Top TPLF Official Surrenders to the Ethiopian Defense Force

TPLF executive committee member and former speaker of the House of Federation Keria Ibrahim is now in the hands of the Ethiopian Defense Force. Unclear, if she is flown to Addis Ababa

Borkena

December 1, 2020

Former speaker of the Ethiopian Upper House – House of Federation – and one of the top TPLF officials Keria Ibrahim on Tuesday surrendered to the Ethiopian Defense Force.

Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check, a body entrusted to share verified information about the state of emergency and law enforcement campaign, has confirmed the news but did not specify whether she surrendered in Mekelle or else in Tigray.

Keria Ibrahim resigned from her role as the speaker of the House of Federation in June 2020 protesting the decision to postpone the sixth general election. At the time, the house said that the election was postponed due to the Coronavirus situation in the country.

“I cannot oversee a process as speaker of the Federation, a decision that endangers the constitution,” she said when she announced her resignation.

Subsequently, she retreated to Mekelle where the rest of the TPLF leadership tried to reorganize and prepare themselves for war against the Ethiopian government. As it turns out, TPLF lost the war despite deploying 250,000 special forces and militia. 

The Ethiopian Defense Force took control of Mekelle last Friday but most of the TPLF leaders remain at large. The Ethiopian government claims that it is aware of their whereabouts and that it would act if they do not surrender peacefully.

Meanwhile, TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremicael reportedly said on Monday that his organization is embarking on a guerrilla war. TPLF, once the ruling party in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, has lost control of much of the region after it launched an attack on the military base of the northern command on November 4.