The Government of the Republic of Kenya has announced on Monday plans to reopen its embassy in Somalia “as soon as possible.”
Nairobi made this known in response to Somalia’s proposal for the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs last weekend sent a letter to his Kenyan counterpart inviting him to reopen the Kenyan diplomatic representation in Mogadishu, which has been closed since December after Somalia broke off diplomatic relations between the two states.
The unilateral decision according to Mogadishu came “in response to Kenya’s recurrent and blatant political violations against Somalia’s sovereignty”. The situation led to the expulsion of the Kenyan ambassador in Mogadishu while Somalia recalled its ambassador in Nairobi.
Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded through a letter published on Monday on its Twitter account, “that the Government of the Republic of Kenya acknowledges and welcomes the invitation of the Federal Government of Somalia to restore diplomatic relations between Somalia and Kenya.
The Kenyan government “will proceed to reopen its embassy in Mogadishu as soon as possible” and “invites the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Somalia to return to Nairobi and resume his duties,” it concluded.