Somali Prime Minister detained in Nairobi

President Uhuru Kenyatta with Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke (left) when he called on him at State House, Nairobi.

Somalia Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke was yesterday detained for several hours in Nairobi for breaching protocol. The embarrassing incident that could test diplomatic relations between Kenya and war-torn Somalia happened mid-morning yesterday at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Sharmarke could not be cleared in Nairobi because his plane had not been inspected at Wajir Airport, as is the requirement for all flights to and from Somalia. “This is a real breach of security,” an official at JKIA told the Standard on Sunday. By 2 pm, security and foreign affairs officers had not agreed on how to handle the Somali leader. Security officers had demanded that Mr Sharmarke be sent back to Mogadishu, notwithstanding that the plane he had arrived in had left immediately after the entourage disembarked. But the department of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already provided the visiting head of government with a fleet of cars — which would remain parked at the VIP arrivals gate for several hours.