This archive report was first published on 11 October 2019.
On Thursday, Somalia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Kenya's Ambassador to Somalia, Lucas Tumbo, over an alleged airspace violation.
According to sources, Ambassador Tumbo was handed a protest note with a list of demands, following the incident on Saturday when a Kenyan plane landed at Kismayo Airport without official permission.
The protest note was handed to Ambassador Tumbo by Somalia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulkadir Ahmed-kheir Abdi, who stated that Somalia strongly protests the violation and will not accept any encroachment on its air, sea, and land borders.
Minister Abdi emphasized that Kenya must respond to the breach, citing the presence of Kenyan troops in the Lower Juba region as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
“The Federal Government of Somalia sees this action as contradicting all principles of good neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of states,” Minister Abdi said.
However, sources at Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs disputed the allegations, stating that the plane in question was a private jet and not a Kenyan aircraft.
“That was a private jet, and even if you look at those on board, they were of Somali origin, so how it turns out to be a Kenyan affair is not clear,” the source said.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Ambassador Tumbo has been summoned by Somalia. In July, he was also summoned over a tweet by Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau, which Somalia deemed an affront to its sovereignty.
