South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit today arrives Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for one day official visit.
President Salva Kiir was received by Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed. “I received today President Salva Kiir Mayardit. As neighbors with common regional interests, we will continuously strengthen our cooperation,” twitted Abiy Ahmed.
“..During a working lunch held at the Office of the Prime Minister, the two leaders discussed in bilateral issues including trade, and infrastructure development as well as regional peace and security issues,” stated the Offce of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
The leaders of the two neighboring countries are expected to reflect on the current political turmoil in the other neighboring country – Sudan. Sudan has been led by army general who came to power though a coupe following the public unrest that overthrown the former President Al Bashir. The securities issues along the borders of the two sides is also expected to be another areas of discussion between the two sides.
Similarities
The two countries share people from the same tribes such as the Nuer and the Murle. The Nuer people are another major tribe from South Sudan residing in the Gambella region. They are primarily pastoralists and rely on cattle herding for their sustenance. The Nuer are known for their intricate social structure, which is based on age sets and clans. Their language, also called Nuer, is part of the Nilo-Saharan language family. The Nuer have a strong oral tradition and are known for their storytelling and poetry.
The Murle people are an indigenous ethnic group from South Sudan who have also settled in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. They primarily inhabit the western part of Gambella, near the border with South Sudan. The Murle traditionally practiced cattle herding and agriculture, but due to conflicts and displacement, their way of life has been disrupted in recent years. The Murle have their own language called Murle or Jie, which is part of the Eastern Sudanic language family.
In addition, in recent years both South Sudan and Ethiopia have been going through bloody civil wars that have claimed lives of their citizens in millions, displacement in millions and destructions of properties worth billions of dollars.
While South Sudan has concluded a civil war a few years ago, Ethiopia has recently launched the second war in Amhara region after concluding the two years of civil war in Tigray region in the north about a year ago. The war between the Ethiopian defense force and the Amhara Fano has been going on for the past several months after the Ethiopian Government decided to disarm the Fano, which it claimed is an informal armed group.
Meanwhile, Fano was instrumental was fighting supporting the Ethiopian national defense force during the two yearslong war with the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that has reportedly claimed lives of over half a million people from both sides.