Kenya allows two flights to Somaliland despite ban

Kenya has allowed two aircrafts to fly to Somaliland to deliver electoral material in spite of a ban on air traffic with Somalia.

A diplomatic clearance MFA/PRO.91/002 (052) on Thursday said two aeroplanes operated by Astral Aviation will be allowed to deliver the material from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through Djibouti and to the Somaliland capital Hargeisa.

A MacDonnell Douglas DCC-9F and a Boeing B727-727F, both registered in Kenya, will be permitted to deliver the material between May 13 and 15 with a possibility of extension should there be delays.

“Kindly note that the clearance is granted with a 72-hour window to cater for any delays,” the note from Kenya’s Foreign Ministry to the Somaliland Liaison Office said on Thursday.

Somaliland, the breakaway region that considers itself independent of Somalia is due to hold local and parliamentary elections on May 31 in a further signal of its growing democracy.

But Somalia is currently in the deep of a political stand-off, with parties yet to agree on the date or venues of elections, three months since the expiry of President Mohamed Farmaajo’s four-year term.

Suspended flights

Mogadishu has sustained a diplomatic tiff with Kenya, however, accusing Nairobi of interference in Somalia’s internal affairs, charges Kenya denies. Last week, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority suspended flights between Kenya and Somalia for three months, with exception to medical evacuation and humanitarian deliveries.

The move, the Nation learnt, came after Somalia grounded two aircraft owned by Kenyan firm Bluebird Aviation which the Somali Civil Aviation Authority accused of delivering miraa from Kenya despite an existing ban.

But Kenya rejected the decision, arguing the operator flew into Somalia after Mogadishu reopened diplomatic ties it had cut in December, and only clarified the ban was still on days later when the aircrafts had landed into Somalia.

The decision means all chartered and scheduled flights to Somalia are suspended. However, flights from Somalia, passing through the Kenyan airspace to other destinations are exempted.

The move dented the latest efforts to revive relations between the two countries. Qatari special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed al-Qahtani helped broker resumption of relations earlier this month.

Build ties

Nairobi’s move on Thursday could likely anger Somalia more, even though the flights are scheduled to avoid the Somali airspace. Kenya has been trying to build ties with Somaliland, which considers itself independent of Somalia but unrecognised across the word by any sovereign state.

In December, President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi where they declared unwavering commitment to deepen the cordial bilateral relations.”

“During their discussions, the leaders focused their attention on expansion of bilateral trade, enhancing collaboration in air transport including enabling direct flights between Nairobi and Hargeisa, as well as cooperating in Agriculture, Livestock development, Education, Energy and cooperation between the ports of Mombasa and Berbera,” a dispatch said on December 15, 2020.

Somalia would cut ties with Kenya on the same day, although Bihi has also visited Ethiopia and Djibouti without stirring Somalia.

Initially a part of Somalia, Somaliland went their separate ways in 1993, two years after the fall of Siad Barre that plunged Somalia in decades of violence. They have their army, currency, constitution and three arms of government.

But they have struggled to get recognition abroad. They have argued that when Barre’s government collapsed, their union with Somalia, created at independence also collapsed. Somaliland was known as British Somaliland during colonial times while today’s Somalia was known as Italian Somaliland. At independence, they merged to form the Somali Republic.