NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 — Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has arrived in Nairobi for what the semi-autonomous region agitating for independence has termed a “strategic diplomatic visit”.
Abdullahi arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday, a day after Kenya reaffirmed its commitment to Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity — including the semi-autonomous regions of Jubaland and Somaliland — under the Federal Government in Mogadishu.
Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho received President Abdullahi who left the airport “in [a] formal procession to his official residence in the capital”, his office stated.
“This visit marks a continued effort to strengthen diplomatic ties, foster regional cooperation, and advance Somaliland’s strategic engagement on the international stage,” Presidential Spokesman Hussein Adan Igeh said.
President Abdullahi ’s visit comes against the backdrop of renewed scrutiny of Kenya’s delicate foreign policy balancing act.
In its statement on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs underscored Kenya’s respect for Somalia’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, and political independence,” stating that it unequivocally recognizes Mogadishu as the sole legitimate authority over all Somali territories.
Nairobi however maintaned it will seek to advance patnerships with Jubaland and Somaliland.
“To advance the partnership, Kenya will maintain contact and relations with sub national governments in Jubaland and Somaliland, and in consultation with the Federal Government of Somalia to establish contact and as well as diplomatic presence as may be agreed from time to time with the aim of supporting security cooperation and commercial interests and in line with the principles of mutual respect and good neighbourliness,” the ministry stated.
Kenya has had repeated diplomatic tiffs with Somalia, some blamed on engaments by senior officials with those of Somaliland, resulting in trade wars and recall of diplomats.
Kenya-Somaliland ties
One notable diplomatic blunder occured in December 2023, when Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei rebuked Senate Speaker Amason Kingi for announcing a meeting with the “Somaliland Ambassador to Kenya.”
Sing’oei reminded Parliament that “foreign policy is a function of the national government.”
He emphasized that Somaliland only operates a liaison office in Nairobi for commercial purposes — not an embassy — and that Kenya’s official position mirrors that of the African Union which recognizes Federal Republic of Somalia as the sole sovereign entity.
Earlier, in 2019, bilateral tensions were reignited when three Somali officials, including a deputy minister and two senators, were denied entry at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi for not holding visas.
The move came just weeks after both countries had agreed to normalize diplomatic relations following a bitter row over a disputed maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean.
At the time, then-Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma stated that Kenya had no policy to block legitimate travelers but stressed that no foreign national, even with a diplomatic passport, could enter the country without a visa.
“You all know that all of us travel with visas. So if you really don’t have a visa it would really be very difficult to enter a country. I don’t have the specifics of the case but I’d be very surprised if anybody was turned away with a visa,” she said.
A diplomatic tiff had broken out between Kenya and Somalia after Mogadishu offered oil blocks in a contested 62,000 square-mile maritime triangle that saw both countries withdrawing their ambassadors in early 2019.
It took the intervention of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to broker a meeting between Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, which led to a temporary thaw in relations.
