A Promising Milestone Towards the Full Implementation of Pretoria Peace Deal

December 27, 2022

BY ADDISALEM MULAT

In light of the current situation, peace is prevailing in the northern part of the country after two years of devastating war particularly after the signing of the Pretoria peace deal. On the basis thereof, all and sundry have been breathing a sigh of relief and turning their focus on rebuilding the country. Notwithstanding the fact that tremendous efforts have been made to fan chaos and stoke violence in the country by some scaremongers and wet blankets, all their efforts went down in flames and the way of the dinosaurs on the grounds that the federal government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) ended up burying the hatchet under the auspicious of the African Union. .

If truth be told, after the signing of the peace accord that won the hearts and minds of all peace lovers worldwide, some entities disappointed by the outcome ended up bringing into disrepute the positive developments of the county coming up with multifarious treacheries. Distancing themselves from the fact that the cessation of hostilities agreement plays a paramount role in rehabilitating people affected by the destructive war, some entities have sustained sparing no effort to reignite conflict by spewing falsehood information.

No matter what the worryguts say on the subject of the peace accord, the federal government has continued assisting the progress of the deliveries of humanitarian assistance and restoring social infrastructure in all quarters of the northern part of the country. In consideration of the foregoing, in several instances, the wider international community has been speaking highly of the incumbent.

In the current circumstances, the federal government has been reconnecting people in the Tigray state to the power supply system in the battle-damaged areas.

As things stand at present, in defiance of quite a lot of fictitious stories, the government has continued accelerating the delivery of humanitarian assistance in every nook and cranny of the northern part of the country. In the aftermath of the government’s uncompromising stance, the global community has continued expressing admiration for the government.

In the present climate, the population as a whole has been standing by the side of the government to successfully effectuate the cessation of the hostilities agreement. Nobody denies the fact that bringing about the socioeconomic well-being of the nation in the absence of peace is an impossible mission.

Albeit some internal and external actors of Ethiopia gave a lower profile to the role of the African Union with intent, the federal government metamorphosed into signing successfully the cessation of hostilities agreement in the shortest possible time. In addition to serving as a big honor for the continent of Africa, the peace accord has demonstrated the fact that Africa can resolve its problems in its own way.

In point of fact, as some entities are dreaming of backing the country into a corner and moving the country into uncharted waters, they have been orchestrating a considerable amount of conspiracies under the veil of spurious reasons that do not mirror the existing circumstances and situations on the ground. But no matter how far they travel, they cannot make their dreams become a reality. It cannot happen anytime.

Most people have been enunciating their confidence that the cessation of hostilities agreement signed between the federal government and TPLF would help the country attach significance to a diverse range of development activities throughout the national territory. In the same way, the peace deal plays a very significant role in improving Ethiopia’s diplomatic relationship with quite a lot of nations worldwide and bringing an end to unwarranted foreign pressure on Ethiopia.

In the same way, the cessation of hostilities agreement would for sure pour cold water on the efforts of Ethiopia’s adversaries working around the clock to move the country into uncharted waters and up the ante in the northern part of the country. As they hate to see nonviolent Ethiopia, they have sustained working in close collaboration with some alien entities residing at home and abroad to knock off the balance of the country.

As things stand at present quite a lot of bodies have been working in tandem with several bodies aimed at smoothing the path of effectuating the peace deal agreement and ensuring lasting solutions in all quarters of the country.

Given that peace is the foundation stone for the whole thing under the sun concerned bodies should stand by the side of the government in the implementation of the peace agreement. As a matter of fact, in the aftermath of its positive moves and firm stance, the incumbent has been receiving a pat on the back from the wider international community, various relief agencies, and humanitarian operators.

As things stand at present, apart from giving the go-ahead and thumbs up to the free flow of humanitarian aid, the government has sustained accelerating the restoration of wrecked social infrastructural facilities encompassing power and telecom services.

It is important to highlight that Ethiopia has passed through several peaks and troughs, to reach where it is in the present day. The journey was not as easy as taking candy from a baby and as easy as shelling peas.

Dissatisfied with the productive peace accord that has been pointing forward; some entities have been pulling out all the stops to up the ante working in tandem with Ethiopia’s arch-foes. No matter how hard they tried, all their efforts went for nothing as a consequence of the firm stance of the incumbent and the people of Ethiopia.

A delegation of Officials of the Federal Government led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Tagesse Chafo has headed to Mekele, according to Government Communication Service.

A delegation of officials of the Federal Government of Ethiopia led by Honorable Tagesse Chafo touch down in Mekele yesterday to oversee the implementation of major issues in the peace agreement as per the set plan.

The delegation is the first of its stature as a high-level Federal Government body heading to Mekele in two years. It is believed that this gesture is an attestation to the peace agreement getting on the right track and progressing. The members of the National Dialogue Commission have also headed to Mekele as part of the delegation.

The African Union Commission (AUC) commends the federal government and TPLF for the positive confidence-building measures they have taken since the signing of the COHA and encourages them to continue with their efforts to restore peace, security, and stability in Ethiopia.

The AUC convened the 2nd Senior Commanders Meeting between the government and TPLF on the Implementation of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.

Speaking on the occasion, a member of the AU High-Level Panel and former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta lauded the two parties’ commitment which enables the AUC to make tremendous progress towards a series of actions and activities to bring back the state of normalcy to Ethiopia.

“We agreed that the true statement that they need to make will be the statement they make when we are in Mekelle in the next few days observing and verifying the actions beyond documents. We are in the right direction.” Kenyatta further highlighted that before the end of December, the AU team will head to Mekelle to verify the COHA implementation process.

The meeting, which discussed the implementation of the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process, also finalized the Term of Reference (ToR) of the Joint Monitoring, Verification, and Compliance Mechanism (JMVCM).

It was learned that the Senior Commanders meeting was facilitated by the AU’s High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, together with AU High-Level Panel Members; former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta and Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa and Member of the AU Panel of the Wise.

The Commission further expressed appreciation to the Governments of the USA, Norway, UN, IGAD, the African Development Bank, and ICRC for their continued support for the AU-led process, and to the Government and People of Kenya for hosting the Senior Commanders’ meeting, calling it as “a demonstration of African solidarity.”

The establishment of the AU monitoring and verification Team would definitely put the peace accord into action from now on, so said an expert.

Iona University Lecturer in New York, Derese Getachew (Ph.D) told local media that the team is so helpful to verify and monitor the full implementation of CoHA and to close loopholes for not upholding the deal.

He, moreover, said that the team of African experts would be an invaluable entity as it would closely follow up the practical actions of the signatories as per the CoHA.

He said: “The team will make sure that the invalidity of some excuses for not implementing the CoHA. As this team can easily closely follow up on the situation, it can be said that the CoHA is now being translated into practical actions.”

It is also cited that, the African Union Monitoring Team is going to arrive at Mekelle soon. The recent Nairobi talk needs to be well-judged and the peace deal has got a supervisory body to be translated into actions. The team of African experts would be accountable to the high panel led by Obasanjo and the joint committee.

It is also stated that the two agreeing bodies discussed the gaps on which they have not yet agreed upon so far.

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2022