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Kenya agrees to reopen Somalia border after 12-year closure

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki Somalia counterpart Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali

Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki (left) speaks during a joint press conference with his Somalia counterpart Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali in Nairobi on May 15, 2023. PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU | NMG

By  MARY WAMBUI

Kenya has on Monday agreed to officially reopen its border points with Somalia in Mandera, Lamu and Garissa in the coming 90 days. 

The move, announced by Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki and his Somalia counterpart Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh after high-level consultations in Nairobi, effectively ends a 12-year barricade that began in 2011 when Kenya was launching Operation Linda Nchi to fight the influx of Al-Shabaab fighters into the country.

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