His Excellency the President of the Republic of Somaliland, Musa Bihi Abdi, returned home this afternoon after a highly successful four-day visit to the Republic of Kenya.
President Bihi and his delegation held very fruitful talks with His Excellency the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday and Tuesday.
At the end of the two talks, the two presidents agreed on a timeline to effect cooperation on a broad range of areas covering trade, ‘agriculture, Livestock development, education, energy’.
The agreement also covered an envisaged ‘cooperation between the ports of Mombasa and Berbera’.
Senior officials representing the two countries, according to a Kenya Statehouse Communique’ summing up points discussed and agreed upon, would hammer out a timeline detailing technical cooperation ‘including implementation of Exchange Programmes involving Students, Agricultural Officers, Doctors, Nurses and other professionals’.
By end of March, Kenya would open a Consulate in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa. The Republic of Somaliland would at the same period elevate its representative mission in Nairobi to a consulate level.
Furthermore, Somaliland agreed to direct flights of Kenya Airways and other Kenyan aircraft to Hargeisa to begin by end of March, early April.
One of the most significant points which emerged from the talks is Kenya permitting Somalilanders (senior officials first) to use their own passports for which they can obtain visas online or upon arrival. This would free many from using foreign travelling documents or a Somalia passport by necessity – a situation that did not lessen their antipathy of it.
The visit to Kenya came at a time that the region was losing its geopolitical balance.
Spurred on by off-the-cuff decisions of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who appeared to know pretty little of the region’s history as well as the necessity of maintaining its political and economic equilibrium, shifts happened which – among others – ended with far-reaching confrontations with both neighbourly countries and members of the Ethiopian federal system.
As concerns Somaliland, Djibouti and Ethiopia both myopically sided with Somalia basing their alliance neither on historical, geographical or legal facts rendering both countries losers in a living course of history whose logical conclusion will be full international recognition of the Republic of Somaliland – again.
Somalia, as expected, acted rashly during Bihi’s visit to Kenya by severing diplomatic relations with Kenya.
Kenya, on the other hand, shamed Villa Somalia by showing its maturity by announcing that it was prepared to thrash out differences with Mogadishu through diplomatic channels.
Reaction was fast and furious. Three samples.
https://twitter.com/KapaiStv/status/1339171656934301696?s=20
N&N trolls had a dream of their puppet president isolating Somaliland from the world but the reality is isolating them and Somaliland is thriving among its neighbors. #SomalilandKenya pic.twitter.com/OqjVnO4anh
— Schamah (@Mo_shamah) December 16, 2020
Somaliland foreign policy is getting better day by day.
Somaliland sovereignty can't be denied pic.twitter.com/kPpxvLnbUN
— Somaliland News Network (@SomalilandNews4) December 16, 2020
President Bihi visited the Somaliland mission in Nairobi before he left for Hargeisa.
The President’s delegation was seen off at the airport by high government officials again lead b y CS Peter Munye, Minister for Trade.
I have bid farewell to H.E Muse Bihi Abdi President of Somaliland after his three-day official visit in Kenya.
H.E Muse was in the country for talks with H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta on subjects of mutual interest between Kenya and Somaliland. https://t.co/1VoQ7RUXEw pic.twitter.com/2Oy15zgREz
— CS Hon. Peter Munya (@PeterMunya) December 16, 2020
