Saturday November 16, 2019
Kenya and Somalia have agreed to restore bilateral agreements that would allow free movement of people, a move that signals a possible thaw in relations.
At a meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali counterpart Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo said they were defending the relations between the two countries, regardless of an existing maritime boundary case at the International Court of Justice.
The development will see Mogadishu and Nairobi restore visas on arrival for their nationals and that aviation authorities will work to restore direct flights between cities.
“The two principals agreed to bring normality to our bilateral relations and do everything to ensure peaceful relations including obtaining visas on arrival to encourage free movement of our people,” Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary said after the meeting in Nairobi.
“President Farmaajo expressed gratitude for the role of Kenya in Amisom, hospitality to Somalis refugees, and expressed his confidence that the ICJ issue would be resolved in a mutually acceptable manner and not affect our bilateral relations,” the statement added.
“We have a lot of things in common, our people to people, governmnet to government, and trade which is mutually beneficial...that's why ICJ issue would not affect our bilateral relationship,” Farmaajo said during a press conference.