Uhuru calls for ceasefire in Ethiopia

• Nov 4, 2021

President Uhuru Kenyatta has called upon Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and all well-meaning men and women of Ethiopia to come together and dialogue to help restore peace in the country.

“I am therefore calling on them today, to publicly and forthrightly come together and to put down their arms and to cease the fighting, to talk, and to find a path to sustainable peace in Ethiopia,” he said.

The Head of State in his capacity as the Chairman of the East African Community and as the President in Office of the Organisation of African, Pacific and Caribbean States (OACPS), as an engaged and active member of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), as a member of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), and as Africa‘s representative in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) urged the parties to call a cease-fire as no amount of intervention and persuasion will work if they themselves lack the political will to end the crisis.

“My conversations with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chairmen of the African Union as well as the Chairperson of the AU have been many and varied, all in the same vein,” he said.

President Kenyatta at the same time also noted that he had lent the full weight of his office in insisting that despite the pertaining circumstances surrounding the crisis, the fighting must stop!

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also come out to condemn the deteriorating security situation in Ethiopia.

Through a statement, the Ministry is calling for the urgent restoration of a state of normalcy in the country and for its affected immediate neighbours.

“Kenya appeals to all friends and partners of the people of Ethiopia to redouble their efforts to help Ethiopians find lasting peace in their country,” read the statement in part.

The statement further read that the ongoing deterioration of the situation in Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)’s expansion from Tigray to Afar and Amhara regions is highly regrettable and deeply concerning.

In light of the instability facing Ethiopia, Kenya has since heightened security and vigilance along its borders.

In a separate statement, the National Police Service expressed concern over the recent unfolding events that may not only threaten the country’s national security but adversely impact other nations in the greater Eastern Africa region.

Three other nations Sudan, Mali and Guinea are in the spotlight after military leaders seized power in recent coups.

“The Government of Kenya notes with concern recent and unfolding events that disturb the peace and stability in neighbouring countries and the greater Eastern Africa region. As an immediate neighbour to some of the affected countries, Kenya may be adversely impacted by the consequences of the events” read the statement by police spokesman Bruno Shioso.

Kenya is worried that the instability may lead to an influx of foreigners into the country.

Consequently, the police have advised citizens to be vigilant and report undocumented aliens and unprocessed immigrants to the nearest police station.

“Citizens are advised to exercise vigilance and to practice caution in their surroundings. Suspected cases of undocumented aliens and unprocessed immigrants in the country should be immediately reposed to the nearest police station” the police urged Kenyans.

The US has since suspended Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the United States’ tariff-free African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has expressed deep concern over the escalation of military confrontation in Ethiopia.

“The Chairperson calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities, the full respect for the life and property of civilians, as well as state infrastructure,” an AU statement read, urging the parties to the conflict to engage in dialogue and seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the country.

Mahamat urged all parties to safeguard the territorial integrity, unity and national sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia.

He further called on the parties to urge their supporters against acts of reprisal against any community, and refrain from hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness.