• Talks planned ahead of UK funding for security at marked border posts.
• Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and Defence's Aden Duale to be part of the talks.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Plans are underway to reopen three border points between Kenya and Somalia, after 12 years of closure due to the threat of terrorism. The first meeting is today in Nairobi.
Mandera/Belet Hawo (Belethawa), Liboi-Harhar/Dhobley and Kiunga/Ras Kamboni were closed by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
The previous administration’s term ended before talks on the reopening were concluded.
They were closed in 2011 at the height of al Shabaab attacks.
Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki is leading talks between Kenya and Somalia with a view to reversing the situation.
The Cabinet Secretary said the aim is to ensure resumption of trade between the two countries as well as facilitate movement of people.
CS Kindiki told the Star on the phone ahead of todays’ meeting with Somalia that the talks are critical because both countries need to decide on whether to re-open the borders and when that should happen.
“We will be having important engagements on Monday morning with the Somalia delegation with the view of re-opening the three border points between the two countries,” he said.
Kenya will play host to a high-level ministerial meeting on cross-border cooperation between Kenya and Somalia today in Nairobi.
This is a follow up to a meeting between retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somalia counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on July 15 last year.
During those deliberations, the duo announced a series of steps to address security concerns along the shared border between the two countries as well as reopening of three border points.
CS Prof Kindiki will lead the Monday ministerial meeting, alongside his Somalia counterpart Dr Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali (Doodishe).
The meeting will deliberate on a roadmap to reopen the three border points, to strengthen cross-border cooperation, contribute to regional integration and promote sustainable development between the two countries.
The bilateral meeting will bring together six ministers from the two countries.
Apart from the two Internal Security bosses, Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua, alongside their Defence and Foreign Affairs counterparts from Somalia, will be part of the meeting.
The three border points closed in 2011 are considered critical ports of entry. Closure hampered cross-border trade and free movement of people and goods.
The border points — Handera-Bulahawa in Mandera county, Liboi-Harhar in Garissa county and Kiunga-Daresalam in Lamu county —were closed in 2011.
That was at the height of constant invasion and attacks masterminded by the al Shabaab terror group, resulting in Kenya sending its military to Somalia to pursue and neutralise the armed criminals.
Interior PS Raymond Omollo chairs the border coordination and operations committee, the technical team working on how to reopening the three critical border points.
The Monday meeting aims at providing a platform for the six Cabinet ministers to discuss common security threats, improve border management and infrastructure and exchange ideas and experiences on border security management.
They will also discuss cross border crime, trade facilitation, mobility dynamics, strategic and operational information exchange, strategies to promote greater coordination and collaboration between Kenya and Somalia on cross-border initiatives.
On Thursday, during the launch of the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia Borderlands Security project in Mandera town, CS Kindiki and his Somalia security counterpart emphasised the need for renewed partnerships. The project is funded by the UK.
Together, they can secure the north from terror groups and tackle the complex and sensitive security threats jointly.
CS Kindiki said, “…the programmes we run as governments must be alive to the complex security that we face today as a region. We all must walk together, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder to deliver for our people in the region.”
On Wednesday, the Kenya-UK security compact was signed by CS Kindiki and UK security minister Tom Tugendhat at Harambee House, Nairobi.
The implementation of the Sh1.7 billion per year project will however be subject to consultation and consensus with Kenya’s neighbours, Somalia and Ethiopia.
“It was agreed that this project will proceed, subject to the three partner states, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, sitting down together with the UK," CS Kindiki said.
"[The aim is] to agree on the action plan and the detailed activities so that we walk together to ensure that we leave no detail unattended because of the sensitivities and complexities of security matters in the region,” he said.
The closure of the official entry points has seen the proliferation of the illicit flows of people, arms, and contraband goods through the borders.
(Edited by V. Graham)