Friday February 13, 2026
Mandera (HOL) — Kenyan President William Ruto has announced that Kenya will reopen its border with Somalia in April, nearly 15 years after it was shut over security concerns linked to al-Shabab attacks.
Speaking Thursday at the NYOTA Capital Disbursement event at Mandera Stadium, Ruto said he will personally officiate the reopening of the Mandera Border Post, which has remained closed since 2011.
“We will deploy adequate security to ensure that criminals and insurgent groups do not infiltrate, while giving traders from both regions the freedom to operate. Leave the insurgents to us; we will deal with them.”
“It is unacceptable that fellow Kenyans in Mandera remain cut off from their kin and neighbours in Somalia due to the prolonged closure of the Mandera Border Post,” Ruto also wrote on X. He said the reopening is expected to boost cross-border trade “for the mutual prosperity of our people.”
Mandera, located in Kenya’s far northeast and home to a large ethnic Somali population, has been repeatedly targeted by al-Shabab militants.
In his speech, Ruto urged local residents to cooperate with security forces. “These al-Shabab are useless,” he said. “Kenya will work together with you, just help us combat these criminals and terrorists.”
Kenya closed the 680-kilometer (423-mile) border in October 2011 after a wave of al-Shabab attacks and the launch of Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia. The al-Qaida-affiliated group has since carried out several high-profile attacks inside Kenya, including the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi that killed 67 people and the 2015 Garissa University attack that left 148 dead.
Plans to reopen the border were previously announced in 2023 but were delayed following renewed security incidents. Ruto said the decision to reopen two crossing points follows years of security assessments and will be accompanied by heavy deployment of security forces to prevent infiltration and smuggling.
Kenyan authorities have long cited concerns about illicit weapons and contraband moving across the porous frontier.
On Feb. 6, Kenya’s Ministry of Interior formally announced plans to reopen the border, partly to facilitate the export of miraa, a mild stimulant leaf widely traded between Kenya and Somalia.
In 2015, Kenya began constructing a security barrier along sections of the border to curb militant infiltration. The project, however, was suspended after nearly three years, with only about 10 kilometers (6 miles) of fencing completed at a reported cost of $35 million.
The planned reopening marks a significant shift in policy and could ease economic strain in border communities that have long relied on cross-border trade, even as security concerns remain central to the decision.
