Will Raila Odinga Change His Position on Somaliland Secession?

Odinga making the case for the break-up of Somalia at Chatham House.

Nairobi (PP News Desk) — Ra’ila Odinga, the Kenyan Presidential Candidate, is on the record for supporting the secession of Somaliland. At Chatham House in London six years ago Odinga described himself as “a stronger supporter” of Somaliland secession. He said he had paid a visit to Somaliland when “my late friend Mohamed Egal” was President.

Raila Odinga with Somaliland Administration President Muse Bihi Abdi in Nairobi in 2020

Mohamed Saeed Ges, Egal’s former Foreign Minister and whose diary was serialized in a Somali website, recounted a story about a 1990s encounter between Odinga and President Egal in Nairobi. Ges wrote that Odinga had passed on a letter from Egal to President Daniel Arap Moi. “‘He flew to Hargeisa to be paid for the service’” Egal said” Ges wrote in his diary.

During 1990s President Egal met Odinga in Nairobi.

Odinga was the Prime Minister of Kenya and the African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development. He might face scrutiny over what may be perceived as a brazen support for secession against a member state of the African Union. Kenya views Somaliland to be a part and parcel of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

© Puntland Post, 2022