Somalia’s president has signed a law that annuls a controversial agreement between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland, which grants Ethiopia naval and trade rights in the Red Sea for 50 years.
On Saturday, Somali President Hasan Sheikh Mohamud signed a law passed by the Parliament that nullifies the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Ethiopia and the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland.
The MoU, signed on Monday, grants Ethiopia naval and trade access to the Red Sea for 50 years in return for recognizing Somaliland’s self-declared independence. Somaliland would also receive a share of the profits from Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier of Ethiopia.
The Somali Presidency issued a statement on its Facebook account, praising the lawmakers for their “historic role in safeguarding the legacy of generations of Somalis and the country’s independence”. It also said that “this law is the official stance of Somalia and a strong message to anyone who wants to encroach on the land, sea and air of the Somali people”.
It urged for “strengthening unity in this historic phase and distinguishing between the political issues that can be compromised and the fundamental issues that affect the future”.
On Friday, President Mohamud had already declared the MoU between Ethiopia and Somaliland “null and void” and accused the neighboring country of trying to annex part of Somalia by presenting it as a lease agreement.
He said that the leader of the semi-autonomous region, Muse Bihi Abdi, “has no right to give” Ethiopia “a piece of land”. He told them to “stop wasting their time” and warned Addis Ababa “not to mislead its people by saying that it will attain the Somali Sea”, according to the Somali news outlet Goobjoog News.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Government said on Wednesday that the MoU “will not harm any party or country” and emphasized that the agreement “enables Ethiopia to secure a permanent and safe naval base and maritime service in the Gulf of Aden through a leasing arrangement”.
Ethiopia lost its direct access to the sea in 1993, when Eritrea became independent after three decades of war. Its main trade route now relies on roads and a railway that connect the capital, Addis Ababa, to a port in Djibouti, one of its five coastal neighbors that also include Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya.
The Somali Government does not recognize the independence of Somaliland, which was declared in 1991 and is not accepted by any country in the world.
