His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Somaliland, Professor Yassin Haji Mohamoud Hir ‘Faratoon, had Thursday, discussions centring on investment and bilateral cooperation with the Honorable Ambassador of the Saudi Kingdom to Kenya, Dr Mohammed Khayat, at the latter’s embassy.
Minister Hiir, currently on a visit to the East African nation, had taken the opportunity by the horns connecting with envoys whose past, present and future investment and programme interventions in Somaliland is or has been most opportune.
“During the meeting, they discussed Somaliland-Saudi Arabia co-operations in various sectors such as investments in infrastructure and other various development projects for Somaliland,” Head of the Somaliland MIssion to Kenya, Ambassador Bashe Omar, revealed.
The two sides, according to additional sources, state that the two sides discussed at length issues revolving around the export of livestock to the Kingdom and, especially, on the Hajj season during which the greatest number of the famous, most cherished Somali Berberawi black-head sheep are exported for sacrificial purposes.
The Somaliland Minister for Livestock, Hassan Mohamed Ali ‘Gaafaadhi’, has disclosed earlier in the week that the Kingdom has this time around added a proviso most unacceptable to the Republic of Somaliland obligating that livestock accompanied by a Federal Somalia Certificate of Origin would only be accepted. The displeasure at the unexpected condition was voiced again by His Excellency the President, Musa Behi Abdi, himself, during an address commemorating the 59th anniversary of the country’s squandered independence on June 26, 1960, by lauding marshalling yards owners expressing solidarity with the government not to export livestock unless the Saudi prerequisite clause was withdrawn.
The Saudi condition did not only ignore the separate existence of Somaliland and Somalia governments, completely independent of each other but it, also, effectively took sides with the weak government of Somalia against the 28-year old republic.
Berbera has been traditionally the main export livestock exit port for almost all Somali livestock exporters from Somaliland, Somalia and the Somali State of Eastern Ethiopia herders.
The Somaliland Foreign Minister, Professor Faratoon, had also met with the Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Peter Macharia.
According to a statement the Somaliland Mission posted on its official Twitter page, Thursday, the discussion between the two sides ‘centred on Somaliland-Kenya cooperations and collaborations on matters such as trade that will mutually benefit both Countries’.
TA Tweet the Kenyan Foreign Office Tweeted of the meeting, later, so infuriated Somalians which revealed further how misled and ignorant many so-called statemen were of the whole Somaliland sovereignty and Somalia-Somaliland history they actually were. The Teet said nothing but that the two ‘discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries’. Many, on the other side of the fence, wondered what else could have been said. ‘…between the Kenyan country and one half-country called Somaliland’ perhaps, critics scoffed.
@ForeignOfficeKE PS @AmbMKamau this afternoon held talks with Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Yasin Hagi Mohamed. The two discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries and ways of strengthening cooperation. pic.twitter.com/wS5INZGpAI
— ForeignAffairsKenya (@ForeignOfficeKE) June 27, 2019
Cooperation and warm relations between Kenya and Somaliland has been exponentially growing since Somaliland had upgraded its presence in Kenya with the transfer of Ambassador Bashe from the UAE to Nairobi in 2018.
Kenya has, recently, announced that it was going to open a diplomatic and trade mission in Hargeisa as soon as preliminary preparations to do so were finalized.
Ambassador Macharia is personally supervising the move.
Minister Faratoon had, on Wednesday, sat with Ambassador Erik Lundberg at the Embassy of Finland Nairobi.
The two sides discussed various issues relating to burgeoning Finland-Somaliland cooperation.
Finland runs a number of development and health programmes in Somaliland whose impact had been positively noted on the ground over the years.
On Sunday, Minister Faratoon paid a courtesy visit to Kenya’s Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary of Trade and Industrialization, Hon. Peter Munya.
During the call, the two ministers discussed areas of mutual cooperation between the two Eastern Africa democracies and former subjects of Great Britain before independence.
Minister Munya had never concealed positive collaboration theories he had of Somaliland and is not a stranger to Somaliland as a nation where he paid fact-finding missions before as Governor of the Meru county.
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