Kenya border wall halted to allow dispute resolution-Somalia

Somalia and Kenya agreed this past week to halt the construction of the border wall along boundaries of the two countries to pave way for resolution of emerging disputes, the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Mogadishu has said.

Responding to criticisms from lawmakers and the public that it was not acting to protect the interests of its country, the government said President Mohamed Farmaajo had in the last one year held three discussions on the matter with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta over the issues.

President Farmaajo first engaged Kenyatta during a visit to Nairobi last March and followed with another call March 23 this year, the Ministry said in a statement. “He also had a phone conversation with his counterpart March 24 and they agreed to halt the construction of the wall.”

The two Presidents, the Ministry said agreed to form a joint commission headed by district commissioners from Kenyan and Somali side to find solutions to the disputes which in the past few weeks have led to demonstrations in Beledhawo over claims Kenya had encroached into Somalia’s territory.

MPs have also accused the government of what they termed as laxity to pursues the matter. “The government seems to have given up over this boundary issues,” outspoken lawmaker Mohamed Dalha told Goobjoog News this past week. Dalha said if the government had acted on the House recommendations in 2015 the current problem would have been solved.

A fact finding mission by a committee of the Lower House said in its report January 3 the wall had eaten into the Somali territory locking 790 families from Somalia into the Kenyan side.

Kenya began the construction of a border wall in 2015 as it sought to bolster its security efforts amidst frequent Al-Shabaab attacks.

GOOBJOOG NEWS