MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Despite a months-long intense campaign to convince leaders from its neighbouring countries and those from the region, the Somali government once again failed to succeed in lifting the decades-old UN arms embargo on the horn of the African nation.
Just months after assuming office, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud travelled to Kampala town of Uganda to meet with his counterpart Yoweri Museveni.
After the conclusion of two days visit, the leaders issued a communique in which the heads of State called upon the UN Security Council to consider lifting the arms embargo to enable the country to shoulder her security responsibilities”.
They said lifting the arms embargo on Mogadishu would help it build the capacity to manage its security mandate.
The two heads of State also urged the international community to continue supporting Somalia in building its institutions, especially the SNA and police, to ensure that the progress and gains made from the capacity building by the AU forces are consolidated.
The following month, President Mohamud set out to Addis Ababa to meet with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia. Mohamud convinced Addis Ababa to back the country’s campaign to remove the arms embargo which became a thorn in its flesh.
The support of two strong countries in the region gave Somalia hope to move ahead and sell its agenda.
According to multiple sources privy to the campaign, Somali leaders also met with leaders of the African Union and Arab League who all welcomed the move.
The country is bounded by Kenya to the west, a country that has decades of trading ties with Mogadishu. Mohamud made two trips to Nairobi since he came to the office in mid-May this year.
His first visit to Kenya, Mohamud met Uhuru Kenyatta the then President of Kenya. According to sources, the two leaders discussed trade, security, diplomatic issues and even Somalia’s plan to ask the UN to remove the arms embargo.
At the end of the meeting, Somalia allowed Kenya to export its khat to Somalia. The exportation of khat was stopped in March 2020 by the government led by Mohamud’s predecessor, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.
In exchange, Kenya pledged to ease travel visas for Somalis travelling to Kenya but nothing has changed on the side of Kenya and even it tightened the visa process.
On his second trip, Mohamud attended the inauguration ceremony of Kenya’s newly elected President William Ruto. The Somali president reportedly met Ruto and the two agreed to boost the diplomatic ties.
But still, Somalia has benefited nothing from Kenya which daily exports more than 50 tonnes of Khat valued at around $50,000.
To the worst, Kenya on Thursday voted against Somalia’s call to lift the arms embargo at UN Security Council.
The Kenyan Ambassador Martin Kimani supported the resolution tabled by the UK, saying the UN Security Council had taken “a strong stand together against terrorism” after extending the embargo.
“There is little doubt that the battlefield conduct and the determination of the Somali forces and government will in short order lead to the dropping of the embargo,” Kimani said. “The partial arms embargo in Somalia cannot exist in perpetuity, as it is counterproductive and adversely affects the capability of the federal government to eradicate the existential threat posed by al-Shabaab.”
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