Uhuru to Ethiopians: Stop fighting amongst yourselves

President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses the nation. Photo/PSCU

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked Ethiopians to embrace peace and dialogue just after it emerged that Tigray Defense Forces [TDF] militia was closing in into Addis Ababa, with the Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] struggling to contain them.

The two factions have been fighting for a year now, with Tigrayan fighters boosting their capability from July by managing to seize several towns within the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. The fighters accuse the federal army of committing genocide in Tigray.

In a bold statement, Uhuru, who is the Chairperson of the United Nations Security Council [UNSC], asked Ethiopian leaders to stop inciting members of the public against one another. Both Addis Ababa and TDF have been charging their strongholds.

“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,” Mr. Kenyatta said.

Already, millions from the northern region of Tigray have been forced to flee the country to neighboring Sudan even as humanitarian workers struggle to get aid to these areas.

“It, therefore, concerns me deeply that after one year, the crisis has not abated but has in fact deteriorated. The fighting has continued, the deaths have accumulated, the displacement persists and suffering and humanitarian emergency have taken root in the country.”

The statement came shortly after Kenya issued restrictions on movements between Ethiopia and Kenya, arguing that the situation in Addis Ababa remains volatile. The TDF has since threatened to run over the capital Addis Ababa.

Uhuru noted that he had attempted to intervene in his capacity as a great friend of Ethiopia, as the Chairman of the East African Community, as the president of the Office of the Organisation of African, Pacific and the Caribbean States [OACPS], and as Africa’s representative in the United Nations Security Council [UNSC]. All this, however, has failed as fighting persists.

Kenyatta added: "I have lent the full weight of my office in insisting that despite the pertaining circumstances surrounding the crisis, the fighting must stop!"

The PM Abiy Ahmed-led government had asked residents to prepare to protect their neighborhoods following reports that TDF had captured two cities and was advancing towards the capital Addis Ababa.

President Kenyatta becomes the latest leader to voice concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the Horn country.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he was revoking key trade preferences for Ethiopia, ramping up pressure on its historically over rights concerns in its military campaign in restive Tigray. The US embassy in Ethiopia has also urged its citizens to consider leaving the country.

Thousands of people have been displaced especially in Northern Ethiopia with the crisis degenerating into a full-blown war. The TDF has vowed never to hold talks with Addis Ababa authorities, accusing them of committing genocide in Tigray.

GAROWE ONLINE