Ethiopian Prime Minister Responds to Trump's Claims of Being Snubbed for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize

UPDATE 01/13: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmedis currently in South Africa to seek mediation from President Cyril Ramaphosa in light of the deadlock with Egypt over a potential hydropower project on the Nile River.

At a press briefing in Pretoria, Ahmed responded to questions around President Donald Trump's recent claims to having been snubbed for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize although he was allegedly instrumental in "saving Ethiopia", according to the BBC.

Last year, Ahmed was awarded the prize largely for his role in ending the two-decade long border conflict with neighbouring country Eritrea.

"The issue of President Trump must go to the Nobel Peace Prize committee. I'm not aware of how they select someone," Ahmed began. He went on to add that, "If President Trump complained it must go to Oslo not to Ethiopia." The statesman also reiterated how he was not doing the work "for a prize" but "for peace in the region".

Watch Ahmed's full response in the short video below:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed responds to Donald Trump | AFPwww.youtube.com

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At a rally in Toledo, Ohio yesterday, President Donald Trump told his MAGA supporters that he should have been awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize. According to The Week, President Trump said that he deserved the award seeing as he was the one who actually "saved Ethiopia".

The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his efforts towards "[achieving] peace and international cooperation".

It's safe to say President Trump still harbours some resentment towards the Norwegian Nobel committee for apparently snubbing him for last year's Nobel Peace Prize.

"I'm going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize," he said. "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 do with it?'" President Trump ended off by saying, "Yeah, but you know, that's the way it is. As long as we know, that's all that matters."

What catapulted Ahmed into the race for the Nobel Peace Prize was largely the work he did in bringing an end to the two-decade long border conflict with neighbouring country Eritrea in addition to his commitment to multiparty elections and achieving gender equality in his cabinet. It was a considerable amount of work to plough through in the short span of time since Ahmed was elected into office in 2017.

However, not all Ethiopians welcomed Ahmed's win. In fact, he formally accepted the award in October of last year during a wave of protests in the East-African country. Hundreds of Ethiopians took to the streets in protest after prominent opposition activist and media owner Jawar Mohammed allegedly had his security personnel taken away from him by Ahmed's government.

The army was eventually deployed to the Oromia region where the protests were taking place in an attempt to maintain order.