- Foreign Affairs CS Rachel Omamo said the latest round of talks have not not yet bore fruits.
- On January 11, Kenya suspended all inbound and transit passenger flights from the United Arabs Emirates to retaliate.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
The ban on flights between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates will continue after the two failed to reach a consensus again.
Kenya insists that Dubai must first lift its ban on flights from Kenya, after which Nairobi will follow suit.
Foreign Affairs CS Rachel Omamo said the latest round of talks have not not yet bore fruits.
Omamo told journalists the talks were between her ministry, the ministry of health and the officials from the Arab statelet.
“We are still active on the matter, we want them to open their flight paths and then we will reciprocate,” she said on Friday in Nairobi.
Omamo was briefing the media on milestones made by the ministry in the last two years.
The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) banned all flights from Kenya on December 20 claiming several passengers arriving from Nairobi tested positive for Covid-19, yet they had certificates issued in Kenya showing they were negative.
It also said passengers who have been in or transited through Kenya in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Dubai.
On January 11, Kenya suspended all inbound and transit passenger flights from the United Arabs Emirates to retaliate.
"Inbound and transit passenger flights from UAE are suspended for a period of seven days. We are doing this to reciprocate a ban on Kenyan passenger flights to UAE," Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said.
KCAA extended the ban indefinitely this week.
The ban does not, however, affect cargo flights that are normally flown by carriers such as Kenya Airways and Emirates airline from UEA into Kenya.
“They banned flights from Kenya due to many false negative Covid-19 PCR results. The Ministry of Health is investigating and will report findings soon,'' KCAA said.
Yesterday, Omamo said Kenya had done well to manage Covid-19 saying Nairobi hosts the biggest diplomatic community in Africa.
“We have the highest diplomatic footprint in Africa with about 20,000 diplomats staying in Nairobi,” she said.
She also spoke about the achievements the ministry has made in the last two years.
The biggest achievement was the winning of the UN security council seat in June 2020, she said.
UN Member States chose Kenya in a second round of voting on June 18 in the General Assembly, with 192 ambassadors casting their ballots.
Both Kenya and Djibouti had failed to secure the required two-thirds majority on the first round, or 128 votes.
In the second round, Kenya received 129 votes, and Djibouti 62.
“We have managed to concentrate Kenya’s power together,” Omamo said.
She said President Uhuru Kenyatta now chairs the East African Community, while Kenya sits on the peace and security council of the African Union.
Uhuru is also the president-in-office of the summit of organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific states heads and Government.
“When in the history did Kenya have such powers in her hands?" she asked.
“Kenya was ten years ago a country only entitled to essential contacts, but today we are a country that sits on the UN security council.”
Omamo also said the passage of the foreign service bill was a major achievement.
President Uhuru signed the foreign service act in November last year.
It establishes the foreign service academy among other key provisions aimed at enhancing Kenya's foreign relations.
“It will create professionalism in foreign service. In appointing ambassadors we don’t want an overemphasis on political or career diplomats,” Omamo said.