Somalia's protests no justification to sever ties with Kenya — Igad

Somalia’s grievances against Kenya were no justification to sever diplomatic relations, an Igad fact-finding commission has said.

In an apparent indictment of Somalia, the Igad team says in its report: "The commission considers that these grievances, some of them long-standing, do not appear sufficient to justify a diplomatic separation between Kenya and Somalia.”

The committee formed on December 22 after the 38th Igad Summit in Djibouti further termed Somalia's move as disproportionate and unproductive given the two countries are “intimately linked politically, humanely and economically”.

“The consequences of this measure on the 3,000 Somali children attending Kenyan schools on the other side of the border, the hindrance to the functioning of Amisom, which has been experiencing difficulties in relief operations among Kenyan troops, and the economic impact of the embargo on khat in the agricultural region of Meru are a perfect illustration of this,” it said.

The team made up of diplomats, military officers and an Igad representative recommended diplomatic efforts at the highest level to reconcile the two states.

Asked about Kenya's reaction to the report, Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau said they are still digesting it and would give an official position later. Kamau, however, said given it is not Kenya that broke the relations, the responsibility falls on Somalia.

Prof Peter Kagwanja, a governance policy analyst, told the Star Somalia was in the wrong from the onset and regional leaders told him so during the Igad summit. He said Somalia tries to use Kenya for its own domestic issues, noting that President Mohamed Farmaajo is facing a difficult election.

“With the electoral crisis in Somalia, Farmaajo was trying to use the diplomatic shutdown to make a headway,” Kagwanja said on Tuesday.

Mogadishu severed diplomatic ties with Nairobi on November 30, accusing Kenya of interference in domestic affairs. It listed to the commission five grievances—violation of its airspace; violation of its land borders, that Kenyan forces, led by Amisom, leave their positions and move on to other locations; recognition and collaboration with Jubaland; participation in the illegal sugar and coal trade in Kismayu; and the creation, training and maintenance in Kenya of an armed group under the authority of Abdirashid Janan, the Jubaland security minister.

Kenya denied all the accusations, but the commission found it culpable for violation of Somalia’s airspace.

"The commission considers that there is sufficient evidence that Kenyan aircraft entered the Somali territory in disregard of the provisions of the Convention on Civil Aviation signed in Chicago on December 7, 1944.

“In disagreement with the local authorities in Jubaland, the federal government had instructed all aircraft to land in Mogadishu. Kenyan planes braved the ban to defeat a total air embargo that provides no exemptions for any reason, including humanitarian evacuations,” the team said.

The commission, however, found no evidence on the other accusations, including recognition and collaboration with Jubaland. It said the participation of Garissa Township MP Aden Duale and Senator Yusuf Haji in the enthronement of Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe did not amount to recognition.

“However, no one can contest the proximity of the Kenyan government to the regional authorities to preserve security on their soil in a region infested by terrorists. Kenya has made great human sacrifices to free this region from the shebabs (al Shabaab) to protect itself from many attacks that have been perpetrated on its soil,” the report says.

Prof Kagwanja said Kenya has been a victim of Farmaajo’s attempt to rig the election by attempting to split votes in Gedo and Kismayu and should keep off to avoid being “used like Ethiopia in 2016”.

“Farmaajo knows that if he reinstates relations, he loses the election,” Kagwanja said.

But even with calls to dialogue, Somalia Information Minister Osman Abukar Dubbe accused Kenya of arming and backing rebels (Jubaland soldiers) who attacked Beled Hawo town in Gedo early Monday.

But Kenya distanced itself from the attack and wrote to AU chairman Moussa Faki expressing concerns about renewed fights between Somali Army and Jubaland forces in the border town. Kenya said the clashes would trigger displacement and generate a high number of refugees.

In response, Faki urged the two states to exercise restraint and engage in dialogue in conformity with the IGAD-led process.

“Peace on the Kenya-Somalia border is vital to regional stability,” Faki said on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Mogadishu lifted a ban imposed on the sale of miraa from Kenya but said traders must apply for import licences.