Somalia deputy PM deported from Kenya amid border weapons smuggling and passport fraud charges

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has deported Somalia’s Second Deputy Prime Minister and former acting President of South West State, Jibril Abdirashid Haji on June 25, following a tense standoff at Nairobi's main airport over suspected passport fraud and allegations of undermining regional security, official police reports revealed Friday.

The dramatic move, highly unusual for a high-ranking foreign diplomat, comes amid serious intelligence reports linking the senior Somali official to efforts to destabilize strategic towns along the porous Kenya-Somalia border.

Airport Interrogation and Passport Seizure

Haji arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Wednesday afternoon aboard a Saacid Airlines flight from Mogadishu, presenting a valid Somali diplomatic passport and entry visa. However, immigration officials detained him after intelligence linked him to an illegally acquired, fraudulent Kenyan passport.

According to a Kenyan police incident report filed at the JKIA station, Haji admitted to possessing the Kenyan travel document during interrogation but adamantly refused to hand it over to border authorities.

"When interrogated he admitted, and when asked to produce the passport he declined to surrender [it] and claimed that he can only produce it in a court of law," the official Kenyan police report stated.

Following the refusal, Haji was held overnight under guard in the VIP lounge of Terminal 2 before being forced onto a Daallo Airlines flight back to Mogadishu early Thursday morning.

Weapons Airlift and Border Militia Claims

Beyond the passport irregularities, security sources disclose that the deportation was fast-tracked due to alarming intelligence details. The Deputy Prime Minister is accused of orchestrating operations to arm clan militias in key towns running along the Kenyan border.

Intelligence briefs indicate that Haji had recently overseen the airlifting of weapons into a strategic border town. Investigators believe his travel through Nairobi was part of a direct itinerary to proceed to the frontier, distribute the arms, and upend the existing local administration—a move Kenyan security agencies warned would have catastrophic spillover consequences for Kenya's domestic security.

Baidoa Violence and Political Fallback

The allegations add to growing scrutiny surrounding Haji's political activities in Somalia. He has recently been heavily linked to fueling the deadly armed conflict in Baidoa, the interim capital of South West State, where severe clashes resulted in civilian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of local families.

As the standoff unfolded at JKIA, several sympathetic Kenyan politicians reportedly attempted to intervene and mediate with high-ranking security chiefs to secure Haji’s entry into the country. However, immigration and counter-terrorism officials flatly rejected the political overtures, citing overriding national security risks.

Neither the federal government of Somalia nor Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a formal diplomatic communique on the deportation. Local sources report that digital evidence and screenshots detailing the illegal renewal of the official's Kenyan passport have already begun circulating within regional intelligence networks.

GAROWE ONLINE