Djibouti has stated that it will not hand over Tajura Port to Ethiopia but will instead jointly manage it.
An agreement has been reached to develop a port where Ethiopia can import fuel.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia has stated that the government of Djibouti did not propose to hand over or sell Tajura Port. Instead, they suggested jointly managing and using it.
Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Youssef told the BBC that the Djibouti government proposed that Ethiopia use Tajura Port under Djibouti’s full management to ease tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia.
Further explaining, the foreign minister said, “We are not handing over Tajura Port to Ethiopia; we are jointly managing it.”
He added, “Tajura and other ports in Djibouti are national assets. Therefore, there is no reason for us to hand over any of them to another party.”
However, he mentioned that a national business strategy has been formulated to ensure these resources and assets are utilized to their full potential to benefit Djibouti.
“Currently, we are not getting the benefits we deserve from Tajura Port. It handles only one ship every two months. The government of Djibouti spent 60 million dollars to build this port and 110 million dollars to build the road from Tajura Port to Baloh state. The salaries of Tajura Port workers are paid from the revenue generated by Dollare Port. Is this correct? No,” he said.
As a result, President Ismail Omar Guelleh has directed that Tajura Port should generate income and become profitable by providing the necessary services.
Therefore, the proposal to the Ethiopian government is for Tajura Port to be managed and used jointly, not to be taken over or sold to Ethiopia.
He explained that if Ethiopia accepts this recommendation, Djibouti will benefit, similar to how Ethiopia and Djibouti have jointly built and are using the Ethio-Djibouti railway infrastructure.
“If Djibouti does not increase the port services provided to Ethiopia by expanding port options, we risk losing benefits from Ethiopia. Tomorrow, Asab Port might open, and Ethiopia could turn to Somaliland. Therefore, we must strive to meet Ethiopia’s port service needs,” said Minister Mohamed Ali Youssef.
The minister pointed out that the products available in the Ethiopian market include transportation and logistics costs, which are expensive.
From this perspective, Tajura Port is better than Djibouti Port (Dollare Port), which currently provides extensive services, and is closer and more viable for three Ethiopian regions (Tigray, Amhara, and Afar).
He explained that if Tajura Port cannot generate income by providing complete port services to Ethiopia, the debt incurred to build the port will be passed on to future generations.
In addition to Tajura Port, the minister mentioned that a medium-term plan has been made to develop Demerjug Port so Ethiopia can import oil products through this port and transport them directly by train.
Although we asked the maritime service official about the response to Djibouti’s proposal for Ethiopia to jointly manage and use Tajura Port, he indicated that the matter is handled at the government level or by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that information will be provided once a decision is made.
The leaders of Ethiopia should seriously consider this generous offer. I hope and am sure there is a dialogue with exceedingly smart leaders of Djibouti. I hope something rewarding for both peoples will be forged out of this timely offer. If Ethiopia decides to go with it, its leaders better decide on that one soon because some other power may come up with far more attractive and lucrative offer and it will be gone for ever. The MoU with Somaliland ain’t gonna materialize. At least not in the near future.
It is now made official by the leaders of Somalia currently camping out at Villa Mogadishu that they start giving military and financial assistance to the rebel groups currently wreaking havoc inside Ethiopia. I am inclined to believe that OLA has his reps in Villa Mogadishu already and a faction of Fano may be at a connection flight airport to Mogadishu. ONLF is no question that it has beaten OLA and Fano to it thru its standing rep the only foreign policy expert on the Horn of Africa, Af-Mishaar. No wonder why bigots and connivers in Minnesota, Toronto, Tennessee, Michigan, Oslo, DC and Down Under are in an upbeat mood lately. They might have begun packing already to move to their newly minted republic soon to be liberated by the mighty armies of el-Sisi and Villa Mogadishu. Oh, poor boy me, am jealous!!!
But putting my sketch, my setup for the punch line aside, this announcement by Somalia’s leaders reminds me what one of my Issa friends told me when I had the chance to see him again in the early 1980’s after he was resettled in a small town in the Midwest here in the USA. He was the brother of my early childhood. He was forced to flee the old country from Mengistu’s killing spree and seek refuge in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. He told me he had cross paths with fighters from the TPLF during the years 1976-78 who were there taking training in the use of heavy artillery guns. Mind you that was the time when the Somali army along with its beast of burden, ONLF, were rampaging in eastern parts of the old country massacring innocent unarmed students, peasants and small town residents who were not Somalis. One of those savagely murdered was one of my childhood friends, Abebe Gurmu, who was a civil servant in Western Hararghe. He was an Oromo who professed Christianity. My Issa friend was still inside Ethiopia when that took place. The reason they murdered him was that he complained about how he and others like him who sought refuge were being treated by the ONLF. Then one early morning they took him out and about thirty other non Somali refugees and used them as target practice by their newly recruited militia. That was the last straw for our Issa brothers and sisters to order the ONLF and the Somali regular army to leave their territory. That was what started the tide turning on Siad Barre’s hooligans. But at the same time in Somalia, the late prime minister and his comrades were training on how to use heavy and long range guns on their own countrymen. My friend told me how disgusted he was seeing them scavenging at the dumpsites in Somalia. So I won’t be surprised if OLA and certain factions of Fano are in Mogadishu already scavenging just as their predecessors. I am just getting nauseated thinking by such repugnant behavior.