Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urges easier trade and travel with Kenya at Mashujaa Day in Eldoret


Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks at a podium at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret during Kenya's Mashujaa Day celebrations on October 20, 2026

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks as chief guest at Kenya's 63rd Mashujaa Day celebrations at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret, October 20, 2026. Photo: Abiy Ahmed (@AbiyAhmedAli) via X

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for easier trade and travel between Ethiopia and Kenya on Tuesday, speaking as chief guest at Kenya's Mashujaa Day celebrations in Eldoret, according to Kenyan media and his office.

The Prime Minister spoke at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Uasin Gishu County, where Kenyan President William Ruto hosted the 63rd celebration of the national holiday that honors those who fought for Kenya's freedom. "Our farmers and producers must trade more easily across our borders. Let more of our people visit each other's countries, discover our cultures and learn together. More families must benefit from our friendship," he said, according to The Star, a Nairobi daily.

He described the relationship as one built on geography and history, as The Star reported. "Geography made us neighbours. History made us brothers. Our choices must make us partners in shared prosperity," he said, and added, referring to the athletics rivalry, "We race as rivals, but build as partners. In Ethiopia, we call this spirit Medemer, meaning synergy." He also pointed to Kenyan business in Ethiopia, saying, "Today, Safaricom connects millions of Ethiopians, and M-Pesa helps people send money and make payments."

The Standard, another Kenyan daily, reported that the Prime Minister spent part of his speech on Kenya's young people. "Freedom is a trust. We pass it to the next generation and we must turn it into opportunity for every citizen," he said, and then told the crowd, "The message to you, young people, is clear. You too can serve and help build Kenya." He recalled the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta and five other Kenyan leaders in October 1952 and compared their struggle with the Ethiopian victory at Adwa in 1896, saying, "African freedom was not given. It was won by people who did not give up their dignity."

On his own X account on Tuesday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wrote that he had delivered remarks "paying tribute to the heroes who fought for freedom and those who made the ultimate sacrifices to safeguard their nation." The Ethiopian News Agency quoted another part of his message, in which he wrote that "as our histories are intertwined, so too must our futures be" and that the two countries must keep building on their cooperation in clean energy, connectivity, telecommunications and trade. President Ruto thanked him on X "for accepting to be the chief guest in celebrating this year's Mashujaa Day." The Prime Minister's office said he also planted a tree at the Eldoret State House, and TRT Afrika's Swahili service reported on Wednesday that President Ruto had taken him on a private visit to his Koelel farm in Uasin Gishu County, where he showed him dairy and crop operations.

The Abay Times, an English-language Ethiopian news site, reported that no new trade agreement, tariff concession or customs regulation was announced during the speech. The two governments signed a Simplified Trade Border Regime agreement for small traders at Moyale in December 2025, according to Kenya's State Department for Trade, and the Abay Times reported that Ethiopian Electric Power is preparing to double electricity exports to Kenya from 200 to 400 megawatts beginning in December. The Star, citing figures from Kenya's foreign ministry, reported that trade between the two countries rose from $74.9 million in 2019 to $211 million in 2024, with the balance in Kenya's favor.

The visit came as a single, unconfirmed report circulated on X claiming that Eritrea had asked Kenya to mediate with Ethiopia. Bashir Hashi Yussuf, who describes himself on X as an independent journalist, a military analyst and a former editor of the Xog-Ogaal newspaper, wrote on Tuesday evening, citing "diplomatic sources," that Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and presidential adviser Yemane Gebreab "were in Nairobi a few days ago to request that Kenya mediate between Eritrea and Ethiopia." He wrote that Eritrea had proposed peacekeeping forces along the border, "similar to the arrangement following the Algiers Agreement," and added, "It appears that Ethiopia has not accepted this proposal." Bashir Hashi Yussuf also wrote that it "remains unclear" whether the Prime Minister's visit was linked to any mediation. Mereja found no statement from the Kenyan, Ethiopian or Eritrean governments about such a meeting. One Eritrean user, @teamett33, replied that "Eritrea will never ask any mediation from anyone with Ethiopia."

Mereja has asked Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Communication Service to confirm or deny that Eritrea asked Kenya to mediate, with a deadline of noon ET on Thursday, and will update this story with any response.

The trip followed a Tigrinya-language interview in which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warned Eritrea that the consequences of ignoring his warnings would be "very, very, very severe," which Mereja reported on Tuesday. Accounts on X have also described a call-up in Eritrea. Martin Plaut, whose X profile lists him as a fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, posted on Tuesday that there was "confirmation that Eritreans as old as 65 have been rounded up by the military in the past week," and Bashir Hashi Yussuf wrote that eyewitnesses arriving from Eritrea described "a full-scale mobilization" in several towns, with loudspeakers calling men and women to meetings on defense. The Eritrean government has not commented publicly on those reports.

Some Ethiopian and Somali voices on X questioned the visit. Berhanemeskel Nega, whose X profile says he has more than 35 years of experience in multilateral diplomacy and UN peace and humanitarian operations, replied to President Ruto on Wednesday, "Wherever Abiy Ahmed goes, death and destruction follow," recalling the Prime Minister's appearance in Khartoum as a guest of honor in the early days of Sudan's December revolution, and ended, "May God protect Kenya!" Siyad Madey, whose profile describes him as a legal and political strategist, asked "Which side of the region's geopolitical aisle is Kenya on?" He noted that the two leaders had stood together three weeks earlier at the groundbreaking of the $16 billion Lamu refinery, while Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud joined the leaders of Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan at El Alamein on October 4.

Back in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wrote on X that he had visited the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission, which he called "an institution of strategic importance to Ethiopia's long-term development vision."

Sources

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