BY ADDISALEM MULAT
Brokering a peace deal between the conflicting civilian and military factions in the Sudanese government following the demise of former president Al-Bashir, Ethiopia has been helping Sudanese transition until some factions in Khartoum ruptured relations between the two neighboring countries.
There is no denying the fact that some groups in the Sudanese government have been serving as a Trojan horses of the third party. Notwithstanding the fact that the government of Ethiopia moved heaven and earth to resolve the border dispute in an atmosphere of calm, the groups failed to lend an ear to the existing unvarnished truth.
Ethiopia and Sudan have been at loggerheads since the latter encroached into Ethiopia’s borderline following the marching of Ethiopian troops to partake in the law enforcement operation in Tigray state. Sudanese military encroached into Ethiopia’s territory while escalating the ante in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Despite the fact that Ethiopia has been pulling out all the stops to get to the bottom of the predicaments in a peaceful atmosphere, all its efforts went for nothing on account of hawkishness and belligerent acts from some elements in the Sudan’s government.
Albeit the belligerent factions in the Sudanese government kept on ratcheting up tension claiming the captured territory is in the possession of it, Ethiopia has been time after time extending an olive branch.
Ethiopian government strongly claimed that the conflict being trumpeted by the Sudanese government’s military wing could only serve the interests of a third party at the expense of the Sudanese people. Amidst all these escalators and provocative behavior of Sudan, Ethiopia has shown a great deal of patience, remained restrained from exercising its legitimate right of self-defense, and time and again expressed its commitment to a peaceful settlement of differences regarding the boundary through existing bilateral agreements and joint border mechanisms. What is needed is a political will of the two governments, which would enable them to reach an amicable solution.
It was also said the factions have also overturned and undermined the efforts of the joint boundary committees that have been making tireless efforts to finalize the re-demarcation process of the common boundary. What is more deplorable is, in an apparent misrepresentation of the facts
on the ground, the military wing has been deliberately engaged in misinformation campaigns against Ethiopia by accusing the victim as an aggressor, evading accountability by shifting blame, and camouflaging its belligerence, and continuing its provocation in an attempt to control more lands.
It is also underlined that the two governments have sufficient mechanisms to deal with any claims and counterclaims of the border or any territorial claims. However, the Sudanese National Army violated the basic principles of international law and peaceful settlements of disputes by unceremoniously invading Ethiopia in early November 2020.
Emboldened by Egyptian conspirators, the military wing of Sudan’s government tried to put a hurdle in the GERD negotiation.
As a show of force, Sudan and Egypt were holding joint military exercises to threaten Ethiopia’s national interests giving the cold shoulder to the fact that despite it is a danger not only to Ethiopia but also to global peace.
GERD is purely a technical issue, the downstream nations however turned out to be more hawkish more than ever before beating the drums of war against the country.
Despite Sudan’s military wing aggression, Ethiopia has been contributing a lot to the peace and stability of Sudan.
At the time when Sudan was in popular protest following the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir from power, Prime Minister Abiy managed to play a great role in brokering peace between the civilian and military factions. It is remembered that following his good deeds, the premier was able to win the hearts and minds of the people of Sudan at the earliest possible time.
As the government of Ethiopia strongly believes in storing peace in the Horn region and growing together, it has been getting itself involved in various development activities that can take the region to the next chapter of accomplishment.
Be that as it may, last Monday something unexpected came to pass under the skies of Sudan. The thing is, apart from decomposing its power-sharing government, imposing a national emergency, placing Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok under house arrest, throwing several government officials and ministers into a prison, Sudan’s military has ended up suspending a wide variety of articles of the constitution.
Following the measure taken by the Sudan military, large crowds of protestors stormed the streets of Khartoum in the shortest possible time. They have been as well getting themselves involved in burning tires and blocking streets.
During this tough time, the international community should bend over backward not to interfere in the internal affairs of the country and twist the country’s arm on the grounds that it elevates the tension and take the country to uncharted terrorist. As always, Ethiopia has been standing by the side of the people of Sudan.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia regarding the current situation in Sudan stated that the Government of Ethiopia is closely following developments in Sudan. This particularly emanates from the strong brotherly ties that have existed between the peoples of the two countries for centuries.
It will be recalled that the Ethiopian Government has played a significant role in successfully mediating the establishment of a coalition government, consisting of its civilian and military components, and adopting the constitutional document of the transitional period.
The Government of Ethiopia, therefore, called on all parties for calm and de-escalation in Sudan and to exert every effort towards a peaceful end to this crisis. In this regard, the Government of Ethiopia fully supports the completion of Sudan’s transition to democracy and the respect for the Constitutional Document of the Transitional Period.
Ethiopia reiterated the need for the respect of the sovereign aspirations of the people of Sudan and the non-interference of external actors in the internal affairs of Sudan. The Government of Ethiopia is confident that the people of Sudan would ultimately find the wisdom to address these challenges in a manner that contributes towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis, the statement added.
“The Government and people of Ethiopia, as always, will continue to stand firm with the democratic aspirations of the people of Sudan.”
The two parties should make an effort to get to the bottom of the problem in an orderly fashion taking the interest of the people into account no matter what the cost may be.
The Ethiopian Herald October 27/2021
