Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn, has said his country and others in the Horn of Africa region were ready to do all it takes to achieve a secure and stable region.
Dessalegn joined other leaders and the international community at the just ended London Conference on Somalia. During his 6-minute address, he stressed four points that could help realize a stable Somalia and by extension a peaceful region.
‘‘We in the region will continue to shed our blood and do whatever is just and necessary to restore the long sought after peace and stability in Somalia and across the region. There is no greater contribution, no greater solidarity than this,’‘ he said.
We in the region will continue to shed our blood and do whatever is just and necessary to restore the long sought after peace and stability in Somalia and across the region. There is no greater contribution, no greater solidarity than this.
According to him, there was the need to better equip the Somali National Army, the AMISOM mission and other friendly nations engaged in the fight against the Al-Shabaab insurgents. He said the terrorist group’s support was waning, their income dwindling and their ability to command forces downgraded.
Despite indications that they were are retreating, he said they were not eliminated and remained dangerous. He lauded the partial lifting of US arms embargo on Somalia and called for political and financial support to be given to AMISOM to keep up the fight.
He touched on the recent drought afflicting the region – a situation that he said bore security implications with the continued flooding of refugees to stable countries.
He celebrated moves to better coordinate and consolidate governance mechanisms at the federal and regional levels in Somalia. He tasked the government to be at the center of the initiative and to demonstrate to its people that it was up to the task.
‘‘Let us empower the Federal government of Somalia to be at the center of all these endeavours. Let us speak with one voice with new partnership experience. Let us be focused, let us follow one channel of intervention for regional and international collaborative action.
‘‘This I believe is the only viable option, otherwise, we can be sure that the progress will be so sluggish,’‘ he said in his concluding remarks. Read more here
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