After 15 years of closure, Kenya will reopen its border with Somalia in April, marking a major shift in relations between the two neighbours and offering relief to families and traders who have been cut off for 15 years.
President William Ruto announced the decision, saying it was wrong for residents of Mandera to remain isolated because of security concerns that led to the shutdown in 2011.
“It is unacceptable that fellow Kenyans in Mandera remain cut off from their kin and neighbours in Somalia due to the prolonged closure of the Mandera Border Post. We will reopen the border post in April,” the Head of State said.
The Kenya–Somalia frontier was officially closed in October 2011 following a series of cross-border attacks blamed on the militant group Al-Shabaab.
The group, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, has been fighting Somalia’s central government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years and has carried out deadly attacks inside Kenya.
In May 2023, Kenya and Somalia agreed to gradually reopen their shared border. However, the plan was suspended two months later after five civilians and eight police officers were killed near the frontier in attacks blamed on Al-Shabaab.
A similar announcement had been made a year earlier during talks between former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, but the reopening did not take place.
Kenya remains one of the largest troop contributors to the African Union peace support mission in Somalia, helping fight the insurgency and stabilise the country.
The two nations share a 680-kilometre land border. Relations have at times been strained, especially over a maritime dispute in the Indian Ocean believed to hold oil and gas reserves.
In October 2021, the International Court of Justice awarded most of the contested area to Somalia, a ruling Kenya rejected.
The reopening of the border is expected to boost trade and reconnect families in the northeastern region, though security concerns remain high as authorities prepare for April.
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