Somali elections, counter-terrorism to feature in Kerry’s meeting in Nairobi

US Secretary of State John Kerry will Sunday arrive in Nairobi for talks with the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta which is also expected to address the upcoming Somalia elections and the ensuing political instability in South Sudan.

There is no official communication whether Somalia will be represented in the talks but the US is keen on following the electoral process which comes a year before Kenya’s, a development which will also dominate the Nairobi talks.

Kerry’s visit to the continent which will also extend to Nigeria is indicative of the US interest in the region with the war on terror topping the list of Kerry’s itinerary. The US in collaboration with Somalia’s elite forces has in the last few months ratcheted up its clandestine missions aimed at plucking out senior Al-Shabaab leaders.

Preliminary reports last week indicated a joint covert operation might have killed or captured top Al-Shabaab leaders including its chief Ahmed Diriye and spokesman Abu Muscab in Sakow town, Middle Shabelle.

Kerry visited Somalia last May when he pledged to expedite the deployment of full ambassadorial presence of the US in Somalia. Early this month a new US ambassador Stephen M. Schwartz presented his letter of credence to Somalia’s foreign affairs minister ahead of presentation of credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

The instability in South Sudan will also feature in the Nairobi meeting following the fragile state of the world’s new country. The country’s deputy president Riek Machar left the capital Juba in July and has now been reported to be in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has since been replaced by Taban Deng Gai.