News: President William Ruto arrives in Addis Abeba

Addis Abeba – President William Ruto has arrived in Addis Abeba this morning for an official visit. He was welcomed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. During his stay in Ethiopia, the President is expected to discuss on various bilateral, regional and international issues, state media reports.

In an interview with France 24 held on 23 September, President Ruto spoke about the war in Ethiopia and expressed his optimism that former president Uhuru Kenyatta, his envoy to Ethiopia and the DR Congo, will continue the process to find a peaceful resolution. “We are very concerned, very concerned because that’s our neighborhood. Whatever happens in Ethiopia gets to Kenya. We are the two largest economies in that corner, and therefore, a faltering Ethiopia weakens Kenya, therefore it is important for us to get involved. That’s why when I took over I asked President Kenyaata, my predecessor, to continue the effort of the process that has started so that we can find a resolution of the conflict in Ethiopia,” he said.

He also stated that he had discussions with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken “on the kind of framework and mechanism that we can put in place to address the challenge of Ethiopia.”

He expressed “confident that under the AU framework” with the support of AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo and his envoy Uhuru Kenyatta, and all other actors, “we should be able to bring the sides to the table at the earliest possible opportunity because that war is costing human kind and that war makes the Horn a very slippery and very dicey place.”

His visit came a day after both the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray regional government said they would accept an invitation from the AU for “peace talks” scheduled to take place in South Africa. AS