As the African Union summit approaches, a Maverick Citizen webinar has heard about the flaws in the Ethiopian peace accord, as well as the roots of the long and bloody civil war.
After a brutal two-year war that killed an estimated 600,000 civilians and internally displaced 2.7 million, a cessation of hostilities agreement was signed between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in South Africa on 2 November. But the agreement is marred by gaps, making peace that much harder to achieve.
“When we talk about the human, social and economic cost of this particular conflict in Ethiopia, it will take us quite a long time to have the full picture of the real impact,” said Shuvai Busuman Nyoni, executive director of the African Leadership Centre.
Nyoni was speaking as part of a Maverick Citizen webinar panel on peace in Ethiopia and the significant gaps in the peace agreement. His remarks came in the run-up to the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa from 18 to 19 February.
Thursday’s discussion was chaired by Maverick Citizen editor Mark Heywood, joined by Dismas Nkunda, CEO of Atrocities Watch Africa.
Laying the foundation
“In 2018, there were changes in the leadership in Ethiopia, including the former prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, resigning and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed taking over,” said Nkunda, adding that Ahmed had made a concerted effort to refocus on the administration of the country using a much more nationalistic approach, which was the complete opposite of the TPLF government.
The conflict stems from grievances dating from when the TPLF – a rebel movement-turned-political party – dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, he explained. Since the coalition lost power nationally in 2018, the TPLF, still powerful in its northern stronghold, had fallen out with the federal government led by Ahmed. “The TPLF resisted. Their resistance included holding their own elections and saying they do not believe in what Prime Minister Ahmed is doing.” The Tigrayan security forces attacking the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defence Force, alongside several other bases in Tigray, had been the catalyst for the war.
Humanitarian nightmare
The bitter and bloody civil war has brought the nation to its knees. “In December of 2022, some of the numbers we were hearing were about 600,000 lives that had been lost as a result of direct military confrontation, and in some instances starvation as a result of the conflict – 20 million people who ...