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President Uhuru hosts his Guinea-Bissau, Somalia counterparts

President of Somalia H.E  Hassan Sheikh Mohamud received at JKIA by Agriculture CS Hon Peter Munya

The President of Somalia H.E  Hassan Sheikh Mohamud received at JKIA by Agriculture CS Hon Peter Munya. The recently elected President is expected to hold bilateral talks with his host President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Photo credit: Courtesy | Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Kenya

By  Aggrey Mutambo

Nation Media Group

President Uhuru Kenyatta is hosting two visiting presidents on diverse agendas.

As he received Bissau-Guinean leader Umaro Sissoco Embaló at State House on Friday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, his first official visit to Kenya since he was elected in May.

According to State House, President Embaló, the current chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is visiting and will have “bilateral talks” on a number of issues.

Related

The details were not divulged but President Kenyatta also chairs the East African bloc, the East African Community (EAC) whose mantle he is supposed to hand over at the end of July.

Also Read: Uhuru hosts high-level talks to end war in DRC

Meanwhile, President Mohamud’s visit will also tackle several issues between the two countries.

Mr Mohamud sued Kenya at the International Court of Justice during his first term as President in 2014. That case was determined last year, largely in favour of Somalia.

Kenya had said it will not obey the decision.

But the two countries have now reactivated their diplomatic channels and it was expected they will discuss how to implement the decision which is likely to be the first foreign policy task of whoever replaces President Kenyatta after the August 9 elections.

Kenya and Somalia also suggested last month they will resume miraa trade, which was incidentally banned by Mohamud in his first term.

At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Mohamud was received by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, who announced last month miraa had been unbanned by Somalia pending policy clarifications.

Mr Munya, while serving as Governor of Meru County had once run into trouble with Mohamud’s government after he tried to seek markets for miraa in Somaliland, a breakaway region considered territory of Somalia.

In the headlines