ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopia under the Premiership of Dr. Abiy Ahmed has played a major and positive role in bringing peace and stability in South Sudan through helping the warring factions resolve the long-standing disputes in peaceful manner, country’s ambassador to Ethiopia said.
Ambassador James Pitia Morgan told The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopia has been exerting unique efforts to bring peace in South Sudan as Chair of IGAD by encouraging the conflicting parties to solve their problems through negotiations and adhere the peace accord. According to the ambassador, Ethiopia’s has made exemplary involvement to help the factions reach a pact that aimed at rebuilding and developing South Sudan in a way that satisfies all the parties involved.
South Sudan acknowledges the key part Ethiopia has played to the restoration of peace and ending hostilities. “South Sudan is so grateful for the Government and the people of Ethiopia for their long stand with their brothers and sisters in South Sudan during the five years of political instability, which lastly culminated into the signing of Peace Agreement here in Addis Ababa last September.”
He further pointed out that Ethio-South Sudan relation has shown progress since the latter gained independence in 2011 which was manifested by high-level visits by officials of the respective countries, signing of various agreements as well as offering of scholarships. The two countries have also inked MoUs for the execution of development projects and infrastructural connectivity via roads and telecommunication lines.
Also, Ethiopia has been remained the major contributor for South Sudan in terms of capacity building through providing scholarships, training and other capacity building programs and a significant number of South Sudanese have obtained specialized trainings in areas such as piloting and policing. Ambassador Morgan said, however, that the MoUs in roads and telecommunication have been remained unimplemented and expressed his country’s desire to roads to be built to ensure the seamless connectivity of people and boost border trade.
“Economic activities could only be possible when there are roads,” he said, adding that air transport is limited to a smaller scale and the roads would also have a role to deter criminal activities along Ethio-South Sudanese border.
Building roads and other infrastructures between the two sisterly countries would bring stronger economic partnership and foster the age-long people-to-people ties thereby putting the bilateral relationship in stronger base, he noted. Ethiopia and South Sudan enjoy longstanding cordial relations, which got cemented by the historical Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 that led the establishment of Southern Sudan Autonomous Region and ended the First Sudanese Civil War.
The Ethiopian Herald, January 8/2019
BY BILAL DERSO
