Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald)
The Great Betrayal: How TPLF’s Anti-Tigray Policies Sabotaged Tigray’s Future
Prepared by: Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review (HAGR)
Lead Authors: Regional and International Political, Security, and Development Experts
Date: April 28, 2025
Executive Summary
For over four decades, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) portrayed itself as the defender and liberator of Tigray. Yet history exposes a far grimmer reality: TPLF systematically betrayed the aspirations, prosperity, and sovereignty of the Tigrayan people. Under the guise of revolutionary governance, the TPLF leadership cultivated corruption, undermined institutions, starved innovation, and ultimately crippled Tigray’s future.
This critical and comprehensive analysis documents four strategic betrayals committed by the TPLF against Tigray’s national interests:
The calculated destruction of COSAERT — sabotaging Tigray’s agricultural and environmental independence.
The deliberate obstruction of the Raya Valley Pressurized Irrigation Project — denying Tigray food security and economic sovereignty.
The crippling of Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT) — dismantling Tigray’s potential scientific and technological renaissance.
The theft and diversion of the Adwa Pan-African University project — stripping Tigray of a historic continental leadership role.
These betrayals were not accidental failures. They were the inevitable consequence of a leadership consumed by greed, power consolidation, and loyalty to Ethiopia’s imperial center at the expense of Tigray’s survival.
Today, any hope for Tigray’s true rebirth demands a full and public dismantling of TPLF’s criminal legacy.
I. The Silent Murder of COSAERT: Destroying Tigray’s Agricultural Independence
Background: Vision Turned Nightmare
The Commission for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Rehabilitation of Tigray (COSAERT) was established in 1995 with an ambitious vision: to lead Tigray to food self-sufficiency, restore degraded lands, and empower farmers through environmental rehabilitation.
Founding architects such as Leul Kahsay and Abay Tsehaye envisioned COSAERT as a cornerstone of Tigray’s resilience — protecting its people from the cycles of famine and dependency.
TPLF’s Crime: Betrayal from Within
Rather than strengthening COSAERT, TPLF leaders:
Defunded critical programs, leaving projects abandoned.
Embezzled environmental rehabilitation funds, enriching senior party elites.
Politicized appointments, replacing agricultural experts with party loyalists.
Marginalized innovation, blocking scientific methods that did not align with political interests.
Strategic Loss: A Nation Starved
Missed Opportunity: Tigray could have emerged as Africa’s model for environmental recovery and agricultural self-sufficiency.
Reality: Farmers were left vulnerable, dependent on external aid, and subject to famine, with their plight weaponized for political loyalty.
COSAERT’s collapse symbolized the death of Tigray’s agricultural dream — engineered by those claiming to serve it.
II. Sabotage of the Raya Valley Pressurized Irrigation Project: Starving Tigray on Purpose
Background: Promise of Abundance
The Raya Valley Project aimed to transform Southern Tigray into a thriving agricultural hub, ensuring:
Year-round irrigation
Massive employment generation
Food security for generations
It was a cornerstone project to eliminate famine from Tigray’s vocabulary permanently.
TPLF’s Crime: Systematic Obstruction
Rather than completing the project, TPLF leadership:
Halted funding after initial pilot phases.
Manipulated water access, favoring politically controlled cooperatives while punishing independent farmers.
Sold land and water rights to foreign investors, abandoning Tigrayan farmers.
Criminalized resistance, framing protesting farmers as political enemies.
Strategic Loss: From Breadbasket to Wasteland
Potential: Southern Tigray could have fed not only its people but large swathes of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
Reality: Dispossession, displacement, and hunger became the defining realities of Raya.
TPLF deliberately ensured that Tigray remained poor, dependent, and politically controllable — even at the cost of mass suffering.
III. Crippling Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT): Killing Tigray’s Future in Science and Innovation
Background: Building Africa’s MIT
The founding of Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2002 symbolized the aspiration to create East Africa’s first world-class center of scientific excellence, modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
TPLF’s Crime: Intellectual Sabotage
Instead of nurturing innovation, TPLF:
Forced MIT’s integration with Mekelle University to dilute its autonomy.
Installed political appointees to control academic leadership.
Diverted research funding to loyalist-run institutions outside Tigray.
Intimidated scientists and innovators, leading to mass academic exile and brain drain.
Strategic Loss: Dreams Deferred
Potential: Tigray could have led a technological revolution, developing industries from biotech to advanced manufacturing.
Reality: Innovation stagnated. Scientific excellence withered under political repression.
TPLF crushed a generation of Tigrayan innovators, robbing the region of future Nobel laureates, inventors, and global entrepreneurs.
IV. The Theft of Adwa’s Pan-African Dream: Betraying Tigray’s Continental Role
Background: Adwa’s Legacy Reimagined
The historic city of Adwa, where Ethiopians defeated colonialism in 1896, was to be home to the Adwa Pan-African University — a symbol of continental pride and unity, supported by the African Union.
This institute would have made Adwa the intellectual and diplomatic heart of Africa.
TPLF’s Crime: A Strategic Heist
Rather than empowering Tigray’s historical legacy, TPLF elites:
Diverted resources to Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa.
TPLF’s Crime:
Meles Zenawi and Sebhat Nega redirected resources to establish:
The Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa (based in Bahir Dar)
The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University
Annual incomes of 5–10 million dollars flowed into Bahir Dar instead of Adwa.
Established the Tana High-Level Forum and IPSS to shift economic and political power toward Amhara and central Ethiopia.
Abandoned Adwa, betraying Tigray’s rightful leadership role in African affairs.
Strategic Loss: Diminished Global Prestige
Potential: Heads of state, scholars, and global thinkers would have gathered annually in Tigray.
Reality: Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa reaped the political and economic benefits.
TPLF’s leadership sold Tigray’s birthright for political favors and elite positioning in the Ethiopian center.
V. The Urgent Call to Reject and Dismantle TPLF’s Criminal Legacy
Critical Questions for Every Tigrayan:
How can any Tigrayan of integrity continue to support an organization that deliberately starved their people?
How can anyone justify loyalty to a party that crippled Tigray’s education, science, and agricultural prosperity?
How can the future of Tigray be entrusted to those who built wealth in Addis Ababa while leaving Tigray in ruins?
Clear and Uncompromising Message:
TPLF is not the protector of Tigray — it is the betrayer of Tigray.
The path forward demands:
Total dismantlement of TPLF’s corrupt networks.
Building a new political culture rooted in national dignity, transparency, and professional excellence.
Reclaiming Tigray’s destiny from the ashes of betrayal.
VI. Conclusion: Tigray’s Rebirth Requires TPLF’s Final Political Burial
History will not pity a people endlessly trapped by nostalgia, fear, or blind loyalty.
History rewards courage — the courage to confront betrayal, tear down decayed structures, and rebuild anew.
Tigray’s rebirth demands:
Free minds, liberated from political cultism.
Clean hands, untainted by corruption.
An unbreakable spirit, determined to reclaim Tigray’s rightful place as a beacon of resilience, dignity, and leadership in Africa.
The TPLF must be buried — not by foreign invaders — but by the awakened will of the Tigrayan people themselves.
Tigray deserves a future free of shame, dependency, and betrayal.
Strategic Recommendations: Dismantling the TPLF System Once and For All
Declare TPLF an Illegitimate Entity:
Tigray’s political leadership must formally sever all legal, political, and moral ties to TPLF’s criminal structures.
Build a New Political Movement:
Founded on transparency, economic sovereignty, intellectual freedom, and an unwavering commitment to national pride.
Investigate and Prosecute:
Hold TPLF’s leadership accountable:
Recover stolen assets.
Publicly expose crimes.
Deliver justice for generations wronged.
Rebuild Key Institutions:
Revive COSAERT under independent, apolitical leadership.
Restore Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT) as an autonomous scientific powerhouse.
Complete the Adwa Pan-African Dream — returning Adwa to its rightful place in Africa’s imagination.
Final Provocative Questions:
How can any proud Tigrayan accept the death of COSAERT and the betrayal of food security?
How can any scholar defend the deliberate sabotage of MIT and Tigray’s scientific future?
How can any visionary forgive the theft of Adwa’s continental destiny?
How can Tigray’s youth — born from war and genocide — continue to allow the same corrupt generation to hold their future hostage?
Final Call: Reclaiming Tigray’s True Destiny
Tigray’s greatness will never be realized through the rotted hands of old betrayers.
The new Tigray must rise:
Free of political cults.
Free of corruption.
Free to dream, build, and lead.
The time for change is not tomorrow.
The time for change is now.
Prepared by: Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review (HAGR)
April 28, 2025
