Somalia PM Roble flies to Kenya on President Uhuru's invitation
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble leaves for neighboring Kenya for an official trip amid uncertainty within the government, he leads, with sources also indicating possible fallout with outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.
Farmaajo, whose term expired on Feb 8, handed over most responsibilities to his PM albeit reluctantly, following pressure from a number of local actors and the international community. Roble is currently driving the election exercise after months of squabbles.
Multiple sources confirmed that the PM and his delegation will leave for Kenya's capital, Nairobi on Tuesday after he was officially invited by President Uhuru Kenyatta through Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Raychelle Omamo, who visited Mogadishu, Sunday.
Already, Roble's advance team was in Nairobi from as early as last week where they are doing necessary preparations ahead of his visit. He's expected to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday afternoon before proceeding to State House for bilateral talks.
But for the better part of Monday night, all major roads within Mogadishu were closed down over unknown reasons ahead of the PM's impending trip to Kenya. Security forces were deployed to man most junctions especially those leading to Adan Adde International Airport.
Although Roble issued a directive for the reopening of the roads, it's not immediately clear why they were closed down. A number of unconfirmed reports have linked the incident to growing tensions between Roble and his boss, outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.
Last Saturday evening, Villa Somalia issued a decree that blocks government institutions from signing bilateral ties with foreign countries, but the move was quashed by Roble, who insisted that the cabinet has a responsibility to engage foreign nations as long as it's in office.
The move appeared to contradict Farmaajo's approach. There were claims that the president issued the decree following plans by Roble to visit Kenya, which has been having a strained relationship with Mogadishu in recent months.
Besides the ongoing Indian Ocean maritime border row case in the International Court of Justice [ICJ], Somalia has been accusing Kenya of interfering with her internal affairs, something which Nairobi denies.
Furthermore, Kenya is pushing for the lifting of the ban imposed on Khat exportation by Somalia, which triggered animosity between the two nations. Garowe Online could not establish if the matter featured in Omamo's visit to Somalia.
But Farmaajo is said to be uncomfortable with his PM's planned tour to Kenya, in what could be closely associated with upcoming elections. The president has been trying to seek full control of the process.
Another evidence of the fallout was manifested in the recent changes within spy agency NISA, which saw Roble kick out two senior officers for blocking opposition politicians at the airport. However, the decision was reversed by Fahad Yasin when Roble was in London.
GAROWE ONLINE