“I don’t know anything about the reported wall,” Somalia’s ambassador told BBC. “Still, Kenya has not informed our government on its decision.”
Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya has expressed “deep concerns” over Kenya’s plan to build walls, trenches and other barriers along parts of the shared border.
In an interview with BBC on Tuesday, Mr Mohamed Ali Ameriko said he learned about the project through the media, adding that Kenyan authorities had not made any contact with the Somali embassy on the matter.
“I don’t know anything about the reported wall,” Somalia’s ambassador told BBC. “Still, Kenya has not informed our government on its decision.”
Interior ministry officials recently revealed that the government is planning to set up a wall on its border along Somalia for security reasons.
Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery told journalists construction begins this week with about 200km of barriers expected along the 700km border.
“Mandera (a border town in Kenya’s northeast) and Bula Hawa (an adjoining town in Somalia) are almost merged and you cannot tell which is which,” Nkaissery said. “Now we want to put up a wall at Border Point One and close the border. That will reduce the porous border entries into our country.”
News of the planned wall first broke in February, when Lamu Governor Issa Timamy revealed he had been briefed about a security wall that would secure parts of Kiunga, including Ishakani and Ras Kamboni.
The wall project is intended to contain border entries and threats in the region from Somalia’s Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab militants.
The government has not revealed what it will cost, how it will be funded and who will be involved in the construction.
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