Kenya’s diplomatic tiff with Somalia seems to have grown from bad to worse after Somali news outlets reported on Monday evening that Kenya had denied a number of lawmakers access into the country.
The three officials Junior Minister of Water, Energy Minister Osman Libah and legislators Ilyas Ali Hassan and Zamzam Dahir with diplomatic passports were denied entry at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Monday with allegations that they lacked visas.
The three who were part of a government delegation scheduled to attend the launch of a European Union-sponsored cross-border conflict management programme on Tuesday. The programme is meant to quell frequent border clashes between communities living near boundaries between Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
The three told Somalia-based Radio Dalsan that they were told they would have to return to Mogadishu, even though some of their colleagues travelling on foreign passports had been allowed in.
“Dalsan Media has learned that the Somali Embassy in Nairobi unsuccessfully interceded on behalf of the three,” they added in a follow-up tweet. Reports indicate that the trio are expected to return to Mogadishu on Tuesday morning and are likely to spend the night at JKIA
This comes barely a week after Kenya Civil Aviation Authority directed flights from Mogadishu to stop over in Wajir for security checks before proceeding to any other airport in Kenya. KCAA boss Gilbert Kibe said that the move was for security reasons despite protests from Mogadishu.
In February this year, Kenya summoned its ambassador to Somalia, saying it was protesting a decision by the Mogadishu government to auction oil and gas exploration blocks at the centre of a maritime territorial dispute in the Indian Ocean.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is considering a claim by the two neighbours over a common maritime boundary. The case was brought by Somalia in 2014 after negotiations over the 100,000 square km stretch of sea floor broke down