Mogadishu, (SONNA) – The President of the Federal Government of Somalia, H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud spoke about the agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland in Addis Ababa on January 1st, as a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, applauding the Somali youth in the country and abroad for opposing it.
“I would like people to know that the agreement was about land given out, all the other factors are things used to ease the agreement, like saying ‘we rented, it is for commercial, etc. but it is null and void because a land cannot be rented”, President Mohamud said.
The President who was speaking on the issues of the agreement, urged the Somali intellectuals in northern Somalia that the land belongs to Somalis and cannot be sold with something like Ethiopian Airways, Ethiopian Telecom, or anything else.
“We urged our neighboring government of Ethiopia before and we urged them now that Musa Bihi cannot give you a piece of land, neither his predecessor can give it nor the one before him ever did, so don’t waste your time”, he added.
President Hassan urged the Government and people of Ethiopia to show the shared good neighborhood because we have a lot in common and we cannot change our locations, we only have one option to co-exist in peace, be friends and work towards our common interests, and Somalia is ready for that.
“Do not mislead your people, do not tell your people that we are getting sea from Somalia, that will never happen, it never happened before and it will never happen again, so don’t waste your time and do not cause a disappointment your people”, President Hassan urged the Ethiopian Government.
The President told the Ethiopian people to not be deceived by their Government. “The State on the other hand knows how to pursue common interests with other States so let us follow that path”, said President Mohamud.
President Hassan Sheikh said that we are responsible for the issues that are happening, it is because we do not accept each other that causes unwanted attention to our lands.
The President said “To all Somali people wherever you are, let us accept each other and come to a dialogue”.
Commenting on his meeting with Muse Bihi in Djibouti two weeks ago, the President said, “We had a good meeting in Djibouti and our dialogue headed in a good direction and good spirit, of course we had our differences, but we showed that we can talk and bring our issues to the table”.
“This country’s democracy and government is bigger than something a single person can carry because the Somali people fought and bled for this country and no one can stay on the seat thinking they just wanted to stay on it, a huge effort was put in it and it was accepted, and whoever intends to defy it they can go wherever they want”, he added.
The President said that we used to point out the world issues and countries that tried to violate international laws, and we can point out the issues and violations of our country and we will.
“We thank our international friends and partners who stood up and talked about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia and showed support, and to those others who are still silent and in hiding we tell them, it will never happen, you may have issues with Somalia but Somalia’s land will never be given out”, he said.
The Federal Government of Somalia is one and has been one even in its worst times and it will stay one and united. The land of Somalia belongs to the Somali people and will be theirs now and forever,” President Hassan added.
