Somalia Should Steer Clear of Ethiopia-Egypt Dispute, Urges GAD Deputy Executive Secretary

Mogadishu (AX) – Mohamed Abdi Ware, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), declared that Somalia has zero interest in picking sides between Ethiopia and Egypt in their heated clash over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

During a recent IGAD delegation’s visit to Mogadishu, Ware underscored that the rift between Ethiopia and Egypt spells looming danger for the Horn of Africa’s stability and threatens the very survival of the Somali government.

“Ethiopia and Egypt aren’t kinfolk. They didn’t rush to our aid during our 30-year civil strife. So why should we hustle to justify their actions now, claiming either Ethiopia as our neighbor or Egypt as a fellow Muslim nation? Where were they when Somalis were at each other’s throats?” Ware questioned.

He called on Somalis to pilot their own fate and cautioned that failing to do so could jeopardize the country’s sovereignty. Ware stressed the urgency of national cognizance to defend Somalia’s territorial integrity.

The ruckus between Egypt and Ethiopia has boiled over due to Ethiopia’s relentless construction of the GERD on the Blue Nile, a project Egypt sees as a knife to its water and food security. Amidst this quarrel, Somalia inked a defense pact with Egypt following a fracas with Ethiopia over a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ethiopia and the self-declared independent region of North Western State of Somalia. Recently, Egypt upped the ante, sending two C-130 military birds loaded with arms and ammo to Mogadishu, reflecting the deepening bonds of cooperation.