Getachew Reda Warns of TPLF Offensive if Over One Million Tigrayans Are Not Settled in Welkait Tegede Setit Humera Zone

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June 24th, 2025 

On June 23rd, a high-level meeting took place in Setit Humera city between Prosperity Party (PP) officials and representatives of the Welkait-Tegede-Setit Humera Zone (Welkait Zone). The primary focus of the meeting was the proposed settlement of over one million Tigrayan settlers from the Tigray Region into the Welkait Zone. 

The PP delegation included Advisor on Eastern African Affairs to the Prime Minister and former Tigray Interim Regional Administration President Getachew Reda, Amhara Regional President Arega Kebede, and Amhara Region Prosperity Party Head Yirga Sisay. The delegation met with Colonel Demeke Zewdu and other officials from the Welkait administration and the Welkait Amhara Identity Committee. The meeting was presided over jointly by Getachew Reda, Arega Kebede, and Yirga Sisay. 

Getachew asserted that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), under the leadership of Debretsion Gebremichael, was preparing to launch an offensive against the Welkait Zone, and that agreeing to the Tigrayan resettlement was essential to averting war. 

However, Colonel Zewdu and the zonal militia administrator presented several preconditions to the resettlement proposal.  

1. Individuals returning must acknowledge Welkait-Tegede-Setit Humera as part of the Amhara Regional State and sign a document confirming this.  

2. The term “West Tigray” must no longer be used, as it is not recognized by the Welkait administration. 

3. An agreement must be reached on the number of former settlers, rejecting what they described as an “inflated” and “politicized” figure of one million. 

   
   

The Welkait administration disputed the figure of one million Tigrayans proposed for settlement, calling it politically inflated. Referencing the seventh national census, the officials stated that Welkait’s total population stood at around 350,000, and current projections estimate it at roughly 450,000. They argued the figure of one million displaced Tigrayans could not be accurate and stated this is being used as a pretext to resettle Tigrayan militants posing as former settlers. 

The Welkait officials stated they knew the identities of former settlers who TPLF wanted to resettle to Welkait. Those who had no affiliation with the TPLF and had not participated in what they called the genocide against the indigenous Amhara people of Welkait could return immediately. They reaffirmed that any return must occur with full recognition of the area’s Amhara identity, and warned of consequences should the TPLF launch an offensive against the Welkait Zone.