The Council for Peace and Change in Tigray (CPCT), based in Addis Ababa, says it will begin a two-round training-of-trainers program aimed at organizing what it describes as peace, political change and stabilization work inside Tigray "post dismantling of the TPLF group."
According to an announcement by the Council, the first round is scheduled to begin Tuesday, August 11, 2026, bringing together coordinators from Southern, Southeastern, Mekelle, Eastern, Tembien and Addis Ababa zones.
A second round is expected to include coordinators from Central, Northwestern and Western Tigray, along with participants from the first group of zones who were unable to attend.
The Council was established at a founding conference in Addis Ababa on May 17, 2026, bringing together groups and individuals that had previously participated in the Movement for Change in Tigray, alongside political organizations, associations, media actors and other opponents of the TPLF leadership.
The Council emerged before the TPLF reconvened its own pre-war regional council in Mekelle in June, amid an intensifying dispute over political legitimacy and the future administration of Tigray.
Its founding declaration called for the removal of the existing TPLF-led order and its replacement by a transitional government representing a broader range of Tigrayan political forces, followed by elections.
The Council has since become more publicly active. On July 18, it organized a rally at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa opposing alleged forced recruitment and military mobilization in Tigray and calling for implementation of the Pretoria Agreement.
A senior military figure within the Tigray Peace Force, which has vowed to dismantle what it describes as the "TPLF clique," stabilize Tigray’s security situation and pave the way for a democratically elected administration, told UMD Media on condition of anonymity that the force intends to avoid what he characterized as the TPLF’s longstanding practice of blurring the lines between political and military authority.
He characterized the Council as the political arm of the broader movement, while insisting that the Council does not direct military affairs and that the military does not intervene in the Council’s political work.
The Council says its latest training initiative is intended to expand its organizational structure and prepare coordinators for peace and political activities across Tigray.
Its slogan accompanying the announcement reads: "Organized struggle for the salvation of Tigray."
Originally published on UMD Media Facebook on 2026-08-10T10:30:00-06:00. Source: https://www.facebook.com/getachew.UMDMedia