A response to Getachew Reda: Before blaming Tigray, speak for the victims.
Author: Goitom Hailesilassie
Getachew Reda, now an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, writes passionately about the dangers of war and calls on the federal government to implement the Pretoria Agreement. But there is one glaring omission:
What about the victims of the federal government’s genocidal war and the continuing suffering of Tigrayans?
You were part of the Tigrayan leadership during the war and later led the interim administration of Tigray. You therefore know better than most what the people of Tigray have endured.
The Pretoria Agreement did not merely require Tigrayan forces to surrender heavy weapons. It also required humanitarian access, withdrawal of forces from Tigray territories, restoration of services, return of displaced people, and a pathway toward justice and political normalisation.
Yet more than three years later, the peace remains unfinished.
Ask the displaced families of Western Tigray what “peace” has delivered.
Their homes and farmland remain inaccessible. Forces outside the Tigrayan administration continue to control Western Tigray, while displaced Tigrayans remain unable to return safely. Recent assessments continue to describe millions of displaced people as being left in limbo.
- Ask the mothers and children who lost fathers, husbands, and sons during the war.
- Ask survivors who are still waiting for justice.
- Ask families whose homes were destroyed and whose livelihoods disappeared.
- Ask patients who depend on functioning transport and medical services.
- Ask Tigrayans why their region remains economically devastated while the promises of post-war normalisation remain incomplete.
And ask why political representation of Tigrayans at the federal level has remained profoundly limited. As of August 2026,, there is no Tigrayan representation in the federal military, police, agencies, or parliament.
These are not abstract political arguments; these are human beings.
So, when you accuse the Tigrayan leadership of preparing another war, why don’t you also ask the federal government you now advise the following:
- When will the displaced return home?
- When will Western Tigray be vacated by forces that are not constitutionally responsible for governing it?
- When will the victims receive justice?
- When will Tigray receive full political and economic normalisation?
- When will the remaining obligations of Pretoria be implemented?
And when tensions escalate, why should the international community listen only to accusations against Tigray while ignoring the unresolved conditions that continue to fuel insecurity?
Recent clashes have already caused fresh displacement, demonstrating how dangerous the failure to resolve these issues remains.
Getachew, you are entitled to criticise the TPLF. You are entitled to change your political position. But your new position does not erase your own history in Tigrayan leadership.
More importantly, the suffering of Tigrayan civilians cannot be erased by changing the subject from their unresolved grievances to accusations against Tigrayan politicians.
If you genuinely want peace, use your position in Addis Ababa to speak for the victims—not only for the government you now advise.
Tell your government to finish what Pretoria started.
- Return the displaced and restore their homes and rights.
- End the occupation of western Tigray territories.
- Restore normal services and economic life.
- Ensure political representation.
- Investigate atrocities.
- Protect civilians.
- And implement the agreement in full.
The people of Tigray have already paid an unbearable price for war. They should not be forced to pay the price of an unfinished peace as well.
