President Uhuru Kenyatta was on a three day official visit to Ethiopia this week (March 10-12) at the invitation of Prime Minister Hailemariam. He was accompanied by a high level delegation of senior officials, including several Cabinet Secretaries (Joseph Ole Lenku of Interior and Coordination of National Government, Raychelle Omamo of Defence, Professor Judy Wakhungu of Environment, Water, and Natural Resources, Engineer Michael Kamau of Transport, Davis Chirchir of Energy and Ambassador Amina Mohamed of Foreign Affairs), as well as other officials and private sector business leaders. During his visit, President Kenyatta held talks with Ethiopian President Dr. Mulatu Teshome, Prime Minister Hailemariam and other officials. He also attended the Extraordianry IGAD Summit on South Sudan held on Thursday (March 13) as well as visiting a number of Ethiopiam businesses including Ethio Leather Industries plc, the Metal Engineering Technology Corporation, Ethiopian Airlines and the Bishoftu Automotive Industry and the Dejen Aviation Industry plants. An Ethio–Kenya Business Forum was held on Tuesday (March 11) attended by both President Kenyatta and Prime Minister Hailemriam. The 28 strong Kenyan business delegation met with Ethiopian business representatives from various sectors including tourism and agriculture to explore trade and investment opportunities. The leaders witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ethiopian and Kenyan Chambers of Commerce. They welcomed the positive outcomes of the Forum including the setting up of a Joint Business Council.
Prime Minister Hailemariam and President Kenyatta’s talks covered bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. They hailed the warm and cordial relations which continued to flourish between Ethiopia and Kenya and agreed that this state visit by President Kenyatta offered a prime opportunity to deepen and expand the scope of collaboration between the two countries. They welcomed the elevation of the Joint Ministerial Commission into a biennial High level Commission, and looked forward to the coming into effect of the Special Status Agreement signed in 2012. They agreed this would provide an effective framework for economic relations between Ethiopia and Kenya and for elevating their economic relations and increasing trade and investment. A necessary first step was the formation of the Joint Technical Committee. Given the importance of the SSA in boosting economic ties between Ethiopia and Kenya, Prime Minister Hailemariam and President Kenyatta directed the relevant ministers to hasten its implementation. The two leaders also reviewed the status of implementation of the Lamu Port and Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor, the region’s largest infrastructure project, and they noted that the political goodwill shown by both countries had contributed to the progress made so far. They reaffirmed their commitment to encourage infrastructure development as a key for realization of ideals of shared prosperity and of the huge untapped economic potential of both states.
President Kenyatta congratulated Prime Minister Hailemariam for his stewardship of the African Union during his tenure as Chair of the continental body. He said it was during this period that the African Union had reinforced its role as the voice of the continent in the multilateral arena. The two leaders discussed the situation in South Sudan and expressed concern over deteriorating security there. They resolved to continue their engagement with all parties through IGAD and stressed that all parties in the conflict should recommit themselves to dialogue and cessation of hostilities to give peace a chance. President Kenyatta commended Prime Minister Hailemariam for his support to the mediation process between Sudan and South Sudan. They reviewed the situation in Somalia and reiterated their commitment to work under IGAD’s framework to assist the people of Somalia in their quest for lasting peace and stability. They agreed that stability in Somalia was vital for success in the fight against terrorism and urged the international community to support peace initiatives there. They also reiterated their commitment to safeguarding security, common values and fundamental interests of the region and underlined their resolve to address challenges to peace and stability, including drought, climate change, , terrorism, piracy, money laundering, human and drug trafficking.
President Kenyatta and Prime Minister Hailemariam praised the work of the Joint Border Administrators/Commissioners of Ethiopia and Kenya for their effective work along their common frontier and welcomed the ongoing inspection and maintenance work carried out by the Joint Technical Boundary Commission along the border. They reiterated support for the proposals to put in place a Cooperative Framework Agreement establishing a Joint Lake Turkana, Omo and Daua Rivers Basins’ Commission to manage the conservation and exploitation of their resources consistent with international conventions. The two leaders reiterated the commitment of their governments to the Nile Basin Initiative and welcomed Kenya’s imminent anent ratification of the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement. Emphasizing that the Agreement provided a framework for equitable and reasonable utilization of the Nile water resources, they urged the other riparian states which have not yet signed the Agreement to consider signing it and ratifying it as soon as possible.
President Kenyatta extended an invitation to Prime Minister Hailemariam to visit Kenya at a mutually agreed date; and the Prime Minister accepted.
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*Originally published on A Week in the Horn, the weekly bulletin of of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 14, 2014.
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