Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has hit back at US President Donald Trump for questioning his recent Nobel Peace Prize.
Abiy Ahmed was named the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to “achieve peace and international cooperation” within the East African sub-region.
Ahmed’s Ethiopia reached a peace deal with Eritrea in 2018. That ended a 20-year military stalemate after years of border war between 1998-2000.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister emerged winner out of a total of 301 candidates that were nominated for the prestigious award.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Ahmed “has been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.”
“The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions,” it added.
But President Trump suggested he should have won the prize last year.
He said at a rally last week that “I’m going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize, I’ll tell you about that.
I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country.
I said: ‘What, did I have something to do with it?’ Yeah, but you know, that’s the way it is. As long as we know, that’s all that matters… I saved a big war, I’ve saved a couple of them.”
“I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, ‘what, did I have something do with it?'” — Trump whines about not having a Nobel Peace Prize pic.twitter.com/PjVsZCkThY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2020
In response to Trump, Mr Abiy said he did not have “any clue about the criteria, how the Nobel Committee select an individual for the prize”.
He asked Mr Trump to complain to the Nobel Committee in Oslo over his snub.
VIDEO: After US President Donald Trump said that he believes he deserves the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, Abiy Ahmed, the winner and Ethiopian Prime Minister replied: “If Donald Trump wants to complain, he should go to Oslo, not Ethiopia” pic.twitter.com/63IrjUKK9D
— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 12, 2020
Source: Africafeeds.com