A step closer to peace in Ethiopia: Tigray hands over its heavy weaponry

Giving in to secure peace. That is the policy in a new Ethiopia after more than two years of civil war. The peace agreement signed in Pretoria by the Federal Government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and led by the African Union is beginning to bear its first fruits: the disarmament process. 

TPLF forces have begun handing over heavy weapons to the Ethiopian army as part of the demobilisation of Tigrayan forces, a key condition for the final ceasefire signed last November. The weapons handover took place in the town of Agulai, northeast of Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, and was overseen by members of both sides and the Intergovernmental Authority on the Development of East African States (IGAD).

"We are working from our belief that if we are to achieve peace there must be nothing that opens the door to provocation. Peace is vital for all of us," Tigray Defence Forces representative Mulogita Gebre Christos, who was present at the delivery of the weapons, appeared on Tigray TV. "We hope and trust that this will go a long way in accelerating the full implementation of the agreement," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda also said in a post on Twitter. Alemi Tadesse, a representative of the Ethiopian army, also made this message of conciliation public: "We are all part of one Ethiopia".

Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the #Pretoria agreement, and the Monitoring & Verification Team has confirmed it. We hope & expect this will go a long way in expediting the full implementation of the agreement. We hope & expect!

— Getachew K Reda (@reda_getachew) January 10, 2023

However, this delivery of heavy weapons has not been without negotiations. The TPLF claimed in November that the transfer was linked to the withdrawal of Ethiopia's allied troops - Eritrean forces - from the entire Tigray region, after Abiy Ahmed's government made the withdrawal conditional on the disarmament process. The federal government relented, the troops from neighbouring Eritrea began their withdrawal and the TPLF is now handing over the weapons. 

The re-establishment of services and the resumption of humanitarian aid to Tigray were also decisive steps since the signing of the agreement, followed by the re-establishment of the Ethiopian Federal Police in this region which allowed the arrival of the first official Ethiopian delegation since the cessation of hostilities. This high-level group, led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tagasse Chafo, travelled to Mekelle on 26 December to ensure the "proper implementation of the clauses". 

Three days later, the African Union mediation team, who brought the long-awaited ceasefire to Pretoria, followed suit: Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, among others. The aim of the visit: to set up an already successful peace monitoring mechanism in Tigray.

Disarmament has also brought about a new economic relationship, with the re-establishment of Ethiopian Airlines flights to Tigray; social, with the reunion of Ethiopian athletes with their families in this northern region; and above all political. The Ethiopian news portal Borkena has reported that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed may appoint TPFL leader Debretsion Gebremichal as Ethiopia's deputy prime minister, and that other prominent leaders of the Tigrayan party may return to the government structure. All this is part of a cabinet reshuffle proposed by Abiy Ahmed following the peace accords. Political coexistence could rule Ethiopia. 

In a conversation with Atalayar, Mario Lozano Alonso, a historian specialising in Ethiopia, analysed this possible integration of the TPLF into the Ethiopian executive. "I don't know to what extent it is real, but it is very possible. If a lasting peace agreement is to be reached, it would be logical for the TPLF to be integrated into Ethiopia's power structures. This is not unusual, it was already done when the single party was created in 1991, which integrated factions with different interests led by Meles Zenawi", says Lozano.

The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has not ceased its terrorist attacks in recent months despite the peace agreement between the government and the TPLF, whose allies they have been during the two years of civil war. This group split from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) because it wanted to continue to opt for an armed struggle to achieve the secession of the Ethiopian region of Oromia, for which it has claimed responsibility for several attacks. 

"The case of the OLA is different. It is not as well armed as the Tigray forces, but they do control large territories in rural areas. Now that the Tigray conflict is over, it is possible that the government of Addis Abeba will invest more money in quelling the resistance of this group", historian Mario Lozano also noted.

An OLA that the Ethiopian government has included in its list of terrorist groups and with which it has yet to establish peace agreements. "The people, like the army, must be at the forefront of this campaign to eliminate the OLA, the enemy of the people and the country, and bring back an atmosphere of peace desired by the people so that society is free from threats," said Haru Gema, a senior army officer in the Oromo region.