By Joab Apollo
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for an immediate truce between the warring Ethiopian factions to restore peace and order the Eastern and the Horn of Africa region.
Kenyatta said the conflict, which has resulted into the death of thousands and displacement of millions, threatens the economic stability of the region.
“The crisis has now escalated into a nationwide social convulsion of historical proportion for Ethiopia. The origins of the crisis, bitter and unacceptable as they might appear, can nolonger be used as a justification for the continued suffering, killings and the extended open warfare that now engulfs the nation.” President Kenyatta said on Wednesday 4th November, 2021, after holding talks with Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs minister, Demeke Mekonnen.
The conflict pitting the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) against Prime Minister Aby Ahmed’s Federal Government of Ethiopia began in November 2020 and has escalated into a regional crisis. Ethiopian refugees fleeing the bloodbath are seeking solace in neighbouring countries like Kenya, Sudan and Eritrea.
The Tigrayan rebels are bitterly opposed to the Aby Ahmed’s government, which it accuses of marginalization of the Tigrayan region, a volatile part of Ethiopia that has fought successive Ethiopian regimes to be granted autonomy.
The rebels are advancing to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, which also doubles as the seat of the African Union. The Ethiopian government has responded by declaring a six-month state of emergency.
