At a lunch reception that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya threw today for the resident diplomatic community in Nairobi, the Somalia Ambassador, Mohamed Tarzan, stormed out in a cloud disgracing his office and the country he represented.
Ambassador Tarzan, a former Mayor of Mogadishu, sources indicate, intended to show that his country should be the only Somali mission invited. Instead, his eyes caught the Somaliland head of Mission in Kenya, the tall, elegant, statuesque Dr Mohamed Ahmed Barawani, and the tri-colour national of the Republic of Somaliland placed among all the international community flags.
“It was (a) pleasure and honor to participate diplomatic corps event hosted by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta. I would also like to congratulate H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta on his African Gender Award 2022 for championing gender equality and women’s development in Kenya,” Ambassador Barawani later tweeted.
Where the piqued Ambassador aimed to attract sympathetic attention, he earned the derision of the more seasoned presence of the diplomats. Even Somalia’s more staunch friends at the reception did not wish the blunder Ambassador tripped himself over with, keeping their counsel.
“..this clearly demonstrates the hatred and long-term enmity of Somalia towards the Republic of Somaliland and its people,” a MoFAIC statement pointed out.
“The Republic of Somaliland is a sovereign, independent and democratic country that aspires to live in peace and tranquillity with our neighbouring countries that includes Somalia,” the statement added.
Somaliland has of recent never left the international spotlight with it attracting more and more powerful friends due to its unique, exemplary track record in a volatile region as well as its enviable geopolitical location. Among the most recent addition to Somaliland’s repertoire of friends and allies is the United States which appears to be boldly hatching out of its innured shell, showing a keen interest in a country that it has hitherto studiously ignored.
“The position of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa is becoming evident and countries are realizing the potential of having relations with Somaliland”, Dr Essa Kayd, the Somaliland Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said.
“The uniqueness of Somaliland in this region speaks for itself, you have had elections, and above all, the peace and the stability. Finland itself is one of the happiest countries on the globe, and that makes us a natural partner for you” Ambassador Pirkka Tapiola (above), Finnish Ambassador to Kenya, currently visiting Somaliland stated.
Somaliland built its government at an all-clan grand conference in Burao in 1991 from the ashes of decade-long devastation, looting, bombing and persecution meted on it by a brutal, military dictatorship which on it unleashed a full war of attrition and ethnic cleansing.
Since then the country held eight 1person-1vote elections and national balloting exercises electing three out of the five it had since 1991 – changing offices peacefully and democratically. Somalia, in contrast, is still electing presidents in tents behind barricaded security walls manned by foreign troops supported by the international community.
It is on this backdrop the two diplomats showed up in the presidential reception today.
Kenya has been building mutually respected relations with Somaliland since 2020 based on re-visited historical and political ties that date back to the days when both nations were under British colonial administration.
