Leaders urge state to reopen Mandera border

Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif. [File, Standard]

Leaders have raised concern over the long closure of the Mandera border and called for the directive to be lifted to open up opportunities and enhance revenue collection.

The border was closed more than 10 years ago but the leaders and locals have said that the situation may not have completely stopped illegal cross border trade, a situation that has a serious ripple effect on legitimate businesses.

The Government closed the border as part of efforts to curb Al Shabaab terror attacks and prevent smuggling of goods into the country.

Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif said discussions are underway to explore re-opening of the border.

Khalif argued that while closing the over 500 kilometer border has reduced insecurity, it should be reopened with strict security surveillance.

"Sometimes, closing the border is quite a challenge. Our suggestion is that we open the border and then we protect our country. This is a discussion that should be held between leaders and security managers to get a solution," he said.

The governor regretted that country is losing a lot on legal trade as the neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia continue trading.

He said time is ripe to re-open the border especially now that Somalia has joined the East Africa Community (EAC) and the protocol for the region calls for free movement of goods and people.

"For Somalia to enjoy being a member of the EAC, there should be free movement of goods and the people," he insisted.

There have been previous attempts to open the border but pockets of insecurity incidences reported in the area have seen this postponed.

Mandera Trade Executive, Adan Hamud said that the closure has been a major challenge for the county especially on trade between the two countries consequently limiting potential for growth.

Mandera leaders argued that closure of the border has negative impact on foreign investors and other development partners seeking to venture in the county.

"Officially it is closed, but that does not mean that it is closed down for business. This is because the border between Somalia and Mandera, is somewhere about 500 kilometers. Meaning there is still movement in and out of this area. So once that is lifted by the Kenya government, then opportunities for Mandera town will be more enormous," he explained.

Hamud assured that the county now does not have serious security challenges that can frustrate any investor or other entities from setting up business.

"As we speak, we have very few incidences of these activities. We had incidences many years ago. But in the last five years or so, we have not had serious incidences that can cause security concerns. Right now, most of the businesses are conducted by non-locals. What has been scaring people from other areas is because of what is portrayed of the county yet it is safe," he said.

He revealed that a multi-sectoral team held a meeting in the county recently to study the dynamics involved and they agreed it was viable to speed up reopening of the border.

"The Kenyan government is losing a lot of money because the border is closed. It does not mean that business between Somalia and Kenya is completely closed but the disadvantage of this is that so much money is lost," he explained.