Tigray Officials Accuse Fed Of Cutting Off Region’s Fuel Supply

Fuel trucks haven’t been seen in two weeks

Officials of the Tigray regional administration have accused the federal government of cutting off the supply of fuel to the region, disrupting essential services.

Heads of the Tigray Trade and Export Agency decried the lack of fuel deliveries in a recent letter addressed to the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, the Ethiopian Petroleum and Energy Authority, and the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise.

They say that fuel supply has dropped significantly over the past two months, with deliveries stopping completely in the last couple of weeks.

“Three weeks ago, only two fuel trucks were arriving in Tigray [a week]. But over the last two weeks, there has been no fuel transported to Tigray,” reads the letter. “Despite repeated dialogue with the federal government, and even after the federal government pledged that supply would resume, there is no supply. The embargo has continued. This is impacting Tigray’s efforts to recover from the economic and social crises it faces.”

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The lack of fuel is hindering the supply of equipment and medicines to health facilities, ambulance services, aid delivery to internally displaced persons (IDPs), public projects, as well as road and air transport in the region.

Officials at the Authority told the Ethiopian Reporter last week that they had not received the letter. However, their counterparts at the regional Trade and Export Agency say otherwise, arguing they have been told that the federal government is “working on it.”

The Authority did not respond to The Reporter’s requests for comment.

Officials of the Tigray regional administration claim the federal government is holding back the supply of fuel as a result of the region’s political tensions and the ongoing feud between a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Tigray Interim Administration.

A chronic shortage of fuel and cash was apparent in several urban centers in the region when The Reporter visited Tigray last week. Residents say the situation is eerily similar to what took place in the lead up to war in late 2020.

There are concerns that the shortages could pave the way for an illicit market for fuel and cash.