Kenya to resume flights to Somalia, open border for trade

**Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (left) with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) at State House, Nairobi.** [PSCU]

Kenya will resume flights to Mogadishu, Somalia effective immediately.

This comes on the back of successful bilateral talks between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Somalia’s Hassan Mohamud in Nairobi on Friday, July 15.

According to a joint communique by the countries’ ministers of Foreign Affairs, Kenya Airways (KQ) will begin scheduled flights to the capital Mogadishu, in lieu of the existing Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).

Somalia has also allowed the resumption of miraa trade, fish and fish products, in a bid to defrost diplomatic tensions between the two countries and enhance trade cooperation.

Both countries will also process visas for ordinary passport holders within ten working days, and issue free courtesy visas on arrival for dignitaries, and diplomats.

“For holders of Somali Service Passports, courtesy visas free of charge/gratis on arrival will be issued within forty-eight (48) hours, after completion of online visa application accompanied by a note verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,” the communique said.

The two Heads of State have also allowed the border between the two countries to open, to promote trade and ease the movement of people.

Presidents Kenyatta and Mohamud directed that the issue be actioned within two weeks, as the two countries repair months-long frosty relations.

The Somalia Head of State is in Nairobi on an official visit, his first since assuming office.

Kenya in May 2021 banned all flights to and from Somalia but lifted the suspension a month later.

In December 2020, Somalia announced it had severed diplomatic ties with Kenya in the dead of night citing interference and violation of her sovereignty and territorial integrity.