Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo leaves for Ethiopia

[Deeq A.]

Somali president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has left Mogadishu on Friday for Ethiopia ahead of meeting on the economic integration between the East African nations.

PM Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, A.K.A Farmajo, of Somalia are set to meet for yet another tripartite meeting, this time in Ethiopia.

No official statement has been issued from both Ethiopia and Eritrea government representatives about the meeting. However, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation yesterday reported that President Isaias Afwerki was set to visit Gonder and Bahir Dar cities in Amhara regional state. “The President will be received by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and high-level officials of Amhara regional officials. His visit will cement the relations between the two countries.”

This afternoon, the press secretariat at PM Abiy Ahme’d office issued a statement saying PM Abiy has began a “visit to the Amhara region.” After his arrival in Gonder, PM Abiy went to hold a town-hall with “elders in the Amhara region who are working towards addressing issues that have raised conflict in parts of the region.”
Shortly after the statement of PM Abiy’s arrival in Gonder was issued by his office, Abdinur Mohamed, Director of Communications at the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia tweeted: “President Farmajo will travel tomorrow to Gonder, [and] Bahir Dar to attend a tripartite meeting with Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. This meeting is to cement the outcome of the Horn of Africa economic integration agreement signed in Asmara [two] months ago.”

This is the second meeting between the three leaders of the Horn of Africa. They first met in the first week of September this year in Eritrea’s capital Asmara following which they issued a four pillar comprehensive joint declaration, which included the establishment of a high level committee tasked to oversee the multifaceted collaborations included in the declaration.

The joint declaration was issued “considering that the peoples of Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea share close ties of geography, history, culture and religion as well as vital common interests.” The statement also highlighted the declaration to promote relations between the three Horn of African countries was in the spirit and understanding of “respecting each other’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; as well as desiring to bolster their historical ties to achieve their lofty objectives.”

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