Ethiopia: Who is the leader of Tigray, Debretsion Gebremichael?

11/27/2020 Ethiopia, Technology



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The leader of the TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael, used to be one of the most powerful Tigrays in federal politics. He is now at war with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and there is an arrest warrant for him.

As federal troops march on Tigray’s regional capital, Mekele, it is unclear whether the leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Debretsion Gebremichael, is still in town.

Debretsion has said his forces are “ready to die” defending the right to rule Tigray, one of Ethiopia’s 10 administrative regions based on ethnic lines.

Tigray’s forces could retreat to the surrounding mountains to wage guerrilla warfare, which could make it difficult for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s military to capture the city.

Former rebel fighter

Debretsion is no stranger to guerrilla warfare. In the 1970s, he dropped out of his engineering studies to join the TPLF, which had started out as a small band of guerrilla forces in northern Ethiopia.

The group was fighting against the brutal communist regime of Derg, under the ruler Mengistu Haile.

After being sent to Italy for technical training, Debretsion led a team that launched a covert radio station, Dimtsi Woyane Tigray. The fighters used portable transmission equipment, moved it on donkeys and camels, and hid it in caves to keep it safe.

“Communication was fundamental to the struggle: it was the essence of the struggle for us,” Debretsion is quoted in The Politics of Technology in Africa, a book by Iginio Gagliardone. “You really had to convert people, make them think in a different way. And unless you communicate well and deeply, you can’t get to the point of converting people.”

With his technological skills, Debretsion also played an important role in eavesdropping on Ethiopian troops’ communications and jamming their radio signals.

The civil war lasted 17 years and cost millions of Ethiopians their lives. It ended when a coalition of rebel groups took control of the capital, Addis Ababa, in 1991 and dictator Mengistu fled the country.

From rebel radio technician to federal politician

From this point on, the TPLF became the most powerful political and economic force in the country until Abiy became prime minister in 2018. And Debretsion’s power increased along with the TPLF.

Initially, he began working for the influential head of security, Kinfe Gebremedhin, while earning first a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree in electrical engineering.

“It shows that even after so many years of being separated from school, Debretsion still has the discipline to accomplish something like this,” said Yohannes Woldemariam, a US-based Eritrean scholar who grew up in Ethiopia and has written extensively about the country.

Debretsion entered high-level politics in 2005 with his appointment as director of the country’s information and communications agency. Later he became the deputy chief of the national intelligence service.

With the death of Ethiopian Prime Minister and former rebel leader Meles Zenawi in 2012, Debretsion emerged as the most powerful member of the TPLF at the federal level.

He promoted massive technology and infrastructure projects, expanding telecommunications coverage throughout the country as minister of technology and communications and president of the state telecommunications monopoly, Ethio Telecom.

“He was very busy with the Chinese in terms of getting technology to Ethiopia, especially telecommunications technology,” Woldemariam said.

However, Ethio Telecom was criticized for its links with security and intelligence agencies.

“The increasing technological capacity of Ethiopians to communicate, express their opinions and organize is seen less as a social benefit and more as a political threat to the ruling party,” concluded a 2014 report by Human Rights Watch, referring to the Revolution. Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front, of which the TPLF was a member of the coalition.

The party “relies on invasive monitoring and surveillance to maintain control of its population.”

During the same period, Debretsion also chaired the state-run Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, and sought to modernize the creaking power sector that serves the country’s 110 million people.

He oversaw the construction of hydroelectric dams, the largest of which is the $ 4 billion (€ 3.35 billion) Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam under construction on the Blue Nile River.

‘He does things’

“My observation of him when he gives interviews, he is not the kind of politician who is as articulate as [former Prime Minister] Meles Zenawi, who was a very talented speaker and a talented debater, “said Ethiopian observer Woldemariam, adding that Debretsion had a reputation for competition and getting things done.” Debretsion is … more of the quiet behind-the-scenes type who works very hard, extremely difficult. “

In 2018, Debretsion was among the candidates for president of the ruling federal coalition following the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (the president traditionally assumes the functions of the prime minister). Of the 169 votes cast, only two went to Debretsion. Abiy Ahmed received 108, becoming prime minister in April 2018.

Speaking to the UK Financial Times, Debretsion said that after the vote: “I told him [Abiy]: ‘You are immature. You’re not the right candidate. ‘”

When Abiy, who is an Oromo ethnic group, took the oath, he began to take power and influence from the TPLF. In response, their leaders withdrew to their northern stronghold and began to oppose their rule.