Nairobi – The leaders of Kenya and Somalia announced on Friday a raft of policy changes aimed at resuming normal trade and easing diplomatic tensions between the neighbours following years of hostility.
Uhuru Kenyatta and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud held bilateral talks in Nairobi where they committed to freer movement and resuming the trade of some key exports, including the mild narcotic khat.
They also agreed to reopen their border, resume Kenya Airways flights to Mogadishu, and waive visas for visiting diplomats and officials, said a joint statement issued by both foreign ministries.
“The people of Kenya and Somalia are tied at the hip. We are one people, one region, facing common challenges, and the only solution to those challenges is us working together,” said Kenyatta after the meeting at State House.
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It is the second time the leaders have met since Mohamud’s election in May, and another sign that ties were improving after a period of frostiness.
The relationship has been frayed by a long-running dispute over a potentially resource-rich chunk of the Indian Ocean claimed by both countries, and cross-border attacks by the Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab.
Mogadishu has accused Nairobi of meddling in its affairs, while Kenya has accused Somalia of seeking a scapegoat for its own problems. Diplomatic ties have been suspended and resumed on multiple occasions in recent years.
Somalia banned air shipments of Kenyan khat in March 2020. Initially in response to the coronavirus pandemic, diplomatic tensions ensured the ban remained even as other Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.
The election of Mohamud had raised hopes and Kenyan officials had earlier flagged a resumption of exports, but Somalia’s new government had remained silent on the issue.
ALSO READ | Somalia to lift Kenyan khat ban as ties improve
After the bilateral talks Friday, Kenyatta said the trade of khat to Somalia “should resume with immediate effect” while Kenya would grant market access to Somali fish.
Officials from both countries had two weeks to finalise the details: “We have said we have no time to lose,” Kenyatta explained.
Kenyan khat trading associations said that before the ban about 50 tonnes of the mildly narcotic leaf was exported to Somalia every day, equivalent to about 16 million Kenyan shillings ($136 000).
Somalia has been a crucial export market for Kenyan khat traders ever since the Netherlands and Britain imposed a ban in 2012 and 2014 respectively, joining the ranks of other Western nations which classify it as a drug.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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