Hassan Sheikh meets Kenya's leader in Ethiopia over Somalia's bid to join EAC

ADDIS ABABA - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has yet again held a meeting with Kenya's President William Ruto, stressing the need for Somalia to join the East Africa Community [EAC] regional economic bloc which the Horn of Africa nation has struggled to enter due to bureaucracies.

The EAC regional economic bloc has member states drawn from East Africa and the Great Lakes region and has been in existence for decades, with Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda being the founder member states. Later on, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and lately DR Congo joined the community.

Somalia submitted a request to join the community a few months ago and it is now gaining momentum, with analysts saying the entry will significantly improve the economic fortunes of the Horn of Africa nation. The calls for admission have increased since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took over in June 2022.

On the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and William Ruto also discussed partnerships in security, trade among other important cooperations, with Somalia's bid to join EAC being the center of the bilateral meeting, which comes weeks after Ruto visited Mogadishu.

"H.E President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with his Kenyan counterpart, HE Williams Ruto, in Addis Ababa today. The two leaders discussed bolstering bilateral ties and partnerships in security and trade, as well as Somalia's bid to join the East African Community [EAC]," read the statement by Villa Somalia.

An admission to EAC, pundits say, will also open borders for Somalia to other countries, and already, Kenya is contemplating opening the borders with Somalia in Mandera, Garissa, and Lamu. The border had been shut down to allow the East African nation to deal with the Al-Shabaab insurgency.

The Al-Shabaab militants have been crossing over the border and subsequently, waging attacks on Kenyan soil, thus the discussion on security. During the frontline meeting in Mogadishu, Kenya and Ethiopia vowed to continue helping Somalia to stabilize after decades of uncertainty.

Importantly, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has waged a historic crackdown against Al-Shabaab, forcing some of the militants to cross over to the neighboring countries. However, Kenya and Ethiopia have increased surveillance along the border to block the militants from crossing over.

GAROWE ONLINE