Africa-Press. Diplomatic tension has escalated between Somalia and Kenya after reports indicated that Kenyan immigration authorities prevented a Somali state minister from entering the country and returned him to Mogadishu from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
Reports stated that immigration officials questioned the minister regarding a Kenyan passport he was allegedly carrying before placing him on a flight back to the Somali capital. Neither the Somali nor the Kenyan governments have issued an official statement clarifying the circumstances of the incident or the legal status of the travel document in question.
A local source reported that the minister was leading a delegation of Somali officials and that Kenyan authorities also barred other members of the delegation from entry, without disclosing the nature of the mission they intended to undertake in Kenya.
Following the incident, the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Kenyan ambassador in Mogadishu to seek clarification regarding the prevention of the Somali official and his accompanying delegation from entering.
Somali sources indicated that the meeting was dedicated to protesting the treatment of the delegation, amid fears that the incident could escalate into a new diplomatic crisis between the neighboring countries. Kenyan authorities have not publicly confirmed the meeting or provided an official explanation for the actions taken at the airport.
Reports vary regarding the timing of the incident, with some sources stating it occurred on Sunday, while others indicated that the minister was denied entry on Monday; however, they agreed that he was returned to Mogadishu after being questioned about the alleged passport.
This incident follows a similar occurrence about a month ago when the second deputy prime minister of Somalia, Jibril Abd al-Rashid Haji Abdi, was also denied entry to Kenya due to a related dispute concerning a Kenyan passport. Haji arrived in Nairobi on June 24 using a valid Somali diplomatic passport and visa, but immigration officials suspected he also possessed a Kenyan passport obtained illegally.
According to Kenyan reports, the Somali official refused to surrender the passport in question, asserting that he would only present it in court, before being returned to Mogadishu. Haji later denied circulating allegations regarding his involvement in activities threatening Kenya’s security or sovereignty, describing them as unfounded claims and reaffirming his commitment to the law and good neighborly relations between the two countries.
The tension arises despite improvements in relations between Mogadishu and Nairobi in recent years, following previous disputes over maritime boundaries and regional security issues. The two countries cooperate in combating the armed group Al-Shabaab, while Kenya hosts a large Somali community and is one of Somalia’s key trading partners and a major transit point for the movement of people and goods in the East African region.
