Uhuru’s passionate plea to Ethiopia PM to end conflict

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official visit where he was received by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on June 9.

The fighting has continued, the deaths have accumulated, the displacement persists and suffering and humanitarian emergency has taken root in the country.

These are the words of President Uhuru Kenyatta in his plea to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to end the conflict in the country.

Uhuru said Ethiopia is a legendary country in Africa and in the eyes of the 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 …,” he said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged on Wednesday to bury his government's enemies "with our blood" as he marked the start of the war in the Tigray region one year ago.

Abiy, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, was speaking a day after a state of emergency was declared in the country and with Tigrayan forces threatening to advance on the capital Addis Ababa.

The TPLF led Ethiopia's ruling coalition for nearly 30 years but lost control when Abiy took office in 2018 following years of anti-government protests.

Relations with the TPLF soured after they accused him of centralising power at the expense of Ethiopia's regional states - an accusation Abiy denies.

The conflict in Africa's second-most populous country has killed thousands of people, forced more than two million from their homes, and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.

A joint investigation by the United Nations and Ethiopia's state-appointed human rights commission published on Wednesday found that all sides fighting in the war had committed violations that may amount to war crimes.

It has been one year since the commencement of the tragic 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.

Uhuru said 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.

“… 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.”

The president said his 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 in fact deteriorated.”

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.

“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.”

Uhuru urged Ethiopian leaders to put down their arms and to cease the fighting, to talk, and to find a path to sustainable peace in Ethiopia.