispensable.
Even more alarming is the exporting of these politicized practices beyond Tigray’s borders, where politically installed individuals, networks, and certain media platforms in the diaspora are mobilized to target Tigrayans and Tigrayan organizations, both abroad (in the diaspora) and at home (Origin countries), for simply exercising their fundamental rights including advocating for human rights, justice, good governance, peace, accountability or for expressing views critical of the TPLF, opposing actions that undermine the CoHA, or promoting the will of the people. Such conduct deepens divisions, suppresses legitimate civic participation, violates the rights and freedoms of individuals, and breaches the laws of the sovereign countries in which they reside. These politically motivated actions run counter to the collective interests of the Tigrayan people and undermine their aspiration for unity, healing, recovery, and the pursuit of a peaceful and dignified future.
In a nutshell: the eight-month review of the TIA by GSTS brought to light a governance crisis of alarming scale, defined by entrenched partisanship, blatant disregard for the welfare of the Tigrayan people, and the systematic dismantling of democratic and civil institutions. Promises have been broken, previous gains overturned, and militarized politics, partisan control of security forces, constrained media, and the partisan abuse of public resources such as EFFORT have been allowed to dictate decision-making.
Repeated warnings on peace consolidation, reconciliation, and human rights have been ignored, fueling widespread suffering, deepening political polarization, and entrenching lawlessness and instability across Tigray. By subordinating the majority public interest to the few associated with narrow political party agendas, the TIA has not only failed its people but has actively jeopardized any prospects for genuine peace, accountable governance, and a legitimate transition to an elected government, leaving Tigray at a dangerous crossroads.
Therefore, it is imperative to take note of lessons from the failures of the current and previous interim administrations with seriousness. GSTS underscores that the full implementation of CoHA is now an urgent necessity for Tigray, Ethiopia, and the Horn at large. The current TIA, led by President General Tadesse, has demonstrated that it is incapable of implementing the Pretoria Agreement, steering Tigray toward an elected government, and securing the lasting peace and recovery in Tigray.
In light of this, GSTS calls for the re-establishment of an interim administration built on an innovative model that addresses shortcomings of the past and present administrations, with a clear framework, a defined short tenure, and clearly defined mandates. To this end, GSTS is ready to present a concrete proposal for consideration and is launching broad consultations with all relevant stakeholders.
For notes and references, please read the PDF version on the link HERE
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