Somalia Members of Parliament take a vote. PHOTO | FILE | NMG Nairobi and Mogadishu have agreed to have their respective ambassadors return to their duty stations, ending six months of frosty ties.
But they must now move to address issues largely left unattended to when they each withdrew their diplomats in December, after Somalia accused Kenya of interference in Mogadishu’s internal political affairs.
Last week, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo spoke for the first time this year on phone with her Somalia counterpart Abdirizak Mohamed and they “emphasised the importance of normalising diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
According to a shared dispatch released by both governments, “the two leaders agreed to keep bilateral diplomatic channels of communications open between the two capitals in all matters of future strategic diplomatic relations.”
This is a welcome gesture for the region because since last December, the two countries had largely been having indirect communication, often through third parties like Qatar who helped mediate through the tension.
Respective ambassadors, Maj-Gen (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo of Kenya and Somalia’s Mohamud Nur Tarzan, will be reporting to duty stations with already a number of issues waiting to be immediately tackled.
But even as the two sides were warming up to each other, Somalia was fronting an accusation at the UN that Kenya’s Defence Forces were conducting illegal airstrikes and killing civilians in Jubbaland.
“The nature of these widespread and systematic air attacks on Somali civilians and infrastructure rises to the distinction of war crimes under international law,” claimed Abukar Osman Baale, Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, on June 15.
He had submitted to the UN Security Council, what he called evidence of Kenyan airstrikes in Somalia, including incidences in El Adde where Somalia claims a child and a woman were struck to death.
The African Union Mission, under which the KDF serve, has promised to investigate the June 3 incident, but Somalia’s decision to proceed with a complaint to the UN signals an enduring mistrust.
Adam Aw Hirsi, a former Somalia senior government official told The EastAfrican that the mending of relations could be a crucial step towards addressing the mistrust, especially on the conduct of the security forces.“The ostensible thawing of relationship between Somalia and Kenya is a good thing. “However, there is an active hostility by KDF on civilians minding their animals in Gedo. Now Somalia cannot disown Gedo people as Kenya cannot disassociate with KDF,” he said.Amisom, however, […]