Obasanjo led team to supervise implementation of peace deal in Ethiopia – Mereja

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo who is Chief mediator of the recent Ethiopia’s peace deal and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyata are set to arrive in Mekelle, capital of Tigray region this week to supervise the implementation of the peace agreement.

The two former leaders will be accompanied by nine military generals drawn from South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, according to information reaching Mereja.com.

The delegation will supervise how the two sides (government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front) have been implementing the agreement with special focus on the provision of humanitarian aid, reconstruction infrastructure facilities and withdrawal of Eritrean and Amhara forces from the Tigray region.

According to information reaching Mereja.com, the Eritrean government, however, has been discussing with the African Union through authorities in Kenya, demanding for assurance that the TPLF forces will not be a security threat to its national interest.

It is not clear which areas of the Tigray region the Eritrean forces are present and if the AU will urge Eritrea to withdraw its forces from disputed Badme and other areas.

This came when the Ethiopian National Defence Force set to take control of Mekelle, capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region next Thursday.

TPLF, however, did not officially declare that it has disarmed its combatants. It is rather blamed for offering military training and allowing its combatants to keep their guns with them.

TPLF forces commander, Tadesse Worede, the other day announced that 65 percent of his forces withdrew from combat zones in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

However, he said that his party will not disarm fully as long as there were forces that are not interested in peace.