Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Korir Sing’oei has told off Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, asking him to refrain from matters regarding foreign affairs.
This is after the speaker said he had met with a representative from Somaliland.
The Senate Speaker’s article, “Promoting ties between Kenya and Somaliland,” is at the heart of the public spat between the two leaders.
“I met in my office of Parliamentary buildings this afternoon H.E. Dr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud, the Somaliland Ambassador to Kenya, during which we explored new avenues for collaboration and partnerships between our governments, ” Kingi said.
“We deliberated on the need to enhance trade between Kenya and Somaliland by facilitating easy movement of people and commodities between the two countries,” he continued.
The Senate Speaker stated his eagerness and commitment to raising the issue with the appropriate branches of government and investigating how parliament might encourage such beneficial involvement.
The post irritated the foreign PS, who saw it as a “diplomatic blunder.”
By declaring he met a Somaliland diplomat, Kingi accepted them as a sovereign state, although according to Kenya’s and the African Union’s foreign policies, only the Federal Republic of Somalia is the recognized state entity.
“Only the federal Republic of Somali is the recognized state entity… Somaliland, a region within the Federal Republic of Somalia, has a liaison officer for commercial purposes in Nairobi. This office is not an embassy,” Sing’oei pointed out.
“Foreign policy of the republic is a function of the National government and that Parliament’s role is to oversight the exercise of foreign relations by the national government,” the PS said.
