Somali MPs protest against border wall

NUMBER of Members of Parliament in Mogadishu on Monday protested Kenya’s move to build a security wall along its border with Somalia.
The legislators argued the construction of the security wall is an “infringement on our territorial integrity” and insisted Kenya had encroached on their land.
Kenya is planning to build a 440-mile wall along its border with Somalia in a bid to keep out al Shabaab and boost security after a wave of attacks that have claimed scores of lives and provoked severe criticism of the government’s response.
The wall, a series of concrete barriers, fences, ditches and observation posts overlooked by CCTV stations, is expected to stretch from the Indian Ocean to Mandera, where both countries converge with Ethiopia. Efforts to contact officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unsuccessful as phones went unanswered.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohammed is in Juba for peace talks and Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta to Khartoum for the swearing-in ceremony of President Omar al Bashir. The MPs’ protest came as locals in Beled Hawo near Mandera held demonstrations against what they called “colonial tendencies” by Kenya.
The protestors held placards calling on President Hassan Shiekh Mohamud to “exert authority” and “protect Somali land”. “As member of Igad and an eastern Africa country, we ask Kenya to move their construction equipment and guarding military hardware with immediate effect,” said MP Mohamed Talha in Mogadishu.
“It is an illegal construction and abuse of our longstanding international relations. It threatens our fragile peace as well,” he said. “Of late Kenya has been carrying out some moves that we are uncomfortable with. This is likely to dent our relations further.” In Bula Hawo near border town of Mandera, district commissioner Noor Hared led protestors in calling on KDF to leave their country. Kenyan soldiers are deployed in the area to provide security for the construction teams.
In April, Somali National Army Gedo region commander Yassin Bare Hassan dismissed Kenyan’s security wall, saying beacons were erected on Somali land. Hassan said at least 10km of Somali land “has been taken” in the Gedo region along the border. Somalia has already sued Kenya at the International Court of Justice in a maritime boundary dispute between the two nations over exploration rights.
Interior ministry spokesperson Mwenda Njoka yesterday told the Star that while Kenya has no problem consulting a neighbour, he “honestly believes Kenya has not encroached on anyone’s land”.
Source: the-star.co.ke