Kenyan President William Ruto last Saturday announced that he and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni would lead the mediation process between Ethiopia and Somalia in a dispute that threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa region. Landlocked Ethiopia, which has thousands of troops in Somalia to fight al Qaeda-linked insurgents, has angered the Mogadishu government with its plan to build a port in the breakaway region of Somaliland, which in exchange for the port could gain possible recognition as an independent nation from Ethiopia. Somaliland has struggled to gain international recognition despite governing itself and enjoying comparative peace and stability since declaring independence in 1991. Lulu Gaboo spoke to George William Mugerwa, head of the Department of Leadership at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.