Congress Passes Historic Resolutions for National and Regional Peace, Stability: Fraternal Parties

Addiss Ababa  October  8/2018  Resolutions adopted during the 11th EPRDF Congress held at Hawassa will have constructive impact on sustaining peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, invited delegates from fraternal parties said. In an exclusive interview with ENA, South African and Kenyan ruling party representatives said the congress was a historic. Representative of South Africa’s ruling party-African National Congress (ANC), Professor Iqbal Jhazbhay said Ethiopia has made a lot of progress over the past six months, which helped to move national unity to the next level. Resolutions passed by the Congress will have positive impact, not only on Ethiopians but also in the region and the African continent. Stating that Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country, he pointed out “with that muscle and energy, the country can contribute a lot towards its development and for regional development at large.” Ethiopia has a very pivotal role to play as a pivotal state in the Horn given its economy, its political stand and its army as its youth to contribute towards regional development. According to him, countries in the region including Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan and Eritrea are keen on partnering with Ethiopia. For instance, Sudan, being among the top investors in the country, is already engaged in robust relations with Ethiopia. Further, he noted “so, this type of bilateral and multilateral relationship is pivotal.” Speaking of the recent Ethio-Eritrean rapprochement, Professor Iqbal stressed: “Ethiopia and Eritrea as important countries in the Horn can contribute towards larger forms of peace and development and become influential forces in the continent as well as contributing to the larger goal of new international peace order.” Representing Kenya’s ruling Jubilee party to the Congress, Abraham Limo said for Kenya participating in the Congress as a neighbor and partner to Ethiopia in development and politics was important. “We came here with a lot of expectations and have realized the importance of using diversity for the purpose of unifying the country,” he stated. Ethiopia and Kenya have unique diversities where most of their parties have regional bases than national ones, he added. Allowing representatives from the opposition and affiliated political parties demonstrated unity of the country, he said, and emphasized “it shows that in more diversity there is a lot of unity.” He added “this will mark a big milestone for moving forward both politically and economically in pursuit of realizing socio-economic wellbeing and stability of the people.”   “For Kenyans we would like to see a neighbor which is at peace because when a neighbor is not at peace, we are not at peace. So for us as a neighbor we are excited to see Ethiopia back to its stability which is good Kenya, good for the neighbors, the Horn of Africa and Africa as well.” Mentioning that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his party are keen to work with Ethiopia in party-to-party relationship and at country level, he pointed out “the economic development across the border and the tarmac road linking two Moyales is fully confirms that both countries are dedicated to working together. The Jubilee Party of Kenya is the ruling political party that was formed after the merger of 11 political parties, to become one of the major political parties in Kenya on September 2016.