President Kenyatta on Sunday met his Somalia counterpart Mohammed Farmaajo amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
The two came face to face in Djibouti during the 38th Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The summit was convened by Sudan Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok who is the current Chairperson of the IGAD Assembly.
During the meeting, there were calls for Kenya and Somalia to resolve their dispute for the sake of regional peace.
Other leaders who attended the high-level meeting included Presidents Ismail Omar Guelleh (Djibouti), and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
South Sudan and Uganda were represented by Vice President Rebecca Garang and Rebecca Otengo, the country’s Ambassador to Djibouti respectively.
Also in attendance was African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, who expressed concerns over the diplomatic feud between Kenya and Somalia.
Faki called for dialogue to resolve the dispute, saying that the two nations share a long history of good neighborliness citing Kenya’s contribution of troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and its hosting of a large population of Somali refugees.
Last week, Somalia cut diplomatic ties with Kenya and expelled Kenyan diplomats from the country for “meddling in the country’s internal and political affairs.”
Faki also urged IGAD member states to help Ethiopia address the current humanitarian crisis occasioned by the conflict in its Tigray region.
