ARUSHA AGREEMENT
Arusha Agreement on Ending of Kenyan-Somali Border Hostilities.
- Somali-Ethiopian Agreement. In implementation of the agreement reached
between the Governments of Kenya and Somalia at the fifth Assembly of Heads of
State and Government of the Organization of African Unity held in Kinshasa on
Sept. 11–14 [see 22281 A], a memorandum of agreement was signed in Arusha
(Tanzania) on Oct. 28 by President Kenyatta of Kenya and Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim
Egal, the Prime Minister of Somalia. The two leaders, meeting under the
auspices of the O.A.U. with President Kaunda of Zambia acting as mediator,
agreed to end the border fighting and to restore normal relations between their
two countries. In particular the agreement provided for the gradual suspension
of emergency regulations on both sides; the cessation of hostile propaganda; and
the establishment of a committee comprising representatives of Kenya, Somalia,
and Zambia, who would supervise the implementation of the agreement and seek
satisfactory solutions of the differences between the two countries. President
Kaunda said after the meeting that he hoped that the agreement would show that
Africans were capable of solving their own problems without resorting to the
use of international institutions influenced by the very Powers who were “to
blame for the mess in Africa today.” During the months preceding the agreement
heavy fighting had continued in the border areas between Kenya and Somalia. On
March 7 the Somali Information Service claimed that 24 Kenyan soldiers had been
killed and 19 wounded in two engagements the previous week, while three Somali
nationalists and four Somali soldiers were said to have lost their lives; it
denied Kenyan reports that 27 members of the “National Liberation Front” had
been killed, alleging that these casualties had been Somali women and children.
On May 8 the Kenyan Ministry of Defence announced that 19 shifta raiders had
been killed in the previous week, while several of their leaders had
surrendered. On May 14 a
further 32 shiftas were reported killed and many wounded during the preceding
week. The Kenya Government denied on May 24 a statement by the Somali Minister of
Defence that 18 civilians had been murdered by Kenyan forces inside Somalia. On
Aug. 18 the Kenyan Ministry of Defence announced the death of 43 shiftas and
three soldiers in a clash with more than 800 shiftas at Rhamu, about 30 miles inside Kenya from
the Somali border. Dr. Njoroge Mungai, the Kenyan Minister of Defence, issued a
statement on April 20 blaming again the “expansionist aims and aggression of
Somalia” for a “terrible toll of human life”; he claimed that twice recently
Kenya's border had been violated, and that since hostilities had begun Kenya's
security forces had “accounted for” 3,000 shiftas, of whom 1,200 had been
killed. On May 2 the Kenya Government declared, however, that it would discuss
the reopening of normal relations with Somalia as soon as Somalia renounced all
claims in the northern frontier area and ceased its aid to the so-called
“liberation” movement. An amnesty on condition of surrender within one month was
offered to shiftas by President Kenyatta on June 1, and again on Oct. 20.
Meanwhile, after some of the shiftas had been found to use landmines originally
supplied to the Somalian Army by the United Arab Republic, Vice-president Moi
of Kenya, during a visit to Cairo on May 1–6, had handed President Nasser an
invitation from President Kenyatta to come to Kenya in order to gain a
firsthand impression of the serious border situation, but the invitation was
declined. At about the same time Dr. Mungai had visited Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, and Persia, where he asked for a stricter check on private arms
smuggling carried on by means of dhows bound for Somalia. In a communiqué
published simultaneously in Addis Ababa and Mogadishu on Sept. 22, Ethiopia and
Somalia had agreed to “eliminate all forms of tension” between themselves, to
establish a joint military commission to examine complaints by either side, and
to “perfect co-operation” by means of quarterly meetings of their
administrative authorities. On his return to Mogadishu from Arusha, Mr. Egal
(the Prime Minister) was received by hostile demonstrations, and on Nov. 14 Mr.
Abdirizak Hadji Hussein (the former Prime Minister), speaking in his capacity
as secretary-general of the ruling Somali Youth League, violently attacked the
Arusha agreement. The Somali Government thereupon closed down the Mogadishu
branch of the Youth League, the latter's central committee responding by
expelling Mr. Egal from the party. After 10 days of debate, however, the Somali
Parliament on Nov. 23 gave overwhelming support to Mr. Egal and endorsed his
endeavors to o settle outstanding differences between Somalia and her
neighbours.–(Times - Daily Telegraph - Guardian - Le Monde) (Prev. rep. 22281 A; 21897 B; 20176 A.) © 1931- 2011 Keesing's
Worldwide, LLC - All Rights Reserved
Comments