Air relations between Kenya and Somalia were suspended in May, despite the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which were suspended in December last year by Mogadishu due to Kenya’s “interference” in the neighbor’s affairs. The two countries now say they want to start “normalizing” their relations.
All that was required was an exchange of cordial letters, on Thursday 10 June, between the foreign ministries, so that commercial aircraft could fly again between Nairobi and Mogadishu. Kenya was the first to say it “considered the intercession” and re-approved the flights. “A goodwill gesture,” the letter from the Kenyan ministry said, “for mutual benefit and in the hope that it will bring about a complete normalization of bilateral relations.”
This letter received a prompt and favorable response from Mogadishu, who “noted and welcomed” this decision. Although Somalia is showing greater caution: this “positive gesture,” the Somali ministry said in a statement, “is the starting point for starting negotiations aimed at full normalization.” Much remains to be done, therefore.
It is true that, despite Qatar’s mediation, none of the major differences between the two countries have been resolved: not even the maritime dispute at the International Court of Justice, whose verdict is still pending; nor border borders or Kenya’s support for the unshakable state of Jubaland; nor is the trade in khat grown in Kenya and widely consumed in Somalia despite the ban on imports, which according to several specialists was the reason why air connections were cut off in May.
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