Mekelle/Tel Aviv/Nairobi/Pretoria/London
Special Edition፡ Horn of Africa Geopolitical Review
The Most Hated Woman in Tigray: Fetlework Gebregziabher and the Politics of Fear, Betrayal, and Censorship
Introduction: When Silence Becomes a Weapon
In a nation shattered by war and famine, where survival depended on truth and solidarity, one of Tigray’s most senior political figures chose instead to wield silence as her weapon. Fetlework Gebregziabher once hailed as a revolutionary will not be remembered for courage or vision, but for fear, betrayal, and the suffocation of free voices.
Her rise and fall reveal not only the personal flaws of a political figure but also the deeper crisis of a party that mistook loyalty for leadership, paranoia for strategy, and censorship for survival. The story of Fetlework is the story of how an aging elite, trapped in its own history, turned against its own people at the moment of greatest peril.
From Guerrilla to Gatekeeper
Born in 1960, Fetlework joined the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in 1979 during Ethiopia’s armed struggle against the Derg. For decades, she played the role of committed cadre, rising through the ranks until she secured a place in the TPLF Central Committee and later became Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Industry. By 2017, she was deputy chair of the TPLF, standing alongside party leader Debretsion Gebremichael.
But the revolutionary ideal that once drove the TPLF gave way to an instinct for survival. Fetlework did not evolve with the times. Instead, she became the archetype of the revolutionary-turned-authoritarian, clinging to the shadows of secrecy, control, and obedience.
Her loyalty to Debretsion was unwavering. Her loyalty to Tigray’s people, however, was far less certain.
The War on Truth
The Tigray War, beginning in late 2020, was a period when truth itself became a lifeline. Independent journalists, diaspora activists, and digital platforms carried stories of atrocities that would have otherwise been buried. In moments of genocide, information becomes as vital as food or medicine.
Yet Fetlework chose to strangle that lifeline. She orchestrated a campaign against independent media, both at home and in the diaspora. Local outlets were harassed, silenced, or dismantled. Online platforms Facebook pages, YouTube channels, diaspora watchdogs were denounced as threats rather than assets.
Her infamous declaration of “zero tolerance” against dissent in media was a statement of intent: not to defend Tigray from external enemies, but to shield the TPLF’s internal rot from exposure. Investigations were uncovering questionable networks the so-called “Above the Core” elite accused of profiteering even as Tigray bled. Instead of transparency, Fetlework imposed silence.
For Tigrayans, this was more than censorship. In the context of existential war, it was betrayal.
The Tigrayan Tetrarchy — Elites at War with Their Own People
Fetlework’s actions cannot be separated from the broader failure of TPLF’s wartime leadership. Together with Debretsion Gebremichael, General Tadesse Worede, and other senior figures, she became part of what critics increasingly call the “Tigrayan Tetrarchy” a clique of leaders who clung to power even as Tigray crumbled.
This tetrarchy came to embody four corrosive instincts:
- Corruption: exploiting Tigray’s scarce resources for personal or factional advantage.
- Censorship: suffocating the voices that could have mobilized global solidarity.
- Paranoia: attacking reformist figures like Getachew Reda, rather than building unity.
- Treason: allowing Eritrea, Tigray’s greatest enemy, to creep back into regional politics through mismanagement and opportunism.
Within this circle, Fetlework was the warden of silence the enforcer whose instinct was not to open dialogue but to police it.
A Generational Rift
Perhaps the most tragic element of Fetlework’s leadership was her failure to understand the power of the new generation. While she was molded by the secrecy of the guerrilla struggle, today’s Tigrayan youth live in a digital world where truth spreads in real time across continents. Diaspora activists, often armed with little more than smartphones, became Tigray’s most effective diplomats.
But Fetlework saw in this digital battlefield not opportunity but threat. By attacking youth-driven platforms and mocking the legitimacy of their activism, she alienated the very generation capable of carrying Tigray’s story to the world.
Her miscalculation was fatal. The diaspora, emboldened by her hostility, amplified its efforts. What she tried to silence became louder. In the end, Fetlework succeeded only in deepening the gulf between TPLF’s leadership and its people.
The Mirror of Eritrea
The irony of Fetlework’s legacy is that in her obsession with censorship, she placed Tigray alongside its greatest enemy. Eritrea, under Isaias Afwerki, is ranked the world’s most censored state. By adopting similar instincts, Fetlework mirrored the very repression Tigray had long resisted.
For a people fighting against extermination, this parallel was not just symbolic but devastating. It reinforced the perception that TPLF’s leaders were indistinguishable from the authoritarian regimes they once opposed.
History is cruel to leaders who mimic their enemies.
Legacy: Fear and Betrayal
When future generations recall the women of Tigray, many names will stand for resilience, sacrifice, and justice. But Fetlework Gebregziabher’s name will stand apart — not for heroism, but for betrayal.
She will be remembered as:
A Warden of Silence, who caged independent voices in the midst of genocide.
A Betrayer of Youth, who mocked the digital activism that sustained global solidarity.
A Symbol of Fear, who chose loyalty to corrupt elites over loyalty to her people.
If Debretsion became the face of strategic failure, Fetlework became the face of censorship. Together, they symbolize a lost generation of leadership — a revolutionary elite that could not adapt and would not step aside.
Lessons for Tigray’s Future
The cautionary tale of Fetlework offers urgent lessons for Tigray’s political future:
Independent Media is Non-Negotiable: Free voices are not a luxury in war — they are survival.
Generational Renewal is Critical: Leadership must pass to those unshackled by the paranoia of the 1970s.
Censorship Equals Treason: Silencing truth in the face of genocide aids the enemy more than the gun.
Accountability Over Loyalty: Blind devotion to party leaders destroys nations.
For Tigray to heal, it must reject the culture of silence and build a political order that treats truth not as a threat but as its foundation.
Conclusion: A Cautionary Tale
Fetlework Gebregziabher’s career is not a tale of triumph but of decline. She represents the authoritarian instinct of a party that once liberated Tigray but later turned against its own people. History will not record her as a mother of the nation, but as a warning: what happens when leaders cling to fear instead of embracing truth.
Her legacy is a mirror, reflecting what Tigray must leave behind if it is to survive. And perhaps the greatest indictment of all is that in silencing voices, she amplified them. The people she tried to suppress will outlive her in history’s memory.
