President Mohamud heads to Nairobi on fourth overseas trip since his election on May 15

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is on Thursday headed to Nairobi, Kenya on a two-day official visit.

President Hassan Sheikh will meet with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta to discuss issues of common interest to the two countries and is also expected to meet with the Somali diaspora in the East African country.

The president’s trip will be his fourth overseas trip since he was elected on May 15. He has previously traveled to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and the most recent visit being Eritrea, where he had gone to visit Somali soldiers who had received training in the country for the last 3 years.

The Somali president was expected in Kenya during the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) meeting on June 5 to sign a bilateral air service agreement that would unlock the miraa trade between the two countries. The deal failed to take off as President Hassan was away on an official trip to Turkey. The Kenyan Agriculture Minister Peter Munya said the signing of the agreement had been postponed.

The Somali president’s visit to Nairobi marks the thawing of relations between the two countries which have been strained for the past two years. Ties have been dogged by a long-running maritime border dispute as well as Somali accusations of Kenya meddling in its affairs, while Nairobi has accused Mogadishu of using it as a scapegoat for its own political and security problems.