Today, President Obama Wraps Up Landmark Ethiopia Trip With AU Address

President Barack Obama, center, participates in a bilateral meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at the National Palace, July 27, 2015, in Addis Ababa. (AP photo)
VOA News
Last updated on: July 28, 2015
President Barack Obama is closing his East African trip Tuesday, becoming the first sitting American leader to address the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital.
His remarks at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa follow a meeting with AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and a tour of a food processing factory.

Obama met Monday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn for what he called “frank discussions” that included urging the government to allow journalists and opposition parties to operate more freely. He said creating space for those voices “will strengthen rather than inhibit” the ruling party’s agenda.
Hailemariam said Ethiopia is committed to improving human rights and governance. “Our commitment to democracy is real, not skin deep,” he said.

President Obama also focused Monday on the civil war in South Sudan, saying before a meeting with leaders from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the AU that conditions in the country are getting “much, much worse.” He said South Sudan’s president and opposition leaders have been stubborn and are looking out for their own self-interests rather than the interest of the country.

The leaders at Monday’s meeting agreed that South Sudan’s leaders need to reach a peace deal by an August 17 deadline, the White House said. A U.S. official told reporters that the leaders discussed options for penalties if there is no deal, including imposing sanctions and deploying a regional intervention force.
South Sudan was thrown into conflict more than a year-and-a-half ago when clashes broke out between forces loyal to the president and vice president.

Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia. In line with Monday’s bilateral talks, the White House announced the United States intends to provide at least $40 million in assistance related to countering violent extremism in East Africa on top of some $465 million in proposed funding for training, equipment, capacity building and countering violent extremist initiatives throughout Africa.
During Monday’s news conference, Obama said Ethiopia has played a vital role in fighting the Somali militant group al-Shabab. He also praised Ethiopia’s economic record, noting the country has lifted millions out of dire poverty.

Rights groups have called for Obama to demand reforms from Ethiopia, where the government controls 100 percent of the seats in parliament and keeps a tight leash on the media.
Before Ethiopia, Obama spent two days in his father’s homeland of Kenya, where he was hailed as a native son.

In a speech before his departure Sunday, the president said Kenya is at a crossroads “filled with peril, but also with enormous promise.”

In Nairobi, the president praised Kenya’s achievements winning independence in 1963, among them ending one-party rule and overcoming the deadly tribal and ethnic violence that broke out in 2007 and plagued the country for several months.

“The people of Kenya chose not to be defined by the hatreds of the past,” Obama said, “you chose a better history.”

Source: Tadias