Transitional government is way behind in completing security arrangement

The parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement are still way behind as far as the security arrangement is concerned.

As the parties prepare for the general election in December 2024, the full training and deployment of the 83,000 unified forces as stipulated in the peace agreement is very necessary to guarantee secure elections.

The Chairperson of the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) Major General Hailu Gonfa Eddosa, revealed on Tuesday that only 6 percent of the graduated forces have been fully deployed.

Time is of essence if the parties are to meet the deadline before elections. The security arrangement is core issue of the peace agreement because the failure by the parties to agree on it caused the renewed violence in July 2016.

 Phase 1 graduates from the NSS, Police, Civil Defence, Wildlife and Prison Service have yet to be deployed, and there are no indications when Phase 2 training and deployment might start.

The parties need to prioritize the security arrangement ahead of the election to avoid any security gaps that may be exploited by any group that could attempt to derail the elections.