Kenyan Foreign Minister Delays Trip To Somalia

Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister, Monica Juma is expected to appear before the parliamentary Defense and Foreign relations committee on Tuesday.

Mrs. Juma who was scheduled to travel to the Somali capital, Mogadishu to resolve a diplomatic row with its neighbor before the parliamentary committee called for clarifications on the matter.

Kenya’s National Assembly’s Defence and Foreign Relations Committee chairman Katoo Metito said they want to know the circumstances that led to the summoning of Kenya’s ambassador to Somalia.
“We want to get a detailed brief on what really transpired and the way forward,” Metito told the local newspaper by phone on Monday.

Nairobi recalled its ambassador to Somalia, Lt. Col (RTD) Lucas Tumbo for consultations on Saturday while ordering Somalia’s Mohamud AhmedNur Tarsan to return to Mogadishu for discussions.

Kenya Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau dismissed the claims by sections of the media that his country has expelled Somali envoy in the country saying Kenyan ambassador had only been summoned while his Somalia counterpart had been sent to Mogadishu for consultation.

“The action was taken so we can resolve this matter with credible and correct information from both sides,” Kamau tweeted.

Nairobi has accused the horn of the African nation of auctioning oil blocks in the disputed maritime border between the two countries, but Somalia has distanced itself from the accusations.