News update: Parliament Speaker leads first high-level federal officials delegation to Mekelle, meet regional leader
Addis Abeba – A high level delegation of federal government officials led by Tagesse Chafo, Speaker of the House People’s representatives (HoPR) is headed to the capital of Tigray regional state, Mekelle, this morning, state media reported.
The delegation is the first high level delegation from the federal government since Tigrayan forces captured Mekelle and most parts of Tigray on 28 June 2021. It included, among others, Ambassador Redwan Hussien, Security advisor of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The Federal Government Communication Services said the team also included members of the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission (NDC).
The delegation is expected to review the implementation process of the peace agreement and ensure that the main issues included in the agreement are implemented as planned.
The visit comes following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s remark on Sunday that the implementation of the signed peace pact was hopeful, and that the government remained steadfast in its commitment to peace.
On 22 December, senior commanders of the Ethiopian federal government and Tigrayan forces met in Nairobi for second time and adopted the Terms of Reference (ToR) for Monitoring, Verification and Compliance Mechanism for the implementation of the Permanent CoHA signed in Pretoria on 02 November.
The ToR signed by both parties saw the establishment of Joint Committee constituting one representative from each party, the IGAD and the AU high panel, and Team of African Experts (TEA) consisting 10 people to monitor implementation of the peace agreement including disarmament of TPLF combatants, the withdrawal of Foreign and non-ENDF forces from Tigray and unhindered humanitarian access among, other things.
Despite exchanges of compliant from the federal government and Tigray regional state, both warring parties have been reaffirming their commitments to the implementation of the agreement. AS
