Ethiopia, AU Prove Africa Can Handle own Internal Political Crisis: Scholars

Addis Ababa ENA September 21/2019 The recent Sudanese peace mediation initiated by Ethiopia, the African Union and other players has proved that Africans can resolve internal problems on their own without the influence of external forces, according to scholars.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Yonas Ashine, Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) lecturer at Addis Ababa University said despite the conjectures of many who  foresaw endless crisis in Sudan, the remarkable diplomatic initiative taken by Ethiopia and AU vividly depict that Africans can resolve any crisis in the continent through their own efforts.

Africans can indeed solve their problems without the meddling of external forces, the scholar  said, citing as an example the Libyan case where outsiders had the chance to impose their agenda and plunged the country into chaos.

The interference of un-African powers in the affairs of other countries has mostly resulted in the proliferation of more crisis in the continent, Yonas underlined.

However, the case of Sudan is different as it totally avoided external pressures and foreign interference, he added.

“As experiences show, conflicts always get complicated as soon as outsiders become involved in the affairs of other countries to pursue their vested interests instead of opting for maintaining stability,” Yonas noted.

According to him, “the recent achievement by Ethiopia, AU and other stakeholders to solve  the political crisis in Sudan is a showcase for the rest of the world that Africa can find solutions for its challenges by its own.”

The key for such kind of achievement is, of course, political willingness from the concerned parties, Yonas stated, adding that the role of Ethiopia was yet crucial because the country prioritized stability in the region.

Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University, Ahmed Zekaria said the world always targets the region where Sudan is located.

According to Ahmed, keeping the peace and stability of ones neighbors and resolving their crises through negotiations is something which other African countries should also nurture.

Ethiopia's Special Envoy to Sudan, Ambassador Mohammed Dirir said the country's engagement in bringing peace and stability to the region is central in its foreign policy.

“We should be engaged as partners and as people who share a common destiny, and this is a historic moment to stick together and seek African solutions for African problems,” he underscored.

It is to be recalled that Senior UN experts had noted that the establishment of a new transitional government in Sudan on 17th August has created opportunity to restore long-term stability in  Darfur as well.