Pretoria Peace Agreement Demonstrates Africans Capability, Dependability on Each Other to Resolve Problems : Mlambo-Ngcuka

Addis Ababa December 15/2022 /ENA/ Africans have all the needed knowledge and expertise to solve their problems and can depend on each other, Former South Africa Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who was also the member of the high-level panel to the AU-led peace process between the government of Ethiopia and TPLF in Pretoria said.

Member of the AU Panel of the Wise, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka along with Olusegun Obasanjo, AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of Kenya, were the high level panel of AU-led Ethiopian peace process that led to the Pretoria peace agreement between the government of Ethiopia and TPLF.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Mlambo-Ngcuka said that Africans need to support the peace agreement in Ethiopia and encourage for its implementation.

According to her, Africans should support Ethiopians to implement the agreement in full and to look for more opportunities to make a difference in Ethiopia.

They (Ethiopian government and TPLF) are working very hard, Mlambo-Ngcuka pointed out, and emphasized “but still there is a lot to do. So we have to be encouraging them so that the remaining work can be done properly soon.”

Speaking of what the AU-led Pretoria peace agreement signifies beyond resolving the two-year conflict in the northern part of Ethiopia, the former Deputy President underscored:

“It means that as Africans, we have the knowledge of what needs to be done in Africa, we can depend on each other, we can depend on the people of Ethiopia, and we can depend on fellow Africans to support the people of Ethiopia.”

It is noted that the Ethiopian government has established a Joint Ministerial Committee to facilitate humanitarian, basic and public services for northern Ethiopia.

The government has been intensifying efforts to provide humanitarian supplies with international partners and from its resources through all corridors on land and by air transport.

The government is also mobilizing resources for the restoration of basic services, electricity, water, health, education and rebuilding  destroyed infrastructure facilities.  

Until now, some 85 percent of transmission line test and repair work has been undertaken in the war-affected areas. While enormous repair works have been carried out and power stations in several cities are interconnected with the national grid to get power, activities are also underway to finalize the remaining work in the two months.

In its report yesterday, the Joint Ministerial Committee revealed that 85,978.8 metric tons of foods were delivered by partner organizations while the government delivered 14,000 metric tons of food since December 5, 2022.

In addition, 3,239 metric tons of nutritious food, 6,742 metric tons of emergency shelters and non-food items, 599 metric tons of WASH materials as well as 120 metric tons of education materials, 190 metric tons of protection materials, and 690,868 liters of fuel were delivered.