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Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed a law recently nullifying the memorandum of understanding signed between the Government of Ethiopia and Somaliland. The move comes as Ethiopia and a breakaway Somali region announced a deal on January 1st. Egypt has thrown its support to Somalia
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed a law recently nullifying the memorandum of understanding signed between the Government of Ethiopia and Somaliland. The move comes as Ethiopia and a breakaway Somali region announced a deal on January 1st. Egypt has thrown its support to Somalia. It may be recalled that Egypt and Ethiopia have an acrimonious relationship triggered by the controversial Renaissance Dam built by Ethiopia.
Somalia has described an agreement that landlocked Ethiopia made with the self-declared Republic of Somaliland over sea access as an act of aggression and an impediment to good neighbourly relations. It has recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia as a retaliation to this act. Somalian President appealed to people to remain calm
Somaliland seceded from Somalia more than 30 years ago but is not recognised internationally. While signing the Mou, the Somaliland President said that Ethiopia agreed to recognize its independence at some point in the future in exchange for military access to the coast. Ethiopia has not confirmed this aspect of the contentious deal.
Ethiopia said that the Mou was signed to secure access to the sea and diversify its access to seaports. Earlier, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy had described sea access as an existential issue for his country. Though there was no further statement from the Prime Minister, his national security adviser, Redwan Hussein said that the arrangement could enable Ethiopia to access a leased military base on the sea. He did not divulge anything further on this issue.
Somalia, however, has reacted angrily to the MoU as it sees Somaliland as part of its territory. It said it was recalling its ambassador to Ethiopia. The government said the agreement was “null and void” and a violation of its sovereignty.
Somalia said it wanted the UN Security Council and the African Union to discuss the issue. The exact details of the agreement that was signed by Prime Minister Abiy and Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, are not known. Abdi said the agreement included a section stating that Ethiopia would at some point in the future recognise Somaliland as an independent country.
Somaliland’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the “agreement ensured Ethiopia’s access to the sea for their naval forces, reciprocated by formal recognition of the Republic of Somaliland, marking this as a significant diplomatic milestone for our country.
It quoted the president as saying that recognition would be in exchange for 20km (12 miles) of sea access for the Ethiopian naval forces, leased for 50 years.
As part of the deal, Somaliland plans to lease a 20-km stretch of land along its coastline to Ethiopia to establish a naval base. The agreement included a condition that Ethiopia would soon recognize the territory (Somaliland) as an independent country.
Somaliland has always contested the legally binding character of the state of union which was to form a unified country after Somalia and Somaliland respectively gained independence from Italy and Britain. Somalia has described the move as an act of aggression and recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/somalians-mass-protest-against-ethiopia-somaliland-deal-on-port-access/
The AU chairperson urged Ethiopia and Somalia to engage without delay in a negotiation process to settle their differences Ethiopia lost its access to the sea when Eritrea seceded in 1993. Ethiopia has been using the port in neighboring Djibouti for most of its imports and exports.
