SOMALI YOUTH FOR PEACE: Kenya, Ethiopia sign agreement on Lamu, Addis railway line

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Kenya, Ethiopia sign agreement on Lamu, Addis railway line

Friday, 2nd March 2012

By Moses Njagih
Kenya and Ethiopia have signed an agreement for development, operations and management of a railway line to be constructed between Lamu Port and Addis Ababa.
The signing of the agreement by the two governments preceded the port’s groundbreaking ceremony, which is expected to take place today (Friday), at a ceremony to be graced by President Kibaki and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Also expected to attend the occasion will be the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir, whose Government is also a partner in the construction of the massive Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia (LAPSSET) project.
Transport Minister Amos Kimunya and his Ethiopian counterpart Deriba Kuma Hey signed the agreement in the presence of their respective Heads of State during a function held at the State House, Nairobi.
Mutual concern
Apart from witnessing the signing of the pact, Kibaki and Zenawi also held discussions matters of mutual concern between the two nations.
In a joint communique read by Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, the leaders said they had discussed issues touching on their common borders, where bloody conflict has occasionally been witnessed.
Kenyans living near the Ethiopian border have fallen victims to attacks from their cross-border neighbours, causing diplomatic friction between the two nations.
Late last year, a high-level Government delegation met their Ethiopian counterparts for deliberations following attacks of Kenyans by suspected members of Oromo Liberation Front.
Consequently, the two Heads of State said that they had agreed to bolster security along the border.
"The leaders appreciated the need to reconfirm border lines and sensitise local communities to observe them to curb resource based conflicts," disclosed Wetang’ula.
The leaders directed that the technical team of surveyors established to carry out inspection on the boundary beacons and restore those that had been destroyed commences its work immediately.
Presidents Kibaki and Zenawi also discussed their Government’s respective incursions in Somalia and welcomed the decision by the United Nation’s Security Council to expand logistical package for Amisom, including the increase of personnel and reimbursement of equipment lost during the mission.
The leaders challenged Somali leaders to reciprocate the efforts being made towards restoration of peace in the war-torn country by resolving their disputes peacefully.