Forces of the Ethiopian Security prevented the President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud from entering the venue of the 37th Africa Union (AU) Summit in capital Addis Ababa.
The 37th AU summit, a two-day meeting is themed ‘‘Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa.’’
President Mohamud accused the security staff from first preventing him from leaving his hotel before later denying him access to the venue of the summit, after he arrived with the president of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh.
“This morning when I prepared myself to come and attend the closed session of the summit, the Ethiopian security blocked my way,” the Somalia president said to reporters after gaining access.
“A soldier with a gun stood in front of us and denied us access to this facility,” he said.
The spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, however refuted the allegations, saying that the host had “warmly welcomed” President Mohamud and accorded him the same full honors given to other Heads of state and governments twho attended the summit.
“As host country, the government of Ethiopia is responsible for the security of all heads of state and government while in the country,” Seyoum stated.
“The Somali delegation security attempted to enter the AUC [African Union Commission] premises with weapons, which was blocked off by AUC security.”
It should be recalled that there has been growing tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia concerning a controversial port deal with the self-declared republic of Somaliland.
The dispute emerged after Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Somaliland earlier in January.
The agreement provides Ethiopia, a landlocked country, access to a seaport for both military and commercial purposes. However, Somalia, which claims Somaliland as part of its territory, rejected the deal and accused Ethiopia of violating its sovereignty.
