RESPONSE TO ARTICLES APPEARING ON NYAMILEPEDIA ON 3RD OCTOBER 2014

By EUPF,

Oct 25, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — It is with great pleasure that we wish to clarify our position concerning news that appeared on www.nyamile.com on 3^rd October 2014. The ETHIOPIAN UNITY PATRIOTIC FRONT is an entity that believes in the rule of law, democracy, unity and patriotism within Ethiopia and beyond the borders. It has engaged the Ethiopian government in an armed struggle for about 21 years in search for Economic, Political, Social equity and for the respect of the rule of law and democratic governance in Ethiopia.

In the year 2012, with the aid of one patriotic Ethiopian businessman in Kenya, both the Ethiopian government and the EUPF peace talks delegations were able to engage in discussions that were aimed to end the hostilities between them. Consequently, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the two parties and the government of South Sudan was requested to host where the final peace agreement was to be signed. The government of Ethiopia made a request to its counterpart in South Sudan to facilitate the final peace process in order to put to an end to the disputes. That upon receipt of request from both parties, in a letter signed by the former vice president, Dr. Riek Machar and sent to the EUPF army commander to avail to his peace delegation that the peace talks was slated to be held on 19^th November 2012 in Juba, South Sudan.

The EUPF delegation was invited by the former vice president of South Sudan who was appointed by His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit. The EUPF delegation showed up for the peace talks 4 times in the office of the former vice president but due to unclear reasons he engaged the Ethiopian ambassador to Southern Sudan in secret communication that made the entire exercise to flop. This prompted the said talks to be rescheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya vide a letter addressed to him from the Ethiopian government. The former vice president sent one delegation to Addis Ababa to ascertain the reason as to per why that stance was taken but no effort bore fruit. The EUPF decided to come back to Kenya after staying for one month in Juba, South Sudan and expressed its willingness to proceed with the talks in Nairobi, a position that was also taken by the Ethiopian government. However they requested for additional time to see the implementation of the memorandum of understanding.

That upon arrival, EUPF requested the Kenyan government to host the talks of which the Ethiopian government preferred at Nairobi. Unfortunately this came at a time when the Kenyan government were preparing for the March 2013 elections and were very busy that they could not entertain the EUPF urgent request. It therefore forced the EUPF to advance further and request the Ugandan government to offer the same. In a letter addressed to the Ugandan president H.E Yoweri Museveni he expressed willingness to assist and in a reply to the Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalense who responded that the peace talks had been concluded and what was pending was the final signing of the agreement. The message did not please the EUPF delegation although they appreciated the commitment shown. It also meant that the Ethiopian government were not committed to further talks but the signing of the final peace agreement without the involvement of the regional leaders. The EUPF delegation then resorted to negotiate outside in confidence.

The Ethiopian government never wanted to involve foreigners to resolve the internal conflicts although both parties came into agreement and called an end to the violence. Therefore the EUPF asked the Kenyan government that the final talks be concluded in Nairobi after it became apparent that H.E Museveni would not offer a solution, a stance also taken by the Ethiopian government. Soon thereafter South Sudan broke into war thereby creating a situation where the entire East African countries and the Western Nation shifted their attention to the situation in there. The EUPF also found it necessary to give priority to the situation in South Sudan since they are their brothers and sisters. The EUPF requested the Kenyan government to also help us in resolving the atrocities and hostilities that was about to bring down the political stability of the entire region. Both the Kenyan and Ethiopian governments supported our request as it was paramount and urgent. This is because the EUPF benefits from regional unity, peace and harmony.

The EUPF’s main objective is maintenance of peace and harmony after the signing of the memorandum of understanding all the East African countries for the main aim of attaining peace. The same can be verified from the Kenyan, Ugandan and Ethiopian governments. However, the falsehoods appearing in the nyamile.com to the effect that the EUPF obtained One Million US Dollars to help Salva Kiir to create hostilities in South Sudan in Bahirdar located at Ethiopian border to North Sudan for the rebels to be defeated is baseless for the following reasons:

1. The Ethiopian government peace talks delegation was headed by the former vice president who failed to cause the peace talks to be held in Juba according to a letter that was obtained from his office by the EUPF.
2. The EUPF is fully interested and committed to the memorandum of understanding.
3. The EUPF has peace with the Ethiopian government therefore does not need aid or interests and/or benefits to cause hostilities in the neighboring countries.
4. It is the EUPF desire that the leaders of Southern Sudan reach a comprehensive peace agreement and to focus on uniting and building of their nation for the benefit of the entire region.

Therefore the EUPF is committed to the ideals above and is looking forward to sign a final peace agreement with the government of Ethiopia. The EUPF wishes to state categorically that the information relayed as said on nyamile.com is false and is intended to malign and/or tarnish the name of EUPF as it does not have any relation with Salva Kiir with regard of creating war.The EUPF relates well with all leaders without discrimination or favor especially among their brothers and sisters in the South Sudan and as such it cannot be practical to see them suffer in bloodshed with its involvement.

• The EUPF is interested to hold talks with its opponents constructively in a more peaceful way for the common good of all.

• The EUPF is willing to cooperate and to give audience to any challenges that may accrue.

• The EUPF has a unique plan for its country Ethiopia that can change the attitudes of all political leaders who believe in the use of force to bring change. It believes in democracy and the rule of law in an effort to heal a nation that has been engulfed in war and abuse of human rights. It is a priority of the EUPF to build the country and forget the past by being united and accommodating each other’s divergent views irrespective of religion, political and social status.

• Finally the EUPF dreams are to design practical peace agreement that can be symbolic and historic in the land of Ethiopia that has never been achieved before.

FROM EUPF PEACE TALKS DELEGATION.