Kenya Suggests a Pact to Reduce Tensions Between Somalia and Ethiopia

Kenya made a regional marine treaty proposal public on Thursday in an effort to ease tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia.

In January, Ethiopia agreed to lease a section of its coast to Somaliland. This breakaway province has been claiming independence from Somalia since 1991, in exchange for potential recognition of the region.

The agreement infuriated Somalia, escalating worries of additional destabilization in the Horn of Africa.

Early in April, Somalia’s orders for Ethiopia’s ambassador to depart the nation and the closure of Ethiopia’s consulates in Somaliland and Puntland, two semiautonomous regions, heightened tensions.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) and Djibouti collaborated to draft a regional treaty regulating how landlocked governments in the area can access ports on commercial terms, Kenya’s principal secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Sing’oei stated in a Reuters interview that Somalia and Ethiopia are considering the plan.

He added that the two nations’ leaders have been invited to a meeting to deliberate the proposal and that the treaty would serve as a means of guaranteeing stability in the region. It occurred during a meeting between Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday in Nairobi as part of efforts to resolve the conflict diplomatically.