PS Sing'oei tells Speaker Kingi to keep off foreign affairs docket

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Korir Sing'oei has told the Senate speaker Amason Kingi to keep off the foreign affairs docket, following a post on X where Kingi said he had met with a diplomatic representative of Somaliland.

The Senate speaker's post titled: Promoting ties between Kenya and Somaliland, is at the centre of the public scuffle between the two leaders.

"I met in my office of Parliamentary buildings this afternoon H.E. Dr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud, the Somaliland Ambassador to Kenya, during which we explored new avenues for collaboration and partnerships between our governments, " Kingi said.

“We deliberated on the need to enhance trade between Kenya and Somaliland by facilitating easy movement of people and commodities between the two countries,” he continued.

The senate speaker expressed his enthusiasm and commitment to take up the matter with the relevant arms of government and look into how parliament can support such positive engagement.

The post rubbed the foreign PS wrong, seeing it as a ‘diplomatic blunder’.

By Kingi saying that he had met a diplomat of Somaliland, he was recognising them as a sovereign state, but according to Kenya’s foreign policy and that of the African Union, only the Federal Republic of Somalia is the recognized state entity.

"Only the federal Republic of Somali is the recognized state entity... Somaliland, a region within the Federal Republic of Somalia, has a  liaison officer for commercial purposes in Nairobi. This office is not an embassy," Sing'oei pointed out.

Following that post on X, Singoei took to the platform to blast Kingi, telling him to ‘stick to his Senate docket.’

"Foreign policy of the republic is a function of the National government and that Parliament's role is to oversight the exercise of foreign relations by the national government," the PS said.