IGAD Summit on Thursday failed to condemn Ethiopia over its deal with Somaliland, as Somalia had asked in its request for the extraordinary meeting.
In its communiqué following the 42nd Extraordinary IGAD Summit in Entebbe, Uganda, IGAD instead called on Ethiopia and Somalia to de-escalate tensions and instead engage in constructive dialogue.
The Summit, however, “Reaffirmed the cardinal principles of respect for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia,” noting that any engagement should uphold the aforementioned cardinal principles, and any agreement or arrangement should be with the consent of the Federal Government of Somalia”.
It did not explicitly condemn Ethiopia, neither the MoU.
Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was absent, over what his Foreign Affairs chiefs said was clash of events. He, however, attended the Non-Aligned Movement Summit on Friday.
The Assembly chaired by Djibouti President and IGAD Chairman Ismail Guelleh, was attended by Presidents William Ruto (Kenya), Hassan Mohamud (Somalia), Salva Kiir (South Sudan) and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda).
Also in attendance were IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu, AU commission chairperson Moussa Faki, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Sudan Ramtane Lamamra, Deputy Minister of Saudi Arabia Waleed M. Alkhuraji, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Kalifa Shaheen Al Marart, Ambassador of Egypt to Uganda Mozer Selim, EU Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Annette Weber, US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Michael Hammer, Assistant Secretary General of the League of Arab States Hossam Zaki and IGAD Deputy Executive Secretary Mohamed Abdi Ware.
Others were IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan and IGAD representative for the Sudan Peace Process Amb Ismail Wais, IGAD Special Envoy for the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Somalia Amb Mohamed Ali Guyo and Tutku İnam, Deputy Director General for East Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye as well as Chief-of- Staff of the Office of the UN Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Cheikh Conde.
On New Year’s, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed an MoU to “pave the way to realise the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access to the sea”.
But Somalia termed the agreement as an aggression on its territorial integrity as it considers the breakaway state of Somaliland as its own territory.
Mogadishu asked regional and continental organisations as well as its allies to condemn the MoU.
On January 3, IGAD Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu called on Somalia and Ethiopia to resolve their diplomatic row in a peaceful and amicable manner, a statement Somalia rejected, saying it was biased towards Ethiopia. Workneh is former Ethiopian Foreign Affairs minister.
But Mogadishu expressed “deep dissatisfaction” with the statement, saying it fell short of condemning the Ethiopian government of violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia contrary to the fundamental principles of UN, AU and IGAD and other international laws.
“The Federal Government of Somalia disagrees with the content of the statement issued by the Executive Secretary and consider it to be in favour of the Ethiopian government. The Federal Government of Somalia calls on the Executive Secretary to immediately apologize, withdraw the statement and take the appropriate action,” Somalia’s Foreign ministry said in the statement of January 3.
Workneh did not withdraw nor apologised.
The AU Peace and Security Council at its meeting on January 17 considered the Ethiopia-Somalia dispute and reaffirmed its strong commitment and support for preserving the unity, territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of all member states, including those of Ethiopia and Somalia.
The Council called on Ethiopia and Somalia to adhere to and be guided by the core principles of the AU and international law in their bilateral and international relations.
“Council also urged external actors to abide by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of the two AU Member States. Council encouraged the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Federal Republic of Somalia to refrain from further actions and pronouncements that could negatively impact the strong bonds of good neighbourliness, friendship and solidarity existing between them,” the communique said, again without condemning Ethiopia or the MoU itself.
Somalia, however, got backing from the US at the IGAD Summit, with Amb Hammer saying they are concerned by the contents of the MoU.
“US recognizes and reaffirms it’s respect for #Somalia’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, including, Somaliland. AlShabaab is using the MoU to recruit new generation of combatants,” Hammer said.
Weber reiterated the bloc’s “firm stance” on Somalia‘s territorial integrity and the need for de-escalation and dialogue.
However, reacting to the communique, Somaliland Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Essa Kayd said their “independence” allows them to get into agreements for the benefit of the Somalilanders, and they don’t need anyone’s consent for that.
