Nairobi, KENYA
A
secret weekend visit to Somalia by 11 Kenyan MPs at a time the two countries
are locked in a diplomatic tiff has raised eyebrows in security circles.
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| Some of the 11 MPs at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi after returning from Somalia. |
Upon their return on Sunday,
the legislators were held briefly for questioning at the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport (JKIA) before being released, with indications that they
could face a parliamentary probe for leaving the country without official clearance.
Six of the parliamentarians are from the border counties of Mandera, three from
Wajir and two from Garissa.
They chartered a flight to
Somalia capital Mogadishu on Saturday, where they had dinner with President
Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo. Their agenda was not disclosed, although they
travelled on diplomatic passports and were treated as State guests.
They are Kullow Maalim
(Banisa), Ahmed Kolosh (Wajir West), Ibrahim Abdi (Lafey), Rashid Kassim (Wajir
East), Mohamed Hire (Lagdera), Omar Maalim (Mandera East), Bashir Abdullahi
(Mandera North), Adan Haji (Mandera West), Dr Hassan Dahiye (Daadab), Ahmed
Bashane (Tarbaj) and Aden Keynan (Eldas).
Initial reports indicated that
the MPs met with members of the Somali National Intelligence Agency (NISA) but
one of the leaders, who spoke to the Nation, denied
this.
Addressing the press at JKIA,
Interior Security Secretary Muriithi Kangi said the MPs would not be charged in
court “at least for the time being”.
“What was of concern to the
country was how the MPs travelled to a foreign country without clearance and on
a matter whose agenda was not clear to the government,” said Mr Kangi. The
incident came as Kenya and Somalia traded accusations over interference.
The Nation has learnt that
Kenya is protesting what it calls Somalia’s “fabricated” accusations of internal interference.
In a strongly-worded protest
note to Mogadishu, Nairobi says it supports Somalia’s peace bid, but will not
accept to be used to settle its neighbour’s political games.
“Kenya rejects the unwarranted and invalid
allegations made by the Federal Government of Somalia and takes great exception
to the fabricated indictments of interfering in Somalia’s internal affairs.
These baseless accusations are
part of a growing and persistent pattern of ill intent to use Kenya as a
scapegoat and tool to justify unfulfilled legitimate and social demands in
Somalia and for political mileage,” states the note seen by the Nation.
“Kenya will not accept to be
used in that manner… Kenya considers the accusations to be an insincere attempt
by the Federal Government of Somalia to create artificial fissures in the
relations between the two countries for short-term political expediency. These
efforts have at times escalated to threats to Kenya’s security....”
Kenya’s concerns on its
national security arose from comments last month by the Gedo region Deputy Governor
Abdi Moalimu, who threatened to mobilise SNA troops to invade the country.
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| MPs Rashid Kassim (Wajir East),Omar Salah Maalim (Mandera East) ,Mohammed Hire (Lagdera) and Kullow Maalim (Banisa) alighting from an aircraft at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on March 1,2020 from Somalia. |
Despite their release,
the Nation has
learnt that the MPs may not be off the hook just yet.
Their secret trip may be
headed for investigations by the relevant committee of the National Assembly
that will come up with specific recommendations to the relevant investigative
agencies, such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
On Sunday, National Assembly
Speaker Justin Muturi confirmed that the MPs did not seek his clearance before
travelling to a country that has become hostile, going by the pronouncements of
her senior government officials and the threat of Al-Shabaab.
“I was only told about it
yesterday [Sunday] but they did not seek permission or even inform me as
required,” Mr Muturi told the Nation.
According to Standing Order
260 of the National Assembly, members travelling outside Kenya, whether in an
official or a private capacity, shall give to the Speaker a written notice to
that effect, indicating the destination intended to be visited.
They are also required to give
the dates of the intended travel and period of absence from Kenya and their
email, telephone contact, postal or physical address during the period of
absence from Kenya.
The information submitted
under this Standing Order shall be kept in a register that the Clerk shall
maintain for that purpose and shall not be disclosed to any person without the
permission of the Speaker.
If brought to the House,
whether through a petition by an MP or any member of the public, the matter
will be investigated by the Powers and Privileges Committee of the House
chaired by the Speaker.
The import of the probe will
be to establish whether the MPs violated the privileges accorded to them by the
State.
If found culpable by the
recommendations of the committee and if adopted by the House, charges of
treason, which essentially means siding with a State at war with Kenya or
espionage — spying for a foreign nation — may be preferred against them.
Mandera North MP Bashir
Abdullahi earlier on told the Nation the
legislators had travelled on a “security mission”.
“It is true we are in
Mogadishu. We came here for the simple reason of the insecurity that has
affected our region, we needed to talk to Somalia authorities to help find a
solution,” he said.
Mr Bashir, a retired soldier,
said the group met the Federal Government of Somalia. “We arrived in Mogadishu
on Saturday and, after lunch, we met President Farmaajo who was a person of
interest to us in this visit,” he said.
The Nation, however, learnt that
the mission was not officially communicated to protocol officials at the
National Assembly or the Foreign Ministry.
Neither Kenya’s Ambassador to
Mogadishu Lucas Tumbo nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi knew of
the visit.
As is tradition, when MPs
travel to a foreign country, the local Kenyan diplomatic mission must be told
as MPs are State officers.
A diplomat in Nairobi told
the Nation that
no communication or agenda on the visit was shared.
The note comes barely hours
after police briefly detained and later on released 11 MPs at the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport in Nairobi moments after they landed from Mogadishu.
It was a response to Somalia’s
own accusation of Nairobi, but it came in the aftermath of the politicians
travelling on a secret mission to talk about a public security issue that is
routinely handled by the executive.
While MPs may travel as
private citizens, meeting a foreign President is not and must be the
arrangement of protocol officers, a diplomat in Nairobi explained.
But more curious was the fact
that the MPs travelled on the invitation of the Somali National Security
Intelligence Agency Fahad Yasin. And left the country on a chartered flight,
paid for by Mogadishu. While in Mogadishu, they lodged on the premises of NISA,
suggesting the mission was more a Mogadishu affair than a Kenyan one.
Later on Saturday, they were
hosted to dinner in Villa Somalia, the residence of the Somali President.
Officially, Mr Abdullahi said
the MPs deliberated on safeguarding Gedo Region that has been used as an entry
point by Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, into Kenya.
“It is known that the
Jubbaland forces and other forces in Somalia have not taken full control of the
Gedo region leading to increased cases of insecurity in the North-Eastern
region,” the MP argued.
But this argument came as
Somalia publicly accused Kenya of interfering in its internal matters and
violating its territorial integrity.
In the Gedo region, part of
Jubbaland federal state, the Somali National Army has recently been deployed
ostensibly to guard the border but to actually fight off Jubbaland security
forces, Kenya’s known allies.
If the mission was to seek
security cooperation, then Somalia’s own sentiments contradicted it.
Mr Abukar Dahir Osman, the
Somali Ambassador to the UN, had, in fact, said his government had run out of
diplomatic channels in engaging with Kenya and suggested his country could
report Nairobi to the UN Security Council.
“Kenya continues to be a
destabilising force for Somalia. Kenya’s continuous encroachment into Somalia’s
border areas outrightly undermines our sovereignty and territorial integrity,”
he told the UN Security Council sitting on Thursday, referring to the border
squabbles.
“If these aforementioned
actions do not immediately cease, we will invoke the United Nations Charter,
Article 35, and we will bring our case against Kenya’s breach of our
sovereignty … to the UN Security Council.”
The said article allows a
member state to bring any dispute or situation likely to endanger international
security, to the attention of the UN Security Council.
Kenya will on Monday be
submitting a response to the Somali envoy’s claim to the UN Security Council
and Nairobi will now accuse Mogadishu of using local agents in Kenya to
destabilise the country when the UN Security Council opens sessions on Monday
afternoon.
Were the MPs now anti-Kenyan
tools by Mogadishu? Mr Omar Maalim, another of the MPs, had last week touched
off a spark when he asked why Kenya was hosting a fugitive from Jubbaland, Adinur
Abdirashid Janan, wanted by Mogadishu for alleged human rights crimes. Janan
had reportedly fled a house arrest in Mogadishu.
The MPs, however, said their
travel was based on directives issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta in their
recent State House meeting in Nairobi.
“President Kenyatta asked us to find a
solution to the current insecurity in North-Eastern and we felt we should start
with Mogadishu which can help us close all security loopholes,” Abdullahi said,
referring to the incessant Shabaab attacks in the area.
“We are good neighbours and we
urged Somalia to support Kenya get a seat in the Security Council which will
help improve the situation,” he said.
“We were there as a bridge
between Kenya and Somalia on the maritime boundary dispute and we urged
Somalia's administration to tone down on counter-accusations but find an
amicable solution for a mutual relationship,” he said.
The MP said the trip was only
an initiative of MPs from North-Eastern and that the three governors were in
the picture and they did not need clearance from Nairobi.
“We have a parliamentary
diplomatic arrangement which we used to come but still a top office in Nairobi
is aware of the same,” he said.
He vehemently denied that the
legislators met the Somali National Intelligence Agency (NISA) as claimed in a
section of the media.
“We came to meet Somalia
President on issues affecting North-Eastern that come from Gedo region and we
met nobody else, we shall stop at nothing in finding a solution to the current
situation,” he said.
The Kenya Defence Forces are a
part of the African Union Mission in Somalia, meant to fight Al-Shabaab. But
the relationship between the two countries has been lukewarm since Farmaajo
took power in February 2017. Mogadishu also sued Kenya at the International
Court of Justice over a maritime boundary dispute. The case is to be determined
this June. - Daily Nation
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