Farmaajo forestalls Roble’s Kenyan talks to protect his lucrative khat deal with Ethiopia

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Barely a few hours after word went out that Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Rachael Omamo was to arrive in Mogadishu, outgoing President Mohamed Farmaajo issued a decree putting a caveat on all local and international agreements in disguise of cushioning the state from sunset pacts but there is more than meets the eye.

Farmaajo and associates currently control the multi-million dollar khat business now run by the Ethiopians after Villa Somalia mandarins locked out Kenya in March 2020 in the guise of COVID-19 restrictions. It is against this backdrop that the Kenyan Minister’s arrival and a subsequent invite of PM Roble to visit Nairobi is now being upstaged by Farmaajo through a ‘presidential decree’.

After Somalia lifted the international flights’ ban in May 2020, khat flights from Nairobi were locked out and the gates of Aden Adde Airport flanged open for Ethiopian khat. Farmaajo had built a relationship with the now embattled Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s strong man Isaias Afwerki all of whom formed a momentary Horn of Africa Alliance.

MARITIME ROW

“Trade agreements with other countries have been suspended during the country’s elections,” the decree released Saturday night read in part.

Ambassador Omamo is expected to deliver an invite to Roble today in her visit to Mogadishu. This follows a brief encounter between Roble and President Uhuru Kenyatta June during which time the Kenyan leader extended an invite to the Somali PM. The meeting, Goobjoog News has learnt will be deliberating and signing a pact on resumption of khat trade between the two countries.

Kenya has tried severally to no avail to convince Farmaajo to rescind the khat ban and may be banking on Roble who has had a rapprochement with his neighbour.

There have also been reports in Kenyan media that Omamo could be on a charm offensive to seek a reopening of talks with Somalia on the maritime dispute. Somalia has stood ground that the matter can only be disposed of through a judicial process at the International Court of Justice. Proceedings at the Court concluded in June to pave way for a verdict perhaps in the coming year.

The maritime issue remains one of Farmaajo’s strong re-election points thus whipping public opinion by castigating his Prime Minister becomes a convenient stick.