The Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister, who doubles as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Demeke Mekonnen, arrived in the country to hold bilateral talks with President Salva Kiir Mayardit yesterday.
According to the information shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Demeke came on a one-day diplomatic visit to discuss a range of issues attached to bilateral relations between the two countries. The ministry praised Ethiopia for its contributions to South Sudan’s independence.
“The Government of South Sudan always takes a keen interest in its relations with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. “The Ethiopian people have built a great civilization upon ancient roots and have developed inseparable relations with the people of South Sudan over centuries,” read the statement.
“Given such historic relations and the contemporary role it plays in the region, the people of South Sudan will always rise with their brothers and sisters in Ethiopia or stumble with them.”
The ministry wrote that the two countries were bonded together “by blood, culture, and common history.” The Deputy Prime Minister was received at Juba International Airport by the South Sudan Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng, and other senior government officials.
Promise to mediate
During the inauguration of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, President Kiir pledged to strive to restore the unity and stability of Ethiopia. He was building on his efforts to end both the internal and external disputes that Ethiopia had been crippled by.
In January, Kiir offered to mediate the dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia, which was catalysed by border disputes, according to earlier media reports.
This was said to have been revealed by the Presidential Adviser on Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak Manime, after conveying the message from the president on his meeting with the Sudanese Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.
President Salva Kiir has expressed willingness to mediate between Sudan and Ethiopia in order to reach a political and diplomatic solution based on internationally recognized borders in order to preserve the two countries’ fraternal ties and regional peace, according to Gatluak.
The dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan started when Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Ethiopian troops of killing its civilians and occupying the agriculturally rich Fashaga area east of Gedaref State in the Sudan.
Ethiopia welcomed South Sudan’s decision to water down the raging conflict between the two neighbours. The Ethiopian Spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dina Mufti, said the boundaries of the two countries were demarcated by British without consulting Ethiopia.
‘‘Ethiopia appreciates the initiatives of all concerned countries and bodies that offered to assist in resolving the border issue,’’ said Mufti.
‘‘Ethiopia is always ready to negotiate and solve the issue peacefully.” The two countries’ border agreement was signed between Ethiopia and the British Colonial Administration.’’
He added that the two countries inked an agreement in 1972 to demarcate the boundary by status quo. Mufti accused Sudan of dishonoring the status quo.
“… There is no reason for Sudan to violate the status quo at this time.” This belligerence on the Sudanese side does not reflect the longstanding relations between the two countries, and Ethiopia is asking Sudan to respect the status quo.’’
‘‘And Ethiopia believes that our Sudanese brothers and sisters will heed our requests and allow the issue to be settled peacefully.’’
“I came here in August for a one-day visit, and I said that we wanted Ethiopia, which is our great mother. Being a South Sudanese without Ethiopia would not have been possible.
“We don’t want our great mother, Ethiopia, to have the same challenge we had in South Sudan.’’
In August, he chose to mediate in the conflict between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Forces (TPLF) after he was requested to revisit Ethiopia by the IGAD Chairperson, Abdalla Hamdok.
Critics said the Ethiopian Prime Minister soiled his Nobel Peace Prize last month after the TPLF were gaining ground by capturing strategic towns, reasonable miles from the capital Addis Ababa, giving a deaf ear to Kiir’s efforts for him (Abiy) to sit at the negotiation table with rebels.
South Sudan was said to have been accused of siding with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) recently, a report South Sudan termed “baseless and unfounded.”
“The people and the government of Ethiopia all these years have been standing with us, and without the Ethiopians and the government, we would not have not been independent today.”
“There is no way whereby we can say we are supporting the rebels to overthrow the system in Ethiopia,” Makuei said.