Ethiopia is a legendary country in Africa and in the eyes of African diaspora, a country of wonderful diversity and startling history that stretches back millennia.
Like my own country Kenya, Ethiopia is famed for nurturing the origins of humankind. As an original founding member of the United Nations, Ethiopia has inspired many nations and peoples to seek freedom, promote liberty and independence while standing up to colonialism, imperialism and other forms of exploitation.
It has been one year since the commencement of the tragic internecine crisis, triggered by a most unfortunate affront on state apparatus for the protection and promotion of law and order and security in the country.
The crisis has now escalated into a nationwide social convulsion of historical proportions for Ethiopia. The origins of the crisis, bitter and unacceptable as they might appear, can no longer be used as a justification for the continued suffering, killings and the extended open warfare that now engulfs the nation.
As the President of the Republic of Kenya and as a great friend of Ethiopia, as the Chairman of the East African Community and as the President in Office of the Organization of African, Pacific and Caribbean States (OACPS), as an engaged an 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), I have worked tirelessly and diligently since the break out of the fighting, to try to bring an end to the terrible crisis.
I have lent the full weight of my office in insisting that despite the pertaining circumstances surrounding the crisis, the fighting must stop!
I have consulted with my colleagues Heads of State of Africa, with Heads of State of other great and powerful nations in the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the European Union (EU), among many others in an effort to try to bring an end to this 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.
It therefore concerns me deeply that after one year the crisis has not abated but has infact deteriorated. The fighting has continued, the deaths have accumulated, the displacement persists and suffering and humanitarian emergency has taken root in the country.
It is highly regrettable that this is all happening amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with its attendant risks and disruptions, particularly for the most vulnerable.
The lack of meaningful dialogue between the protagonists has been particularly disturbing to me and today, I once again call on all well-meaning men and women of Ethiopia to come together and find a solution to help find peace at this critical time.
The men and women of the Government of Ethiopia, led by my dear brother in leadership, the Prime Minister, as well as the men and women who constitute the leadership that is fighting the Government must find reason to cease the fighting immediately and to dialogue.
No one can do this for them, no amount of intervention and persuasion will work if they themselves lack the political will to end this crisis.
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.
Kenya, Africa and the world wants to see peace in Ethiopia. Today must be the day to start the journey towards that peace. We all stand ready to assist the process that the Ethiopians themselves see fit.
