Ethiopian government and Tigray rebels on Thursday agreed to create a joint monitoring body to oversee the peace agreement signed in November, reported The TRT World.
In November, the rivals announced a ceasefire that halted fighting in the northern Tigray region, where tens of thousands have died in two years of violence.
On Thursday, former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also part of the mediating team, said the two factions have agreed to have a body monitor the peace deal.
“They have all concurred and agreed to give the monitoring and verification team of the African Union full access, full 360-degree viewpoint to ensure all the elements of the agreements are actually going to be implemented,” Kenyatta said.
The mediators, who met peace negotiators in Nairobi earlier this week, expressed confidence in returning of normalcy in the Tigray region and peace in Ethiopia.
Some of the provisions of the Ethiopian peace deal, including humanitarian aid and the restoration of banking and telecommunications services, have already been implemented. Ethiopian leaders have been meeting to discuss ways of carrying out the disarmament of rebels in Tigray and neighboring regions and withdrawal of Eritrean forces, who assisted the Ethiopian army, from the country.
The war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigrayan rebel group erupted in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray after accusing the TPLF of attacking army bases. The war also spread to the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar regions.
Kenyatta said his team and African Union representatives will visit Tigray’s capital to check on the progress of the peace agreement.
The peace deal has brought some relief to the suffering population in the north of the country. But the region of six million is still largely without electricity and phone lines, while internet and banking services have only partly been restored.
