Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister expected to visit Somalia's capital

Foreign CS Amb Raychelle Omamo. Image: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NAIROBI, Kenya - Raychelle Omamo, the minister for Foreign Affairs in Kenya, is set to visit Mogadishu, sources have revealed, with her Sunday's trip coming just hours after Garowe Online established that PM Mohamed Hussein Roble is set for a visit to Nairobi.

According to verified reports, Ms Omamo and her entourage will be landing at Adan Adde International Airport on Sunday and will be received by her Somali counterpart Mohamed Abdirizak, who was appointed to the docket in December 2020.

Reports indicate that Ms Omamo is honouring the invitation by Abdirizak, a renowned diplomatic and close ally of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo. This will be Obama's first trip to Mogadishu which comes weeks after the two nations normalized relationships.

Somalia had restored its relationship with Kenya in May after the push and pull, but Qatar is credited for playing a pivotal role. Kenya had suspended flights to Mogadishu, in what is linked to Somalia's decision to ban Khat export to the Horn of Africa nation.

But for months, Somalia had accused Kenya of interfering with her internal affairs, citing KDF operations in Jubaland. However, Kenya has persistently denied the claims, accusing Somalia of "trumping up" allegations to jeopardize her integrity.

Ms Omamo and Abdirizak are set to discuss the relationship between the two nations, with the Khat export and bilateral ties set to feature. It's not clear how long Ms Omamo will be staying in the Horn of Africa nation.

Coincidentally, Obama's trip to Somalia comes hours after The Garowe Online established that Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble is set for a trip to Kenya. Already, his advance team has been sighted in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

Roble is honouring an invitation from President Uhuru Kenyatta, with whom they met in Djibouti early this year. His trip also comes at the time Somalia is in an electioneering mood after it settled issues that were surrounding the exercise.

Multiple sources have intimidated Garowe Online that outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo is unhappy with Roble's trip to Nairobi. For months, Farmaajo has not been comfortable with Kenya, which he accuses of working closely with opposition politicians.

The relationship between the two leaders nosedived recently when Roble sacked two senior officers within the National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] after they were linked to blocking politicians and other opposition candidates from travelling to their constituencies for campaigns.

But just after their sack, spy chief Fahad Yasin, a close ally of Farmaajo, reinstated them. It's not clear how Roble reacted to the decision to reinstate them but the PM has been making tough decisions, some against the very government he serves.

GAROWE ONLINE