Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has described how the African Union’s Horn of Africa region’s efforts led to the peaceful resolution of Ethiopia’s two-year civil war, noting that it took the union eight months to broker peace.
Obasanjo stated this through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, in Ogun State on Tuesday.
Obasanjo claimed that the peace movement required eight months of “intense shuttle diplomacy,” which included eight trips to Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, from him and other African leaders, including former presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South Africa, who were on the panel.
The Ethiopian Army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front held peace negotiations under the direction of Obasanjo, the High Representative for the Horn of Africa for the AU.
He stated that despite the difficulties he ran into while attempting to mediate a settlement between the parties, he refused to give up.
Obasanjo said, “The destruction caused in the Tigray region which was the main theatre of the war was very high in human and material losses. It has been estimated that no fewer than 600,000 people died directly in battle or as a result of disease and the lack of access to humanitarian aid.
“From the beginning of the civil war in November 2020, there were efforts made at the local, regional, continental and global levels to stop the violence and the accompanying losses.
“There were efforts by different groups at the national level to prevent degeneration into wars. There were similar efforts at bilateral and regional levels.
“And when the war began, greater efforts were mounted by friends of Ethiopia and Tigray people to bring about the cessation of hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access, the restoration of services, and the search for political solutions to Ethiopia’s conflict.
“Refusing to be discouraged, I continued with visits, consultations, and discussions to get face to start talks between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the leadership of Tigray people.
“After five days of intense discussions in Nairobi Kenya in November, the military commanders agreed on modalities for the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement.”
