CS Raychelle Omamo in Addis at Ethiopia's invitation
Foreign Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo arrives in Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport on September 2, 2021. She was received by Birtukan Ayano, Ethiopia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Ethiopia on Thursday invited Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Ms Raychelle Omamo, for a visit as it seeks to consolidate regional support amid two major crises.
The visit is widely seen as part of Addis Ababa's continuing series of shuttle diplomacy, in the face of an ongoing conflict in Tigray and riparian tensions with Egypt and Sudan over the River Nile.
A dispatch from the Ethiopian Embassy said Ms Omamo will meet her host and counterpart Demeke Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
She touched down at Bole International Airport on Thursday where she was received by Birtukan Ayano, the Ethiopian State Minister for Foreign Affairs.
“The Foreign ministers will deliberate on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest,” a dispatch said without specifying the exact issues.
Foreign Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo (second left) when she arrived in Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport on September 2, 2021.
“Ethiopia and Kenya enjoy 58 years of strong strategic partnership. Kenya’s solidarity with Ethiopia, during the former’s tenure as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is one example of this partnership.”
Addis Ababa has renewed shuttle diplomacy with regional neighbours to seek support for its mega dam that has sparked tensions with Egypt and Sudan, as well as support against what Ethiopia sees as unwarranted pressure from the West to accommodate the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Uganda and Rwanda where he separately met with Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame.
The two countries, alongside Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, form the upper riparian zone for the Nile River whose waters Ethiopia contributes most, but which are consumed most by Egypt and Sudan, the lower riparian countries.
Both Egypt and Sudan have been uncomfortable with Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) which is being erected on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia’s Benshangul-Gumuz state in the west of the country. Built through local fundraising, the $5 billion project could produce up to 6000MW of power at full function.
However, Egypt argues that filling of the dam could reduce the amount of water reaching the country, thus affecting agriculture and domestic consumption.
