Sudanese Provocative Statement on Benishangul-Gumuz Region Condemned

May 4/2021(ENA) Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the recent provocative statement of Sudan on Benishangul-Gumuz region that has nothing to do with other border disputes with Sudan and the trilateral negotiations.

In his weekly media briefing, Ministry Spokesperson Dina Mufti said Sudan has been giving provocative statements since it invaded Ethiopian territory in November 6, 2020.

Ethiopia has over tolerated the aggression because of its commitment for peaceful resolution of the border dispute.

However, Dina noted that the Sudanese have continued violating Ethiopian territories, looting Ethiopian properties, and giving out negative propaganda particularly the recent statement on  Benishangul-Gumuz, which is a nonstarter and a statement that has been ill-conceived.

“The Benishangul-Gumuz issue has nothing to do with other border disputes with Sudan, and it has nothing to do also with the trilateral negotiations that we carry out on GERD. So, the Ethiopian Government strongly condemns it,” the spokesperson underscored.

Speaking about the upcoming election, he said the government believes that power should emanate from the people and there is an election board that has been reorganized in respectable manner with independent individuals.

The government is committed to make the elections free, fair and democratic and this commitment has been shown in many ways, Dina said, adding that conducive atmosphere has been created.

The EU rejected its role as observer of the election due two reasons which violate Ethiopia's sovereignty and security issues, he revealed.

One of their demands was bringing VSAT technology which is the first in its kind in Ethiopia's election trends, despite the accessibility of all the polling stations by the national telecommunication, the spokesperson pointed out.

Bringing a technology that will not be managed by the national telecommunication system is an indirect control of the leadership, Dina underlined.  

The second issue raised by the EU was to give media briefing as soon as the election concludes. The spokesperson stated that this move violates the country's sovereignty which has its own electoral board entitled to declare the final results of the election.