Kenya will not cut its ties with Somalia and instead, will set up a team to resolve their diplomatic squabbles, Spokesman Cyrus Oguna said Tuesday.
“We are a higher nation, we cannot do the same thing Somalia has done. If we do so it will look like revenge hence, we will let the IGAD and Comesa take control of it,” Oguna said.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will hold a summit on December 20 in Djibouti.
#Somalia inevitably decides to severe its diplomatic relations with #Kenya as result of constant interference in the internal and political affairs of Somalia. This is violation of African Union’s Constitutive Act and is an affront to the peaceful coexistence of African nations.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇸🇴 (@MOFASomalia) December 15, 2020
In response to the Federal Government of #Somalia letter against #Kenya, which was submitted to H.E. Abdalla Hamdok, PM of the Republic of #Sudan & the Chair of the #IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the IGAD will hold a summit in #Djibouti on Dec 20 on this matter.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇸🇴 (@MOFASomalia) December 13, 2020
According to Col. Cyrus Oguna, “As a country, we have been very kind and accommodating because you know even in Daadab (refugee center) we have camps that currently house over 200,000 people from the neighboring country and therefore we have a lot of commonality between these two countries and anything that is capable of undermining that, is, of course, something that efforts must be put in place to ensure it is resolved.”
Kenya’s response follows Somalia’s move to cut ties with it; in what it said is “to safeguard the unity, sovereignty, stability of the country.”
“The Somali government, on the basis of its sovereignty, international law and order, and in fulfillment of its constitutional duty to safeguard the unity, sovereignty and stability of the country, has decided to cut off diplomatic relations with the Government of Kenya,” said Osman Dubbe, Somalia’s information minister on Twitter.
