End Kenya-Somalia spat

What you need to know:

  • The Somali leadership needs Kenya’s support to confront and diminish Al-Shabaab terrorist threat.
  • Kenya also needs Somalia to help ward off the terror threat.  

Just several weeks after Somalia reopened its embassy in Nairobi, with diplomats lauding this as a major step in the restoration of its official ties with Kenya, a row has erupted that threatens to torpedo this.

The embassy function, a key event in Somalia’s regional and international relations in two decades, had raised optimism.

Kenya and Somalia need each other, with the latter, of course, much more as the leadership in Mogadishu builds up its capacity in line with its recognition by the African Union, the United Nations and the international community.

The Somali leadership needs Kenya’s support to confront and diminish Al-Shabaab terrorist threat. 

Kenya continues to play a key role in the African Mission in Somalia (Amisom), to which it has contributed troops that captured and control the key port of Kismayu.

However, Kenya also needs Somalia to help ward off the terror threat, still smarting from cross-border attacks planned in the territory under the militants.

Co-operation between the two countries is thus essential, as Al-Shabaab is their common enemy, which could take advantage of their disagreements to inflict damage on them.

In the latest spat, Somalia has recalled its ambassador in Nairobi for consultations and ordered his Kenyan counterpart out. Mogadishu is accusing Nairobi of interfering in its election plans.

The bone of contention appears to be the cozy relations between Kenya and the Jubbaland State, which Mogadishu is accusing of rejecting a deal reached in October to allow indirect elections next month.

Kenya has vehemently denied interfering in Somali affairs, but Jubbaland has always been a close ally. It has not hidden its desire for a friendly administration close to its porous border that is easily breached by Al-Shabaab. It has also protested against the manner in which its ambassador in Mogadishu has been treated.

Nairobi and Mogadishu should resolve the spat and focus on the bigger picture, which is the war on terror.