Ethiopia has put a new caretaker administration in charge of Tigray and given it six months to restore security, get public services running again and prepare elections. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office announced the move on 16 October, after a resolution by the House of Federation and a decision by the federal Council of Ministers, The EastAfrican reported.
The announcement followed renewed fighting in which federal forces regained key Tigray strongholds, including Mekelle, according to France 24.
The government’s case
Addis Ababa says it tried to resolve the crisis through the 2022 Pretoria agreement but was blocked at every turn by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The new administration’s job list is long: peace and security, essential services, rebuilding damaged infrastructure, and an election.
What critics fear
Analysts quoted by The EastAfrican warned that an administration drawn from the government’s wartime allies is a step away from the power-sharing that underpinned the African Union-brokered deal. That agreement ended the 2020–2022 war and set out the gradual disarmament of TPLF forces and the return of federal authority alongside a regional political settlement.
Six months is not long to rebuild trust in a region affected by the 2020–2022 war and renewed fighting in 2026.
