Tsegay Berhe
National Security Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister
Tsegay Berhe was born in 1947 in Indaba Guna, a few kilometers from Shire town
(Western Tigray), and is often referred to as "Haleqa" Tsegay, a religious title, as he was
a deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He is the brother-in-law of Sebhat Nega,
one of the founders of the TPLF.
Tsegay Berhe left secondary school in 11th grade to join the TPLF rebels in 1976 who
were fighting to oust President Mengistu Haile Mariam. Early on he was assigned to a
department dealing with public administration and was asked to take charge of the
administration of different localities in the liberated zone. He served first as
administrator in eastern Tigray in lrob, Alitena and Gello Makeda, from 1985 he was
placed in charge of western Tigray.
At the end of the 1980s, Tsegay Berhe became coordinator of the administration of
Tigray Region. In 1989, he was elected to the TPLF's central committee and became
secretary of the "Dejen" committee (which means rear base and basically referred to
Tigray since it was liberated).
Being accustomed to zone administration in the liberated areas during the armed
struggle, his knowledge and experience made him a candidate to the Ethio-Eritrean Joint
Border Commission formed before the war between the two countries to resolve border
problems through peaceful discussion. When the war began in May 1998, the
commission was dissolved. As a conservative in the TPLF, Tsegay was on the side of the
dissenting group during the Ethiopian-Eritrean war, the group contesting the prime
minister's decision in June 1998 to accept the Rwanda-US peace plan proposals.
When the war came to an end in December 2000, he remained in the dissident camp of
TPLF officials who believed Meles Zenawi had been too soft with the Eritreans. But in
March 2001, Tsegay switched his support and voted in support of Meles' thesis that
"Bonapartism is the main danger" and for the expulsion of the dissident group led by
Seye Abraha. The 11th-hour switch by Tsegay Berhe, who is married to Kidusan Nega,
sister of Sebhat Nega, contributed greatly in enabling the Meles group to secure enough
votes at the last minute in the TPLF Central Committee.
Tsegay worked hard to mobilize cadres in Tigray together with an active senior cadre,
Tekleweini Assefa against the dissident group. After successfully sidelining the former
president of Tigray region, Gebru Asrat, Tsegay was made Acting and then President in
April 2001 where he worked until his appointment as National Security Affairs Advisor to
the Prime Minister in December 2010.
Tsegay is member of TPLF and EPRDF Executive Committee.