President Yoweri Museveni has met officials from Ethiopia led by Deputy Prime Minister in Gulu amidst internal war back home.
Uganda and Ethiopia are both members of Inter-Governmental Organisation on Development, a group of countries in East Africa and the Horn of Africa whose purpose is foster development and security.
The Ethiopian delegation was led by Deputy PM, Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, Museveni is seen a key ally of Ethiopia but also a key security expert in the regional given Uganda’s role in restoring peace in Somalia, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and lately South Sudan.
Museveni warned the two parties in the internal fights back in Ethiopia to find solutions to the problems as war gives the country and continent bad picture.
“A war in Ethiopia would give the entire continent a bad image. There should be negotiations and the conflict stopped, lest it leads to unnecessary loss of lives and cripples the economy. Africa’s problem is that we never discuss ideology, focusing so much on diplomacy. I totally disagree with politics that focuses on ethnic federalism. We must emphasise the issue of oneness and common interests because it is the only way we can prosper” Museveni said.
Museveni he himself is a product of a five year war that he fought to power between 1981 and 1986. Museveni further warned of the consequences that could result into neighbouring countries.
Thousands of Ethiopian soldiers and refugees have escaped into neighboring country Sudan as tension continues to escalate between Tigray fighters and the Federal government militia following the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s call for military intervention in the Northern region of Ethiopia.
Tigray is one of the few semi-autonomous areas within Ethiopia with most of its inhabitants of Tigrayan ethnicity as its governing party The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) provided most of Ethiopia’s leaders in the past until recently when Abiy of the Oromo tribe took over government.
Despite several attempts in the past to unify and bring peace among the different tribes and parties of Ethiopia, racial conflicts and divides still undermine the country’s potential and growth.
The prime minister recently ordered the military intervention in the Tigray province as opposed to the peace talks he so highly advocated for during his Nobel Peace prize acceptance speech in 2019 after he claimed the TPLF attacked a military base within the province.
