The Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army Shene (OLA-Shene) blamed each other for the failure of negotiations in the Tanzanian main city, Dar es Salaam.

The federal government attributed the failure of the negotiations to “the obstructive approach and unrealistic demands of the other party,” Redwan Hussien, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s national security adviser, stated in a post on the social media site X. The OLA, on its part, stated that a historic opportunity to make a decisive leap in the right direction has been lost.

Redwan Hussein, who serves as Abiy’s national security adviser and represents the government in the negotiations, was the first to declare the failure of the negotiations. In his X post on Tuesday evening, Redwan expressed the government of Ethiopia regrets this unfortunate turn of events.

In April last year, the initial negotiations between the government and the rebels took place in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, marking the first attempt at talks, which concluded without reaching an agreement. The second round of negotiations took place over nearly two weeks in Dar es Salaam. Unlike the initial round, this phase engaged senior military and political figures from both the Oromo Liberation Army and the Ethiopian government. Redwan Hussein and Gedion Timothewos, the Minister of Justice, joined the talks last week, signaling a shift towards addressing substantive issues, raising hope for a possible agreement between the parties.

Redwan stated that throughout these talks, the government’s primary motivation has been “to silence the guns and to put an end to the horrific harm and destruction”. He added that due to the other party’s intransigence, an agreement has failed to materialize.

The OLA-shene, for its part, blamed the failure of the negotiations on the part of the Ethiopian government. In a statement shared on its social media page this evening, the militant group said the talks faltered due to the Ethiopian government’s lack of interest “in addressing the fundamental problems that underlie the country’s seemingly insurmountable security and political challenges.”

The Oromo Liberation Army was designated as a terrorist group by Ethiopia’s parliament two years ago. The rebel group has been notably active in different regions of Oromia, particularly in western Oromia.
In the last five years, security challenges have been on the rise across multiple areas within the Oromia region.