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Kenya And Ethiopia in Border Pact

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS
July 25, 2004
Posted to the web July 26, 2004

By Evelyne Ogutu
Nairobi
Kenya has signed an agreement with Ethiopia to end persistent border insecurity
that has led to the death of hundreds of Kenyans.
The signing ceremony, at Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, was witnessed by
the Kenyan and Ethiopian ambassadors.
There was confusion during the closing ceremony when delegates failed to agree
on the proposals submitted in the report.
According to sources at the meeting, the Ethiopian delegates were reluctant to
agree on some issues concerning border insecurity.
Over 50 delegates from the two countries have been in Nanyuki since Wednesday.
By Friday evening, there were still fears that the delegates might not endorse
the agreement as accusations of hypocrisy flew about.
It was, however, signed at around 6.30 pm. The meeting had been scheduled to
end at 3 pm after the signing of the agreement.
The meeting was closed by Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Wilfred Ndolo,
who represented the minister in Charge of National Security.
The delegates discussed border security and co-operation and agreed to set up
security sub-committees.
Both delegations, led by Ndolo from Kenya and Ato Woldemariam from Ethiopia,
acknowledged the impact of easy availability of illegal small arms and resolved
to improve the exchange of information through the National Focal Points and
the Conflict Early Warning and Response Units.
They also agreed to expedite joint technical committees to undertake boundary
inspection and maintenance.
The meeting was opened on Wednesday by an assistant minister for national
security, Prof Kivutha Kibwana.
Kenya has asked Ethiopia to act speedily against rebels causing trouble on the
common border. The three-day seminar was to seek a permanent solution to the
two-decade-old conflict.

   

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