The political reform that Ethiopia announced last year in April brought reconciliation among people at home, and stability to the entire horn of Africa region, South Sudanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, James Morgan said.
The government was pushed to make a political reform after the country saw a serious of public protests that demanded greater freedom, and change, which got a soother after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came into power replacing, resigned Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Ambassador James told Walta TV that Prime Minister Abiy has come to fix things in Ethiopia and Eastern Africa region.
“When he came to power, he came up with a message of peace. And peace is not only necessary to Ethiopians but also to people of the East African,” he said.
The Ethio-Eritrea rapprochement, which according the Ambassador, made with people who didn’t want peace to prevail without the involvement of third party is “outstanding” and historic that caught many by surprise among other moves the PM has taken.
Asked about the fate of South Sudanese refugees, the Ambassador said many refugees who are living in neighboring countries including in Ethiopia are voluntarily returning home in great number.
“We are ready to receive each and every citizen of South Sudan to return home any time.”
According to the Ambassador, the peace deal signed between the government and opposition of South Sudan in September in Addis Ababa will bring sustainable peace in South Sudan. He added that the previous peace deal, which was brokered by Trioka that allowed the unusual “two army in a country” collapsed as “Troika has not real interest for South Sudan to have peace.”
As a chair of IGAD, Ethiopia has played a role in brokering the Addis Ababa agreement.
South Sudan became the youngest African nation after it seceded from Sudan in 2011. The South Sundaneses festive vibe of independence celebration lasted in 2013, when the country plunged in a civil war with President Salva Kirr in one side and opposition leader Reik Machar on the other side that resulted in death of tens of thousands and displacement of over a million.