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Political crises are at a boiling point between Somalia and Kenya, where the Somali government called in its ambassador to Kenya, Mohamud Ahmed Nur ‘Tarzan’ for what it called consultation. He also asked his counterpart, Ambassador Lucas Tumbo, to leave Mogadishu.
Somalia has accused the Kenyan government of interfering in Somalia’s internal affairs. Kenya denied the Somalia accusations.
This decision is likely to resume political and economic disagreement between the two.
Current admiration in Somalia blames Kenya for several of the major political problems; The fact that opposition groups met in Kenya at the beginning of the month is a main factor and the problems of the state of Jubaland is the second main factor.
Kenyan troops are now based in Jubaland as part of the African Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Somalia accuses the Kenyan government of having enormous political influence over Jubaland, where the president’s clan is at odds with the Jubaland state president’s clan in the struggle for power.
The relationship of these neighboring countries had already been tainted for some time: the international coronavirus epidemic had prompted the Somali government to ban Kat’s trade. Subsequently causing Kenyan farmers to lose millions of dollars of income.
There is also a maritime boundary dispute that is currently in an international court. Kenya wants an out-of-court settlement and the Somali side wants a legal settlement.
Analysts believe that this new diplomatic argument is a smokescreen to hide the essence of the matter. The Kenyan government does not want the Somali president to be re-elected in the next Somali elections. In this way, Kenya had allowed the great gathering of opposition groups in their country.
It is no secret that the Government of Somalia is working on a plan to expel Kenyan troops from AMISOM. Some reliable sources say that admiring Somali and their close allies have secretly gathered in Mogadishu to argue that Kenya is unsuitable for membership in the peacekeeping force in Somalia.
My hunches are, only time will tell if that plan reaches its implementation, but there is a clandestine pretext that can lead to an unnecessary military confrontation.
Meanwhile, many in Somali opposition groups see this as a clear conflict of interest; It is clear that the decision has nothing to do with the Somali national interest, as President Farmajo’s clan is at odds with President Jubaland’s clan in the localized power struggle. They believe it is PROOF to prevent another war in the region, even though a fierce war is being fought in Ethiopia. The end.
By Mohamed Mohamud Adde.
The author is an academic and independent Somali political analyst living in Mogadishu.